Finished Objects of 2012

This is my sad little list of Finished Objects that made my blog this year.  I knit so many more things.  But these are the ones that made the blog.



Holden Shawlette

Citron Shawl

Dawn of the Dead Socks

Hello Sweater

Traffic Island Socks

Water and Stone Cardigan

Rejoicing!

So I did in fact put my purple mohair sweater in a bowl of water in preparation for blocking on Wednessday.

It is still there.

It is a sort of progress right?

I also started a new project.

I flipped a coin.  Walpole won.

I also knit like a fiend on The Greatest's sweater when he returned to work last night.  I am almost ready to split for the front and back.  Go Me!

In other news I am cold.

It is finally time to bust out the hand knit socks!

There is much rejoicing throughout my bedroom.

I knit these lovelies a few months ago.

Pattern:  Marlene

Yarn:  from Sonoran Desert Dyed Fibers, 1 skein

Needles:  Size 2 knit picks Harmony Needle using magic loop

Modifications:  None that I remember.

Review:  These socks are lovely.  I love it when yarn dyers leave some white in the mix, instead of covering every inch of yarn with technicolor.  Don't get me wrong, I love it when every single inch of yarn is covered in color too!  I love yarn.

This yarn is hand dyed with all natural dyes that come from the Sonoran Desert.  How very cool is that.  I know the dyer, and she is ton of fun, opinionated, caring.  Love that girl.  I hate hearing about designers or independent dyers and the stories are unflattering.  It makes me not want to give my money to mean people.  Let me assure you that you can buy her yarn with a clear conscience knowing it goes to an amazing woman with an open heart.

The pattern is from Cookie A.

What more do I need to say?

It was well written, and I love how the design seamlessly transitions from the leg to the heel

and from the foot to the toe.

And they are warm.  Beautiful and warm.

Bring on the (relatively) cold(ish) weather.

I Really Need Better Photography Skillz

You probably can't tell what that slightly blurry picture with bad lighting is.  Which is why it is a good thing I'm here.  I can tell you what that slightly blurry picture of bad lighting is.  It is the completed cowl neck on my purple mohair sweater.

Why yes, I am AWESOME!

I braved dangers of The Abyss to rescue my size seven needles.  Round and round I knit as I got caught up on The Walking Dead (for once I didn't want to smack Carl, but I always want to smack Andrea).  We all know how stupid fast zombies make me knit, so two episodes, and my cowl was done.

Now for the finishing work.

Ordinarily this is when I would toss my project into The Abyss and move on.  There is always more knitting to be done.  Finishing work is for chumps.

But I am changing.

I am turning over a new leaf.

I am scared of the knitwear eating monster that lives in The Abyss.

Plus, I still can't decide between these two sweater patterns.  I think I'm leaning towards knitting Walpole first, but then I remember the fantastic yarn I want to use for Olive Basket.  What's a girl to do?

So between my new found resolve to not feed the beast in The Abyss, and my indecision about what to knit next, I've decided that today I will be weaving in the ends of my purple mohair sweater.

And if I really get going, maybe I'll block it.

But I don't want to get too far ahead of myself, so maybe not.

Speaking of blocking and blurry photos with bad lighting want to see the latest thing I finished?

Isn't it fantastic?

I had clean hair.   My bangs were fantastic, laying just right.  I had on lipstick.  I was looking super thin in my black shirt.  The stars had all aligned and I looked smokin hot.

Twenty three pictures, three different rooms, two different people manning the camera, and this was the best picture we took.

Fail.

No biggie, I thought.  I'll just take more pictures of Sweet Pea wearing my shawl.

But she was in a mood.

So was the shawl.  Reluctant to be seen with my moody model it moved and blurred in every shot



(although in hind sight that too could have been Sweet Pea)

We took pictures until they were both worn out.   And that is when the magic happened.

Pattern:  Holden Shawlette

Yarn:  Southwest Trading Company TOFUtsies, 1 skein

Needles:  size 6

Modifications:  I ran out of yarn, so I left off the picot edge.

Review:  I love it, I love it, I love it, I love it.

I will admit that when it was all dry from blocking and I removed the blocking pins, this shawl was stiff as a board.  The yarn is a wool/soy/cotton blend and it dried so stiff it was crunchy.

I wanted to cry.

But it was so pretty.  Look at it.  It is so pretty.  And I've never been one to shy away from a little discomfort in the name of beauty, so I wore it lost night when I went out.

And a Christmas Miracle occurred.

As I wore it, the shawl became softer and softer against my neck.  Every movement, every hug, every twist and turn added more give to the fibers.  While it isn't merino soft, it is now something  fluid and flexible and I love it so much.

Christmas.Miracle.

Inspiration at Last!

Well, it wasn't inspiration, so much as a google search.

I typed in "fix huge hole in knitting" and I found this Knitty article.

It proved quite helpful.

I wouldn't say it is a seamless fix.  I certainly see where the repair is, but it is better than a huge hole.  So there is that.  With practice I could probably get better and make a seamless repair with this technique.  Let us hope I never have to practice this again.  Bottom line, the shawl is saved.  I think it can now be worn, at the very least it can be bunched up as a scarf.

So I finally present...

My Citron, as modeled by my four year old,

Pattern:  Citron

Yarn:  Misti Alpaca Lace Weight (leftover from this project)

Needles:  Size 6?  Possibly on Knit Picks Harmony needles, if I knit this before I knelt on my beautiful harmony needles and snapped one right in half *sob*  Let us observe a moment of silence for my Harmony needle.

Modifications:  Not really a modification, I just knit until I ran out of yarn.  Then I stopped.  So I might have more or less repeats than the pattern called for.

Review:  I can't decide which I love more.  The shawl?

Or my model.

They're both pretty awesome.

The hole was a devastating blow.  But I think when worn as a scarf the repair blends in nicely.

As always I love the Misti Alpaca.  It is alpaca.  And silk.  What's not to love?

And while I pondered how to repair this shawl I managed to block another pretty little thing.

But that is a knit for another day.

Slight of Hand

I wish I could tell you that I thought of a brilliant plan to save my red shawl.

I haven't.

My red shawl may or may not still be pinned to the floor of my bedroom because I just don't know what to do with it.

I'm not gonna lie, the best plan I've got is to throw it back into The Abyss.

What's a girl to do?

I'd like to knit the cowl for my mohair sweater, but I need my size 7 needles.

Wanna guess where they are?

Yup, they're in The Abyss.

On The Greatest's Weasley Sweater.

Some days I just give up.

Let me distract you with some socks.

Pattern:  Dawn Of The Dead

Yarn:  Premiere Yarn Serenity Sock weight, 2 skeins

Needles:  size 2 dpns

Modifications:  none that I remember

Review:  I knit these for Pork Chop.  The yarn colors were made for her.  Her favorite color has always been green.  She's currently cultivating a major obsession with zombies.  So green and decay.  Just the colors she needs.  It could be worse, it could be an affinity for Justin Bieber.  I pick my battles, and zombies are not even a battle to fight.  My love for the Walking Dead might suggest zombies are something to encourage.  So for now I let her read Zombie Survival Guides, and knit her socks with lace patterns called "Shredded Tendon" and "Dripping Flesh."

I didn't love this yarn.  The texture was a bit stiff and scratchy, but Pork Chop isn't complaining.  She must have very tough feet.  I like how the colors blended when knit in the sock.

This heel is a bit of a mess.  Don't get me wrong.  I love the look of the lace heel.  But if I had been smart I would have modified the pattern to include a more traditional sturdier heel, this sock will never stand up to being worn in shoes.  These are around the house socks only.

So there you go.  A wildly successful knit to distract you from the stunning cluster of nothing I am producing this week.

Actually I've been very productive this week.  I've finished my Knit Picks test knit.  I'm a roughly halfway through a different test knit.  Neither of which can be photographed for public consumption.  I finished a commissioned newborn set (it was even crochet, the Mayans might be right, the world may be coming to an end) but it is currently being washed, so no good photo ops there.  Highly productive, just not in a blog friendly way.

Guess I'd better dig out those size 7 needles after all.

Burn Baby Burn

As expected

Black Ops December has begun.  I will see him again sometime next week.  I just need to be sure to put nourishment within his reach (sandwiches, pizza, popcorn, hand food) at regular interval and everything should be just fine.

In other news our Elf showed up last night.

He is always fun to have around.  The children didn't like having him hang upside down like that.  They thought it looked uncomfortable.  So the first thing they did this morning was cut him down.  Then Sweet Pea fed him peanut butter on saltine crackers.  I think he is really going to enjoy his stay with us this year.

In knitting news, My purple mohair sweater (I have to identify it with the word mohair since I recently realized I've been knitting an unusual amount of purple sweaters lately) has two sleeves

and quite possibly enough yarn to knit the cowl after all.

Which is good because the sleeves are pulling the neckline really wide and I don't love it anymore.

In random news I've decided to burn the house down.  It really is the only way to deal with things like this.  It is the only way to be sure.

What am I talking about?

Let me go back a few hours.

I decided that while I was knitting on my mohair sweater I could multi-task, and block something from The Abyss.  Once again I dove into the depths, and I came up with my Citron shawl.  It was knit from an alpaca/silk blend in the most gorgeous shade of red.  I knit it, and then, lacking any idea how to block the ruffle at the bottom, I tossed it into The Abyss, where it patiently sat waiting for inspiration to strike on just how to block out that ruffle.

I'm still waiting for the light bulb to go off.

This morning I decided to just do it.  Just block it and see what happens.  I took the wad of alpaca and plopped it in my blocking bowl.  Then I pinned it out to dry.  Turns out the bottom ruffle was no problem at all.

It is lovely, and I can't wait to wear it.

Only... do you see it?

Yeah...you see it.  You can't miss it.  That hole is the size of a quarter.  A hole I have no idea how to fix.  A hole that has ruined my shawl *sob*

Something has obviously been munching on my handknits.

A MONSTER FROM THE ABYSS IS EATING MY KNITWEAR.

The only thing to do is kill it with fire.

Burning down the house is the only way to be sure.

For the good of the yarn I must burn down the house.

Or buy some bug spray.

The Abyss

The other day I was cleaning up my side bar a little bit.  Updating the "Things I Knit" link.  Adding the ones I've blogged this year.  Take a look real quick.  It won't take long.  Go ahead.

Did you see that?

I've only got three things on the list.

Sad.

I've only blogged three Finished Objects that I've knit this year, and I'm pretty sure one of them was actually knit in 2011.

So very sad.

Bad Knitting Blogger, no cookie for you.

Then I went and tried on my pretty pretty purple sweater to see if the length was long enough.  Could I bind off?  I was wearing olive green cargo pants.  Oh the clashing.  The cargo pants sat low on my hips.  It was terrible with the line of the sweater and I could not get a clear idea of whether or not I liked the length.

I could have gone and put my jeans on to see what it looked like with pants I would ACTUALLY wear this sweater with.

But I didn't.

Instead I threw the sweater into "The Abyss."

And then I realized what my blogging problems were.

I have knit roughly eleventy bajillion things this year.  I am always knitting.

But I am never finishing.

I knit until I run into a problem (like lacking a second size 9 needle, or wearing the wrong pants when I try on a sweater) and my main system of conflict resolution appears to be throwing the item into The Abyss.  Or I knit something to completion, it simply needs blocked and the end woven in, and instead I throw it into The Abyss as an offering to the yarn gnomes.

Turns out yarn gnomes don't block either.

What is The Abyss?

This is The Abyss.

My crafts are the Harry Potter of my house.  They live in the closet under the stairs.  Half finished projects abound.  If you look you can see my Flaming June and the yarn from Sweet Pea's failed fuzzy purple sweater.  My other purple sweater (I guess I am on a bit of a purple kick lately) and my Miette are in the bamboo bag.  The paisley bag on the left hold my Dad's Aran Sweater, as it has for the past six years.  The Christmas Bag hold's The Greatest's Weasley Sweater.  Those are just the ones on top.  There are so many layers to The Abyss.

Speaking of The Greatest's sweater, see how it grows.

There is progress, not as much as I would like, but progress none the less.

The Greatest is taking the next eleven off as vacation days.  No real plans.  The man just never takes vacation so he had days to burn.  I think this will forever be known as Black Ops II December.  I expect to see him with a controller in hand every waking moment right up until the final minute of vacation when he is forced kicking and screaming to return to work.  My only problem with this plan lies in the fact that I will be unable to work on his sweater while he is home.

How dare he not take my knitting needs into account when he plans his vacations.

Rude.

Since I can no longer work on his sweater I wanted to cast on something new.  I love casting on.  I love reading new patterns and stash diving for the perfect yarn match.  I love winding new yarn into neat little yarn cakes.  I just love everything about it.

Only all my needles are in The Abyss.

They are all being used on projects that have thrown into The Abyss.

Oh the shame of The Abyss.

There is really only one thing to do:  Buy more needles.

Only I'm poor, and don't have the patience to wait for Knit Picks Shipping (Christmas is coming, send Sunstruck Circulars).

So instead, like a responsible adult,  I put on my big girl panties, and my favorite jeans.  I then plunged into The Abyss.  I surfaced with the mohair sweater.

I determined the length was good.

And I've decided I really like the rolled neckline, so if I run out of yarn to knit the cowl I will still be able to sleep at night.

So now I'm off to bind off and knit some sleeves.

Wonder what will come out of The Abyss next.

Painfully Slow

So I've taken this previous attempt at knitting The Greatest a sweater

(Which I know, looks suspiciously like the sweater I'm trying to knit.)

And I turned it back into this.

I spent last night knitting it into this.

When I woke this morning it looked like this.

Apparently the yarn gnomes will only knit with mohair/silk yarn at night.  No helping me with the Cascade 220 sweater.

Wonder if I can bribe the yarn gnomes with chocolate