Year of Projects: UFO #1

I have started my first UFO, a mitten, and I am having problems with it. At first I was knitting it using the two needle method, but that wasn't working out quite right with my stripes so now I am knitting it flat. My advice: self striping and variegated yarn for mittens if you want your life easier. My next option it to locate dpn's in the correct size and give that a try. My fear is that if I knit them flat the size will be off since I knit tighter in the round.

the first mitten

I polished off three very cute projects for a baby shower, you can check them out on my pinterest board, and so I haven't really worked on my beret. I managed a few rounds while watching Total Recall (the new one) with the hubs and it is quite possible that I'll have it finished in time to not need it.

I forgot to add a few things to my list. I want to write a sweater pattern (for a baby) and a toy. I already knit the prototype for the toy. It is a little bunny rattle (perfect for Easter Baskets!). I have the rough draft of the pattern worked out I just need to reknit it to make sure I got it right and then I'll test it on rav. If you are interested in testing let me know (message me on Rav: DeliaMae) and I'll tell you how testing works. Here is a link to the bunny toy and a video of her sweet "song". I am having issues getting my vision of the sweater onto the needles. I think I may need a few designing books: suggestions?

Belle Bottom Bunny

My other projects are beckoning me in my list, but I still only have the two hands. I think I'll accept a little startitius and cast on a sock and some Easter stuff next.

Project Report

It has been several weeks since my last post for Year of Projects and I have some really good excuses: Birthday, a Knitting Failure, and Rabbits. My little guy turned two and I was rather busy with party planning that I had no time to knit. The sock I was knitting taught me a valuable lesson about laddering and dpn's and I have been putting what I learned to good use. For the rabbit busyness pop over to the family's blog to read about our orphan newborn rabbits (we raise meat rabbits).

Even with all that is going on here I can cross somethings off my list. I made garland for the Advent Christmas Tree and I knit Stomper his Christmas hat.

The hat is knit from my own pattern: Hunters Plaid Hat. The only adjustment I made was to knit the earflap with double knitting which I am new to. I like the earflap much better this way and I may add that option to the pattern in the future. Does anyone know if you can decrease while double knitting? I was thinking how awesome it would be to have the hat reversible, although it would probably be a little too warm.

The mittens in the background are from Mittens on a String. I adjusted the mittens to fit 2T-3T by adding a few rows and stitches (rav notes). The mittens are knitting up really quick. It is so nice to have something checked off my Christmas knitting list. This week I hope to start the gray squirrel as I have relocated both yarn and pattern just recently. 

Then maybe I will attempt to knit socks for the hubby.

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Project List

Pembroke Vest

Christmas Stocking

Finish Kat's gloves (done) and mine too (mine are done!)

Two Plaid Hunters Hat (one done)

The squirrel/hedge hog

Six ornaments for Stompers Advent Calendar:

1. Christmas Sweater done!
2. Christmas Stocking
3. Candy Cane
4. Christmas Bell
5. Tinsel (done)
6. Christmas Ball

Something from the book The Expectant Knitter

Finish a bear I started from the Nursery Baby Doll pattern done!

A pair of socks for the hubby that will actually fit him - started

Milo Vest 

Something Girlie -- possibly something out of The Expectant Knitter (done)

Knit, Frog, Repeat

I am having issues with my stripes.

Mainly because I am a perfectionist and I didn't want them jagged so I did a little trick so that they weren't. However, carrying the colors was an issue and it looks plain ugly on the inside...and...well...The Perfectionist ripped it out to the thumb. I reknit it and I got to the top of the mitten and worked the Kitchener Stitch to finish the top. I surveyed my work and tried force The Perfectionist to like it, but she wrenched it from my hands and ripped it out...again. For the third time I knit it and decided that no matter what The Perfectionist said I wasn't ripping it again. I wouldn't give it away to someone, but I WOULD finish it.

Friday night I fnished the top with the Kitchener Stitch, declared it "good enough" ignored The Perfectionist as she climbed to the surface, turned it inside out and proceeded to weave in ends.

Done.

Saturday I opened up the middle to make it a flip top and it doesn't look awful, it's not great, I don't like it, but it works. I will probably declare this a tester and not knit a second one. As soon as the hubs gets paid I will be purchasing black yarn and starting all over again.

I must add, however, that my issues are not the yarn, the pattern, or the knitter; it is all the stripes fault.

I am coming along on my list. Since I will be unable to restart the mittens/gloves I will get to numbers 1 & 2 this week and maybe even number 6 which really, really needs to be started.

To Do:

1. Finish sweater by adding buttons
2. Finish hat by weaving in ends
3. Stop knitting "scarf/cowl" mystery
4. Cast on for gloves
5. Finish gloves
6. Cast on Flannel Hat for Stompers Christmas

Feb Baby Hat

Of course, this is also the week that I want to get invites to Stompers 2nd Birthday in the mail so we will see what actually happens. Oh, my library has MP3 Audio Books so I hope to test it out while knitting this week, so maybe I will get some knitting done after all!

The patterns for the mitten are HERE and HERE (I married them together) and the hat is February Baby Hat.

Project Report

I feel a little lost since finishing the gauntlets. Yes, you read that, finished. It feels so funny having that weight lifted off my shoulders, that "Big Project" gone. I think I will start on my shawlette (maybe this one?) as soon as I can work some new yarn into the budget.

[There is a full post with a back story and visuals HERE! If she ever comes back from vacation (feels like she's been gone for a year) I will take a picture of her wearing them. Until then, here is a picture of me wearing the newest one.]

In the mean time I have started a pair of socks! I am using Susan B Anderson's pattern found on her blog and ravelry. I am using size 2dpn's so it will be a little wider and because I am too cheap to go out and by size 1's at the moment. I do feel a pair of size 1's in my future as sock knitting seems a lot less harder than the first few times. 

My first pair of socks I knit were giant sized. Hubby uses them still. I knit them out of acrylic with the needles I owned. Those first pair were knit before I understood the importance of gauge. They are loose around the top and about an inch too long. He wears them during hunting season over his socks. I will say this about them, when they stay on, they are cozy.

The pair I am making is not the pair he wants, so I will be knitting a second pair. He wants a pair of wool ones to wear hunting. In fact I may end up giving the socks I am making to my FIL as he is always bugging me for a pair. 

I am further along than in the photo. I am nearing the toe and I'm looking forward to starting the second one! They are going faster than I thought they would with such small yarn. I have never worked with sock yarn, it is not as bad as I feared. 

I am using bamboo needles, the same I used for the gauntlets, but the yarn is not sliding well. I looked it up on the 'net and I learned that using the needles oils them. I just finished using them, they ought to be nice and oiled, so why don't the slide? I read further that bamboo doesn't slide well, but sticks, and to use wax paper to smooth them. I did that too and it helped. I also learned that bamboo is susceptible to weather changes like humidity, such as we are having now. All this leads me to conclude that maybe bamboo isn't for me and knitting socks. Which then leads me to a question: Do you have a favorite sock dpn? I am in the market for a pair apparently.

The yarn for my photography teachers mittens have arrived. I'm not sure what to knit. I feel a bit of a conundrum. (check out my pinterest board to see my examples). She wants a mitten that will be warm in the winter (we live in Western Maine), but one that will also allow her to take photos. She first asked for this one (the iMitt), which I purchased, but then she thought that maybe she'd like to have all her fingers available. Then she requested the ability to use her thumbs. Here is my issue: the thumb flap always seems awkward to me, and the flip over for the fingers doesn't seem like it will stay put. What if she wants to throw a snowball at her kids, but the mitten flap won't stay put and her fingers get cold? do you have any ideas or assurances? Anyone have any experience with any mittens with the flap?

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I updated the list to reflect my current finishes

THE PROJECT LIST

Pembroke Vest

Christmas Stocking

Finish Kat's gloves (done) and mine too (mine are done!)

Two Plaid Hunters Hat 

The squirrel/hedge hog

Six ornaments for Stompers Advent Calendar:

1. Christmas Sweater done!
2. Christmas Stocking
3. Candy Cane
4. Christmas Bell
5. Tinsel
6. Christmas Ball

Something from the book The Expectant Knitter

Finish a bear I started from the Nursery Baby Doll pattern done!

A pair of socks for the hubby that will actually fit him - started

Milo Vest 

Something Girlie -- possibly something out of The Expectant Knitter

Carseat Mittens

 

I made the little man some mittens for the car. He doesn't like not having access to his fingers so I thought and hope these will work. I believe they will fit part of next year too. Both the hat and the mittens are a wee bit big, but look super cute!

The Finisher

I am feeling so accomplished today. I finished three projects this week! I just finished the thumb in the mitts I have been working on for months.

I liked the pattern for the mitt (should have trusted it) even though I did mess up on the decreases because I didn't trust the pattern (I know better!) The second mitten is longer than the first because I knit it looser the second time around. It is also wider because I added a few stitches (which I am glad I did).

I didn't do the pattern on the back side of the mitt, because I needed something mindless to do and following an intricate pattern on both sides drove me nuts.

If I were to make another pair I would use to very contrasting yarns. The yarns I used are too close in color and it's hard to see the design.

 I wouldn't do this style of mitten again. Not because the pattern was hard to follow, because it was clear and easy, but because I don't like the way the finished result looks.

Socks and Mitts

I am pausing on the mittens (I'm about 75% done) because I need a break from the chart. I have started a pair of sock for Stomper. They are going to be big, but I want to use them more like booties anyway so maybe it will be all right!

Bunny Ears Hat & Mitts

Phew, finished. I had some issues getting the size right for the mitts and in the end I talked to the person receiving the mitts and she assured me that if they were to big it would be all right. I do believe that I have all the kinks worked out and the next pair I make in this size yarn will come out just right!

Castle Mitts

Made this for my sister. I hope to make the other one this week-end. She wore just the one all day today! I call them Castle Mitts. It knitted up a lot quicker then I was thinking it would. I was hoping for a more technically difficult pattern to distract myself while I make the shrug for my Mom. Now that one is done, I have to do the other. I'm still pecking away at the shrug. I work on it while at work and when I chillin out with the hubby!

Argyle Hat & Other Plans

Made my Dad a hat. I still haven't taken his picture in it but I will soon. The hat is made so that the bottom can be folded up to a double thickness to keep his ears warm.

I knit my self one mitten and I will be working on the second one shortly.

I also am making a baby slipper sock of my own design. It isn't pretty but it's functional.

My sister choose what she wants me to knit her its a vest hoodie designed by Spud and Chloe. I haven't been able to purchase the materials yet, but I will soon.

My Dad has requested a hat that says "LOWE'S" on it so he can wear it at work, my Mom has asked for a shrug for her birthday, and my hubby would like a new better fitting hat.

PHEW!

I love that I have so much to do!

Christmas Knit Pics

Toilet Paper Caddy

Trigger Finger Mittens

Baby i-Cord Hat

Button Buddy Blanket

Loveys

Busy Knitter

I have been a very busy knitter this Christmas Season.

I knit 12 dishcloths, three Toilet Paper Caddies (my own design), three bunny loveys, and two Button Buddy Blankets (my own brilliance). Then with some leftover yarn I made a baby hat.

I promised my brother that I'd knit him some Trigger Finger Mittens (I haven't quite found a pattern that I've really enjoyed so I had to tweek it a bit and they came out all right, not fantastic but passable). My next project will be a skirt for my sister (if that's what she chooses) and a cow for my sister-in-law. In between those projects I'm knitting my brother a hat to match the mittens and a hat for myself using some argyle.

Trigger Finger Mittens Update

Jason used his mittens hunting this week-end. He has now requested that I close up the open fingers, I guess they got a little cold. He wore a pair of those "one size fits all" knit mittens that he bought at Wal-Mart to wear underneath (which was his plan all along) but it wasn't enough. So now I am going to knit some "hats" for his thumb and finger.

My brother has also requested a pair of Trigger Finger Mittens for when he plays airsoft with his friends. He has asked, however, for holes that his finger and thumb can stick out of if I have time I'll make them for him for Christmas.

The pattern is almost written for the mittens, but I haven't taken any pictures of them yet. I want my hubby to model them for me!

Mittens for Jason

Jason has asked me to knit him some hunting gear. He wants a pair of mittens with the thumb and first finger able to be exposed (to work a gun) but the rest snug and tight in a mitten. I'm going to use this pattern I found at knittingpatterncentral.com as my jumping off point.

We'll see how it goes.