Socks, socks, and more socks!

The first pair...

Approximately one year ago (give or take a couple of weeks) I decided, “Screw it. I’m learning how to use those stupid itty bitty DPNs and I’m making socks.” Five days later, I had my first pair. They were done in a Red Heart Heart and Sole with Aloe yarn, and I haven’t looked back.

Obviously, my sock yarn palette has become more sophisticated, but for that first pair, I didn’t want to screw it up, so I used something cheap. I don’t think anyone can fault me for that! I still have this first pair of socks and I love them. They show that even though I was a beginner (with socks, at least), I was able to set a goal and accomplish it. Now, I have enough socks to wear a hand knit pair every day for about a week, and I have about five other balls of sock yarn sitting in my stash waiting for me to get to them. I think they sit there, not so much waiting as lurking. ;)



Horseshoe Cables with ShiBui





After starting with said Heart and Sole, I moved on to some Hazel Knits, then to some ShiBui Sock (which, in my humble opinion is still one of the best deals out there in terms of quality to price ratio), I have in my stash some gorgeous blue from Miss Babs (purchased at Sock Summit specifically for Tardis socks), a beautiful bright yellow with sparkles from Knitted Wit, a really cool camo colorway from Pico Accuardi, and yes, even some of Lion Brand’s sock… what can I say, it was on sale, and I kinda dig the color.

Ann Budd design with Sanguine Gryphon

I love the sense of completion when a pair of socks is done. You know that you will get use out of them. Probably more so than anything else that you take the time to knit. You ALWAYS need socks. Yes, I know there is magic loop, and knitting two at a time on circulars, but something about doing them each individually is ultra satisfying to me. Watching this little tube grow… I don’t know. It’s just kind of cool. There are so many methods and different types of heels, toes, cast-ons, cast offs… the variety is endless, and so are the patterns! I have several sock pattern books, yet always crave more! Cookie A is one of my favs, but I also really enjoy just a simple ribbed sock, which makes for great tv knitting, or audio book knitting… or knitting when there are kids around.

Nutkin with IndigoDragonfly's Captain TightPants

I don’t think that my love for socks is going anywhere anytime soon… and I look forward to the next time Sock Summit comes to PDX!

Yeee Hawwww!

One of the projects I was working on at the same time as the custom sweater was a little holster set.  I have a three year old who is OBSESSED with pirates and now, cowboys.  We had bought him a little cowboy gun set that came with a plastic holster set.  It tore.  Shock.  So, instead of sewing on my poor, tired, in desperate need of a tune up, sewing machine, I decided to felt.

I've only felted a few times previously, so I wasn't necessarily sure how this was going to come out.  I used a fairly large needle size, as well as two strands of the Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool for this project... I had a TON left over from the previous felting endeavour.  I basically knit rectangles and a belt, felted them down, added some craft felt for the stars and blanket stitched the edges.  We then found a SWEET belt at a local thrift shop, took the buckle off, and attached it to the felted belt... it even had a cowboy on it.  Score.

End result:  a new, very stylish holster and belt that he won't take off!  The pattern is available for purchase on my Etsy site, here.

Lion Brand Projects

So, as much as I love shopping at my LYS (any one of the 6 that I frequent) there is a Michaels about 3 minutes away from my house and, well, they have coupons.  One of the ways I keep my prices low is that, well, I'm kind of... cheap.  Okay, let's rephrase that.  How about thrifty?  I am always on the look out for a great deal - even when I am shopping at an LYS.  (I can say that all of my Christmas presents are either handmade or from local merchants).  The reason that I like the Lion Brand line of products is because while on the inexpensive side, they are also good quality.  That allows me to create some pretty cool stuff, while not breaking the bank.

Two of the projects that I have been working on this week have been a set of French Press Knit's Felted slippers and also a scarf for a repeat client who I went to Junior High and High School with.

Project number one... French Press' felted slippers.  Very rarely do I pay for individual patterns - I'll go and get a book that has something similar in it instead, but this one (and it's great reviews) got me.  It's super fast to knit up, and looks like it took forever!  I'm not the world's greatest (or most experienced) felter, but even for me, these came out pretty good!  Unfortunately, I'm a dingbat and forgot to take a "All the way done, with the button, and non-slip stuff on the bottoms" picture... but, here's the process shots!

Strings tied to the front, and a different one tied to the left slipper

I used the Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool in the solid brown, but I think that any of those colors would have looked great.  I really like how this particular product felts up, and really, the whole felting process only took about 20 minutes.  Total estimated time on this project?  About three and a half hours.  TOTALLY worth the seven dollars I paid for the pattern!

The second project of this week (so far - welcome to Christmas crafting, right?) is this totally cute scarf.  I had a version of this up on Etsy last winter with a portion of the proceeds being donated to Autism Speaks.  This year, I'm doing something a little bit different and making a bunch of goodies for an organization called "Warmth for All".  In any event, these particular scarves are made from the Lion Brand Homespun collection.  I like this particular yarn because it is soft, and because it is a synthetic, it has very easy care guidelines.  This scarf is created using a seed/moss stitch as the base and has a cable running along one side to give it an asymmetrical detail.  Slightly cooler than just your basic scarf, but not crazy difficult to accomplish either.  I will be putting this up as a pattern later this week.



Cable detailing



So, in the meantime... I still have several knit projects left to finish before the big day.... however, right now, I'm off to spend some time with my sewing machine making some bags for another sister in law's family...

A Seemingly Endless Process

Okay, not necessarily endless... I just get impatient easily.  My latest project is something actually for me.  I went into Knit Purl last weekend thinking I would get a nice, neutral charcoal for this particular project... I'm thinking an all around sweater for khakis, jeans, black pants, grey pants, etc.  What did I walk out with?

Image via Malabrigoyarn.com

This lovely worsted weight, kettle dyed Malabrigo yarn.  It's beautiful, with shades of greys and purples and blacks... not what I went in for, but it was SO pretty in the twisty ball, and then as it was wound I could see all of the color variations...

In any event, the sweater pattern that I am working is from LionBrand.com and it is their "Radiant Sweater."  I like this particular pattern because I'm rather small chested, and boat neck sweaters seem to do better on me, as they bring the eye to my face as opposed to the decollete...

Currently, after working on this for three days, I have both sleeves and a little less than half of the body done.  As much as I like the pattern and the yarn, the endless rounds of stockinette are killing me.  I'm trying really hard to stay focused, but sheesh!! 

OH!  And here's an image of the actual sweater... with that, I'm back to the rounds... and some Castle reruns.  I love Nathan Fillion. :)

What a Month!

Holy cow... I can't believe it's been almost a month since my last posting!  This is what I've been working on:

The Shrug This! pattern (which can be found here).  I've made this pattern three times with three different yarns, and here are some pics:

This one I made for me... for once!  It's done in the Lion Brand Nature's Choice Organic Cotton.  It is so soft and comfy - and looks great with both long sleeves and a tank top.  Am looking forward to wearing this A LOT.

The second one is made with Lion Brand Cotton Solids.  Just plain, simple and basic.  This one was made for Sally, Xavier's speech therapist, and I added a single mother of pearl button closure on it, which of course, she is welcome to ditch if she doesn't like it.  :)

The final one (well, it was actually the first one) I made for Ethan's friend Isabel's birthday.  She was turning 9, and well, while I'm good with boy's gifts... girls at this age kinda have me stumped.  :)  So, this one was done in Bernat's Cottontots.

I have measurements and exact yardage as well as sizing on Ravelry under Kusalaknits, and you can find my pattern review at Naughty Knitterz.com by clicking here.

The other thing I've been working on for a while has been a bunch of hats!  They are cute little newsboy/poorboy caps... and they are awesome.  So far, I think I've made 7 or 8 of them.  You can see more pics on Ravelry, of course, but here's one of me in one of them.  The kids' ones are slightly "poofier" than the adult ones, but I think that is probably a good thing.  You can find the pattern here.  I've used various yarns for this - everything from Patons Classic Wool to Lion Brand's Cotton Ease... all have great results.  I do like the cotton as we transition to summer - makes it more of a year-round wearable.

Two New Finished Projects!

I had a lot of cotton that I wasn't planning on using for much of anything, so what to do... Washcloths!  This cute little set is knit in a checkerboard type of pattern, very simple, but really cute.  And really repetitive!  Yikes.  Here's a pic... These are currently up on my Etsy site...

I really like the Lion Brand Cotton much better than the Sugar n Cream stuff.  It doesn't bleed nearly as much and it really is a lot softer.  That being said though, if you are doing washcloths for the kitchen, I've found that there needs to be a fair amount of ribbing or raised lines in order to get some scrubbing action going.

The other project that I finished was a little newsboy hat, for ME!  It's really cute and I like the way it turned out.  I will say that a friend of mine commented that I kind of looked like Link from The Legend of Zelda in the pic I took... which, really, I'm kind of okay with.  :)  I found the pattern with the intent to make one for my friend Carrie's little boy, but I wanted to practice the pattern and figure out if I needed to make any modifications before I made it for him.  Sure enough... I felt the brim was a little long for the adult version, so I shortened it, and I would also make the body of the hat a little larger - the pattern calls for it to be 5" long before starting the decreases, I think I would probably go for 5.5" or 6" instead - just to make it a little poofier.  :)   For Alex's hat, where you see the buttons on me, there is going to be a little Cowboys star (for whatever reason, his parents are Dallas fans... When I make him Cowboys stuff, I have to pretend that it is really for a Penn State fan, otherwise, I don't know if I could do it... ;)

Next on tap: a cotton market bag for my friend Meghan, which I'm going to go and get the yarn for (hopefully today, if the weather cooperates) and a few more of these hats... I've already had a couple of requests! 

New Projects!

In the past few days, I have wrapped up a couple of things I was working on and started a few others.  I am gearing up for the PSU Earth Day festival by making a ton of coffee wraps and soapy holders - they are cheap, and this is an event at a college...

However, I did just finish a super pretty baby blanket - on size 50 needles - took all of about 4 hours, including the weaving in of the ends.  I like it, as I am not a huge fan of pastels on any kid, and this orange and green combo is pretty sweet looking...  It isn't overly huge at 30"x33" but, it is a great size for a stroller.  One of the problems I always had was I didn't want the kids to be cold, but at the same time, I didn't want the blankets draping on the ground either.  I found the pattern on Lion Brand, and I had a bunch of Homespun I wanted to use up, since Michael's had a massive sale and I bought a ton a few months ago.

Detail of the colors - not only is it green and orange, but it also increases and decreases in the intensity of each shade.

Close up of the edging detail... I like using yarn overs to make a built in interest detail.

All pretty and folded up - ready for gifting!  I also made the wrapping cord as well.

New Patterns...

I know I said I was going to rewrite that pattern for the blocks, however, I think I found one on the Lion Brand website that will work just as well.  (Check the sidebar for the link to their website... lots of surprisingly good free patterns)

I was playing around on their website for a while, and I came across a sweater pattern that I LOVE... I really like Boatneck or semi-boatneck tops, as I have a small frame and chest... this particular type of neckline seems to look best on me, as it doesn't draw attention to my lack of a cup size.  :)  Only problem is that this particular sweater seems slightly advanced for me, but I know if I don't just do it, or at least try it, then I won't make any progression either...  Here is the pic.  Thoughts?  (I'm not sure about the yellow either, I like it on her, but I don't know about it on me)  I am also digging on the longer length at the hip with the shorter sleeves - these things are all handy... especially after having kids - for various reasons.