Christmas FOs, Part II

It's long past time for me to post the second half of the Christmas FOs, although I don't have finished pictures for all of them.

1) Zeebee for my brother

Pattern: Zeebee by Schmeebot
Yarn: 2-ply handspun Colonial heather top from Woodland Woolworks, 4 oz, approximately110 yds, bulky weight (more details here)
Needles: ummm...10.5 maybe? No idea
Gauge: I know I had to measure this to get the right numbers for the pattern, but I have no idea what it was. Something like 3.5 sts/inch I think
Comments/mods: I love the construction of this hat, but the numbers I got from the pattern generator would have made a hat that came down past my earlobes (too long as far as I'm concerned). And I would have run out of yarn with one quarter of the hat left to knit. So instead of casting on 38 stitches, I cast on 30 and used the directions for the short rows that came with the 38 stitch version from the website. I was impressed that the handspun held up as well as it did, what with repeated frogging to get the right size. The yarn made for a squishy, warm hat that my brother loved.

2) Trekking stockinette socks

Now finished...

Pattern: my own, standard stockinette sock with one by one ribbing, short-row heel
Yarn: Trekking XXL, colorway 120(?), and Knit Picks Essential in ash for toes and heels
Needles: Knit Picks options dpns, size 1 (2.50 mm)
Gauge: about 32 stitches/28 rows per 4 inches
Comments: Size 11.5 socks are really big! But even so, I had enough left over to make a mini-pair of socks for Boo:

3) Felted clogs

Ready for the washer

Pattern: Fiber Trends felted clogs (Rav link) for the in-laws
Yarn: maroon pair: Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride and Knit Picks Wool of the Andes held doubled
blue/green/red pair: WotA held doubled
Needles: 10.5
Gauge: no idea
Comments/mods: I didn't make any modifications from the pattern, since this was the first time I've made them. Since, however, I have found a mod where you can knit the soles to eliminate almost all the sewing up - I'll definitely do this on the next pair I make. Pretty quick to knit, and the pattern is pretty straightforward, although it took me at least a pair to wrap my brain around it completely. These were gifted in the unfelted state, with one clog in each pair left to knit, but I finished them up before we left the in-laws, so technically they weren't late, right? Plus I could custom felt them to size, which was a good thing for the fit. But boy, had I forgotten how much Lamb's Pride sheds when felted! Talk about big red goobers in the washing machine...

Two other gifts have previously had their day in the sun, so I won't repeat their stats. That covers the Christmas knits I think. If I get more pictures of the gifted objects, I'll post them.

FO: Rainbow socks

Last Friday on the bus I managed to finish the Rainbow socks and weave in all the ends. Hooray for a pair of socks in ~3 weeks!

Pattern: Rainbow socks from Magknits
Yarn: Lang Jawoll Aktion, 420 m/100 g. This pair used up maybe 2/3s of the ball, so there's plenty left for some kid socks
Needles: Knit Picks Options dpns, size 1 (2.5 mm)
Comments/mods: for whatever reason, these socks seemed to go by really quickly. I really liked doing the short row sections - something different is always good. Instead of increasing after the ribbing, I cast on the number of stitches needed for the leg in the cuff - I was planning on working the long version (6 short row sections) and wanted to have a bit more give at the cuff since it was going to come up higher on the leg. I really like how the colorway stripes in these; it reminds me of a zebra.

This was my first time using yarn over short rows (I've always done wrap and turn in the past). I thought this technique worked really well for the body of the sock leg and foot, but I was a little dubious about the heel itself.

It does make a nice decorative line for the heel (and boy did I luck out with the color placement or what?), but it might be a bit holey for my taste. Unfortunately, I can't tell for sure because these babies are nowhere near big enough for my clodhoppers, as you can see:

Rainbow sock for someone with petite feet with my somewhat stretched-out Wyvern for scale

I also loved the toes on these - for someone who is scientifically inclined and way over-educated, it never occurred to me that you could do toe decreases in any other spacing then every row or every other row. For these toes, you decrease every fourth row, then every third row, then every other row, then every row, and they come out perfectly. Genius! I'll knit these again, and I've been thinking that some Noro sock yarn and a few more stitches around might make these babies actually fit me. But that's for another day...

These are destined for the gift pile (yeehaw!) and I'll have to figure out who in my not-so-long list of people worthy of knitted socks has feet the right size. And might like the colors. Finishing these so quickly has made me interested in trying to knit a pair of socks each month for the entire year. This would do wonders for the sock yarn stash, and if I switch off knitting a gift pair with a pair for me, I'll be well shod come next winter with woolly goodies. So that would make February a "me" sock month. I'm having chickens trying to decide whether to jump on the designing bandwagon one more time and work something up for summer Knitty (which only gives me a month!), or tackle Azure. I've got just the right yarn for both, and some ideas for the design, but what it will come down to is timing, and whether I can find a suitable lace pattern in the next few days and get started. Time to get swatching I suppose.

Was it good for you too?

Done. Finis. With two hours to spare. I've impressed myself this time.

Pattern: EZ's baby surplice sweater from Vogue Spring/Summer 2007 (Rav link)
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Top (discontinued), 50/50 wool/cotton, (less then) two skeins, approximately 300 yds
Needles: US7
Comments/mods: the yarn I used is an aran or heavy worsted weight instead of the ~DK weight called for by the pattern. I rationalized my way around this issue by knitting the smaller of the two sizes in the pattern, and guessing that the intended recipient will still fit into in next winter (since he/she certainly won't be big enough for it this winter) (I hope). Finished chest measurement when laid flat is about 22 in, but it can be adjusted as needed by wrapping more or less.

Instead of buttons I put 3 stitch I-cords on the front corners of the jacket. Easier to do, plus I didn't have any suitable buttons floating around at work. I hope I made them long enough that they'll be usable as the babe gets bigger.

I used a lifted bar increase on the arms, and I like the subtle line it makes in the garter stitch. It is pretty unobtrusive in fact, and I like how it matches with the slight break seen along the front edging.

The yarn was slightly tough to work with, particularly under a time crunch - I'm not such a big fan of cotton, and this blend was particularly stiff feeling for only being 50% cotton. This is the same yarn I used for the now snoozing Basalt Tank, and I don't remember it being this tough to work with. Of course, I didn't knit for three days straight without stopping on the Basalt Tank either, so that might have something to do with it. I'm very pleased this is done, and I hope the mom-to-be likes it!

Just in case you've forgotten, I'm also working on my Rainbow Socks. Let me rephrase, on someone's Rainbow socks, because there is no way in hell these suckers are going to fit me. But I'm having fun with all the short rows!

note: finished sock still doesn't have the toe grafted because I finished it on the bus, and had to start the other one immediately (to avoid dreaded SSS). And even though I've done a fair bit of grafting in my time, I'm not crazy enough to do it without reviewing the directions at least once. So sock #2 is getting worked on 4 dpns instead of 5, until I get around to Kitchnering the damn thing.

Christmas FOs, Part I

Now that Christmas is past, I can actually show off the things I knitted for presents. This installment will include three items, and I'm waiting on photos of the others for the second installment. So without further ado, I present:

1) Endpaper Mitts

Pattern: Endpaper Mitts by Eunny Jang, knit for my lovely knitting sister-in-law
Yarn: fingering weight 100% wool recycled from two Goodwill sweaters
Needles: US size 0/1
Comments: this was a really fun pattern to knit. I had to go down a needle size for both the ribbing and the mitt itself - my first mitt knit on size 1/2s was big enough for my somewhat large hands, but would have swum on the intended recipient (my rather petite sister-in-law). The pattern knit up quite quickly for all the colorwork. This was the first time I'd knit colorwork since I learned how to knit Continental style a year and a half ago, so I got to hold one color in each hand. That certainly made things go faster! I kept the grey in my left hand throughout to maintain color dominance. The only modification I made was to work fewer rounds of the bottom ribbing on each mitt.

2) Dashing

Bottom picture is true to color

Pattern: Dashing from Knitty.com - made for my brother-in-law
Yarn: more recycled yarn from Goodwill - this one was nice and soft and cushy. Probably not 100% wool, but pretty darn soft.
Needles: ummmm...size 7? Whatever was called for by the pattern.
Comments/mods: Quick knit, yummy yarn, what's not to love? The directions for the cables as written in the pattern were completely confusing to me, so I just winged it. I liked these alot, and will probably do some for myself someday.

3) Everlasting Bagstopper

Pattern: Everlasting Bagstopper from Knitty.com for Brother's girlfriend (girlfriend-in-law?)
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fine in Berry, 2 skeins held doubled
Needles: US size 5 and 10
Comments/mods: nice, quick knit. I wasn't sure how the gauge would work out since I used cotton/mohair instead of Hempathy, but it seemed to work out fine. Hopefully it won't stretch out too much! I didn't put in the elastic at the bottom because, well, it didn't get done before we left and then I kind of forgot about it. Oh well!

I'm working on a list of goals (I hate to call them resolutions) for the year, both fibery and non. Plus a return to Fiber Friday this week, provided I can get my photo taking butt in gear and figure out how to get good photos when I leave the house at 7:10 (dark out) and get home at 6:00 (even darker out).