Seven Sisters Top

I started this Seven Sisters top as a part of a knitalong in April. I finished it in early August. It was a a nice project to work on and I love the  blocked my sweater and it grew quite a bit in the neck and arms. I didn’t do as much ribbing as I didn’t think it was needed.

I ripped out the neck bind off and added to per the pattern, and then ripped the arm ribbing out and decreased the stitches to 72 instead of 80. This helped it fit better.

Made a size XL for my 48” bust, finished bust is 54”

First try...not a great fit on the arms or neck.

Knitted Rainbow

Sincerely Louise posted a rainbow plushie pattern and I dug through my stash to find some rainbow colors. I have it in my living room window so passerbys can see it.

San Gabriel Shawl

I started this shawl back in 2018 and took a little over a year to finish it.

Baby Knits

Made an adorable kimono sweater from Mason Dixon Knitting, and the umbilical hat from Stitch 'n Bitch for my aqua yoga teacher's baby shower.

2015 Craft Update

I seem to have been some what remiss in posting updates on what I've been making.

It wasn't an overly productive year. I picked up cross stitching, because you can never have too many hobbies!


I wanted to learn cross stitch so I could make this:


I also made some cross stitch presents this year. A keychain for my mom, and a bookmark for my dad.




I did a little sewing. I made an a line skirt, which I did write a post about, and made a pair of linen pants. I also made some shower caps for myself and friends out of laminated cotton.

I painted a snowman ornament which I taught at a program at work.

2015 The Year of Finish It or Forget it

A woman in a group I belong to inspired me to make this the year of finish it or forget it. Part of finishing it will be starting it though. :-)

I'm really going to try and incorporate a 15 minute rule this year too. Just work on something for 15 minutes a day. It's amazing what can be accomplished in 15 minutes especially over time.

Here's the list of what I'll be working on:

Knitting

• In Progress--Hedgerow mitts. I've been working on these for several years. I think it's time to forget them, but we'll see.
• Ilse skirt. I would like to finish this one. It just languished after a bit of drama with the yarn)
• Flowers for my felted bag. I made a felted bag ages ago and ever finished it by making the flowers.
• In progress--A week in the life of a knitter's cat--7 lace scarves. I haven't made any of these, but I happen to have 7 skeins of lace year. I'll use this to see if I still like lace knitting.
• Deco ribbon jacket--I think I need to let this one go. I tried two or three times and can't get the gauge right, which means it won't turn out the right size. My mom gave me the yarn as a present one year, and that makes it harder to give up. Plus it is a cool project.
• In progress--Felted rose trellis bag. I've had the yarn to make this for ages.
• Hemlock Ring Blanket. I've had the yarn to make this for ages.

Painting

• Finish santa
• Finish Mary Wiseman landscapes
• Paint the stool
• Paint the chest
• Paint landscape for over the bed

Embroidery

• Embroider states
• In progress--Make winter stitch club placemats

Misc

• Finish calligraphy for flower pirate piece
• Forget--Finish Christmas tree skirt
• Make holiday ornaments
• Make snowman decorations
• Finish travel collage

Sewing

• In progress---Finish shark costume
• Finish a-line skirt
• Make Washi dress
• Make skirts you have fabric for
• Make Dahlia dress
• Make towel cover up
• Make shower caps

Katrina Rib Sweater

I don't often write about my knitting on this blog, but I haven't been knitting much lately, and there's a bit of a personal story to tell about this. In 2005, I bought the Katrina Rib pattern to help support folks affected by Hurricane Katrina and of course to feed my need to hoard all things knitting! I bought yarn a few years later to make the sweater. And in 2009, I went though a horrible divorce (as if there's any other kind). A few weeks after the announcement that my then husband, now rat bastard, was divorcing me, I started this sweater. I kept thinking knitting will help. Each stitch will help ensure I keep it together. I worked on it diligently for a few months, and then I lost my knitting mojo. It was no longer a joy to knit, and it got pushed aside. I'd pick it up here and there, but not work on it consistently. Finally I started to enjoy knitting again and decided that I should really finish this sweater.

I think there's a nice symmetry that I started this during the divorce, and that now 5 years later I do feel like I've come out the other side. I think this sweater just wasn't meant to be finished until I felt like I had stitched the last piece of myself back together. So this sweater and I have been through a lot together. There's some rough parts in it, and maybe a couple of small holes, but my life is in these stitches. And in the end, I have something beautiful to show for it. Who could ask for more?

Thanks to the support of my dear friends in monthly craft night for encouraging me to finish, and for being there to make me laugh and acknowledge a big moment. Thanks for everyone who has had to listen to me talk ad nausem about the horrible divorce. It's helped me process it.

Wreath

This wreath has been sitting around for about a year waiting for me to make the flowers. I'd made this floral scarf and flower hat last fall, and so my Mom had the brilliant idea of using that to make the wreath. Yay for finishing a project.

Ravelympics

During the last winter Olympics, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (knitting humorist and overall big needle) organized the Knitting Olympics. You cast on and finished a project during the Olympics. Pretty funny stuff. I didn't participate. Now that I'm done with my Master's and only work 9-12 hours a week, I've got time for some silliness.

I'm on Ravelry, a social networking site for knitters, and they've organized the Ravelympics. I've signed up for the Sweater Sprint, which means I have 17 days to knit and finish a sweater. I'm going to finally knit the Deco ribbon jacket that Mom bought me the yarn for about 3 years ago. I've had a lot of trouble getting gauge, and so I'm going to have to go work up a swatch and do some math so I'll be sure to get a jacket that fits. Ugh...math!

Wish me luck!

fingerless gloves

fetching-gloves
Originally uploaded by sparkle.plenty

I knit these using Knitty's Fetching pattern. It was the first time I knit a thumb, so that was cool. Since these aren't as bulky as my other fingerless gloves hopefully I'll get to wear them a bit more.

Placemats

placemat-with-napkin-ring
Originally uploaded by sparkle.plenty

I made these from the Knitting Loves Crochet book. I started them last summer, and it took me awhile to knit the two placemats since the cotton was hard on my hands. I encountered some errata with the pattern, but got a quick reply from the publisher.

Elegant Placemats errata
Bobble Pattern Stitch on p. 160, delete “leaving a long tail for attaching”

On page 163:
Round 2 Work *(1 sc, 1 Bobble Pattern Stitch, 1 sc) in next chain-space, ch 4, skip 1 chain-space; rep from * around placemat. End with slip stitch to first sc. Change to a single strand of CA.

Delete Round 3 as it is in the book. Round 4 becomes Round 3.

Cat toys

felt-mouse
Originally uploaded by sparkle.plenty

I hadn't made any toys for Mo or Eva in ages, so I whipped up a mouse to felt using a KnitWhits pattern. It's such an easy and clever pattern to follow. The cats like it. I also made a couple of fun fur mice, but they weren't as impressed with them.

Felted Bowl

large-felt-bowl
Originally uploaded by sparkle.plenty

I've had the yarn and pattern to make this felted bowl for some time. It was a bit of a pain winding the yarn so that you could get the colors to match up. The yarn had to be doubled to be thick enough. I really like how the colors meld and swirl. Once the yarn was sorted out, it was a quick easy project. The yarn and pattern are from Knitpicks. I made one bowl about 4" tall and another about 2" tall from one skein.

Kiri shawl

kiri-shawl-blocked-closeup
Originally uploaded by sparkle.plenty

I finally finished my Kiri shawl. I started it last fall. Since I'm in grad school, I don't always have time to work on it, so that's why it took so long! I used Zephyr yarn and did 12 pattern repeats.