A Finished Object

I managed to finish another project this week.  It seems everyone at work is either pregnant or expecting grandchildren.  I was asked to make a baby sweater for my coworker's granddaughter.  The only requirement was that it be pink and it be girly.  I grabbed the Modified Drops Baby cardigan pattern and got to work.  So without further ado, here is the finished baby sweater:

Ravellenic Baby Blanket

I have been furiously knitting since the Olympics began, and I have actually finished my project.  Not going to post a long post today because of travel plans, but here's proof that it is finished:

Modelled by my parents' cat :P

Knit on...

And Now For Something Completely Different

In addition to working on my 50 Knitted Gifts project, I was commissioned to make a dog sweater for one of my coworkers' dog.  I had never made any kind of project for a pet before, so I figured this would be a good learning experience.  I grabbed a free pattern from Drops and began to knit.  It ended up taking right around a week to make, so it was a fast knit.  Here is the recipient and her new coat:

She now gets to wear the school colors while in the office.  Her human also seemed to really like the sweater.

Knit on...

A Little Weaving

So I'm not only working on the 50 Knitted Gifts workthrough.  I'm also working on a few other projects, one of which just came off the loom this weekend.  Right after Christmas, I warped the loom with the intention of getting a head start on some Christmas weaving for next year.  I figured I could get two scarves out of the three skeins of yarn, and it looks like I will be able to do so.  Here is the first finished scarf:

I still need to do something about the edge that has the yarn carries from the stripiing, but it's basically done.  I warped the loom with a more white dominant plaid pattern.  It should be about the same look, just swap the red for white in the new one.

I really like how the weave turned out.  I really do like playing with colors, and affter receiving a new shuttle for the loom for Christmas, it has certainly made it much easier to do more than two color weaving.

Knit, or weave rather, on...

Project the Second

Well, I finished the second project this weekend in the 50 Knitted Gifts book.  The second project in the 

book is a wine bottle cozy.  I made this one out of some scrap Red Heart that I had lying in the random odds and ends bin in the craft closet.  It was a very easy knit and I finished it in a few hours.  Without further ado, here is the cozy:

Knit on...

A New Year and a New Goal

It's a new year and I have set a resolution that involves knitting.  For my birthday, DF gave me a copy of the book 50 Knitted Gifts. 

 I decided that since I am always frantic around the holidays trying to finish up presents, I would get a head start by working through all 50 projects in the book in the next year.  Most of the projects I like, but right off the bat, the first project kind of irked me.  I just couldn't get behind the concept of the knitted necklace.  

I have nothing against knitted necklaces.  I even took a class with Betsy H. at Stitches South a couple of years ago on how to make knitted beads.  I think the main issue I had with this interpretation of a knitted necklace was the construction.  I thought each bead was rather fiddly to make.  The original pattern calls for 36 beads, and I only made 20.  I'm still not sure if I would give this as a knitted gift or not.  I guess I just need to see if anyone likes it when I show it to them.

Anyways, here is the finished necklace made out of some leftover handspun yarn:

Sorry for the dark picture.  You can at least get the idea of what it looks like.

Knit on...

A Little Knitting

I haven't done a whole lot of knitting while on this trip because I've been playing with my new ipad mostly.  I have managed to get two more mitered squares finished though, so I'm fairly pleased with that.  Here are the finished squares.

Knit on...

The Travel Sock

As I was traveling yesterday, I did what I always do and started a new travel sock. I was even able to get a good chunk of the cuff knit.  Of course I brought a ton of things to work on while lounging around, but there should always be a travel sock when on the road in my opinion.

I wish everyone a very merry Christmas!  May you find lovely yarn and notions under the tree :)

Knit on...

A Finished Hat

Well, I finished the chemo cap for my friend's aunt.  I tried to publish a post from my phone, but it blew up, so here's the finished hat:

And I pulled out an old WIP from the craft room this morning.  I'll be trying to finish up the Noro mitered squares blanket that I started ages ago.  Looks like I had about 6 skeins of kuryeon in my stash, so hopefully this will be enough to finish up the blanket.

Knit on...

More Hat Knitting

I also worked on the windschief some last night on top of weaving the scarf.  I am now on the final crown decreases and should be able to finish up the hat at lunch today. Here is the progress so far.

Knit on...

Another Project

The great thing about having a loom at your disposal is the ability to make quick gifts that would otherwise take a much longer time. Tonight, a Christmas present for my new boss was started and completed within 2 hours. It was just a simple weave of yellow warp and blue weft for the school colors. Gotta love quick projects!

Knit on...

Another Work in Progress

The next project I am working on is the Windschief hat by Stephen West. I have made the hat before, but when a friend asked me to make a chemo cap for her aunt, I knew this pattern coupled with some lovely malabrigo would go wonderfully together. Colorway is nostalgia and it is being made on size 7 needles.

On a Roll!

I am on a finishing streak!  Finished the sweater, and then today, I finished a project that had been sitting in the bin for almost 3 years.  I had made four flowers after I returned from Korea, then put it aside and didn't touch it for three years.  I'm glad it's finished now, and despite it having more flowers than the pattern called for, it turned out really nice.  Here's the finished doily:

The pattern is the Rose Doily pattern that has been in a lot of booklets over the years.  Here is the Ravelry link: clicky

Knit on...

Finito!

Finished.  Done.  Complete.

Yes, after months of work and miles of garter stitch, on Thanksgiving day, I completed the pleated jacket.  It's huge, but I am in love with it.  It's warm and soft, and cuddly.  Anyways, here's a picture to prove that it is all finished now!

I also finished another pair of socks for Ms. Phyllis at work, but I finished those quite a while ago now.  I have been super swamped at work recently as there were a lot of changes in my department.  Long story short, I was promoted and given a lot more responsibility, which meant a lot of extra work to sort through as I moved into my new position.  Things have finally calmed down some, we are caught up, and I am getting back to crafting on my lunch break.  So anyways, here's the finished pair of socks:

Knit on...

Week 1 Finished Project

Week one of the great finishing is over and this week, I managed to complete the pair of socks that were my travel project.  It's much easier to finish projects when you have to sit in a dentist office for a while, so I knocked out the second sock that had been lingering and gave them to their intended recipient on Wednesday.  Phyllis liked the socks so much that she asked if I would make her another pair out of the remaining sock yarn since she has small feet and it didn't quite take all of 1 of the 2 balls of Premier Wool-Free Sock yarn that I had purchased.  I told her I would be more than happy to oblige since I wasn't sure what I would do with the other whole ball of yarn given I have giant feet myself.

Here's the finished pair of socks:

I have a nice, long weekend ahead, so I'm sure I will make some more progress on the WIPs that have been around for way too long now.  I'm about half way done with the left front of the pleated jacket now, so I'm hoping I can get done with that this weekend sometime.

On a side note, we have been watching season one of a Game of Thrones from HBO.  The library had the first season available, and we are about half way through it now.  It's a very entertaining series, especially since I have read the first two George Martin books in the series.  I saw that the library now has season two as well, so I'm sure we will continue with that once we finish up the first season this weekend.

Knit on...

The Great Finishing

So, now that the Tour de Fleece is over, I have set a little goal for myself.  Well, it's a lofty goal, but I do think it is attainable.  I am going to finish all my WIPs by the end of the year, or if I procrastinate, sometime in 2014.

The first WIP that needed to be done was a ruffled scarf that had been on the needles for over 3 months.  It's done now.

Sorry for the crappy picture.  I had dental work done today and I am just not in the mood to try to get anything better than something from the couch right now.

The next WIP that I have finished is the fish pillow made from a latch hook kit I bought almost a year ago.  Fishy fishy is all done now and pillow-fied.

Now I am working fast and furiously on the pleated jacket that I started a while back out of yak fiber.  I finished the back of it and am now working on the left front piece.  Here's the back:

Now, I still have a ton of WIPs left.  Off the top of my head, I have the following to finish:

1. Pleated jacket

2. Dragonfly beaded scarf

3. Fair Isle vest from the Knit Picks kit

4. Butterfly cross stitch

5. Skirt made from a vintage sewing pattern

6. Pair of socks on the needles now.

I will cast on new socks as I finish the ones on the needles.  I need to have a travel project, and lord knows, fair isle and beaded knitting is not nearly as travel friendly as a pair of socks!

Knit on...

Tour de Fleece Wrap Up

I didn't get a whole lot of spinning done this week since I was pretty much consumed at work with the audit, but I did manage to finish the final skein of llama yarn.  This morning, it is soaking in the sink with the rest of the Tour's yarns, so let me give you a wrap up and a final picture.

I spun 901 yards of yarn.  There are 640 yards of the Bob's Favorite Bird and 261 yards of llama yarn.  The Bob's Favorite Bird Shetland yarn is approximately 12 WPI and the llama yarn is approximately 9 WPI.  I'm happy I stuck with the Tour this year and I'm proud to show off the final product:

Now the yarns are soaking and I need to get them out in just a minute.

Knit on...

Still Touring

I'm still working on the Razzleberry fiber.  I realize that these pictures are rather boring as they are all the same tan fiber, but there is progress.

Now I get to see how much spinning time I get this week.  It's audit time at work, so that means lots of extra things to do and not enough time to get them done.  I am trying to at least get in a few minutes each day, but this week will really test me as to my Tour resolve.

Knit on...

Sunday Tour de Fleecing

Not much to update on today, but I did skein up the second skein of llama fiber and spun a few more singles.  I can't believe that I am almost done with this fiber!  I have had it in my stash for years now and it's just been sitting there gathering dust.

It's way over twisted, but I'm pleased with the overall look and feel of the finished yarn.  Now just one more bobbin to go and I'm done!

Knit on...

Tour De Fleecing

I'm still working on the llama fiber.  I Navajo plied up the singles that I finished the other day, so it's nice to have that done.  I even knit some today, so it's been fiberful.  Really, I am now just a fixture on the couch anyways courtesy of a 5k race this morning followed by a 10 mile bike ride.  I'm actually surprised my legs worked at all to treadle after that :oP

Anyways, here's a picture of the plied yarn.  It's not coming off the bobbin tonight because I'm too tired to clear off the table right now.

Knit on...