FO: Uh-oh's.

I've been having the worst trouble the past weeks with my ISP!!!! Don't worry! I haven't run away and joined a cult.... yet.



I did, however, have some time to finish and old WIP. I bought the pattern from Mochimochi land about a year ago, the yarn more than 6 months ago during that yarn crawl, and started about two months ago. I'm such a slacker sometimes.

Pattern Particulars

Pattern Source: Uh-oh's @ Mochimochi Land

Needles: Fiddlesticks Size 4 Bamboo DPN's

Materials: Rowan Scottich Tweed $ p-ly, Felt, Plastic eyes with anchors, and fiberfill.

Time: way too long, not because the patterns was hard or complex, just because I'm lazy.

loved: how god damned cute they are.

hated: you'll see, if you buy the pattern (i don't want to give away the secret).


I've started some Jaywalkers (about 4 times!) and keep missing an important part of the math in the pattern. I'm going to go look on Ravelry and see if I can figure out what I'm doing wrong. I keep ending up with missing stitches.

It's been a billion degrees in my house all week, the air breaks every year. DH says it's a rite of spring. I can barely function in the heat, let alone sleep. I'm one of those folks who wraps themselves up in the comforter regardless of how hot it is. I just can't get comfortable without it.

I'm sort of procrastinating, Tuesday is cleaning day and I haven't even finished half of the to-do list. I guess I should go vacuum...

---AtdaHoP---

Devendra Banhart - At the Hop



<3
knitxcore.

F is for FO

I just finished a pair of socks I started in January, the sad part is that there just plain ol' stockinette socks. No cables, or fancy ribbing just generic toe-up socks. I\
]=mmediately upon finishing them I decided I wanted to take the FO pic outside, outside where it rained last night. I was pretty much standing in mud. Oh! The things I'll do for a good photo.

Pattern Particulars

Pattern Source: Wendy's Fingering Weight Toe-Up socks with Gusset Heel
Needles: 32" US Size 1 Addi Turbos
Materials: Hobbledehoy Merino Sock Yarn in Pop Quiz
Time: Longer than it should have ever taken. I started these in January.
loved: Not picking up any stitches for the heel!!!!!!
hated: I casted off sort of tightly, and I'm not going back to fix it.
Notes: I followed the pattern for the Large size, and did a 3X2 rib before casting off in pattern.




I need to make something new for my mom for her birthday. I started an apron and realized I cut the pieces out wrong, so that's not going to work. I know that Branching Out pattern is supposed to be pretty simple for beginner lace, and I have some raw silk hanging around it may look nice in.

---FeedtheTrEE---

Belly - Feed the tree



<3
knitxcore.

First things first.

Remember this scarf from last weeks SPT?



For those of you that wanted to know...

It's one of my first knitted projects ever. This particular scarf is quite a few years old so, you'll have to bear with me.

Pattern Particulars

Pattern Source: Improvised. I used the stripe pattern from the Hot Head pattern in Stitch n' Bitch
Needles: Clover Takumi US size 10.5 straight
Materials: Lion Brand Homespun
Time: Just a few hours.
loved: the colors.
hated: i can't remember :-)

So there it is. I said it wan't too exciting. Buy some cheap yarn, forget what you know about gauge or drape and pop out a 2X2 ribbed scarf and you too can look as dashing as Engelbert Humperdinck (in his prime of course).

Now, on to more exciting things.

I had off today. Martha Stewart was switched to a new time on NBC. So, in order to get my fix, I had to visit the time-suck that is marthastewart.com. While browsing for about a half an hour I found the cutest easter decoration anyone could ever have. Even though mine isn't as cute as this, I couldn't fathom spending $130 on the real thing (though, you can buy reproductions for about $20). Anyway after a couple of hours worth of glueing, cutting and cussing I have this adorable bunny for my kitchen table.

I followed the tutorial exactly, just changed a few materials so i wouldn't have to go out. I used acrylic yarn, craft felt, and wooden beads. Her fancy pedestal is an upside down frappacino cap coverd in green fabric and mod podge. I'm so fancy! If I make anymore I may just use real wool ande felt, but the wooden eyes are so cute! I'm definitely sticking with those.

and I assume you all expect a video, so without further adieu...

---More Kate Nash!---

Kate Nash -Foundations

(I really can't get enough of her!!!)

<3

knitxcore.

A is for Alpaca.

I finished the lil' number just in time to give to my long-time friend Bryan for X-mas (it was kinda belated). We've been friends since we were in high school, and he's the only childhood friend that I still talk to on a regular basis. So, his gift had to be pretty nice. I used the yarn I was kinda hoarding for myself in a fit of LMGS (lastminutegiftsyndrome), although I hated to see it go, I know it will be loved in it's new home.

Pattern Particulars
Pattern Source: The Fidget by Robin Dodge for One Sheep Hill
Needles: Clover Takumi US size 10.5 straight
Materials: Misti Alpaca Chunky in Color #1000, vintage buttons from stash.
Time: Just a few hours.
loved: The stitch pattern! i will absolutely use it again!
hated: That I had to frog it about two or three times.
mods: None, really, I used the second option and just sailed through.

I'm sooper dooper happy with the fidget. I may have to order some more Misti Alpaca to make one for myself now.

---Today's Video---

Mates of State - Goods (all in your head.)




<3
knitxcore.

spt+fo.

I've decided to combine Self Portrait Thursday with my most recent FO, Foliage from Knitty.com.
I finished this hat sorta late (late in my house means after 11pm, lol) last night, and didn't have the energy to take any "good" FO pics, sorry. This lil guy is going to be wrapped up and put with the X-mas pile, eventually.



Pattern Particulars

Pattern Source:Foliage From Knitty.com
Needles: Susan Bates Size 9 16" pink metal circular, Addi Natura Size 8 16" circular
Materials: Rio De Plata Wool Multi
Time: About 5 hours
loved: the pattern!!! i had a bad experience once with a top-down hat and swore i'd never do one again. Foliage has renewed my faith. hated: knitting lace, I have the attention span of a walnut.
mods: The Rio was a weird weight, so the worsted pattern wouldn't cut it. I used Size 9 needles and did 2 and 1/2 lace pattern repeats with 6 rows of ribbing before the BO. It fits kinda slouchy, exactly how i wanted.

I'm super duper excited right now! I have possibly the coolest cake ever, in the oven. I was going to wait to show you my finished cake but you need to go buy this pan, NOW! (while it's on sale for $14.99) Martha Stewart is a genius!!!

Martha Stewart Igloo Cake Mold - Macys.com



I'll take pictures of mine when it's finished, and give you all the gritty details.

<3
knitxcore.

icandothefriv.

Inspired by some of my favorite bloggers, I gave the Frivoli pattern a shot.

Pattern Particulars
Pattern Source:Frivol by Debi Tuttle
Needles: Clover Takumi Straight Needles Sz. 8
Materials: Naturally Tussock 8-ply in tan.
Time: About 4 hours
loved: the bobbles!!!!
hated: that i used a light color. i'm going to attempt this hat again in a dark green.

CabLE CloSE-up:

This lil' guy is the first finished X-mas gift!!!! We'll see how many get finished in time :-)

Jenny Lewis can't do the friv, but she can do frug (and the robocop):

Rilo Kiley (circa 1999) - The Frug



<3
knitxcore.

greyowl's ganomy.

I know I said there would be another installment of Yarn Crawl, but I just finished up a hat and thought it was deserving of an FO post. So, the few of you that are biting you nails, waiting to see what Philly yarn shop is next will just have to hold tight for a couple of days.




Pattern Particulars

Pattern Source:Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac
Needles: Crappy Susan Bates Circs (sz. 9, 16")
Materials: Lamb's Pride Worsted in LemonDrop, a pingpong ball.
Time: About 4 hours
loved: not having to look at the pattern anymore.

The hat was for a personal swap with someone on stylemob. she screen-printed a shirt for me, i made this hat for her. i can't wait to get it!!!! if you're not on stylemob, check it out:

and the video for today:

Badly Drawn Boy - Disillusion (directed by Garth Jennings)

RPMs: An FO

I finally finished these lil' buggers. Remember when I first blogged about them in MAY????? After a ton of frogging, and trying to figure out why anyone would do a short-row heel, they're ready to hit the streets.

I made the largest size with a short-row heel and complete spiral pattern, finishing with the pointed toe.

Pattern Particulars

Pattern Source: RPM Socks by Aija Goto via Knitty.com

Needles: Addi Turbo US size 1 32" circular (Magic Looped)

Materials: 1 Skein STR lightweight in Lemongrass.

Time: alot, i started them the first time in May and frogged a lot of times.

Loved: the pattern!!!!! mindless repeats=watching subtitles.

Hated: the short row heel, i don't ever want to do one again.

cuterelevantvideo:

Cornershop - Brimful of Asha

If I can stop fondling this ball of Misti Alpaca Chunky, I may do another installment of Yarn Crawl: A mini-series for tomarrow.

<3

knitxcore.

TheAbsentKnitter rox....

Because, not only did she send me some awesome stuff:

But, she also put up a sweet tutorial on how to make *awesome* star pillows on her blog:

I made this one with some fabric Dave picked out about 2 months ago. I have a few sewing WIP's laying around and I was apprehensive to start something new, but the pillow went super fast, and I already had everything I needed.

I don't really do any sort of patchwork, and I still flew right through this project. It was a lot of fun watching the star shape up. My only regret is that I may not have stuffed it enough. I can always go back and fix that when I'm feeling ambitous, maybe I'll just toss it in the dryer and see if it fluffs up.

To make one for yourself (or just revel in Karen's awesomeness), check out her blog @ TheAbsentKnitter.

It's the Great Pumpkin!

It's eighty-five degrees here in South Jersey today but I'm still pretty excited to show off my first official fall FO. I tried to take a really artistic picture, complete with faux tealights, if you want a full color no frills affair, just scroll down.

Pattern Particulars
Pattern Source: Pumpkins by Jordana Paige for Knitty, Fall '05.
Needles: Clover Takumi Straight Needles US sz. 10.5 and Clover Takumi DPN'S sz US 11

Materials: 1 Skein each of Lamb's Pride Worsted in Oatmeal and Rust
Time: Maybe 3 hours???

Loved: Instant Gratification!!!! This really is a one night/weekend sorta deal. I sorta love the vine, too :-)
Hated: Sewing all the wedges together

Mods: I was not about to sew the top on, after sewing all the other pieces together. I got out my trusty felting needle (from a YarnPunk Kit), and just felted the crap out of it. I also used the needle to define the wedges a lil' more, because I noticed a few on Ravelry were kinda shapeless.

Even though I'm roasting here in NJ, I'm sure most of you are starting to experience fall. What better way to start it out than dusting off a gem like this:

Charlie Brown

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FO: Baby Surprise Jacket!

It's finally finished!!!

Pattern Particulars

Pattern Source: Baby Surprise Jacket from Spun Out #1-B by Elizabeth Zimmermann.

Needles: Addi Turbo US sz 6 24" circular.

Materials: 3 skeins of Woolbearer's Hand Dyed Kona Superwash.

Time: just a lil' here and there, over a week.

Loved: that I had no clue where the seams would be until row 80. modular knitting is awesome.

Hated: absolutely nothing, this was a fun, no nonsense knit.

This came out wayyyyy better than I ever could have hoped!

<3

knitxcore.

Salad Sweater!!!!!!

It's finally finished! I'm sooooooo excited! This is the first sweater I've knit that I won't have to hide.

Maybe it was Elizabeth Zimmermann's "pithy" instructions, or the tasty Malabrigo named after food but something clicked this time.

Pattern Particulars
Pattern Source: Seamless Raglan from Knitting Without Tears by Elizabeth Zimmermann
Needles: Clover Takumi 32" Circulars US sz. 8, Addi Natura 16" circulars US sz. 8

Materials: 5 skeins of Malabrigo Worsted Merino in Lettuce (from Misocrafty's de-stash) and one in Glazed Carrot (from Webs).
Time: I didn't actually time this project but I did start it in June.
Loved: the ease of the pattern and the perfect fit. Because EZ pretty much forces you to pay attention to the gauge, you shouldn't expect anything less.
Hated: nothing. I want to knit like, 300 sweaters now.

Even Jesse Spano is excited, see?

<3

knitxcore.

Another Ballband dishcloth?

You can never have enough.

Pattern Particulars

Pattern Source: Mason-Dixon Knitting

Needles: Clover Takumi Straight sz. 7

Materials: Lily Sugar and Cream in asst. colors.

Time: About 1.5 hours

Loved: Not having to look at the pattern anymore.

Hated: nothing

The yarn for my sweater is in, and hopefully I'll work all the ends in tonight. My kitchner on the armpits is backwards, so I may rip it out and do it correctly. We'll see.

<3

knitxcore.

You Don't Ganomy!

My Ganomy Hat is finished! I have a couple of pins coming to spruce it up and make sure Mr. Ganomy has a proper photo shoot, not that my bathroom pics are that bad, but he deserves a couple of good pics just like any other FO's. Elizabeth suggests placing a ping pong ball in the top, just in case your hat get lost at sea, it suppoesd to make it float. I usually stay on dry land, so I switched that up a little bit.

Pattern Particulars

Pattern Source:Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac
Needles: Addi Natura 16" circular, Clover Takumi DPNs sz. 8
Materials: Lamb's Pride Worsted in Wild Oak, and a tiny cat toy with a bell in it.
Time: About 4 hours
Loved: The ingenious shaping and that it jingles when I walk!
Hated: The fact that my gauge was a lil' off, but I later fixed that with some wet blocking.



I bought more yarn from Hobbledehoy's Etsy shop this week. I've had it favorited for almost a month so I figured it was time to stop being so cheap and give in to my consumer's urge. The colorway is called "Pop Quiz", it's a white base with flecks of primary colors. I think it may become a pair of Bubble Wrap socks in the distant future.



MidnightPurls also hooked me up with some of her hand-dyed Sea-wool last week. She used acid dyes from HelloYarn and over dyed it to my favorite puce-y shade of green. She knows what I like :-) I'm saving this for something awesome!



I just got the new issue of Croq Zine. I was going to swear it off, but then she put up a damaged copy for half-price and I couldn't resist. It came today, so I haven't had a proper sit-down with it yet, but I did learn about GoodSearch.com. GoodSearch.com is powered by Yahoo! but it donates a minimum of 50% of all ad revenue to charitable organizations in the U.S.! AWESOME, right? Even better than that is you get to choose what charity your specific clicks go to and if it isn't already in the GoodSearch database, you can add it yourself! Everyone uses search engines, might as well use one that going to do something besides bring up porn when you type "ketchup" in the box.

I'm still chugging along on the Ol' Log Cabin and I started my Seamless Hybrid this week (sorry Rodger! I couldn't wait!). So, I'll try to get some pics up soon. I also have some racy pics of KnitXcore @ the Beach to share (j/k), if my computer decides to stay online long enough to upload them :-)

<3
knitxcore.

Where did this week go?

I hadn't realized that a whole week had went by without making a blog post. I guess I'm just a jerk. Sometimes, time really escapes me. I mean, I like to sleep a lot, but there are full days that just go right out the window. Ravelry isn't helping with this complete loss of time, either. It's funny how you don't realize you been looking at knitting patterns for hours on end. Luckily, I do have a few things to show for this whirlwind of a week.

It was raining outside, these pics were my plan B.

Pattern Particulars

Needles: Clover Takumi DPNs sz. 8, Clover Takumi Straight needles sz. 8
Materials: Plymouth Jelli Beenz Yarn , some red buttons from my awesome button stash.

Time: about 3 hours.
Loved: The yarn, the ease of the pattern, the buttons!!!
Hated: trying to figure why the second flap didn't work out right (it was my fault).

Knit.1's Spa Socks are finished! When I started them, I wasn't that excited about them but I did want a worsted weight pair of socks that were kinda slipper-ish. After finishing them up I've decided that they're kinda fun and the buttons are really cool. I'm really into the yarn, too! I'm using what I had left to make the Umbilical Cord hat From Stitch n' Bitch. Someone on Ravelry had made it out this exact yarn, and it was so cute that I sort of did a lil' dance when I realized that I had enough left.

A while ago, one of the cool girls at our lil' (sorta defunct) stitch n' bitch, had an awesome book by Lucinda Guy (And so to bed...). Midnight Purls and I immediately fell in love with Otto the Owl, among other things. All of the patterns were really cute and the sizes went up to 5 years old, so I'll have plenty of time to make everything in the book. The only "issue" (it's not even that extreme) is that every pattern calls for Rowan Cashsoft DK or Baby DK and while I love the yarn, a ton of colors have been discontinued. I used YarnDex and checked to see what other things I could use and decided on KnitPick's Merino Style. They had a billion colors and it was too cheap to pass up. It came the other day and while its pretty soft and the colors are great there is one discrepency... What color (exactly) is cornflower? I've used crayons and seen Fight Club, so I was very confident when choosing this color for my owl's blue eyes. According to KnitPicks cornflower is in fact, the lightest purple I've ever seen. I'm not ordering 1 ball of yarn and I'm almost positive there's no blue in my stash. It looks like Otto will have light purple eyes.

I bought some more flowers for the "deck jungle", as we're now calling it. The crazy flower is Fuschia (I think), it didn't have one of those stakes in it. The other is a Dahlia of some sort. The bulbs I planted we're just taking too long and I really wanted some color out there. We picked up some Petunias also, but they wouldn't photograph well for some reason.

<3
knitxcore.

WIP Wednesday.

I know I've talked a lot about my Moderne Log Cabin Blanket, but I haven't actually shown the people out there in BloGlAND my progress. It's already huge! I've used about 10 balls of Elann.com's Sonata and I have 10 more waiting in a bag. Unfortunately, that's not even enough. I'm terrible at math, it was one of my first big projects and I thought that 50 grams of yarn was the same yardage no matter what I used. I was wrong.

It's been a pretty relaxing knit, tho. Row after row of garter stitch on size 6 needles really does keep you from punching everyone you know in the face and locking yourself in your bedroom. It's also convenient when watching movies with subtitles, as you don't have to pay much attention to what you're doing.

Look what the KokkA fabric turned into!!!! yeah, it's a doorstop. I'm still in shock that I actually made this. Of course, it's from my new favorite book ever, Simple Sewing. The book is set up into different levels, this project being a level 3. I approached it kind of nervously, since I haven't sewn in quite awhile. I didn't want to make any mistakes because, I'd only bought enough fabric to make it once with no room to mess anything up. So, I was pretty excited that it came out so nicely. If any of you are planning on doing this one yourself, Lotta Jansdotter buys extremely large magic beans from the extremely large magic bean store and 5 lbs. wasn't nearly enough. I opted to stuff the top with fiberfill, thanks to some good advice from The Absent Knitter's Journal.

<3

knitxcore.

Ocean Breathes Salty.

My "Ocean Breathes Salty" socks are finished!!!!! It seems like it took forever. I'm pretty excited about these lil' guys because I not only dyed the yarn, I actually wrote the pattern. I based it on some ankle socks Dave already had, so I knew that they would fit well. They original yarn was from Stickchicks Etsy shop. I ended up using less than 270 yds. I know I usually do a pattern particulars for FO's but, they aren't any for this project since I just sort of winged it. If enough of you guys are intrested, I'll try to write an official PDF pattern, so let me know what you think!!!!!

It's funny how they blend into the grass :-) I was going to start some Jaywalkers tonight but, it seems I don't have enough yarn. I'm going to give Knitty's RPM a spin.

<3

knitxcore.

in the sculpture garden.

i finally finished noni bags "in the sculpture garden", and just in time for my mom's birthday. i'm going to give it to her tonight. i hope she doesn't hate it. it's not like she would say anything even if she did. you know how moms are...

Pattern Particulars
Needles: Clover Takumi Circulars sz. 11, Clover Takumi Straight needles sz. 8
Materials: MC- Cascade 220 col. no. 8886, CC- Cascade Quatro col. no. 5012, Pink Acrylic Handles from LYS, Purple wool felt (for lining), 1" pinback buttons fron CubistLiterature's etsy shop and a sew in snap.

Loved: The yarn, the ease of the pattern, the flowers!!!

Hated: Sewing in the lining, and the bazillion tries it took to get is felted just right.

i'm really proud of it, and really beats the crap out the bag i made her last year. OHHHHHHHHH!!! P.S. i went with one pocket, you can't really see it in the pictures.

Henry the Hedghog!

I finished Henry on Saturday night, and we went out to play in the snow on Sunday morning! You heard right Sunne! It finally snowed in New Jersey. YAY!

Pattern Particulars

Needles: Clover Takumi Size US 10.5
Yarn: Included in kit from Craftyalien.com .
Time: Approx. 2 hours (most of it was spent pulling through loops of yarn for hair)
Loved: How quickly the yarn felted, everything I needed except for a tiny bit of Poly-fil was in the kit, the cuteness factor!
Hated: The tiny bald spot i missed.

I definitely want to pick up another kit or even just one of the pattern booklets. I'm so excited about felting again! I want to try needle felting now, and make the fruit from the new issue of Craft:. I'm afraid of jamming the barbed needle in my hand but, it has been a long time since a *severe* crafting injury. I might as well give it a shot.