Fall 2013

It feels as though I never get to knit anything. Still, evidently, I blog even less than I knit, as I have three finished items to show off!

First the big thing, i.e. the Green Pig Hoodie for DD.

Pattern from Novita Ipana - magazine, small moderations (e.g. knit in round).

Then a pair of Deflect-socks. Rellana-yarn from a ravelry swap (scandinavian RAK group, I think) years ago.

 

Yes, you're right, I wrote finished projects, but I still have to weave in those loose ends, I know! :-).

 

And last, a hat for DD's bunny. This bunny goes with her everywhere, and yesterday she realised that bunny has no hat. First order was a hat with holes for the ears, but the project grew as I was crocheting, and we ended up with a really nice helmet with ears. Can't have bunny's ears get cold, right! Fortunately stash consists not only of lace yarn, I found one bulky Novita Karuselli (acrylic) which was perfect for this project, start to finish while DS was napping.

 

 

Cowl

DD chose a very blue overall for this fall, so I think she needs some very pink accessories to help people understand that she's not a boy. Calls for a pink cowl, that is.

I actually got this yarn from my secret friend in the SSNY 2010 if I remember correctly. She had knit a pair of socks for my DD, back then a baby/toddler, and sent me the rest of the yarn for mittens and such. Well, I never got that far. Fortunately, because I'm very glad that I have this yarn now! (I love the old Sandnes Lanett by the way. So soft, thin, comfortable!)

Pattern Unikko from Ullaneule.net (in Finnish, I think you can find an English translation via Ravelry). Some modifications, since I have a thinner yarn, a younger and thinner daughter, and a will of my own (also to be known as accustomed habits).

Cast on 108 sts. Did the M1's left- and right-slanting one stitch inside the stockinette border. And bound off a couple of rows before the last increase row, since we (DD and I) thought it was ready. Bound off using my favorite stretchy bind-off that I use for my shawls.

Inlaid Lace Mitts once more!

I mentioned a project last spring that I still have no pics for on this computer, so I won't blog about that. Instead, I'll just let you know that they, too, were a pair of Inlaid Lace Mitts from InterweaveKnits spring issue 2013. (Actually, the last issue of my subscription, I'm glad I still got that one!)

Anyway, I used those pink mitts the other week when I was outdoors with the kids, anda neighbor asked me how much I'd charge her if I were to make her a similar pair. I did tell her what the price would be for a stranger/not good friend, so that she'd know the value of them, and then I went to dig through my stash for some nice leftover lace yarn.

Ended up with a small ball of Knit Picks Alpacka Cloud that I got some years ago in a lace swap on Ravelry. Most of the yarn ended up a shawl, of course, but the leftovers just might be enough for a pair of these mitts. Once again, I cast on, and started to be anxious about whether I had enough yarn or not.

Well, I did. I even knit two more repeats of the cuff pattern and still have 5 grams left.

 

Beautiful they are, and so I think I'll keep these for my self and give my neighbor the pink ones instead...

Flower Hats

I made three of these in white a couple of years ago. This year's color turned out to be red, and as I had a deadline, they're finished! It really just takes a couple of days to make a hat like this if one has the time. With toddler and little child in the house, it apparently takes a couple of months...

DD asked for one for herself too. I do have yarn, but not necessarily time, let's see what happens.

A Green Pig Hat

Am not blogging finished objects in order now, since pics of my second last project are only on my iPad and blogspot won't let me add photos from iPad's camera roll - apparently iPhone camera roll uploads work, but not iPad? Will have to go back and give it another try when I get the iPad back from DD (which probably will be next time she has a high fever, so hopefully not too soon...)

Last project was a quickie. Or, well, it took more than three days, but I almost made two of these since my first try ended up too big - this calls for very tight crochet, and first I tried a bit looser to get a softer hat, but that did not work out too well. This hat can be made in two or three days. With children around, that is!

Pattern from Novita Ipana-lehti, wouldn't be too difficult to make it up self, but I'm lazy. On the bad side this way I have to put up with the things that always annoy me when working with Finnish pattern descriptions - my second last project was from Interweave Knits and I so much prefer the exactness of patterns in English!

Novita Isoveli yarn, crochet hook 4,0mm.

This was meant for little brother, but big sister owned it. Will have to see what to do about that. Perhaps she'd like a black angry bird hat enough to trade?

Adventure, Warmth and a Mystery!

Oh dear, I'm actually here! And I have some knitting to report!!!!

But first some crochet, including one of my two reasons for not knitting so much the past year or two.

This young pirate friend of mine spent a couple of days as a fairy princess (a friend's birthday party + just for fun), after which she decided she was a pirate. Immediate need for Mom to crochet an eye patch, that is. Note the necklace, booty from mentioned birthday party.

Anyway, I've been knitting on these trousers for ages, but today I finally finished them! These are meant for next winter, fortunately, and they're huge, but knowing how fast this pirate grows, I think they won't be too bad in half a year or so.

Used Drops Nepal yarn, and adapted a pattern from the same source.

And to finish for today, a book thought from this morning. I really don't have much time for myself, and haven't slept properly for 1½ year, and when I finally have two minutes, THIS is what pops up in my mind:
In Pride and Prejudice it's Lady Catherine who tells Mr Collins that he should get a wife (nearly misspelled that as wifi - oops!).  Why? What made her want him to marry? What had he done? Had he been too friendly with servant girls in the village (unwelcomed of course, but still annoying). Or perhaps Mr Collins never really was interested in women ;-). My own guess is that he had showed some hopes to marry Lady Catherine's daughter, that stupid man... Or even more freaky; that poor girl was about to do something sílly and had to be stopped?