Posts from the ‘Knitting’ category

Finished Object: Fat Sock Baby Surprise Jacket

on November 19, 2007

The Facts:
Pattern: Baby Surprise Jacket from The Opinionated Knitter by Elizabeth Zimmermann
Yarn: 2 skeins Hello Yarn Fat Sock- 170 yards, 2.5 oz. each
Gauge: 5 sts. per inch
Size: 17.5″ around, 17.5″ cuff to cuff, so, taking into consideration the thickness of the fabric, to fit about a 6 month old baby according to standard sizing
Needles: size 5 Addi Turbo, 40″ long
Buttons: vintage plastic I’ve had for years and which match so well
Started: November 11, 2007
Finished: November 18, 2007`

Thoughts on Yarn:
I knit this at the same gauge as the handspun one, but with finer yarn (sport vs. worsted). It’s definitely more of a sweater than a jacket, like the handspun one. The handspun BSJ is a softly spun 2 ply yarn knit tightly, and this one is a “hard” yarn knit loosely. The fabric has a very different hand. The handspun feels spongy and amazingly soft, while the Fat Sock in garter stitch acts like a spring! It’s very soft, too, but so different. I’m glad I copied the rest of you.

Pattern:
I didn’t change a thing about the pattern other than I bound off in knits from the right side instead of purls, since I like how the chain edge looks. For the shoulders, I used the running stitch on the wrong side and it’s plenty sturdy in such a small piece.

Fiber Club:
The shipment should be going out at the end of this week. I bit off a BIG chunk with how many slots I opened up this month, but it’s almost done. :)

Winter:
It’s trying to snow and there are Christmas trees at the fruit stand, already! Are you all as excited to finally be wearing all your handknits as we are? Mr. HelloYarn has been sporting the Mean Man Hat every day and Fugl has been my jacket of choice, along with the Noro striped scarf. Don’t tell me they clash!

16 Comments

Finished Object: Jackyll & Hide

on October 28, 2007

Sorry, nothing found.

 

Ooh, scary!

Pattern: Jackyll & Hide from Fall 2007 Knitty
Yarn: Plymouth Tweed (a worsted weight), colorway 530, just a tad more than 2 skeins.
Needle: size 7 Addi Turbo for magic loopin’
Gauge: 4.5 sts. per inch
Size: one size- 16.75″ around head/face
Fit: It’s okay on my head, which is 21″ around the widest part (nose), but on my husband, the model, whose head is a little bigger, it’s a little tight.

Thoughts and Modifications:

This pattern is simple and fantastic and so, so scary-looking. I love it.

What I hadn’t considered is that my glasses won’t fit under this. I plan to wear it to hand out candy on Halloween, and I hope the kids don’t figure out they can get me to give them candy 14 times each because I can’t actually see them!

One thing that bothered me about the pattern as written was the eye holes, which weren’t quite tidy enough for me. I moved the increases and decreases one stitch away from the edge, didn’t bind off the bottom two stitches, since that creates a gap between stitches, but rather kept them on holders throughout, then did a single crochet edging around the hole, binding off those two stitches with that. I used M1F for the increase on the left side (facing you) of the eye hole and M1B for the right. See here for those increases. The neatness pleases me. It makes the eye holes a little smaller, and if I were to do this again, I’d make them bigger to start with. As you can see, the width of the strip of fabric between the eye holes makes Mr. HelloYarn’s eyes look a little wonky. He may or may not have played this up for one of the photos.

I also changed the first K2TOG of the decreases at the top of the hat to SSK, which is personal preference again.

Happy Halloween. BOO!!

26 Comments

Handspun Leg Warmers

on October 26, 2007

Handspun socks are a wondrous thing, but I work from home and run around in my socks all day on wooden floors, so they’re not the best for me. My heart seizes up a little at the thought of blown out heels on handspun and handknit knee socks, in particular, but a fan of knee socks I am. It’s COLD here in Boston in my little old house and I have enough chubby wool socks, so what I needed was to extend the length of these socks. Hooray for leg warmers! These are fitted, not the sloppy kind of my junior high years. They’re pure function, if you don’t count the high voltage color. They don’t take much yarn, either! This is undoubtedly the first pair of many, because – WOW- they are cozy.

The Facts:
Yarn: Maisy Day Handspun 2 ply bulky weight handspun Merino wool 2 ply, 5 oz. and 202 yards (I used every bit of this yarn, splitting the ball in half with a scale to get the most out of it. Amazingly enough, they are the perfect size.)
Needle: size 7 Addi Turbo for ye olde magic loop
Gauge: 4 sts. per inch
Size: 13″ long and 11″ around at the top, 9″ at the bottom (measured in stockinette section, not ribbing).
Fit: My legs are 15″ around at the largest calf point and 8″ at the ankle, meaning I’ve got some negative ease going on here. I didn’t make them as tight at the bottom as the top because they need to go over chunky woolen socks. They’re soft and stretchy, so they are not binding in the least.

These are knit just like a sleeve. Cast on and rib a bit, and then start increasing 2 sts. per increase row with the increase rows spaced about an inch apart, until you get to the desired upper leg measurement. Work straight and do a bit more ribbing. These are knit at a firm gauge and stay up with absolutely no problem.

PS: I don’t normally wear my jeans rolled up that high, but I’m not promising anything now that I have such flash leg warmers. :)

PPS: Cobblestone’s coming. I haven’t had time to do her justice in both photography and a blog post. Soon!

12 Comments