Knits in 2008

Well the end of the year is coming, so I thought I'd look at what I've done over the past year in this world of Ps and Ks.





I had to split into two mosaics because for some reason, fdflickrtoys couldn't manage a 24 tiled mosaic - which is really strange. But I've tried a LOT of times and it still didn't work. So there, I decided to split up the mosaic into two.

Incidentally that also shows how much more I've done in the past year as compared to 2006 and 2007. I guess I'm knitting a little faster than before~ :) Not fast enough though, because I still have so much I want to do and so much yarns I want to use up. :P Among the projects, I'm surprised to have completed 3 scarves, 4 shawls, 5 pairs of socks, and 6 pairs of Fetchings! I feel really accomplished!

I hope to be able to continue knitting as much as I can next year like I did this year, and without giving up my gaming time or reading time. I don't think I'll have as many FOs next year though, especially if I do get to start work. I'm keeping my fingers (and toes and needles) crossed because although work means less knitting time, it means more moolah. And more moolah is good.

Well the year has its ups and downs, and as many of you would agree, knitting is good company during bad and good times. I am really pleased to have it with me when I get stuck in my games, when I run out of books to read, when I get bored in the MRT and when I am trying not to fall asleep in front of the tv.

Let's enjoy the last few days of 2008 and Have A Knitterly, Crafterly 2009 ahead everyone!! May there be more knits, yarns and FOs to come! :D

Season of Fetching

I've got 6 Fetchings done this year, all for different recipients.

The first pair was mine of course, done with Jaeger Extra Fine Merino. It's a Valentine's day gift set for us with Dashing.

Then I had a Fetching Frenzy around November and I thought I'd make them for some recipients. I had them in my head but I never found time to go down to get the yarns. I only managed to get the yarns in early Dec and made them all in a span of 6 days - with a break in between. So really, if you're looking for a last minute project, and have a ball of DK somewhere, try this!

:)

La Reine

I finished and blocked this awhile ago but never had the chance to take it out for a good photoshoot.

Anyways here's my Queen Anne's Lace :)



Queen Anne's Lace in Jaeggerspun Zephyr in Mahogany.



I loved knitting every bit of this. It was a pattern that keeps one interested and even though it gets bigger with every knitted round. LOVE it!!

Monkey

I'm back with a post!!

These are my monkeys.



The pattern is great!! I really love it. I did change the heel to an Eye of Partridge heel with garter edges though. I didn't like the original stst heel, especially with yarn like KP Essential - I don't think it's a good idea.

Why? KP Essential is very soft and fun to work with. But the problem is it pills easily, and soon I risk having 'furry' socks. You can see in some of my pictures that it attracts all sorts of stuff (like my dog's hair for example) very VERY easily. I have a feeling this would make the knitted fabric not very lasting...



On the other hand, I do love the pair as a whole. I love scrunching my socks when I wear them. So this pair makes me want to do that immediately. And here you can see me scrunch up the socks and the eye of partridge heel, which I think works great with the yarn's variegation!



I did this pair of socks simultaneously on dpns. And there's a strange story during my knitting process. Please scroll directly too the bottom if you find the story too long.

So you see I left one sock (presumeably sock A) on the needles at the end of the gusset decreases. And I started to work on sock B. On the day I was set to finish ONE sock (in this case sock B) I took out sock A to admire. (really!)

And lo and behold, the two socks are of the same length.

Somewhere in between I had been working on sock A as well! I had initially thought it was strange sock B was taking such a long time, and I would take an equally long time with sock A - so a large part of my knitting was sprinkled with 'why why why why why'. I also occasionally frequently tried on the socks and wondered why it's 'not there yet'

So when I finally thought I was taking out sock A to admire, I realized it was time to do the toe. For both!

Whoo!!!!


Monkey by Cookie A. on Clover 2.5mm dpns with Knitpicks Essentials in Tuscany Multi.

I'm working on projects now but I'm not talking about them yet. I've been too busy recently as I have a Japanese test tomorrow and I need to do good! (It's getting very tough but anyways) I also don't have my computer with me so hopefully I'll be able to take some pictures today and post them for some updates.

Fetching the Second

Yes! And FO!



And I didn't even have time to announce I casted on another project.



Decided to make my teacher a pair of Fetchings because they are so easy, so quick and so nice. I thought about what I had in my stash and lo and behold, of course I found something.

I never thought I'd make a pair of something again. But after finishing the second pair of Fetching, I started to wonder if I could make another pair for my friend in France. This really took very little time. I don't know if it is because I'm already familiar with the pattern, but I suspect it's also because of the 'thick' yarn (dk only, but it is thick compared to sock yarn or lace). I wasn't even 'knitting the whole day' like I would if I am anxious to finish something.


Fetching the Second in Sublime Cashmerino DK

Well ok now I can get back to my Monkey and think about when I should block my Queen Anne.

Baroque

I've finished the Baroque last friday.



This was an interesting knit but I must admit one must MUST pay attention when knitting this. I had a lot of tinking moments and it wasn't fun with all the twisted knitting. This is also the first time I'm knitting something from the CURRENT issue of knitty. I've also made a new friend via ravelry because of these socks, and all in all, I'm a happy camper.



Nevertheless the outcome is very beautiful. I'm glad about it too because this beautiful yarn has been ill-fated. It has gone through a few castons for a project which didn't work. So now, I'm happy to see it as a beautiful, stunning pair of Baroque.



Baroque from Knitty with Louet Gems in French Blue on KnitPicks Harmonies 2.25mm

And guess what, with the cast off of Baroque, I now only have ONE wip!

Muguet de Mai

Also known as Lily of the Valley Shawl, this pattern really bored me to tears. :(
I was initially drawn to the beautiful outcome of the piece, and thought it would be easy to memorize. But because of that, I got really bored with the pattern and finished two other shawls (swallowtail and hanami) in the process of knitting this.



Nevertheless, I still love the finished product. It's a little short but the width is perfect. I've gone down needle sizes on this but I'm not regretting it. I guess it took me a long while to realize that every little bit is an advance to the finish line. :)



Lily of the Valley Shawl from Lace Style
with Jaeggerspun Zephyr in Sage with 3.5mm Addi Turbos

I think I'm not turned off by borders after I've seen the finished product, but it'll be awhile before I'm going to do anything with borders again!

Whitby in Maldives

I started this project on the first night in Maldives. I took three days to finish the first sock with an injured hand from fishing, and another few days to finish the second after I got back.

I chose Dream in Color's Smooshy to take with me especially since the name was Beach Fog. Here's a photo to demonstrate the wonderful choice of color hehe



The pattern is Nancy Bush's Whitby from her book Knitting On The Road. Just like all the patterns in the book is meant to be, I could memorize it very quickly and only needed to refer to it on rare occasions. It's also because of this that I could finish the pair in a short amount of time.

I took a picture of it on the dawn of the fourth day in Maldives before I packed it.



And here's the finished pair at home.



Whitby by Nancy Bush from Knitting on the Road
in Dream in Color Smooshy - Beach Fog - on 2.75mm bamboo dpns.

I really like the yarn!! I've read so much about it being splitty but perhaps because my needles were not very sharp, I didn't have splitting problems. At the same time, it wasn't difficult to do the cables and the stitch definition is great! I saw many on Ravelry using the same yarn to do other sock patterns that require great definition and they all turned out beautiful. (Oh and it has great yardage too!) So I really foresee myself getting more of these!

Hanami

I finished this about a month ago but have been busy and didn't block it until I came back from Maldives. And then by then I had hurt my hand on a fishing trip so the blocking wasn't spectacular. But anyways I still love the shawl a lot and am totally obsessed with the yarn. So, I will definitely reblock it now that my hand has almost fully recovered.

Oh and this is my favorite part of the shawl.



Hanami Stole by Melanie @ Pink Lemon Twist
with KnitPicks Alpaca Cloud in Smoke Heather on 3.25mm Addi Lace

Trystero and other updates.

I finished Trystero yesterday!!



I have been knitting this sock almost forever. I started the first sock in April or May or something but had to frog and cast on again about three times. Although I got the gauge right, somehow it was just too tight to be worn unless I'm looking for wrist-warmers or foot-covers.



I don't really blame the pattern nor the yarn. Although the single-ply must have had something to do with the stretchiness of the sock, the colors made it all worth it. The pattern is also very fun to do and I can zip through a repeat very quickly! So while it's true that I love the yarn AND the pattern, and the eventual outcome, I guess there are times when I just get tired of things.



Trystero by Cookie A.
3mm Harmony DPNs
Noro Kureyon Sock

I really love the pattern and am looking forward to the next Cookie pattern I'll cast on. I have a teeny bit of the yarn left and I have another ball in another color. I might make a shawl out of it this time.

Meanwhile, I've finished Hanami but I haven't blocked it. I've also casted on Queen Anne's Lace which I might just call La Reine. It's in Zephyr (mahogany) and I'm still at chart 1. Muguet de Mai's center panel is finished and I've picked up the stitches for the border. I'm tired after picking up. blah. I think it's about 600 over stitches. *faints* And I've wound my Dream in Color sock yarn in Beach Fog for... Maldives~! I'm planning to do Nancy Bush's Whitby with it.

So yes I'm looking forward to knitting at the beach next week with La Reine and Whitby!

PS: I bought the Debbie Bliss VK mag.It's quite nice and the more I look at it the more I love the patterns!

Cotton

Actually I finished this on Sunday and was doing kitchener stitch on the toes of the second sock by the time we received our Olympic Medal after a drought of 48 years.

The first sock was done awhile ago but the second took a bit of time. So what could be more apt than to put this up for Ravelympics 2008? Of course after I finished Ester, I was all ready to finish more projects! I zipped through this with turning the heel on friday while watching the Table Tennis Women's Team Semi-Finals. And the rest of the leg and toes while waiting for and watching the Finals on Sunday. The Semi-Finals was such an exciting match I had to stop a few times for fear of breaking my needles. And the finals? Well it was such a good match I did stop and watch in awe many times~!

The silly thing is, I realized this wasn't tagged for Ravelympics after all!! For some reason, it was just not tagged and I just thought it was. Much to my disappointment, of course. Sigh. :( But in a way I'm quite glad since I got to finish another project.


Cotton in Regia Surf Color, using the Eyelet Bar stitch Pattern with Narrow Heel in Charlene Schurch's More Sensational Knitted Socks. Needles were 2.25mm Ebony Sox Stix.

Ester

Ester by Alice Bell. Made with Jaeger Merino Aran with 5mm Addi Circulars

This project is also part of Ravelympics 2008's WIP Wrestling

Mang's Anouk

Anouk for Mang



I started this because it's such a cute dress. Also, my mum has a habit of telling me how cute my cat would look in these little frocks. It was also time I tried some good cotton and this Anouk's made from Rowan's All-Seasons Cotton. I love it and I foresee many future projects with the same yarn until I get tired of its colors.

Unfortunately I have absolutely no experience with babies, and when it came to sizing, I had no idea whether my cat is the same size as a 3mth old or a 6mth old. Obviously she has a much thicker neck than a three month old. But I only learnt that after I finished the piece. -_-'

Here's what it looks like from the back:



Pattern: Anouk by Kate Gilbert.
Needles: Clover 4mm circs
Yarn: Rowan's All Seasons Cotton

I still like the pattern a lot and will attempt to let my cat wear it. Maybe I'll use a ribbon instead of a button so that the neckline could be adjusted for the photoshoot. :D

No pockets on this Anouk because my cat doesn't need one. hehe ;)

Frock Camisole

Frock Camisole



Yarn: Harmony from Bendigo Woolen Mills
Needles: Addi Turbos 4.5mm

I thought it would look more like a frock than this. But I guess the yarn also plays a part in the eventual turnout of the project. Harmony is a great yarn to work with but it's a little stretchy. I love the almost heather look of the yarn. (I think I am having a penchant for heather-y colorways these days.)



Also, the straps look thinner than they are in the photo, and I thought they might be set wider. But oh well. I think this is a great top for those fat days. :) BTW, I don't know why but AS likes to take pictures using the zoom - So the second picture is a bit blurry. -_-

Three is as good

Well I'm late but we've both been so busy. But on the knitting front there's a bit of good news.

For our third anniversary, I decided to do a pair of Dashing and Fetching, both available from Knitty.com. They are really fast knits! I was actually worried I wouldn't finish them in time (i.e. last thursday) even so because of all the things I had to do but I did.



Don't worry they are really a pair each.





On another note, SOS '08 started last weekend. I was busy but I didn't forget to start a sock for SOS. Of course that comes with a promise that I would have finished ONE of my Trystero socks by then. And I did!



So now I have two socks, two shawls and one tv project. That's not too bad. :)

More on my SOS socks next time because I want to brag about my Sox Stix. :D

Swallowtail Shawl

Yes the shawl Mollie was modelling is the completed Swallowtail albeit unblocked.

I blocked it last friday and it seems to be a favorite of Millie and MangMang too. Millie was more interested than usual in the blocking process (although I must add that she also likes the mat I use for blocking). MangMang wanted to lie on it. But of course I said there are pins so she lay next to it with her little hands placed nicely in between the pins.

Anyways it wasn't as frighteningly small as I thought it would be but it's still as frighteningly pink.



I think this is the first knit I've ever taken out in the hot blazing sun for a photoshoot. It was so quick and random that there's a few people looking, wondering what I was doing. So you see, there's this old couple in the photo above, probably debating about whether I was too poor to hire a photographer, or why I wasn't looking into the camera.

Here it is again flapping in the wind (there's wind!) and you can see the same old couple there still looking.



I actually don't mind the fuschia part of the overall colorway but I think the sweet pink has made this more of a 'sweetpea' than 'sunrise'. Anyways.



Swallowtail Shawl is designed by Evelyn A. Clark. I used one skein of Knitpicks' Gossamer in Sunrise. The needles were Knitpicks' Harmony Interchangeables. I did the shawl in a progression of needle sizes from 3.5mm to 4mm. I really love the lily of the valley nupps but wish they weren't in various colors.



I intended to gift this but I don't know if it would suit her wardrobe. It probably might do better there than with mine. But of course today when I took it out again before I left, Mollie looked at me longingly and nudged the little bag with the shawl. So then what should I do?

Broadripple

I've never changed needles so many times in a project. I started Broadripple with my Harmony dpns. I love the needles because they were so smooth and pointy~ They were the ones who helped me decide I should get the circ set too haha



And then subsequently I wanted to use a smaller size on the sole. This would prove to be difficult if I continued to use dpns because I will be carrying an extra needle around. Plus, I would need to use a different set because I won't be able to tell the Harmonies apart. So I thought I'd finish both socks to the heel, and put them on dpns, and then work them together.



I learnt a lot from this project because it's the first one I've done with two socks at a time. I still prefer the dpns, but now, with all my yarn entangling problems solved, I think I just might be able to finally finish my socks if they are on circs in future.



Broadripple is done with Cascade Fixation. It started on 3.25mm Harmony dpns, and is finished with 3mm (for heel and sole) and 3.25mm Addi Circulars. Broadripple is designed by Rob Matyska and the pattern is available here.

honeymoon cami

First of all, remember this kitty?



She might have found a new home! She's staying with her prospective family now and if all goes fine during the week, they will keep her! Let's keep our fingers crossed for her~~ :)

In the meantime, I've finished Honeymoon Cami.





Honeymoon Cami is designed by Julia Trice. The pattern is available here. This was made with Elann's Luna Endless Summer, with Knitpicks Harmonies, 4mm. :) More photos are available here.

Bunny!

Finally. A knittin FO.



This pattern is really easy and the final product is absolutely beautiful!



I like how the stitches sort of intertwine with a bit of mohair in-between the gaps. The project also lightly drapes and the yarn is so very soft (and white) that I had to call my project Bunny.



Bunny is made with Sublime's Kid Mohair blend with Clover 5.1mm needles. More pictures here.