Friends Knit Together

Hello, all!

Adriana and I have teamed up in the interests of producing a hopefully daily blog:

Friends Knit Together

This space is where I will keep my finished objects, and perhaps move my favourite old posts from livejournal, therefore it will not be updated as often.

Evie

Evie!
Pattern: Debbie Bliss Stella/Pure Cotton (This is a great book! I already want to knit three more designs)
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Stella Colour 15, 7 balls
Comments: a very quick knit, very simple, but with interest. The bulky yarn really makes the knitting zip along, but the yarn is not unpleasantly heavy. The wet-blocking really evened out the stitches and gave the fabric more drape. This was a sample project commissioned by Needles and Pins.

She is already holding court in the window at Needles and Pins. I have to say, it was a really easy, fun, and quick project! It only took a while because I had other things on my plate and knitting projects oddly don't progress very fast when you don't touch them for a week or more.

Also, the book (Debbie Bliss Pure Cotton/Stella) the pattern is from? Fantastic. I can think of at least four or five other garments I would knit in a heartbeat. And the fact that the book is divided between Pure Cotton and Stella. The gauge seems fairly interchangeable, so anyone buying the book for either yarn would have quite the array of options.

Central Park Hoodie

The first of my Spring Surge Sweaters are done on time!

I did sew the last button on this baby at 10 AM on Easter Sunday, finishing it just in time to wear to church (my determination was perhaps fueled by the fact that I had packed no other appropriate outfit) and so I did have my new sweater for that day. Even a bonnet, if you count the hood.



None of my pictures are that helpful for people who want details on the sweater, but really it looks pretty darn exact to the pictures in Knitscene (yay!) but if anyone has questions or want to see a particular part, just let me know.


(could I look goofier? must be spring fumes)

One of the things I love most about this sweater is the colour. It is so super-saturated that I am sure I will have to wash it separately all its life, but it is completely worth it. Look at how it pops out from the gray of spring! When I walk down the street in it (and trust me, I throw it on whenever I am leaving the apartment) I feel like I couldn't stand out more from the dreary sidewalks and naked hedges if I were wearing a fluorescent orange vest. Now, my goal is not usually to stand out, but for this sweater I will make a happy exception.

It was a great pattern to knit, some errata, but nothing that I couldn't have figured out on my own. A very fast knit, despite the hood. (note: there is a LOT more knitting in a hood than you think there is. It is the area equivalent to about 2/3 of the back!) The cables are easy-peasy without a cable needle, and with the nice elasticy wool they spring into place and really pop.



So: the details!

Central Park Hoodie
Started: March 12, 2007
Finished: April 8, 2007
Pattern: Knitscene, Fall 2006, from Rosemary!
Needles: This loose knitter used a 3.5mm Addi for everything but the ribbing.
Yarn: Ram Wools Selkirk in Red (120) 4.5 skeins (248m each)

Modifications: I extended the main body (the cable repeats) of the sweater in length. I wanted a size small for snugness, but I am long-waisted and this extension makes the sweater much more wearable than it would have been on me.

I also extended the button bands to 2" instead of 1.5". I don't know if I would do this again, the edges of the button bands flip up a bit, but I haven't actually blocked them yet, so we shall see.

I wet blocked all the main pieces, and it really really improved the wool. This is a rough under-processed wool with lots of vegetable matter in it, but with a fairly even ply. The label says it gets softer with each wash, and I have had no problem with it against my skin so far.

This is a warm snug sweater, and I have been wearing it as a jacket over a tank top in our April weather of 5 degrees. It might be chilly, but the snow is gone and the plants are starting to wake up again!

Watermelon Trekking Socks

Watermelon Trekking Socks

Started: March 4th
Finished: March 13th (knitted) March 16th (grafted)
Pattern: Standard sock pattern, Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns
Yarn: Trekking XXL 107 (from Lettuce Knit)
Needles: 2mm 32" Knitpicks Classic Circular (faulty!)

These were super fast socks, for the amount of time I spent on them. I got them grafted in time to wear them to a conference at Western that Mike and I attended. I love these socks!!

Trekking is a nice fine yarn, even finer than Regia. These socks should therefore be wearable further into Spring than any other handknitted socks I own.

Manos: Hat of FATE!

Manos Odessa
Finished February 21, 2007
Pattern: Here, modified to accommodate yarn
Yarn: Manos Del Uruguay from Knitomatic
Needles: 5mm Addi Turbos, magic loop method

I put a lot of effort into swatching for this hat, the swatching took me almost as long as the hat itself. I wanted to make sure I knew how many repeats to take out to make up for the thicker yarn. In the end I went with 8 repeats (from the original 11) but now that it is finished I think 9 repeats would have been ideal.

The finished item has a vaguely papal quality to it, one might less charitably call it the nipple effect. As such, it worked it's way off my ears through the day. Not surprising considering my hat curse. Also, just as I had predicted over and over again, the finishing of this hat brought about a warm spell in the weather. Tuesday I had a few more decrease rounds to go: -15C. Wednesday I sewed in the ends: +3C. Perhaps my knitting affects climate change? Alert Al Gore.

I ripped it out once because it wasn't long enough, and I think that another inch more wouldn't have hurt. Perhaps I didn't factor in the fact that I was asking the hat to stretch quite a bit (I like a tight hat).

I have yet to block this hat, and am still holding out hope that this will solve all my problems.

Donegal Hat

Donegal Hat

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Donegal Chunky Tweed (102), 1 skein
Pattern: Knit Fiend's Spiral Top Down Hat Pattern here.
Started: January 16, 2007
Finished: January 19, 2007

This is a hat I knitted for Mike, when it came to my attention that he, the supportive husband of a knitter, was knit-hatless. Problem solved: a quick and dirty hat that is sturdy and warm enough to stand up to winter. Not the softest of wools, but it did soften when I washed it.

Oh, if you knit with this wool, don't pull hard on it. Just don't.

York

York
Pattern: Noro Knits by Jane Ellison
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden 247, 8 balls
Started: end of August 2006
Finished: January 11, 2007

Notes: I somehow forgot the front neck shaping, but it doesn't seem to have made too much of a difference. Must remember to READ the pattern more often.

Thanks for Rosemary for the book! What a great birthday present. I had bought the yarn on impulse, glad I did.

This was my very first zipper! Thanks to everyone for the advice!