KnittingNatty

A Close Shave - the story of an FO

This is how much yarn is left over - no jokes! One of the short strands pictured below was cut from the neckband after I cast it off! Phew!

And now for the (very nearly almost) finished product:

I just have to sew in the label and "hand" and do a chain crochet around the neckband with the CC.

Details: Size 6, pattern #3 jumper with crossover V-neck and "raglan" set in sleeves, from Panda 8 plys "11 handknits for kids".   
8 balls almost exactly of Cleckheaton Country 8 ply in Red, bought from Spotlight.
4.00 mm needles. I added pockets!

Its a success - look at that face!

Details (and more photos) are on Ravelry.

Caitlyn's cardigan

After a whole lot of finishing, it is finished:

Pockets for Robbyn:

And, my favourite knitted part, the finishing touch!

I found the little hands in the jewellery section of Spotlight, and thought how cute it would look on an outside label. At the last minute, I added decorative beads for Caitlyn. She loves beads! I would not recommend using a satin ribbon, as I did here - too slippery!

And my absolute favourite part?

PS: I skipped the zipper at this stage. It doesn't get cold enough to warrant it.

Front and back complete!

Sleeve island, here I come!

Yes, it really is that bright

This is almost all of the back of the fire engine jumper - DS Ian wants pockets like his sister, so there will be modifications for the front:

And I'm off to a seaming party, as soon as my head cold lets me stay up long enough!

Shhh, new knits blocking ...

A really bad head cold, combined with 2 sicks kids meaning lots of disturbed sleep, has shifted my knitting speed down a few gears. Eleven casts on later (This pattern was marked as  requiring a "P" for patience) all pieces are blocking or are being reblocked after requiring more edging to be knitted on.

See?

And because what is good for the little goose is good for the little gander, next up is  a quick knit for DS5, who has requested fire engine red.

Speed knitting (well, for me anyway) and blocking

A panel a day keeps Miss 3 happy as anything.

The backs:

And one front and one sleeve. Can you see the pocket inside, poking out a little? The pockets are making DD very happy. She  kept putting her hand in the opening so much that I sewed it down  "early" to make it more fun to play with.

She was my big helper pinning this out this morning. We are  both home together with  head colds. Lets see if I can bust out a sleeve and the other front today!

On being impulsive ...

Pattern purchased on impulse

Yarn sourced from stash. Where will it end?

Pink Lolly socks

Pink lolly socks:

For my pink lolly girl:

Specs: left over "iris garden" Lorna's Laces

Cast on 40 sts - heel over 20 sts and grafted toe over 10 sts on the upper side and 10 on the lower side.

Verdict: "cute"; worn to bed and again to daycare today.

Success!

Pinwheel Jacket

As I said in my last post, I have been having fun and games with this project, the Pinwheel Jacket:

It was fun to select the colours from my stash, but then, I found that I had not changed colours often enough and was going to run out of knitting before using all 13 colours, so it was a quick trip to the frog pond. Take a look at my first attempt:

Also, the pattern said to put the provisional cast on sts onto the stitch holder - clearly, not what you are supposed to do. The provisional cast on sts belong on the LH needle ready to be worked on. I used a Knitpicks options cord as my stitch marker for both armholes, with the cable ends: this was much more versatile than  a metal stitch holder! 

And the second attempt at colour changes:

One sleeve was added last night:

And here is a look at a cross section of colour:

I opted for a crocheted border rather than miles of icord, however.

The pattern called for 28 st segments but I think I got up to 32 or so, and I could have made it bigger, but lets face it, I was getting bored. Once the main part was done, I was already over this. I changed colours for the body every 6 rows and every 8 for the sleeves.

I am home today with a sick little girl, and the yarn I need to finish the second sleeve is in the car with the Hubster, so hopefully I can finish it tonight. This was a great stashbuster of a project, and has big brother also reqesting a "rainbow jumper" :0)

Stay tuned for more stashbusting for DS Ian!

Oh, I have also cast on something new in the sock department:

It is Robbyn's Leaves and Vines sock pattern. Yummy!

Socks for DS Ian

Okies, here are the specs for the little socks straight off the needles, and still smokin'

CO 50 stitches (I know, don't tell me: I only cast on 60 for me!)

I used some left over Lorna's Laces "childsplay" colourway. They are from 2 different dyelots, and pooled differently. Hooray for stash busting and quick projects!

25 sts for heel flap (eye of partridge)

grafted toe over 18 sts

This is the first time ever I have kitchenered successfully. I used the explanations and pictures from Knitted Ganseys by Beth Brown- Reinsel. Moral to the story is, if at first the explanation doesn't make sense - try another reference book until it does.

Sorry EZ and Montsey Stanley, Beth does it for me on grafting. My heart is no longer full of fear of grafting. ;)

(When did Ian's foot get so big?)

We had a lesuirely bacon and eggs for breakfast, with lots of coffee and juice. Nothing special planned, except for a nice bottle of wine with dinner. Happy Mother's Day!

ETA: This is my 500th post! Amazing!