June 13, 2013
A two year old. A finished sweater.
A few days ago, we celebrated my little boy's second birthday. Unbelievable.
Here he is, on his birthday, with the Mister.
Several weeks ago, I finished Budgie, the Third. I should have blogged about it sooner, because I've already forgotten all the details. To the best of my knowledge...
Pattern: my own Budgie, 3-6 months size.
Yarn: Blue Jellyfish handspun from Pigeonroof Studios (80/10/10 superwash merino/cashmere/nylon, 170 yards of DK/worsted weight) plus Berroco Vintage #5101 (mochi) (left over from knitting the Preppy Cardigan). The handspun is beautifully variegated, with hints of blue, green, and gray.
Needles and finished measurements: US 6 and US 7 circs; 20" chest circumference, 6" sleeve length to underarm, 10.25" shoulder to hem. The sleeves look a bit long to me, hmmm... Fortunately, they can be rolled up ;).
The buttons are simple, but appropriate (I think) to the nautical tone of the sweater. Also, I think they might be the exact same buttons I used on this (nautical) sweater, though purchased 3.5 years apart.
Now that this sweater is off the needles, I'm focusing on some socks for my grandma! I last talked about the need to knit a pair of sock for her here. I did end up using the Traveler's Stockings pattern, and Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in turquoise (22ns). I'm nearly done, stay tuned for pics!
May 24, 2013
Sunnyside Cardigan
The Sunnyside Cardigan knit up very quickly! What a lovely little pattern!
Pattern: Sunnyside cardigan by Tanis Lavallee. I knit the smallest size, but tweaked the numbers a bit for a different gauge. I also reversed some of the cables, as so many have done on Ravelry. ETA: I would recommend going down a needle size when knitting the garter stitch cuffs and hem. The pattern doesn't specify to do so, and they flare out a bit.
Yarn: Gedifra Florida in color #1482, Dark Seaglass. Love this color! I think it works well for both adults and babies. As I mentioned before, the yarn is very splitty, and I think a bit unforgiving of any tension wonkiness (you can see it in the last photo in this post), but overall I really enjoyed using it. I also suspect that the yarn would hold up if machine washed, though I haven't given this a try. For knitting this sweater, I used less than 2 skeins.
Needles and gauge: I used US 3 needles to knit this sweater, and my gauge was about 6.5 stitches and 9 rows per inch.
Finished measurements: 18.5" chest circumference, 4.5" sleeve length to underarm, 9.75" shoulder to hem. I think this sweater will fit a 3-6 month old, with a bit of roominess in the chest.
I put sort of cutesy baby buttons on this one - not really my first choice, but that's all I could find at the local Joann's that was a good match for color and size.
One interesting note about this pattern - it's worked from the neck down, and uses M1L and M1R for the raglan increases. That's not something I've seen often, I think k-f/b and yo are more common. Anyway, I love a well-placed M1L and M1R, don't get me wrong, but making 8 of them every other round for the entirety of the yoke was tiring, especially when using a splitty yarn. Nonetheless, I persisted, and absolutely love how they turned out after all was said and done!
It's like a fancy little chain!
Anyway, this knit up quickly and easily, two thumbs up!
May 12, 2013
New Hampshire Sheep & Wool Festival, 2013
The whole family went this year!
We had a great time, even though I bought zero yarn (I really stocked up at the Windsor Button closing sale, and feel like I need nothing) and Gregory was somewhat hesitant about the animals. The location - just a bit over an hour away from us - is perfect for a half day trip, and the grounds were really nice. Some great vendors, too!
On the knitting front, I have two successes and one failure to report.
First, I am nearly done with Budgie, the third. The knitting is done, and the ends are woven in.
The buttons are picked out.
Now only to sew on the buttons and block.
Second, I started another baby sweater, Sunnyside cardigan by Tanis Lavallee. It's a lovely, simple pattern for a basic baby sweater.
I am using Gedifra Florida, a discontinued yarn I got eons ago on elann.com. On the plus side, the yarn knits up into a lovely fabric on US 3 needles, and it's wool-free! On the minus side, it is SO splitty! I'm sticking with it, though, I like the color and the way it knits up. I'm going to be done with this sweater very soon.
The one failure I have to report is with respect to my grandma's socks. I picked a pattern - Anniversary Socks by Nancy Bush in Favorite Socks
I've actually been thinking of reknitting this pattern, Traveler's Stockings, because I really enjoyed knitting it (and remember this 6.5 years later!), it worked from the first try, and I know my grandma gave away that sock pair to my great aunt. I'd even use some Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock to guarantee success. With so many sock patterns out there, it feels like a cheat, but sometimes you want a sure thing, know what I mean?
