Girasole

Pattern: Girasole by Jared Flood
Yarn: Rowanspun Aran, 800 grams
Needles: US10.5 Addi Turbos
Notes: I didn't make any changes on this pattern. It was a very fun and fast knit until I hurt myself. Then the edging took forever. It's about 65" across. The sofa it's pictured on is 70". I blocked it minimally by spreading it out on a queen size bed and putting in a few pins. I could have stretched it out quite a bit more but I didn't see the need.

Soaker for Abby

Pattern: Frantic Mama Knitted Soaker Pattern
Yarn: Cascade 220 in Granny Smith (50 grams)
Needles: Addi Lace Clicks in US4 and 7
Notes: Abby, a knitter from Purlygirls, asked for help knitting soakers from this pattern for her baby boy due in June. It's a completely easy pattern to knit. I didn't do the greatest job on my kitchener across the crotch so there's a bit of a line there. I don't think the baby will notice.

Bertha Lace Shawl

Pattern: Bertha Lace Shawl by Evelyn Clark
Yarn: Mystery Shetland/Kauni-ish yarn, 105 grams, 500(?) yards
Needles: US6 Addi Turbo Lace
Notes: I made the the medium size of the Textured Trellis Lace Border Shawl. The pattern three variations on the shawl in three sizes. The instructions are excellent and the charts are clear and easy to follow. Now my only regret is not to have continued the Spider Lace for longer. But at least I didn't run out of yarn on this one!

Haruni

Pattern: Haruni by Emily Ross
Yarn: Timaru in Grass
Needles: US4 Addi Turbo
Notes: When I completed the 12 "stems" called for I thought I had enough yarn to do another repeat. Then as I was nearing the end of the final chart I realized that I was not going to make it. I skipped the penultimate pattern row and its purling back row and did double decreases in the final pattern row. Then I ran out of yarn during the cast off. I dyed a little to sort of match. Then I ran out again. I dyed more. I finished the bind off. Whew. I didn't do the greatest job at blocking. I didn't have the patience to pin out every little loop in the cast off so I just ran a blocking wire through them all to pull them out.

The Never-Ending Skein

Nearly five years ago I got a massive skein of Interlacements Periwinkle Petite in a stash swap. It's bulky, variegated and thick and thin. I had no idea what to do with it. I finally grabbed it on my way to the movies last week and started a charity hat.



I still had yarn left so I knit another one.



And another.



There's still enough yarn for another hat!



When will this skein end!

Clothilde

Pattern: Clothilde by Kristen Hanley Cardozo
Yarn: Butternut Woolens 3-Ply Sport
Needles: US6 Addi Turbo Lace
Notes: I knit two repeats of the Spearhead lace and realized, after I bound off, that I probably had enough yarn for a third. But I'm gun-shy now and didn't want to risk running out of yarn again. I also did the stretchy bind off where you knit two then place the left needle into the fronts of the two stitches and knit them together like an SSK. I've also seen instructions for this where you slip the two stitches back to the right needle and knit through the back loop. I don't know why you'd do this since the version I did saves the tedious step of slipping the stitches but that is how it's most often written.

Bitterroot

Pattern: Bitterroot
Yarn: Butternut Woolens Super Sock plus Miss Babs Yummy Superwash Sport for last two rows
Needle: US6 Addi Turbo Lace
Notes: Knit one extra repeat of Chart A so left out last eight rows of C and first two of D.

Elf Slippers

Pattern: Elf Shoes by Pamela Wynne
Yarn: Cascade 220
Needles: US10.5 Brittany DPN
Notes: These are very quick to knit and awfully cute. I needed to go to a friend's house to felt them (Thanks Amanda!) because I could not get them to felt thoroughly in my front-loading washer. I got Plasti-dip at my local hardware store to (messily) paint the soles to make them non-skid. It's not too pretty but it seems like it will do the job well. I hope they fit the recipients.

Prairie Mitts II

Yarn: Buffalo Gals Merino/Bison
Needle: US3
Notes: I improvised these mitts to match the ones I made in Nancy Bush's handcovering class I took at Madrona several years ago. I had a partial skein left of the yarn and used every last bit. I guesstimated how many stitches to cast on, knit until until about halfway done, cast off 8 stitches for the thumb and cast the stitches back on on the following row. Then I did a three-needle bind off to join the cast on with the last row. They fit him well and he really likes them.

Incognito

Pattern: Incognito by Mercedes Tarasovich-Clark
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Verde Adriana (exactly half a skein)
Needles: US8 and 9
Size: Adult
Notes: I needed a project to take to the movies so I quickly cast on for this last night. I managed to knit the hem, do the turning round then knit the another 7 rounds just as the lights went down. I had to do the joining round by feel and was pleasantly surprised at how well it turned out. I knit through the whole movie. (Avatar. It's very long and I hated it.) The cowl was slightly longer than it needed to be and I think my gauge tightened up a lot as I got more and more frustrated with the film. I did the duplicate stitch in Lamb's Pride Worsted this morning and stitched down the hem. It's for my older son and fits him fine but it would be too snug for an adult.

Veyla

Pattern: Veyla by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Dye Dreams Twinkle Toes in Olive (37 grams)
Needles: US3 Addi Turbos
Notes: I strongly suggest you block the cuff before knitting the hand. It made a world of difference in my gloves. These are a very straight-forward knit. The pattern is very well-written. I was glad to use up some leftovers to knit these but I would pick something fluffier if I were to knit them again.

Anglerfish

Pattern: Anglerfish from Amigurumi Knits by Hansi Singh
Yarn: Scraps of Classic Elite Renaissance and Cascade 220
Needles: US5
Notes: This is one of those super-fiddly knits. Lots of little parts. Most of it is knit in one piece. You only stitch on the teeth and the lure. I tried very hard to get the teeth in straight but they end up crazy-crooked. I think it looks pretty silly but my older son adopted it immediately.

Ulmus

Pattern: Ulmus by Kristen Kapur
Yarn: Twinkle Toes by Dye Dreams (approx. 40 grams) and Wolf Creek Wools Superwash Merino Tencel (100 grams)
Needles: US5 Addi Turbo
Notes: The shawl is smaller than I expected. It did block out really nicely though. The yarns are both lovely and shiney. I found the pattern exceedingly dull to knit. The slipped stitch portion took me a very long time to complete because I kept wandering off to do anything other than "knit 3, slip, knit 3, slip, etc."

Babette

Created with flickr slideshow.

Pattern: Babette (sections 1-7) by Kathy Merrick
Yarn: Rowan All Seasons Cotton (762 grams)
Hook: Clover H and E
Notes: I'm really happy with it. I wish I had thought about how to use more of the yarn. I ran out of most of the colors and was left with larger quantities of just three shades. Bu then again, I'm just happy to be done with it.

Snar Labbar

Pattern: Snar Labbar
Yarn: Malabrigo Twist in Azul Profundo
Needles: US8 Addi Turbos
Notes: We just got the Twist in at the shop and I really wanted to try it. It's a worsted weight merino that has 8 plies. It's still slightly thick and thin. It is luscious. It's soft, shows of the stitches beautifully and has great color. I love it. The pattern is okay. There's some weirdness with the thumb increases and, I believe, a typo in the pattern but I just fudged my way through it and didn't make a note of it. Oh, and I cast on while riding in the car and only cast on 32 sts instead of 36. But the fit is good so no harm done.

Short-Row Hat

Pattern: Short-Row Hat by Veronik Avery
Yarn: Karaoke in Mermaid by SWTC
Needles: US7 Addi Turbos
Notes: This is a clever, interesting pattern to knit. Unfortunately I kept making the same mistake of forgetting one yarn over which resulted in a lot of ripping and reknitting. I really enjoyed the Karaoke. The color shifts are very long and subtle. It's very soft. We used to carry it in the shop and it didn't sell well. I don't think it feels nearly as soft in the skein as it does when you work with it. I had enough left over to crochet another 8" square.

Damson

Pattern: Damson by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Butternut Woolens Super Sock
Needles: US6 Addi Turbos
Notes: I ran out of yarn about ten rows before the bind off and used a second skein of the same yarn in, obviously, a different colorway. The yarn is indigo-dyed and bleeds horribly. I've tried many methods to rinse out the excess indigo but it still crocks.

Bobby's Garden

Pattern: Bobby's Garden by Megan Rogers
Yarn: 14 skeins Noro Kureyon, all in the same discontinued colorway, with 1 skein of Lana Loft Worsted in Dark Ash added in for the edging.
Needles: US6 Addi Turbos
Notes: I started this project long before the complete pattern was available. I used a 96 stitch hexagon and figured out a method for squaring up the sides. I picked up along the edge and knit a simple garter stitch border with eyelet increases on the corners. This was a very long but highly entertaining project.

Squares Squared

Pattern: Squares Squared by Cosette Cornelius-Bates
Yarn: Elann Sierra (two shades) and Punta Merisoft
Needles: US7
Notes: I was trying to use up odds and ends for this hat. Clearly I didn't choose too well. I convinced myself that the variegated was brighter and deeper in color than it really is. So the contrast isn't so great. The pattern is very simple but the charting could use improvement as it doesn't mark areas that are not stitches. I think a newer knitter or someone who is not accustomed to charts would find them pretty confusing.

Hat Attack!

With the end of NaKniSweModo I wasn't sure what to do next. So I cast on for a bunch of charity hats.



There was a simple button-tab hat in Meriboo from Frog Tree. The yarn is lovely to work with.



There was a Stashbuster Spiral inspired hat made from tiny sample skeins of Crystal Palace yarns we had lying around the office at the shop. This is several colors of Bunny Hop, Merino 5 and a little Panda Silk DK.



We get loads of tiny, sample skeins of yarn. I can't bear to throw them out but it's challenging to find a use for them.



Then I knit Opus Spicatum. Except I thought my Cashmereno was aran-weight when it's really DK so I had to swap out Mission Falls Wool for Cascade 220 Superwash as the contrast color. There's still a size disparity between the yarns but it's not as noticeable.


Still blocking on a salad plate.

I have enough yarn left to knit another one.