Knitty Gritty Thoughts

Hodgepodge

Thanks so much for supporting my stash sale, there's still a few things left if you had your eye on something (make me an offer! =))  and I'll put up more stuff as I have time.  I didn't realize how much effort those things take - phew!  I'm exhausted!

In the meantime I've finished up some knitting and spinning, so here's a quick update.  I've been fighting with gauge issues lately on all my stranded knitting.  The first and most obvious is my poor little selbu mitten.  It turned out beautifully but it's still a smidgen too small, I tried to block it vigorously but to no avail, I don't know if this poor little thing will ever get a finished thumb or if I should just toss it in a bin never to be seen again?

In other gauge issue news, I started my christmas stocking for myself.  You may remember last year I knit my husbands?? Well this year I started mine, or at least with past tense being the key word.  You'd think I could use the same needles as I used before, it's the same number of stitches, etc but no luck, it's about 1 inch smaller all around.  How is that possible?  I guess I never realized that our gauge can change over time.  I seem to be knitting tighter all of a sudden and I don't like it!

In the meantime I finished a baby surprise sweater (ravelry link) in hello yarn fat sock.  It's so squishy and soft, I just adore this yarn.  I gave it a quick blocking but I still need to seam it.  Word of advice, don't seam this yarn until you soak it, mine relaxed exponentially and the shoulder seams would have definitely puckered if I tried to seam it before hand.  It took 2 skeins and I have just enough left to squeeze our a pair of booties, saartje anyone??

I've been knitting hats too - I finished the first koolhaas hat and had enough yarn left for a second (ravelry link).  I used brooks farm 4-play, what a great deal - 2 hats from 1 skein with only yards to spare!  Aren't they cute?  Both are the same size but the left one was blocked and the right one fresh off the needles.  I honestly wish I hadn't blocked this yarn, the silk in the wool blend causes it to go flat and lose some of it's 3-d'ness.  Is there a way to fix it??

And finally here's the latest handspun I finished, the roving is superwash from mama-e and this little skein of yarn has already found a new home.  I've done more spinning but I'll save it for next time, have a great week! =)

An "EZ" Sweater - February Baby Sweater

Yea!  It's an honest to goodness FO!  I'm really happy with the way this one turned out - it's been in my head for awhile and to finally get the little set knit up, I'm happy it came out the way I had imagined in my head all this time.

Details--
Elizabeth Zimmerman February Baby Sweater
Actual Knit Time: Two Weeks, on and off Needles: US7 Addi's
Yarn: Knit Picks Merino Style in Mint, 3 skeins and I used every last end.
Buttons: 6 celtic style from walmart

Interested in more info?  I also talked a little bit about the sweater, here and here
Final Note: Very cute pattern, perhaps there was a little too much "pith" in the instructions but after reading this post here, everything became clear - go read it if you make this sweater!  AND in a whole 'nother level of cuteness, this one really inspired me, isn't it cute??

Modifications: I downsized the pattern by 1 increase repeat to end up with only 112 stitches to make it a bit more small baby rather than toddler sized based on my yarn/needle choices.  Therefore, I had to re-jigger the numbers and after some ratio calculating (I'll spare you the details unless you're interested) ended up with this number of stitches in each part- 4 (garter stitch edge), 14 (front), 21 (arm), 42 (back), 21 (arm), 14 (other front), 4 (garter stitch edge).

----To go with my little set, I made up a little EZ Inspired Matching Hat.  You will need her book, knitter's almanac, or any other book that has the pattern, in order to have her gull stitch pattern, I've just put down some helpful numbers below.----

Happy EZ Knitting! =)

EZ Inspired Matching February Baby Sweater Hat -

Pattern Note - According to this site, a baby of 3-6 months has a head that is about 14-17inches.
My gauge is 5sts inch on US 7 needles on Magic Loop.

Therefore, since I wanted to make a small size, 14inches * 5sts inch gauge = 70 stitches.  I started with that number and since my yarn grows a bit after blocking, I went down seven stitches to 63.  **Note - you can go down or up as many stitches as you want, as long as the number you CO is a multiple of 7.  Make it your own! =)

"Pithy Instructions"
CO 63 sts on DPN's or 16" circular or magic loop on US 7 needle

Join in round, place marker, and purl first round.  Continue in garter stitch in round (knit 1 round, purl 1 round) until brim reaches approx 1.5 inches, or until you want to stop.

Then, Knit 1 round plain and start gull stitch pattern as shown in Knitter's Almanac page 29, knit all rows 1-7.  Where you would normally purl on the odd rows, knit those rows instead because you are knitting in the round.

Continue knitting in pattern for approx 4 inches, or until you are happy with the depth of the hat.  Ending with pattern row 4, knit 1 round plain.

Grab a yarn needle and cut yarn, leaving approx 8 inch tail.  Thread yarn tail through eye of needle.  Draw yarn through all stitches on your knitting needles and pull tight, closing the loop at the top.

Weave in ends, put on cute baby and enjoy!

Mini Me & Chh..changes

PS - big news at the bottom, don't scroll too fast and miss it! =)

Thank you so much for all the support on my CC getting hijacked and thousands of dollars racked up in charges on that thing before I found out and put a stop to it.  Want to know what they were buying with it?  Diamond doggy collars, little chihuahua outfits and dog purses.  YEP - weird huh?  I think it was a front for something - I found their website and it looked a wee bit shady.  I also have to say it concerns we when many of my online buddies have said something similar has happened to them in the past month or so, I'm no conspiracy theorist...but...deja vu much?

In the meantime, I finished the knitting, but haven't yet seamed/picked out buttons for a EZ February baby sweater.  I changed the numbers up a bit to get a smaller sweater with the knit picks merino in mint/ US7 needles to make it more 3 month baby sized rather than toddler sized.  I'll share the numbers with you once it's all finished.  I even started a matching baby hat to make it a set that I'm making up as I go along and I can share that too if you're interested.

I finished some more spinning - the color is seafoam from pigeon roof studios I'm very happy with the way it turned out, it's very "sproingy" and pretty even.  I can feel my skills getting better!

I've been remiss in posting about a lovely contest package that Sasha sent me.  I have to tell you, opening each and every little bit of this wonderfully put together, thoughtful present was a treat, an absolute treat.  She sent beautiful magazines, crafty in nature as well as landscaping magazines so I can plan all the plants I'm putting into my new house.  Also included was the cutest lady bug/four leaf clover fabric and yummy numi tea and candies.  I have always wanted to try the flowering tea but hadn't gotten around to it - how she knew that I have no idea, but it was greatly appreciated!  Sasha is a wonderful talent at thrifting and always has the best finds so she shared some of the vintage sewing patterns, crochet and knitting pamphlets with me.  What a treat, I feel so cool now that I have these fun old school patterns to try.  Thank you so much Sasha for such a wonderful, thoughtful package!!  Also, go over to her blog and see her latest vintage find, a neat japanese knitting machine, how cool is that???

I have been so very lucky this month - I won a contest over on Kendra's/Doublepointed blog.  The prize?  Yummy beautiful cotton sock yarn - perfect for this hot hot summer we're having.  I've never tried sock yarn like this before so I'm excited to wrap it up in a ball and try it out!  Thank you so much!

You have to go see how cute her dog Morgen is, as she said, she must have sensed my dogs Grizzly and Elle because she did not want to let that little piece of paper go!  Awe what a cutie!

AND - in big news for me besides being in transition, moving from one state to another, I've been in transition in my job as well.  I'm in a weird point in my career right now where I could go two completely different directions and I feel like whatever decision I make right now is going to change my life direction forever.  Scary, yes?  I'm curious if any of you have been in the same position, and how you came to the decision that was right for you?  Please share.

Also, in other transition stuff I have way to much vacation - so much that I've over-accrued and am losing vacation time because I can't use it fast enough.  Therefore at the end of july I'm taking two or three weeks off of work.  I haven't taken that much time off, well - ever and I have big plans.  I'd like to go to Europe on a trip for 7-10 days because I haven't ever been, probably in a group tour since I'll be traveling alone.  Do you have any good recommendations where I should go, what I should do with myself for 3 weeks?   What would YOU do if you suddenly had that much time to yourself and no hubby to spend it with??  I plan on spending atleast a week cleaning/unpacking boxes and getting some good crafty time in as well.