Buttonarama

I finally sewed on some buttons on some FOs that have been finished for a long time.

Here is Plain and Simple made out a gorgeous green Wollmeise 100%. The second pic with the buttons is accurate for color. I can't wait to wear this. I love the style. The buttons are perfect as well. They are from Lyanwood and I have bought from them a few times in the past. I have had great service from them every time.

Also from Lyanwood was the perfect button for Harvest Moon

I also found buttons for Shalom from the local Spotlight. They are actually pretty good and excellent for about $1 a piece. I had one perfect button for Shalom and then I changed it to a 3-button project. Turns out the store had no more and could get no more as they were vintage. Probably a good thing as they were $20 each.

What else? I got buttons for Polly and Baby Kina #1. I am very happy to have these completely done. These are exactly the same yarn - Madtosh MCN Sport in Lepidoptera.  Lighting can make such a difference. The Polly pic on top is accurate for color.

And finally, I finished the Rocky Coast Cardigan. This is a fabulous cardigan in a wonderful yarn. I knit the 36" body and 40" sleeves and I am so happy to have had the info from other ravellers about how tight the sleeves were and to be sure to give the project a substantial amount of positive ease - something I pretty much never do. I am usually knitting the 30" size for 2" negative ease. Here, reading the notes really paid off.

I also finished (except for buttons) a Baby Kina #2. Buying this yarn broke my yarn diet for 2012 but I kind of feel ok about that as it came in and out of stash immediately and it was one skein and for a gift. I did buy a second skein from the seller but that is for any random babies that might pop out soonish. This yarn is Madtosh MCN Sport again but in the Dahlia colorway. Machine-washable which is important for a mum. Such a beautiful color and i have some in DK Twist for a sweater for myself (bought in 2011).

Whew - I think that is it for now.

Actually, I should mention my current wip. It is Rose and Cross Pullover in Tosh Merino Light in Dried Rose as the MC, Antler, Ink and Tart as the CC's. I am loving the look of this. It is really pretty.

So my wips are the Rose and Cross, Hitchhiker which is at 43 points (and I could declare DONE at any time, i just have this crazy need to use most of the yarn) and Marlene, which never gets any love - but it does stop me from casting on more projects. I have been planning the next largish project and am thinking maybe the Carnaby Skirt. I have made one linen skirt (which i like a lot) and think it is time to try a  wool skirt. It may not be a success but it is worth a shot.

January Skeins Out

I know I have the knitmeter on the sidebar but I sort of think in skeins rather than metres so I wanted to see what my stashdown worked out to be for January

Shalom - 4 skeins
Green Blue Grey Socks - 1 skein
Adrift - 1 skein
Moiraine - 1 skein
Whippoorwill - 2 skeins
Umaro - 12 skeins
Baby Kina - 1 skein
Basic Chic Hoodie - 5 skeins

Total knitdown for January = 27 skeins

I also sold 8 x 200 gram balls of yarn so 8 more skeins out through destash.

Total stash reduction for January = 35 skeins.

It won't be like this all year but this is a very good start to the year.
:)

Happy Days

The Basic Chic Hoodie is done (except for buttons) and I am really pleased with it. The yarn is super soft and squooshy and the cardi very warm. The hood looks good and I am happy I made it, even though I will probably never wear it over my head. I will have to look online for buttons as the local choices are pretty pricey.

A friend of my husband's just had a baby girl so I made a Baby Kina out of some very pretty Madelinetosh MCN Sport in Lepidoptera. It is a very cute pattern and I will certainly make it again - probably very soon as on of my friends just had a baby girl.

This one also doesn't yet have buttons but I did find some today at the local Spotlight. I'll take another pic when I finally sew them on. It should be soon as this needs to get mailed to the mum.

I took a pic today of Whippoorwill being worn and thought it was worth putting here as it is such a good shape and very easy to wear.

My new cardigan on the needles is the Rocky Coast Cardigan by Hannah Fettig from her book Coastal Knits with Alana Dakos. There are a lot of beautiful patterns in this book and I am sure I will be making more from it soon.

It is knitting up very fast on 6.5mm (US10.5) needles. This is two days' knitting.

I am using the same yarn as in the sample The Fibre Company Organik in Artic Tundra.

Still only 3 wips which is great but poor, poor Marlene. I bought the needle I needed on Friday last week but I still haven't touched her. Maybe tomorrow.

First Week of School

It has been a busy week sending the kidlets off to school and childcare so not as much knitting as usual. Still, the Basic Chic Hoodie is moving along. One sleeve is done and the second should be finished tonight. I am excited to start the hood. I would love for this one to be finished completely by Monday.

The Hitchhiker has 35 points and it seems quite small but I guess there is still a lot of knitting in those last 7 points. I am still loving the vanilla aspect of this knit.

Poor old Marlene. I guess I just don't care about fancy socks as much as I do pretty shawls and sweaters. I will force myself to finish these because I hate ripping and I do know that I will like the finished item.

Holiday Knitting - a blanket and a shawl

I knit my first real blanket while away for a week. It is Umaro and knit out of Cascade Lana Grande in the Espresso colorway. I really love it but think it would be equally beautiful in a pale color like the pattern pics. If I had been doing this at home, it would have taken me months but because I had more time and was focused, I managed the finish it off the day after we got home. It is 52" x 55" unblocked.

My other finished project that week was Whippoorwill which is absolutely gorgeous. It is out of Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in Denim and Ink. I will have to take pics of this shawl being worn as it is a beautiful shape and looks great on.

I have a couple of cardigans finished in January but one I need a picture of it modelled and the other needs a couple of buttons. When I have those sorted, I will do another post.

Good Progress

I have made good progress on the Basic Chic Hoodie. I am about 8 rows away from the almost 4" of ribbing on the bottom. watching Downton Abbey while knitting on this has helped it to fly along. Although I love pockets, I am not doing them here as they just seem superfluous. I think i like them on cardigans that are loose and unbuttoned.

I am one of those weird people who don't mind sleeves. When I get to the sleeves, I am almost done. I can crank out a sleeve in a day or a day and a half so knowing I am 2-3 days away from finishing a garment is quite exciting. Plus they are good TV knitting or watching the kids knitting. So, I will be quite happy when the body is done as I know i only have the sleeves to go. Oh, except for the hood. And the button bands. And sewing on the buttons. Hmmm. 

Hitchhiker is still coming with me everywhere and it is also my nighttime TV knitting with my husband as the needles are small and make less noise than the big needles. I am at 32 points.

Marlene needs some love. Main problem is I don't love the needles I have. 2.75mm Harmony 80cm for magic loop or 2.75mm 100cm ChiaoGoo. I like both needles but not for this. Harmony not slick enough and Chiagoo not great for the magic looping - I find the cable too thick and cumbersome for magic loop on the smaller needles but fine for larger needles. Needles are such a personal thing, though. I need Knit Pro metal for this and should just go buy one. Next time I am in the city, I will buy some.

More January FOs

I finished the lovely Moiraine by Arlene's World of Lace which was my first beaded project. I used Socks that Rock Lightweight in Blue Moonstone and I really liked working with this yarn. It was my first project with STRL. The beads were 6/0 seed beads from my local bead shop in Brisbane.

I will definitely do more beaded knitting. This one was pre-strung and I used the tutorial from Leslie of The Knitgirllls which was very helpful. I bought a basic bead spinner from Michael's when I was last in the US. I also want to make the Shipwreck Shawl and I have the yarn and beads so that will hopefully happen in 2012.

It is a gift for a friend but it will be hard to give it away - I love it. She is a special friend though and she admired this skein of yarn when she was visiting so it was lovely to make something for her out of it.