Some pictures of FO of last season

I always get lost what to knit between seasons. I know it's apparently better to knit cotton from now considering my slow hand but I've just had very beautiful lace weight yarn and can't put it into my stash box.
Anyway, before I talk about some plan for coming season, I think I have to put some picture of finished objects that I haven't uploaded yet.

Fingerless mitten for my son. I used the chart from here (http://www.supermitten.com/images/SkullCharts.gif) I followed the practice for intarsia knitting I read somewhere before but my hand didn't work right.

He showed around this pair and we-call-them-pirate hat to his friend's mom or stuff at pre-school. Most of them were non-knitter and returned reaction was "You made them? I never want to do like this. I hate needlework!" Even I got the praise from them, it felt totally different from words from knitters.


And this is crochet motif bag, from this book.



I used the odd balls in stash with no ravels. The bag is made of 63 large motifs and 48 small motifs and joining just like when you make blanket. Then crochet around them to gether side. I have to attach a liner inside, but not yet.

That all I finished for this winter. Let's talk about my plan for spring in next post!

Merry X'mas

It's christmas day today and the stocking is filled with alot of sweets! Happy holidays!

Red gloves

I knitted this Ladies' Gloves with Scalloped Ribs on Two Needles from "Charm" Glove Book 12 c1950 in red Regia yarn. I was just curious about the way knitting in 2 needle. I like the way pattern continues from wrist to finger.

Finished red rib scarf. Feel so glad to be set free from those boring ribbing pattern. I like the crocheted edging on both end. They are just one-row edging but the result looks totally different!

I won't knit any more scarf for this winter because i have already knitted 2 other new scarves which I haven't taken pictures yet (they will be here soon).

So, what's next? Well, my son is requesting to knit a pair of fingerless gloves (not mitten) in black with a skull motif on back. It will be a challenging project for me ...

Lavender Lace Socks

This is a Lavender Lace Socks from Vogue Knitting Socks, i wanted to knit for long time. I couldn't find yarn that would not get hard when knitted in the lace pattern until I used this yarn, hand-dyed by Trico. The name for the color is "Sakura (cherry blossom)" with pale pink, blue and purple. I never used such soft and beautiful wool yarn before. Really nice.

We call them pirates

We call them pirates
http://www.helloyarn.com/wecallthempirates.htm

My 6-year old son has shown interest to fashion and care how he looks recently. His favorite color is now black and the preference seems to go on for coming winter season. As he used to prefer red or orange for long time, his winter items were all in those colors and has no black items yet other than a jumper. So, I got a reason to knit a hat for him and come up with this pattern right away.
The finished hat is just the right size. That means i will have another reason to knit a hat next year ;-)

Raised leaves pincushion

I like this raised leaves pattern so much and wanted to make something small with it for long time. As I needed a pincushion for knitting needle, I thought it is a chance to try this pattern. First, I knitted 4 pieces of triangle shape and sewed them together making square fabric. I chose very fine cotton yarn for this but it wasn't pleasing result. The seam was not tidy. So I chose wool yarn for next try and arranged the pattern to knit in circular to knit in one piece instead. I put old swatches and some failed projects inside.

Even though I knew the pattern with knit and purl stitch combination would make raised effect, I really impressed how the leaves raised such fully. You might think the leaves are sewed on appliques!

Shrug Finished

I've been working on many small things since last post but all these were not worth taking photo. Sorry for kept this blog un-updated for such long time.

Here is the finished the shrug. It's very light - only 100 g and a little more. I arranged for rib part with additional length and frill-like cast off.

Summer bag

This is the bag just finished. As the yarn was very thick and hard, it stands by itself on the floor! I had to hold the hook like when you do with a rod to keep tension.

I finished all project in "Andalia" series and i think i enjoyed enough. Above all i proud myself on that i used up all the balls i bought and made what i meant. That's rarely happens. Now I feel i want to back to normal yarn.

Crochet hat and quaker things

Sorry for being lazy at updating this blog.

I've been working pretty hard and progress on needlework is terribly slow. I have many idea to try but i never catch up within my free time. There are some skew in what i wanna do and reality.
During past weeks, i finished a couple of projects in "Andalia" yarn. A hat with flower corsage and a bag with flower corsage. Due to hard yarn, it was difficult to keep the tension. I hoped iron steam will make the surface neat but it worked just a little. I tried the soft wire first time for this hat on last 2 round of brim to keep its shape. I haven't steamed the bag yet so the picture will be in next post.
I got those quaker items recently, Quaker Post pattern and Quaker pinballs booklet. I found both at a online cross stitching shop and i thought both for stitching. But the booklet isn't. It is a pattern for knitting pinballs and applicable for embroidery. You'll knit in 0.8 or 1.0 mm needle with fine thread to make them. I have both and more fine needles but i will use more large one for exercise first.I really like quaker style pattern in cross stitch. Hard to resist...

Bag finished

I finished this small shell stitch bag last week. Crocheting with hard twisted yarn made my shoulders hard and my hands turned red, so I couldn't work long at a time. Very small but just enought to bring wallet, mobile phone, hanky and tissue.

I'm gonna make another works with another types of same yarn, one is doubled yarn and the other is plain one. They are a hat and bag i showed in previous post. I think i should make a hat first.

Martha finished

Pattern: Martha from Rowan Magazine 37
Yarn: Rowan 4ply cotton black
Size : S

Since last post, I spent all my available free time for knitting Martha. I never thought i could finish such soon. Although It looked small while knitting because of its pattern, it fits nicely and i'm so happy!
I think this pattern also works in different pattern stitch. I'll try after i wear out Martha.

2 socks finished

It took whole week for DS to get well and i took my work off at last. During the off, i knitted socks like crazy to make another ones to make them pair. I like loose fit for leg and tight for foot. To get such result, i tried 3 times for adjusting the length of foot for the first stripe sock. After finished them, my socks fever seems cooled down. I have no plan for another socks at the moment.

So, what's next? Martha. I also knitted her during off, but after i found that i couldn't knit front any more unless finishing back of cardigan first, i lost all motivation. I started Martha from sleeves and then front with my freakish idea, but i gave myself up when i read the instruction " knit less than 10 rows than back." I did knew some reasonable reason for knitting back first but i learned another deciding reason this time. The idea of knitting sleeve first is OK, but you MUST knit back first than front.

So, I was really satisfied with two socks and lost motivation for Martha, i knit little last week. As DS has just learned riding a bicycle, he asked me to pick him up from nursery school early to practice it. He also asked me to take him out to practice whipping a top. I was very busy last week to make time for these after work. So all i knitted last week was several rows of back of cardigan. That's all.
After a short leave from knitting, i am back again and realizing how knitting is fun!

Electra finished

Pattern: Electra vest from Rowan knitting magazine 38
Size : S

It was fun to knit in my favorite color way. Usually, i can see where i'm in decreasing at both end, but i gave up this time and made a chart with Excel. Changing yarn so often makes the end of fabric very ugly and i couldn't stand with them. I weaved these end before i blocked because i didn't want the first and last stitches loosen and get bigger. Although finishing instruction says "press then weave in all ends," I am afraid these loose stitch would get more bigger when pinned.

After i knitted rib around arm and neck, i noticed many holes at decreasing area.I must take more care in decreasing. After all, it is beautiful when you see from a distance but it's rough when you look at closely.

Finished Raglan Leaf T-shirt

In this January, i had unexpected free time and finished a couple of WIP.

This is a pari of socks for my sister. The pattern is from "Sensational Knitted Socks" and yarn is Regia silk in dark brown. For its mock cable pattern, it is such shrunken.

And i finished this Raglan Leaf T-shirt by knitting school dropout. The yarn is the domestic one i flogged from the Clapotis i made last spring but not satisfied with its result (i customized the size and substituted the yarn and it didn't work right). The surface of knitted fabric is not neat but it is very light and warm. I have already put it on several times.

The new project is Martha from Rowan 37. I'm knitting with 4ply cotton in color black (or very dark grey). This yarn is also frogged form unsuccessfully finished project. I usually start with back, front, and sleeves but this time, i wanted start from sleeves. I have knitted up one full ball and reached at armhole decrease.

In this winter, I knitted only this leaf t-shirt for large project, as my work was quite busy and no more plan for rest of this season. Most of my knitting projects are small one like socks or mittens. I am now readying for large spring project. Too early? No, not really casue i have many small projects in mind too.

On this weekend, i went a craft store to get some materials necessary for future projects. A pair of small leather handle for bag, tweed fabric, a pattern book for potholders, two balls of linen yarn called "whitelane." It is sales season. I am going at another yarn shop today, during lunch hour.