Thursday, March 16, 2006
Cold-Hazed Retrospective
Well, I have a super-duper cold, and can't talk, feel crummy, and have no "gumption" to do anything. So I'm just going to post pics of some finished items that I've knit over the past year or so. I think I left off with my iPod cozy, and I do promise to get the pattern up on the blog in the near future. I'm still trying to figure out the "hosting" and "shared server" stuff. Total technogeek stuff. If I've left out any info that you'd like about the projects, just leave a comment and I'll try to fill in the gaps.
Okay, here goes: I have to classify myself as a sock-aholic. I love knitting them and I love the challenge of engineering the sock to fit perfectly. I guess my DB Lou isn't the only family member with "engineering genes." My first socks were bed socks. I'll have to scratch up a pic of these. They're on my feet now, but alas, you can't see them.
My second and first REAL pair was made with Opal Lollipop sock yarn. Since I was still trying to figure out how to make them fit ME, each sock are slightly different sizes.
The second sock is an improvement on the first, being a little snugger.
My third pair of socks I knit for my DH Mike.
I'm proud of the fact that they fit him perfectly. Of course I kept making him try them on as I knit them toe-up, using the Crazy Toes and Heels method in Mary Ann Beattie's excellent book of the same name.
My fourth pair was for me; it started out as another Opal yarn sock but as you can see,
something was quite wrong with the skein. Notice the color differences? I had divided the one skein in half, rewinding each half into a 50 gm ball. Imagine my surprise when these otherwise-exactly-matched socks became fraternal twins instead of identical twins! I didn't have the heart to continue them, even though, individually, I love the colors of this Elements colorway.
So, I started a new pair of socks using the much cheaper, but wonderfully consistent Magic Stripes sock yarn by Lion Brand.
These are in the purple colorway. Although the yarn is thicker than Opal, (this is more of a sport weight, I guess), these socks fit me extremely well because, again, I used the CT&H method of making socks toe-up to fit.
I then made these house socks for my DS, Cece, and I put puff
paint designs on the bottom to make them non-slip on wood flooring. I made these using two strands of worsted weight yarn held together. The yarns were different textures though. Both were Lion Brand but one was Woolease and the other was Jiffy, a mohair-look and softer yarn. I used the pattern called "Joan's Socks" on the Lion Brand website.
On the non-sock front, I've made these other items:
An alpaca scarf for DH. He's lost a phenomenal amount of weight on Weight Watcher's. I'm so proud of him. Why he's like a stick!
Mittens for me. This was the first "real" item that I'd knitted. But I found that I don't like wearing mittens.
I keep setting off the alarm on my car trying to push the unlock and lock buttons on the remote. Comfortable mittens though!
This sweater is from a book in The Weekend Crafter series called Knitting.
I'd knitted it for me, but it looked horrible on me. I offered it to my DS but it looked just as horrible on her. I offered it to my Mom, whom I thought wouldn't want it. She tried it on and it looked great on her petite little figure. And now she wears it and gets a lot of compliments! I used an up-close picture of the knitted fabric of this sweater for the background of my blog title header. The yarn I'd used was Lion Brand Homespun in the "Waterfall" colorway. This is a nice book, by the way, with many patterns that are both simple and adaptable, covering the gamut of beginner to intermediate skills. The patterns are designed to be completed "sort of" in a weekend.
I hope you've enjoyed this trip down the not-so-distant Memory Lane. I'm feeling rather accomplished at the moment....and very tired. So I think I'll go nap and hope this cold goes away soon. My cats don't know what to make of my voice, or lack of one. By the way, here's a picture that shows you how I've managed to sneak in this knitting without losing my yarn to the felines. I knit when they are occupied by other things. There's nothing like bird feeders to provide cats with hours of viewing entertainment.
From left to right: Dot, Leo, Mickey, and Sophie.Our motto is :Look But Don't Touch.
Okay, here goes: I have to classify myself as a sock-aholic. I love knitting them and I love the challenge of engineering the sock to fit perfectly. I guess my DB Lou isn't the only family member with "engineering genes." My first socks were bed socks. I'll have to scratch up a pic of these. They're on my feet now, but alas, you can't see them.
My second and first REAL pair was made with Opal Lollipop sock yarn. Since I was still trying to figure out how to make them fit ME, each sock are slightly different sizes.
The second sock is an improvement on the first, being a little snugger.
My third pair of socks I knit for my DH Mike.
I'm proud of the fact that they fit him perfectly. Of course I kept making him try them on as I knit them toe-up, using the Crazy Toes and Heels method in Mary Ann Beattie's excellent book of the same name.
My fourth pair was for me; it started out as another Opal yarn sock but as you can see,
something was quite wrong with the skein. Notice the color differences? I had divided the one skein in half, rewinding each half into a 50 gm ball. Imagine my surprise when these otherwise-exactly-matched socks became fraternal twins instead of identical twins! I didn't have the heart to continue them, even though, individually, I love the colors of this Elements colorway.So, I started a new pair of socks using the much cheaper, but wonderfully consistent Magic Stripes sock yarn by Lion Brand.
These are in the purple colorway. Although the yarn is thicker than Opal, (this is more of a sport weight, I guess), these socks fit me extremely well because, again, I used the CT&H method of making socks toe-up to fit.I then made these house socks for my DS, Cece, and I put puff
paint designs on the bottom to make them non-slip on wood flooring. I made these using two strands of worsted weight yarn held together. The yarns were different textures though. Both were Lion Brand but one was Woolease and the other was Jiffy, a mohair-look and softer yarn. I used the pattern called "Joan's Socks" on the Lion Brand website.On the non-sock front, I've made these other items:
An alpaca scarf for DH. He's lost a phenomenal amount of weight on Weight Watcher's. I'm so proud of him. Why he's like a stick!Mittens for me. This was the first "real" item that I'd knitted. But I found that I don't like wearing mittens.
I keep setting off the alarm on my car trying to push the unlock and lock buttons on the remote. Comfortable mittens though!This sweater is from a book in The Weekend Crafter series called Knitting.
I'd knitted it for me, but it looked horrible on me. I offered it to my DS but it looked just as horrible on her. I offered it to my Mom, whom I thought wouldn't want it. She tried it on and it looked great on her petite little figure. And now she wears it and gets a lot of compliments! I used an up-close picture of the knitted fabric of this sweater for the background of my blog title header. The yarn I'd used was Lion Brand Homespun in the "Waterfall" colorway. This is a nice book, by the way, with many patterns that are both simple and adaptable, covering the gamut of beginner to intermediate skills. The patterns are designed to be completed "sort of" in a weekend.I hope you've enjoyed this trip down the not-so-distant Memory Lane. I'm feeling rather accomplished at the moment....and very tired. So I think I'll go nap and hope this cold goes away soon. My cats don't know what to make of my voice, or lack of one. By the way, here's a picture that shows you how I've managed to sneak in this knitting without losing my yarn to the felines. I knit when they are occupied by other things. There's nothing like bird feeders to provide cats with hours of viewing entertainment.
From left to right: Dot, Leo, Mickey, and Sophie.Our motto is :Look But Don't Touch.
# posted by Judy : 1:01 PM
