Knitty Gritty Thoughts

Warm Things

I finished a few things this weekend, the first is another Bea Ellis Traditional Hat knit in falk (#004/#007) instead of Heilo so it's machine washable.  I loved knitting this hat, the colors are very "Me" even though this hat is actually a gift.  As I mentioned before this is actually my 1 and only "planned" christmas gift.  I know my personality too well, if I was to commit to knitting all sorts of presents I would drive myself nuts.  This way it I knit an item and I think it would be better for someone else I will gift it but I refuse to drive myself crazy staying up til all hours of the night knitting on a deadline! =) 

It was knit on US3/5 16" Addi's with a provisional cast-on so I could knit the lining up with the body of the hat.  I think that part is key for the finishing portion to go smoothly.  I may just have to order more yarn and knit one for me! =)  Stranded knitalong item #1 - check! (BTW, I am having so much fun with the flickr group for this knitalong, check out all the neat knits!)

I also did a bit of sewing this weekend as well, I put in the lining for hubby's christmas stocking and I am really happy with the way it turned out!  I started out making a template from the knitted stocking and making it 1 inch larger on all sides.  Using the serger I quickly sewed/finished up all sides, leaving the top open.  I placed it inside the stocking next and then folded the top fabric down and matched up the seams.  I then used a bit of matching thread and a needle to hand-sew invisibly the top edge.  It really looks seamless and nice, there are a few gifts in there already and it holds it shape really well.  Yea!

The next item I finished was really old.  Actually I finished up the knitting portion last year but they just sat in my bin because I couldn't make up my mind on how to sew on the bear claws.  (Morehouse is very vague in this area)  I finally cut out the claws from felt and then hand sewed them in half to make the points, then invisibly sewed them to the top of the mitts.  Easy peasy right?  A quick crocheted chain with doubled yarn for the strings and they were done in only a few hours.  Sheesh, now I have no idea why I procrastinated so long!

So, I'm proud to present Morehouse Merino Bear Paws mitten knit kit in Chocolate on a US5 needle.  I have no idea who I'm going to give them too, but I'm happy to be done! =)

I guess that's it for now, everything else is going good.  Today they're coming to finish installing the kitchen counters, we have the tile and paint done and the new appliances are in so we're in the home stretch.  I can't tell you how nice it was to have a working kitchen again, I've been cooking up a storm, including making bread this weekend.  I used organic flour and it's such a treat to eat fresh, unprocessed bread.  Now I really want to try this recipe I read about here.

I'm 'Stranded' on an island

I joined the Stranded knitalong earlier this week, my first project is my ONLY christmas project I am knitting...another Bea Ellis Hat in traditional.  This time I ordered "Falk" which is a superwash version of Heilo so it will be machine washable.  The person I'm giving this too wouldn't do the whole handwashing thing.

I actually had an incredibly hard time getting a picture of it...the colors look mottled in the picture but in real life you can actually see the gentle contrast quite well.  It's a light grey and a darker shade of grey mixed together.

 

I also wanted to answer the questions posed to us so here we go....

What are your projects for this knitalong?
The hat pictured above as well as the second christmas stocking and maybe some mittens.

Is this your first colorwork project? If it isn't, what was your first, and has it survived the test of time?
My first colorwork project was pretty ugly, the gauge was way off on these mittens...the second was a bea ellis traditional hat, then a bea ellis venten hat.   The christmas stocking is my latest project.

And to distract you from my lack of other content here are my 3 fav links this week:

This gorgeous Gerda Stole (and the pattern is free, Kendra is really generous!)

Eunny's Anemoi Mittens (I think this might be my new mitten project)

Anna's Flicca Pattern (I've been looking for a sweater coat, this one is perfect!)

Flenten Hat

Flenten Hat Kit from Bea Ellis Originals (for some reason I keep calling it Venten, oopsie!)
Knit time: 2 weeks
Needles: US 3 & 5 16" circular Addis
Yarn: Kit from Bea Ellis, Dark Grey MC, Black CC with Black Lining 
Final Notes:  Taking the time to do a provisional cast-on, (I chose crochet) changes the finish of this hat.  It looks great, and much more professional than the traditional I finished a few weeks ago.
Hubby has claimed this one fresh off my needles as his own, but who can resist someone who loves a good hat?  I'll just have to find another pattern for myself.


Thank you all for the birthday wishes, hubby is in the field this week so I celebrated alone, but with good sushi so who can complain?  A few lovely, crafty birthday gifty pics follow below.

From top left: PurlSoho Fabric bundles In Early Indigo and Cordellia; Yummy spritely goods yarn and new Soak Woolwash; Books from Amazon; My very first Japanese craft books, inspired by many but especially JoJo's yummy creations.

Just waving along

I'm sensing a grey-theme here, don't you think?  That's the Bea Ellis hat I'm working on and I also cast-on for Eunny's Print o' the Wave stole.  Stephanie did a custom-dyeing job for me on some lovely sock weight yarn in a colorway she calls Virga.  The yarn is amazingly soft and a joy to work on US6 needles. 

Angelika is knitting together with me on the stole, and will be providing moral support when I reach the edging, which is going to be a pain to recalculate since I plan to do less repeats. =) My overwhelming thought is: to graft or not to graft that is the question?  If you're not sure what I'm talking about, check out Ann's post here and you can see here lovely stole in progress and she has lots of great links to other finished ones.

It's funny how my knitting reflects my mood, do you ever see that happening?  I've been feeling a little grey and down this week, mostly due to work.  I have a lot of projects but one is a major CMS implementation involving custom development/database work via a team that I am leading.  I'll try to leave out all the techy details, but basically, there's this software, that we are customizing majorily and I'm running the project.  It's not stressful for me to be put in that position, but my team is really bugging me.  I'm the only woman, per usual, running a team of men.  To try and give you an example, they will ask me if they can release a portion of the project and I will say NO, we need management approval and it has not been fully tested.  Then I'll be checking an hour later and they will have pushed it anyway, at the detriment of the software not working correctly, lots of things messed up, and my sanity! =)

I don't know what to do, if I call them on it they just pull it back down.  I feel like I'm talking and nobody is hearing my words.  I'm a quiet person overall but when it comes to projects I take stands, I will always say YES or NO and why.  Why doesn't no really mean no?? =)

Knitting a hat: Part 1

Thanks everyone for stopping by and saying 'Hi,' I got some great new blogs to add to my list and it was nice to hear from you all. =)

I mentioned a month or so ago that I am working on improving my continental skills to subsequently improve my colorwork.  I'd like to knit a big project, maybe a vest as soon as my stitches are a little more even.  I'm knitting together with Cath and Jenn on a colorwork project, it's tons of fun, the idea is that we send update photos to each other pretty frequently.  =)

I decided to work on a Bea Ellis hat, the traditional in grey and creme, similar to the pattern photo.  The kit came quick and I love the Heilo yarn it came with, it's softer than other traditional wools I've worked with.

Here's where I am so far after a day of knitting, the lighter color at the bottom is the cotton lining:
I found great pictures of the same hat, Caitlyn made one here,  and similar patterns knit up here and here.

I also found a great resource on how-to catch floats, I was having a lot of trouble with this! =)  Check it out here.