Nerd Hot (and a Ravelympics update)

Well, since it's finally finished and done blocking...

The Nerd Hot Vest:




The last photo is a better representation of the colors.

• Pattern: #B65 Argyle Vest (bonus pattern for subscribers) from Verena Knitting Magazine. Ravelry link here. I named it Nerd Hot because that is exactly what it is! :)

• Yarn: Cascade 22o in purple and gray.

• Modifications: Original pattern is knit in the flat. I converted it to be knit in the round with arm and neck steeks.

• Verdict: I LOVE IT! It fits him perfectly. I was really worried when he tried it on before blocking it because it was small...comically small. It's amazing what a good block will do for colorwork!

So, mark that one off of my Ravelympics queue! The little baby sweater is coming along as well. All I have to do is sew on buttons and take pictures! I'm pretty sure that the baby sack and the crochet sweater will not be finished in time, but I am chugging along just the same. :)

On Progress

Max's vest is finished and is currently blocking! I had to stretch it pretty violently to get it to the specified measurements, but I think I got it under control. Once it's dry, there will be pics of Max wearing it...assuming it fits.

In the meantime, I thought it might be fun to show how this whole thing came together.

Here's what the steek stitches looked like before being reinforced with single crochet:


Here's what the steek stitches looked like after reinforcements were added (doesn't look much like a vest, does it? lol):


Here's the first armhole, with the steek already cut open:


Here's both armholes, steeked and finished:


Here's a scary picture of the neck steek being cut open:


Here's a picture of the result of that cutting (at this point, it actually looks like a vest!):


And finally, here is the finished piece, blocking and drying:


Yay for me! I'm calling this steeking experience a success. It was really fun and it doesn't unravel at all!! Now, I want to cast on a million colorwork cardigans just so I can steek them! I'm crazy.

Well, will you look at that?

That's some finished cullerwurk, if I ever sawr it.



Now, I just have to brace myself for the steeking. Deep breaths and hot tea are going to be my saving graces, since the booze is off-limits for quite some time, lol. When it comes right down to it, though, I'm not all that nervous about taking sharp scissors to my knitting. I trust that centuries of knitting wisdom cannot be wrong! :D

Another Cute Thing

I knit this soaker for the unborn womb monster:


Pattern: Wool Diaper Cover, free pdf on Ravelry

Yarn: Knit Picks Swish Bulky. I will not use this yarn again for soakers because I later learned that superwash is not a good choice as it doesn't wick as well. The yarn was really nice to work with though, and I can see myself using it in the future for other items.

This thing took me no time to make. I've already started another one, in Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Bulky Hand-dyed! I'm also working on this soaker (Ravelry link) in Lamb's Pride Worsted. Let me tell you. Soakers are quickly becoming one of my favorite things to knit. It's almost impossible for them not to look cute!

I've also been chugging along on Max's argyle vest:



I only have 1.5 more repeats to go until the armhole decreases! My plan is to have the knitting completed for this vest by the start of the Ravelympics on February 12th so that I can do all of the finishing (which will include steeking for the first time in my life!) as a personal challenge during the events!

Wish me luck!

Stitch Markers!

A friend had a Gumbo and stitch marker making party! It was a lot of free fun! Here's what I made:



I'm super excited!

Always eager to do my part, I baked some cupcakes for the get-together:


It's a sad day when a bit of loose change is all the booty you can find in your household. Note the predominance of copper there. The cupcakes are just from a box mix, but I made a homemade lime glaze and added some pomegranate to the top for fanciness.

And more things are happening. I finished this yarn:


Because it is brown and rolled into a skein, I can't help but think it looks a bit like a turd.

But it's' a really soft and fuzzy turd!

Now, I'm working on this fiber:


It's some hand dyed merino wool that I got at the Midwest Fiber and Folk Art festival that I'm finally getting around to spinning. I'm actually drafting it out completely before hitting the wheel because that's the only way I've found to spin bulky yarn!

It's going to be a super bulky three-ply!! SUPER BULKY!

I'd also like to show off my favorite furry things:


Awwwwwwwwwwwww...

PS: I changed my blogger template because I noticed that my photos were being "cut" to fit the template. Because I have some OCD qualities, I could stand it no longer. I'd rather have a boring template where my photos aren't messed with than a flashy background and photos that look like I have no idea how to frame a photograph.

A not so informative FO post

I have finished Max's scarf, knit from my handspun yarn!



Isn't it fab? 100% Merino in a wonderful colorway called "Tigerlily." Swoon.

There are a million reasons...

...why Max is my hero.

Yesterday, I had quite an emotional afternoon. I spent most of my morning writing. I wanted to keep track of my daily word count. So, to make it easier, I was just typing it up in a blank document to copy and paste into the actual document later. Just as I was about to do it, after five single spaced pages, the whole program crashed and I was devastated. Devastated and Angry. I hadn't saved the untitled document I had been typing in all morning and the situation was very frustrating and dire. I could not bear the thought of having to write it all again. I had been in the flow and did not reread it as I went along for fear of disrupting said flow. The Flow was also why I failed to save it until five pages in. I was too angry to do anything so I took a shower...while in the shower, I tried to remember what I wrote and I couldn't think of most of it. More anger, more cursing...

But Max, he came along and saved five pages of my writing from oblivion. Apparently, Appleworks has an autosave feature for your saved documents, which I knew. However, this document was NOT A SAVED DOCUMENT. I had not clicked that little button to create a permanent file. Still, Appleworks had saved it under a numerical name 20 characters long someplace random on my computer and Max found it!! It was a jumbled mess and spread out over something like five separate files, but it was there. All of it. Max is my hero...and God bless Macintosh...

Other than being generally wonderful and good with computers, he bought me these for my birthday:



The Knit Picks Options Interchangeable Needle Set!! I'm so excited and I can't wait to use them! They feel really nice and the join seems like it will be smooth. I love the case and the very notion of it all being neat and organized (not to mention very shiny) is very exciting to me.

He really is the greatest...and handsome too:


Hehehe...are you blushing yet, honey? :p

Ok, enough of that. I don't want to make anyone puke. Onto the knitting pictures!

My mom's socks look like this:


I hope she likes them...

My Swallowtail Shawl looks like this:



I love Edgar Allan Poe, btw...

My most recently started project looks like this!:


It's the Inga Hat. I'm knitting it with three colors throughout instead of only two. I think it looks cool. The photo doesn't do the colors justice. I took about a thousand shots in different lighting and none of them really captured it. This is the closest one. They are very bright...nearly florescent...and they really pop against the brown background. I'm not usually into those kinds of colors, but for this, they rock!! I can't wait to wear this thing! It's halfway finished.

So, I do believe that is all for today. Happy Knitting!

He Might Not Be a Pirate...

...but a Ninja could definitely pull this off:





Pattern: We Call Them Pirates by Adrian Bizilla
Yarn: Knit Picks Telemark in Grey Wolf and Burlap, Knit Picks Merino Style in Tide Pool
Needles: Inox size 4 and 2 16' circulars, Crystal Palace size 4 DPNs

I think he likes it.


What a Block-head! Get it? Block-head?

And now for a little section I like to call, "What I've learned."

I've learned through this, my first stranded colorwork project, that you must keep your floats loose, but not too loose. I have not, necessarily, learned what that means.

I've learned that maybe I should have gone up two needle sizes instead of one. The hat still fits the boy, but it is more like a beanie than the flat topped number in the pattern photo I linked to.

I've learned that doing colorwork on DPN's is something to be avoided at all costs, as it is difficult to maintain your rhythm, let alone hold the two strands of yarn at a steady tension with those awkward points sticking out everywhere. The top section of the hat exhibits a much less even tension than the bottom section simply because of the awkwardness. In the future, I will simply use two circulars when the circumference proves too small to work comfortably on one.

I've learned that hemming up a lining invisibly is not at all as difficult as it sounds. You simply whip stitch around into the purl loops on the inside of the hat. I was surprised to discover that it didn't actually matter what color the purl loop was, making the hemming just that much easier!




These lessons having been learned, I am ready for my next color project. Next up is a hat for me! I bought the yarn for it together with the yarn for Max's hat. All I need now is to decide when to cast on. I may choose to wait a bit and make some more progress on other projects, maybe after the wedding (this Saturday, whoo-hoo!)?