Possessed to Knit

Wollmeise Hat for Al

Here is the hat I knitted for Al.  I managed to snag a Gemischt (mixed) bag of Wollmeise during one of Claudia's daytime updates which included a skein of 100% merino in the Merlot colorway.  Cream Fortissima sock yarn is the contrasting yarn.  It has 25% nylon and is a bit fuzzier than the Wollmeise.

I started with a provision crochet cast-on of 88 sts using a size F hook and a 3.5 mm 16" circular needle.  I knitted 4 rounds then picked up the provisional sts every other stitch creating a k1, p1 rib on size 2.25 mm 16" circular needles.  I worked the k1, p1 rib for an inch and switched to 2.75 mm 16" Addi Lace needles following the Lusekofte Cap pattern from Hats On! by Charlene Schurch with 2 additional pattern repeats for a total of 176 sts.  I also added some plain rounds to the upper and lower Fair Isle bands, but I could have left them out as the hat is just a little bit longer than I wanted it to be.  The pattern stitches were coming out too tight with my knitting thimble.  I achieved much better results with the Wollmeise in my right hand and the Fortissima in my left hand.  I divided the hat into 11 sixteen stitch sections, decreasing every other round down to 11 sts for the crown.  The gauge is about 8.5 sts and 9 rows to the inch.

North Pole Socks Completed

Here are my completed North Pole socks in the Merry, Merry colorway.  I had waited all year for Patrick's Winter Sock club design.  I started knitting Ice, Ice Baby while I was knitting the second Merry, Merry sock.  Ice, Ice Baby is so much softer than Merry, Merry that I worried about a severe case of second sock syndrome where I wouldn't finish these socks till after the holidays. 

As it turned out, I inadvertently left my instructions for Ice, Ice Baby at home as I approached the heel turn.  I was then forced to knit Merry, Merry on my lunch break.  That inspired me to complete Merry, Merry and now I can focus on Ice, Ice Baby.  With a 44 row repeat in Merry, Merry, I just barely had enough yarn to complete them.  Each sock  starts and ends with green so I had to cut out a 40 row chunk of yarn before I started the second sock.  I had about a yard of yarn remaining after I knitted the second toe.  Something to keep in mind for future socks of 76 sts on size 0 (2.00 mm) Addi Lace 40" circular needles.

Ethan's Fair Isle Hat

Our neighbors' son, Ethan, recently celebrated his third birthday and I offered to knit him a new hat.  It turns out that he had outgrown the hat I made for him last year.  I was a little puzzled by this as my nephews are 4 & 6 and their hats still fit them (I think) and I made them the same medium sized hats from Charlene Schurch's Hats On!  book.  

I measured Ethan's head and found it is 19.5 inches in circumference.  I could either go up a needle size and knit another medium hat or I could just knit a hat in the large size.  I decided to go with knitting the large size hat and I'm glad I did.  My gauge for this pattern is about 6.5 sts and 7.5 rows to the inch instead of 6 sts and 7.25 rows to the inch as required by the pattern.  I completed his hat before our winter weather arrived and it fits him very nicely.

I used Knit Picks Swish Worsted in the Deep Ocean & White colorways and size 6 Addi Turbo needles (16" for most of the hat and 32" to work the Magic Loop on the crown).  I knitted the hat with my knitting thimble, carrying the blue (background) color in the right loop and the white yarn in the left loop.  The "jog" starts in the middle of the hat.  I minimized it by starting the design in the best place to hide the jog and by moving the beginning of each round 1 stitch to the left then tweaking the stitches accordingly.

Matt Scarves Completed

I completed these Christmas gifts for my nephews, Justin & Joshua.  I knitted them the Matt scarf from 7 Manly Scarf Patterns by Jade Sapphire.  I used 3 skeins of Knit Picks Swish Worsted in the Serrano (red) colorway for Justin and a little over 3 skeins of the Deep Ocean colorway for Joshua.  I knitted them with my Namaste size 8 glass needles and eventually memorized the 16 row repeat.  Each scarf is 6.5 to 7 inches wide.  I blocked Joshua's scarf more and had more yarn so his is longer (56 inches).  For Justin's scarf, I just spritzed it with some water so it would by dry by this morning and then I could mail it today.  Justin's scarf is about 50 inches long.  I had made them Fair Isle hats last year.  I had some extra Deep Ocean from Joshua's hat, however, Knit Picks no longer makes the Red Pepper that I used for Justin's hat last year and it turns out Serrano is quite a different shade of red.

I found weaving the ends in on these scarves to be quite a challenge.  I find the Russian Join too bulky and there is no wet splicing with Superwash wool.   These scarves are reversible, so where is the best place to hide the ends on a reversible scarf?  This is why I work so hard to make on large skein of yarn when I spin, I never weave the ends in to my satisfaction and I welcome any helpful hints for this procedure.

Here are Caitlin & Colin wearing their Knit Picks sweaters together before we took them on their walk.  They look too cute walking next to each other, wearing their new sweaters.

Colin's Sweater Completed

I completed Colin's sweater this week and here he is modeling it.  I used the Hearts Rib pattern with the Polo collar from the Fiber Trends Dandy Dog Sweaters Pattern and size 9 Addi Turbo needles.  I used size 8 Addi Turbo needles for the collar.  I went up a needle size from Caitlin's sweater as hers fits snuggly and Colin is about 7 lbs heavier than her.  I didn't want to interrupt the heart motifs so I ended up making it a little bit longer.  I made the Large size sweater and the XXL size for the bottom piece.  It fits him comfortably and is maybe a little bit big, but he doesn't seem to mind.  I used 4 balls of Knit Picks Swish Worsted in the Fired Brick colorway.  Now Caitlin & Colin each have a sweater for the winter season. 

Caitlin's Sweater Completed

Here is Caitlin modeling her new sweater for winter.  I made her the mock cable sweater with the Polo collar from the Fiber Trends Dandy Dog Sweaters pattern.  I used 4 balls of Knit Picks Swish Worsted in the Wisteria colorway and my size 8 Namaste straight glass needles.  She seems to like it okay so far, but time will tell if she tries to wiggle out of it.

The sizing was a bit of a challenge as the mock cable pulled the knitting in a bit more than I expected and I might have been knitting more tightly with the glass needles.  I made the top piece in the large size and the bottom piece in the XXL size to compensate for the top piece being a little small.  I sewed the bottom piece for 4" on each side and then left a 4" gap for her legs.  The pattern starts with about 2" of ribbing and increases on each edge, every other row.  It turns out that the end of the row increases are neater than the beginning of the row increases, so I would suggest increasing at the end of each row starting with the first row after the cast on.

Lilac Lacy Rib Socks Completed

I recently completed these lacy rib socks with about 2 ounces of Cascade Heritage sock yarn in the Lilac colorway.  I cast on 56 sts in k1, p1 rib on size 2.5 mm Addi Lace 32" Circular needles.  I worked the k1, p1 rib fo 18 rounds, decreasing one stitch in the last round for a total of 55 sts.

I knitted the lacy rib pattern for 16 rounds where I then worked the 27 sole sts in stockinette while keeping the 28 instep sts in the lacy rib pattern for the next 12 rounds.  I moved the purl sts to be the last stitch on each needle as the distance between a purl st and a knit stitch is very short which then minimizes the ladders between the needles.

I worked a short row heel over 27 sts down to 9 sts size 2.00 mm Signature Needle Arts dpns.  It was a bit of a challenge to join the heel back to the sock in a purl st by purling 3 together through the back loops for the one side of the sock.  There is a little hole near this point, but it looks good enough.  I continued with the lacy rib pattern on the instep and stockinette on the sole for 68 rounds.  On the second to the last round, I increased one st at the end of the round bringing the stitch count to 56 sts.  The gauge on 2.5 mm circular needles is about 8.5 sts and 11.5 rows per inch.

For the toe, I worked one round of stockinette with the size 2.00 mm Signature Needle Arts dpns and then started the toe decreases every other round until there were 7 sts on each dpn.  I worked the decreases every round to 5 sts on each dpn.  I moved each edge stitch over the next stitch to smooth out the top of the toe and grafted the final 16 sts together.

Steeler Socks

I completed these Steeler Socks for Candy, fellow Pittsburgher and co-owner of Grounded Coffee, our favorite coffee shop.  Miss Babs dyes her 2-ply sock yarn in this black and gold colorway, perfect for Steeler fans.  Danielle (another Steeler fan) featured this yarn on her Fibre Space blog and I was fortunate to get a skein before she ran out.  I wanted to be sure to knit these for Candy during the football season and the Steelers have been winning ever since I started knitting them.  I used my almost 2.25 mm Purpleheart dpns (from Grafton Fibers) and 72 sts for Candy's socks.  I realize I might get a few Steeler sock requests from other Steeler fans, however, I have a lot of holiday knitting already on my agenda.

Carmen Strikes a Pose

Carmen is modeling her new red dress with pink ruffles.  I added more stuffing to her head and she is now better able to withstand her wardrobe changes.  The dress was fun to knit, however, there were probably over 500 sts for that bottom ruffle, so binding off took a long time.  When I knitted her limbs, I used this circular start from the Knit Picks website instead of the suggested backward loop cast-on in the pattern.  I also did my best to hide the jogs that appear when changing from the tan to the brown yarns by using this technique.  I placed the jogs in the center of the back of each limb.  I had to be careful weaving in the ends and stuffing the limbs as the dark tails would show through the lighter sections.  I find giving attention to these details important in making her look her best.  Her wardrobe also includes a twin-set, a pink skirt, and even some panties, which I have not yet knit.  I will be casting on for them in the near future. 

Handgefaerbte Socks Completed

I have completed my Handgefaerbte Socks in the Einzelkind 7 colorway. I started each of them at a different place on the yarn and they turned out differently as a result.  It was fun yarn to knit with, however, I noticed some spliced bits in the yarn and just kept knitting.  It would have been too much work to cut the yarn at each of those spots and then rejoin the yarn.  When I have to start a new yarn, I like to match the color sequence as closely as possible, center the break on the sole of the foot, and knit with both strands for about 10 sts.  I used 2.25 mm Addi Turbo Lace needles with a gauge of 9 sts and 12 rows to the inch over 72 sts.  I worked 64 rounds of k2, p2 rib followed by 20 rounds of stockinette stitch with a short-row heel down to 12 sts, then 72 rounds of stockinette, and finally the usual toe.  They are certainly an interesting pair of socks.  I will be sure to wear them to my next spinning class.