Monday, September 26, 2011

Two tiny hats. And one for my big noggin.

So, a coworker is pregnant, and has asked me to knit a hat for the baby. She doesn't know the sex yet, so I tried to choose a pattern that would work for a boy or a girl. I think I failed, both hats are sort of girly, but I'm going to ignore that and hope the baby turns out to be a girl. She already has a son, and I got the impression she wants this one to be a girl. So I'm just sending girl vibes, right? 



I also made something for myself. Because, when it comes to knitting, I'm my own best customer. And all that stuff about the joy of giving and knitting for others - I feel the biggest joy when I knit something for ME. Yup, selfish. But honestly, would you give something like this away? 




The pattern is Equisetum. Words can't describe what a great pattern it is. It's simple to follow, even tough it's only written, no chart. It comes out beautifully, and I love the effect the wraps give. Never did anything like it before, I'm really pleased it turned out so well. 



The pattern is knit flat, I did mine in the round, which meant purling every other row and making sure to turn the knits into purls and vice versa. There are a few not-so-pretty purl bumps, from where I added new yarn. Turns out, I only know how to hide the new ends on plain stockinette. 
 
The yarn is Rozetti First Class, super soft and nice to work with. I did find 3 knots in the first skein, but none in the second skein, so I guess it was just a bad skein. I absolutely hate those stupid knots that sneak up on you just when you think your knitting is coming along beautifully. 

Next project - socks. For real this time, I think I finally found a pattern. Brainless. But I also have a skein and a half of the Rozetti yarn left, and I want to use that up. Maybe a cowl? So many potential projects, so little time to knit them.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Uhura

After summer sewing, here's some summer knitting for ya. It took me pretty much the whole summer to knit this shirt.



The pattern is Uhura, the yarn is Dada nova. I bought 5 skeins of it and used up absolutely all of it. I did a crochet border around the neck, but didn't have enough yarn to do the same around the arms. 

I omitted the keyhole thingy, because the neckline is already low enough, no need to have my bra peeking trough that hole.
I knit the top parts first, sewed it all together, then picked up stitches on the bottom of the band and did the body in the round. 
I didn't do the folded hem the pattern calls for - instead I knit 6 rows of the lace chart and crocheted around the bound off edge to stop it from rolling. 

Wow, look at the pattern this zoomed out picture is producing. Zebra.
Click the image to de-zebrafy.

Next project : anything to use up some of the yarn I have in my stash. I had my mind set on socks. Have the yarn, got the needles. Now all I need is to find a pattern. But guess what? There are THOUSANDS of sock patterns on Ravelry. How am I supposed to choose one?

Monday, September 12, 2011

A tale of many shorts

My summer sewing bug seems to have left me. The sewing machine is in its case, and my sewing motivation is currently at 0%. Until next summer, I guess. Or somebody's birthday. 

So here are the last summer projects I did. To sum it up in one word: Shorts. Or pants, you choose. 


I based all of these on shorts from the store - I just traced the shapes and sewed the pieces together. With great success, I might add.

I hope you can tell this thing has pockets.
Boxers. They make a nice summer PJ shorts.


So that's pretty much it. It's still very warm here, so I still have a chance to wear these before I put them away for the winter. And maybe next year I'll sew some tops.