Boots

Ok. I must have these boots. They are from Anthropologie and are $268.00. Not gonna happen. I spent the entire morning traversing Huntsville in search of something similar... nothing to be found. So then I thought - Could I make them? I mean, they wouldn't be that hard, would they? Just like socks, but where do I get the soles? I looked online, and I couldn't find anything, but I'm not giving up yet. Any ideas? I am completely consumed with the idea and can think of little else right now. I am going to start swatching/trying out a pattern tonight... I am thinking about using a brown tweed yarn with a herringbone stitch. And then lining them with either fleece or flannel (ha! not the kitties!) to make them thicker and warmer. But will they stand up? I could use some of that, oh, whats it called? That stuff you iron onto the back of fabric to make it stiff? Anyway, that might work. I don't want them to be tight like socks are... Oooo, I think this might work if I can just figure out the soles. I'm going to check out the thrift store and see if there is anything I can reuse there - like maybe take apart some old boots and just use the soles? I'll have to figure out how to attach the knitted part to the sole, but I think I could just sew them. Or maybe have a shoe repair person attach them?

Ok, so much for getting any work done today. Knitting is much more important!

More Warm Heads!

Caroline's Hat:
This was made from my huge, annoying stash of Lion Brand Jiffy. It knit up in a night though, and turned out very warm and cute. No pattern, just figured it out myself. It was a request for some sort of patterned white hat, and I think she'll like it.






Will's Hat
This was another request--for just a really warm hat--from about a year ago that I finally got around to making. I believe it was well worth the wait since what I was knitting last year definitely wasn't this cute. I am really proud of the cables on this one, since I have seen hats like this a few times, but I just figured the pattern out myself without even looking at one while I did it. All from the noggin, and it worked out really well. I like the colors I chose from my narrowing selection a lot but I ran out of the gray yarn about two inches from the top and finished with a slightly different color (a little more shiny). You can see a little in the photo of me wearing it, but you can hardly see it at all in person. I gave it to him last night and he really seemed to like it!





Vicki's Hat
Lastly, I reproduced the exact hat that Jill made for me when she was visiting for Vicki so that she wouldn't steal mine. Since I was going to make the white hat for Caroline, I used mauve instead of white for the two narrowest stripes, which isn't quite as satisfying, but the spherocity of the hat is phenomenal on Vicki's head.

Squared Afghan

Pattern: Squared Afghan

Source: Free in-store pattern from Lion Brand Yarn

Yarn: Mission Falls 1824 Wool

Hook: H

This was a gift that I made for my friends' wedding last weekend. I absolutely love how it turned out... I love the colors and the squares and the pattern, and how the crochet stitch looks. It was quite simple to make and I got quite a bit faster at crocheting by doing this project. Crocheting goes so much faster than knitting does! Instead of sewing the squares together, I crocheted them together. If I ever make something like this again, I will use crochet to attach the squares to one another. I hate sewing, so I like the crocheting better, and I think it looks much nicer. It turned out a bit smaller than I had hoped, but it will make a nice lap blanket. I ran out of yarn and time...

This was a really good stash busting project - I had the yarn in my stash for about a year and I used it ALL UP. Every last bit! I have made a resolution to only use yarn from my stash from now until I move... My stash is getting a little out of control, and also, I don't want to have to move yarn across the country. I'd rather move sweaters and hats and scarves :)

As for my current projects, I just finished a scarf. It is blocking as I write & I will post about it when it dries, which may be a while. I am also working on my first pair of toe-up socks... Love em! Toe up is the way to go, for sure. Its so much easier than top down.

And then next on the agenda is a baby sweater from my friend who is expecting in February. AND THEN, I can get to the knit-along sweater.... have you guys started yet? One of us should buy the pattern soon. I am thinking about using a brownish tweed yarn, do you think that will look okay for the sweater? Its what I have... and I can't buy any new yarn, you know?

Finally, the sweater

Pattern: Carolyn Cardigan

Source: Knitty Spring 2007

Yarn: Lion Brand Lion Wool

Needle: US 8

Start: 8/9/07

Finish: 11/30/07

This is definatley the most wearable garment I have made so far... I am really happy with how it looks, how it fits, and how it feels. It is very comfortable. This one took a while and I was very particular about finishing it. And it was so worth the wait. The pattern was really not that well written. The front and the back don't have the same number of rows, so when you are putting it all together, I had to unravel parts and reknit so that the stripes would match up. The sleeves are HUGE if knit as the pattern is written. I ended up knitting one sleeve three times before I came up with something I was happy with. And also, the neck was huge, like a boat neck, so I ended up modifying that as well. I learned the mattress stitch for seaming, which I am so happy with. I had never used it before and thought I would be really tedious and annoying (based on other's comments about seaming), but I didn't find it that difficult. And the seams look so nice! As I am growing as a knitter, one of the things I am learning is patience. Rushing through things and not paying attention to the little details is not worth it in the end. And that inner voice that says "this doesn't look right" is usually right, so I should listen to it more often!

MODIFICATIONS:

Sleeves: CO 38 sts, increase every 14 rows (13 rows St st, one increase row) until I had 48 sts, then I started increasing every 6th row (5 rows St st). Then I increased every other row for 4 rows (64 sts). My sleeve was 18.75" at this point. Then I followed the directions for shaping the sleeve caps.
Neck/Collar: I decreased the neck stitches by half... the first row I k2tog all the way around.
Other: Five buttons instead of seven.

2007: I knit a little too.

These were my projects in 2007!
1. Headband, 2. Sweater, 3. Blanket, 4. Pillowcover I, 5. Cowl, 6. Cabled hat, 7. Legwarmers, 8. Entrelac Purse, 9. Cowl, 10. Cabled Hat, 11. Pillowcover, 12. Lacy Skirt with Bows, 13. patchwork purse, 14. Beret, 15. Leg warmers

2007: A Year of Knitting

2007 was a very productive year for me in terms of knitting... I really developed as a knitter over the year and tried a lot of new techniques: cabling, fair isle, lace, seaming and finishing, entrelac. I feel like I learned quite a bit about different fibers, how they look, how they drape, what they can be used for (i.e., don't use cotton to make a skirt!).

In 2007 I finished:
3 pairs of mittens

3 sweaters

6 pairs of socks

3 tank tops

7 hats

7 dishcloths

6 scarves

1 coin purse

1 felted box

1 skirt

1 shawl

1 baby sweater

1 pair baby booties

2 crochet birdies

1 headband

I've been trying to think of what my favorites from this year are... its so hard to pick, though. The skirt was the first major project that I did and I loved it before it stretched all out... I am very proud of the Swallowtail shawl, I feel like it was a big accomplishment, however it's not something I wear very often. I am also proud of the fair isle mittens... again, it was something more difficult that I had not done before and they are beautiful. As for wearability, I have worn my striped cardigan quite a few times (and always get compliments!). My other favorites are: Wisp, Liesel, and Molly's socks. All in all, it was a tremendous year for knitting and I hope to learn even more in 2008!

Mom Mittens

Pattern: Norwegian Mittens by Elizabeth Zimmerman

Source: Knitters Almanac

Yarn: Knit Picks Telemark

Needles: US 4
Start: 11/30/07
Finish: 12/23/07

Happy New Year! This is the last of the Christmas knits... mittens for my mom. This was really my first stranded knitting project and I think they turned out quite lovely! I did make a simple fair isle hat about a year ago, but this was a tad more advanced. I did have a few problems in the beginning, but once I got a rhythm down and figured things out, it was smooth sailing. It is a bit more puckery than I would like, but most of that smoothed out with blocking. I like Elizabeth Zimmerman's patterns because the basics are there, but you still have to do some figuring out for yourself. I will definately be making another pair of these for myself.