8 posts tagged “gift”
Okay, I don't play one on TV. I've been on television, yes, but that was a very long time ago and no one in the world remembers it but me. And I wasn't wearing a shawl at the time. I was wearing a 4-H uniform.
However, I made a shawl. As a gift. Because I'm not a shawl person, as you can plainly see from the pictures below:
The pattern: Seashore Shawl by Drew Emborsky
The yarn: Patons Brilliant in Beautiful Burgundy, three skeins (498 yds total)
Satisfaction with end product: I think it's pretty. My main concern is that its recipient likes it (mailed it off today).
This pattern is easy and quick to stitch. I think it took me 4 or 5 evenings of watching TV, plus another day to pin it out and block it. The finished piece is smaller than the pattern exemplar simply by virtue of the sportweight acrylic/nylon yarn I used versus the worsted weight silk/rayon/linen yarn used for the original. I probably could have blocked it out wider and killed the yarn to maintain the blocking, but I liked the elasticity of the finished piece.
As for my other projects, I finished all the squares for the baby blanket and all the strips for the afghan referenced in this entry. The squares need blocking; the strips have all been blocked and are now my sitting-on-the-sofa-and-seaming-while-watching-television project. I also picked up spouse's wayward Treads socks again, fixed their problem, and am proceeding apace toward the toe.
In magazine news, I'm still waiting for Crochet Today! to put up the preview for the May/June 2009 issue I received last week. In the meantime, the Spring/Summer 2009 issue of Vogue Knitting landed in my mailbox a couple of days ago. Give me another two or three days to go through it thoroughly and then I'll post a review.
In a previous blog entry, I mentioned something about having too many unfinished objects (UFOs). Here they are, in order from earliest start date.....
One should always have a spare baby blanket on hand; at least, that's my belief. One never knows when someone in one's circle of acquaintances/friends/family members is going to procreate. Although I'm getting to the age where it's now the children of my acquaintances/friends/family members who are doing the procreating. But I digress.
I started this blankie on August 17, 2008. Thus far, I have finished the three squares seen below:
At least they're blocked. And only 9 more to go...
On August 23, 2008, I had the bright (?) idea to lead a crochet-along for this adorable crocheted Pomeranian. Didn't have too many followers, so my leadership skills are questionable. Especially since my version of this project stalled right at its assembly stage. Yes, I finished all the pieces by September 6, and then it sat there. And sat there. And sat there some more. Today I officially put it into hibernation on Ravelry, and offer you this photo of a dead project:
After all this time, the poor Pom is still in pieces, and I seem to
have lost not only one of its legs, but also my interest in finishing
the thing. I still have plenty of the yarn left over, though, and I may
re-make the leg and actually assemble the poor benighted misshapen creature, or just
start the project all over again. Someday. Maybe. But don't count on it.
And then there's the Petunia Tote from Interweave Knits Spring 2007 issue. I cast on for this sweet shoulder bag October 16, 2008, with the intention of giving it to one of my sisters-in-law for Christmas. Obviously, that didn't happen.
The knitting bit is done; the bag is blocked; the lining is almost finished...All I need to do to is add a pie-shaped wedge to the lining to make it fit correctly inside the bag, and sew it in. By hand. Now, I am no stranger to a whip stitch, but I don't like handsewing anything, unless it's decorative, like embroidery for embellishment. And so the bag sits there on the project table. Waiting patiently. *sigh*
Spouse's Treads socks were begun on December 17, 2008. They were also supposed to be a Christmas present, but weren't anywhere near finished on Christmas Day. I wrapped up the two balls of yarn along with the two or three inches of cuff then accomplished and presented that to him instead, with the promise that I would get them done as quickly as possible. The project went along smoothly enough: I finished the looooong cuffs, knitted the heel flaps, turned the heels, and then the damn socks misbehaved.
Spouse asked me about them the other day. I told him they were in timeout. "Because they were bad?" he asked, incredulously. "Yes, they were bad and I'm mad at them. Although I'm much less so than I was, and they may be allowed out of timeout very soon." He shook his head in that way of his which indicates: "It's a good thing I love you, because you're certifiable and no one else would put up with this sort of nonsense."
On December 30, I was so sick of knitting knitting knitting all those blasted Christmas presents that I desperately craved a crochet hook. Did I pick up that baby blanket again, or finish the Pom? Nooooo. I started the Cable Rerun blanket from Crochet Today!'s Sept/Oct 2008 issue, using my beloved Bernat Berella 4.
I've actually made decent progress: three of the five strips required are finished and the fourth strip is well on its way. I have high hopes this will be finished in the not too distant future.
On January 20, 2009, I was ready to pick up knitting needles again and cast on the Duo Cardigan, so named after the yarn (from Jarbo Garn). The pattern is improvised from Ann Budd's Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns, with a seed stitch border and plain stockinette stitch for the body and sleeves, the better to show off the self-striping colorway.
The bottom half of the body is done, and one sleeve is partially done. So we're making reasonable progress. This is the project I've been spending the most time on recently. Easy mindless stockinette stitch: no thinking required.
And finally, on February 3, I added one more project to the list: A shawl. No, not for me. I'm not a shawl person, remember? For a friend.
I'm sort of winging this one without a pattern, and I think I might have made it too wide. If I run out of yarn, I'll know I made it too wide and have to frog it and start over. Let's hope I don't run out of yarn.
Seven. Unfinished. Objects. I've told myself I have to finish four of them (the shawl, the cardigan, the socks, and the afghan) before I start anything new.
I don't know if I can do that. That stashed Mirasol Cotanani has been calling my name for quite a while now, and it's getting louder...
I've been soooo busy knitting that I haven't had time to blog! But the projects are done, and I sent them off via UPS yesterday. Yeah, that's late. And because I wasn't willing to fork over $400+ to have them arrive by Christmas Eve, my family members will receive their gifts sometime around the 1st of the year. Happy New Year, family!
To recap, I began my Christmas knitting in July, thinking that would allow me plenty of time to make everyone a nice cardigan or pullover. I finished a cardi for my mother, one for my sister, and a hoodie for a nephew. I had already given my youngest niece a cardi for her September birthday, so she got a scarf made from novelty yarn. Then all of a sudden I looked up and it was October. Ack!! Mad scramble in search of suitable patterns to make for the OTHER people on my list. The pair of socks I was making for me quickly became the gift for a SIL. And then I picked up the 2008 holiday issue of Interweave Knits. Saved! The ribby slippers were perfect for everyone else!
Well, everyone except my oldest nephew (not the "oldest" oldest, but the oldest who is still under age 18; in my family, nieces & nephews stop getting presents from aunts & uncles once they (a) turn 18 or (b) graduate from high school. Anyway, he's much too "cool" to get slippers, especially if his dad is getting the same thing. So, I improvised a skully cap for him. The cap itself is the most basic cap imaginable: 1 1/2 inches of 2x2 ribbing, followed by several inches of plain stockinette, followed by rapid decreases on the crown, then tied off. I nabbed the skull chart from a pattern in Son of Stitch & Bitch:
Sigh. Next year, everyone is getting socks. Or a scarf. Or maybe mittens. Either that, or I start my Christmas knitting in January.
And here's a picture of the lovelies:
Details
- Pattern: "Coquette" from 2 At A Time Socks
- Yarn: Zitron Trekking XXL in colorway 160, 1 skein
- Size: Medium
- Satisfaction with end product: *beam* I think they're great. The stockinette foot part seemed to take forever, but that's normal with such skinny yarn. I'll definitely be making more socks!
I guess I need to keep track of the Christmas to-do list (strike-through means "done"):
Mom
Dad (in progress)
Sis
BIL #1
Bro
SIL #1 (in progress)
Nephew #1Nephew #2Niece #1
SIL #2
BIL #2
Nephew #3 (in planning stage: general idea what to make, still hunting for right pattern/yarn)
Niece #2 (in planning stage: general idea what to make, still hunting for right pattern/yarn)
Spouse (planned: pattern chosen, yarn purchased)
Ack! With 10 weeks to go, I still have 8 projects I haven't even started! And it's actually less time than that because I have to mail everything out-of-state....I see scarves and/or hats on big needles with big yarn for the folks whose projects I haven't planned. Either that, or much less time on the internet. Hmmm....*weighs options*
This morning I found the perfect single button for the Jawbreaker Cardigan, and sewed it on this afternoon. Behold, the loveliness of my sister's Christmas present:
Here's a closeup of the pretty little button:
I feel so accomplished!
Details:
Pattern: Jawbreaker Cardigan by Kendra Cray from Interweave Knits Winter 2006
Size: 37 1/2"
Yarn: Rowan Plaid in "Moonlight Wave", 6 balls (the last ball was used solely for the collar; about half the skein remained when finished)
Needle size: Size 11 for the ribbing, Size 13 for the body. The pattern calls for size 10.5 for the ribbing and 11 for the body, but I knit tightly and had to go up a size to achieve gauge.
Satisfaction with end product: *beam* I like it! I hope Sis does. (I hope it fits her.)
I've been off work all week. Yay, autumn vacation time! As a result, I'm pretty close to being done with a couple of projects; so close, in fact, that I started another. Cast-on-itis, I haz it.
Below is the Jawbreaker cardigan with its collar in the blocking stage.
Although the pattern instructions call for sewing the shoulder seams, attaching the collar, and then blocking, I decided to block all the pieces first, then sew up the shoulders, then attach the collar. I'm glad I did it that way. The blocked pieces were so much easier to handle when sewing seams and picking up the collar stitches. Tomorrow the collar should be dry enough to remove from the blocking board, and then, ASSEMBLY!! I can't wait to see how it looks when it's all put together. I only have one worry: will it fit? The last time I saw my sister, she'd gained a little weight, which looks great on her; but this cardigan was made for the too-skinny figure she once had (I was more than half-way done with the project on our last visit.) I dunno. The yarn is forgiving and the pattern is supposed to fit a little loosely. Maybe there's enough ease built in.
SIL's Coquette socks are in the "approaching the toe" phase.
I turned the heel and made the gussets with no problem whatsoever. Who said socks were hard? This may be one of the easiest projects I've ever done! And I'm enjoying it thoroughly, except for this current endless endless endless stockinette part, the endlessness of which is due entirely to the skinniness of the yarn involved. It's mindless, at this point, though, which makes it a good project to watch TV by.
And a couple of days ago, while the Jawbreaker cardigan pieces were blocking, I started on my father's gift. I'm calling it the Christmas Beau.
The pattern is Beau, from Rowan Vintage Knits:
I have yet to post any information about the Jawbreaker Cardigan intended as a Christmas gift.
From Interweave Knits Winter 2006
I've got the back and the right front made. I'm currently working on the left front. Because the yarn (my beloved Rowan "Plaid") knits up fast I may have the left front done by this evening. After that, I need the sleeves and the collar. A nifty abalone & wood button will provide the finishing touch.
I'm considering blocking the pieces before assembly, but it's been a while since I read through the entire pattern, and I don't recall at this point whether or not that's a good idea. Seems to me it might be, but the collar is made by picking up stitches around the neck rather than as a separate piece, so advance blocking may be problematic. I'll get back to you on that bit.
