Handspun Fingerless Mitts
I need to make one thing clear. I did not spin this yarn.
This awesome lovely amazing yarn was spun by My Paper Crane. I purchased it at Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn in June of 2005 directly from Heidi herself! I bought 5 skeins of her handspun. 2 were for me and 3 were for Kiki and Steve. Steve made this bag out of theirs. I made this shrug out of my other skein.
When I called Kiki to tell her about the My Paper Crane yarns that I bought for her, I told her that there was one skein to which I felt partial. This was the skein. I got so excited about it that I started making it into a ball that night. I had no idea it was going to stripe until I began to wind it.
For this project I used size 7mm (10.75 US) double pointed needles. I'm a huge advocate for 7mm needles. Lots of people like to say "can't I just use size 10's since I have them?" The answer is NO NO NO! Just because the sizes between 10 and 11 seem to be mere fractions of a size, doesn't mean they are not important. See here:
US10 = 6mm
US10.5= 6.5mm
US10.75= 7mm
US11= 8mm
1 millimeter might not seem like a lot, but think about this: size 6 is 4mm and size 7 is 4.5 mm. You would buy a size 7 if a pattern told you to, even if you already had size 6's wouldn't you? That's only half a millimeter! Sorry for this impromptu rant. I know that I'm preaching to the choir for most people who read this blog, but still. I'm the biggest proponent for size 10.75 needles you'll ever find.
Back to the mitts. I made up the pattern as I went along, and I had to rip it out once when the cuff was too baggy. I didn't write down the pattern because, well, I never do.
This yarn is super cool. It's very thick and thin, neon of course, and it's plied with a green cotton thread all the way through. I think the green really adds to the color depth of the mitts. Here's the closeup of the fabric:
Here's a trick I figured out just now: When people tell you that they want to get you something for the holidays but they don't know what, tell them to "Google Koigu." You'll be swimming in it by December 26! Happy Holidays to everyone!
Fable Flower Basket Shawl
I'm famous! My work is in a museum!
No, I made that picture myself using Dumpr but I also made the shawl myself. The pattern is the Flower Basket Shawl from Interweave Knits Fall 2004. I have to say that this is one of my favorite all time magazine issues. I bought it when I was a new knitter, and every time I look through it now, I find something I want to make. Too bad it's out of print, suckers!
The yarn is Fable Pure Baby Alpaca, in the color called "Sweet Pink," which I bought from Pureknits. It is a lovely yarn, especially for shawls, because it is soft to work with and to wear.
I bought 4 balls, but I only used 3 for the shawl. This is how big it came out:
Usually I would have used all my yarn, but I lost the 4th ball. I finished up the shawl with what I had, and it turned out to be the perfect size. Of course, I found the 4th ball later, after I bound off and blocked the shawl. I used the 4th ball for a hat. I'll post pictures of the hat another time.
I think I used size 7 needles, but I don't remember. I finished this back in July, so I'm straining to remember the details. Now all I can think of is that I wear this shawl often, and I love it. I describe the yarn as "creamy." If you've knit with baby alpaca you'll know what I mean.
Anyway,
here's a picture of the close-up photo before it ended up in the museum. Buona Sera!
Sknitches Socks for Secret Santa
I knit these socks for my knitting group's Secret Santa party. I had purchased the yarn the day Sknitches opened her store. The yarn is Syncopation Militia but I also bought myself a skein of Syncopation Dayspa. The Dayspa is still in the stash, but I knit the Militia into these funky socks for my Secret Santa Pal, Letoya.
The name Militia isn't quite right for these though, they should be called "Minutia." I used size 0 needles, and this awesome yarn squished down to 11 stitches per inch. It was totally worth all the work. When Letoya pulled them out of the bag, people were screaming "They look like REAL socks!!" and "That heel gusset is DIVINE!" Needless to say, that made me feel very good. Here's close-up of the divine heel flap:
I used the Reinforced Heel Flap from the book Toe-up Techniques. The rest of it was just knit til it fit.
Alternate Views:
All Folded Up
Socks On The Couch
Disco Knee Socks
I haven't posted in a while, because I just haven't had the time and I am just not in the mood to blog anymore. Don't worry, everything's great, I'm just not really inspired to blog. I still read all my favorite blogs. I hope I feel like blogging again sometime. You can see an updated list of my projects, in progress and finished, on the left sidebar. There are more photos in flickr, including information about the projects themselves.
I made these socks using Fortissima Socka Disco Colori. It is an awesome variegated sock yarn with a little nylon for strength. The best part is that there is a thin silver metallic strand plied in. My camera didn't pick up the metallic part, but it's there. The socks look like they have sparkles all over. I love it. I used all of one ball, and a teeny tiny bit of a friend's ball. I ran out of yarn just before the ribbing.
I used size 2US Bryspun Plastic Double Points. After this one project, most of them are cracked and bent! I really liked working with them, but if you use them for socks, don't try on your socks while they are on the needles. Bad idea.
I used my own toe up pattern, with a basic short row heel, and then I just kept increasing when I got to the calf. I did the ribbing on top (you can't see it in this picture, but there's another pic that shows it) on size 00 US needles. They stay up usually, but I'm thinking of running a little elastic through the inside of the ribbing.
Alternate Views:
Calf Increases
View from the side
