Posts tagged ‘knit picks’
Overall…a Success!
I think the diaper cover was a success. Little Elsie looks darling, and I can’t help but think she looks a bit more comfortable than when she’s wearing the PUL covers.
It fits great around the legs, yet doesn’t restrict her leg movement at all.
As I mentioned yesterday, I really prefer fingering and sport weight yarn and their associated gauges on babies. It just looks more in scale with their small bodies.
You can see the shaping I did around the leg. And I got much better at picking up stitches around edges. This “seam” looks really good compared with others I’ve done in the past.
Here’s a picture of Chad wearing the cover yesterday. I actually feel like they’re more comfortable when I prop them up into a sitting position.
Here’s another shot of the leg, but I think it shows off the shaping better.
Overall, I’m declaring the project a success, with two reservations.
1) I hate the color. I used some knit picks palette I got years ago and I still have no idea why I picked out the color. But I didn’t want to waste my cute colors if the project was a failure. To be clear, the yarn worked great, and is at the perfect price point at $3.39/50g, but the color was just not my favorite.
2) The fabric is just not quite thick enough. Chad wore the diaper for about 2 hours, and even though he had wet the prefold under the cover, the cover was dry. Then at about 3 hours, it started to seep everywhere, it was actually kinda gross. So I think thicker fabric is in order.
However as I discussed earlier, I really like the scale of this fabric, so I’d rather not go up to a DK or worsted yarn. So I’m thinking I might play around with double knitting and see how that works. I’ve wanted to learn this technique for quite a while. I understand how it works conceptually but I’ve never actually tried it, as far as I can remember. After a bit of internet research I found some helpful resources to get me started:
Stitch Diva’s Double Knitting Tutorial
WIP Insanity’s Ribbing in Double Knitting Tutorial
Twist Collective Article “Introduction to Double Knitting: The four winds hat” by Alasdair Post-Quinn
We’ll see how this goes, but for now, enough blogging, time for some lunch, a quick tidy up, and some knitting.
A “Go To” Yarn Roundup
So I guess I sorta left the topic hanging yesterday. I gave all these criteria for my favorite yarns, now lets discuss what those favorites are!
Classic Elite Liberty Wool – $7.50/50g – 100% Superwash Merino Wool – Worsted
Ever since I first used this yarn about a year and a half ago this has been my favorite yarn to work with for any project requiring a smooth worsted wool. It has phenomenal stitch definition, is wonderfully soft, and has great memory. It was originally released in a pretty broad spectrum of colors, but it wasn’t until this year that they added some beautiful neutrals, thus solidifying it as my top favorite yarn.
Knit Picks Swish – $4.69/50g – 100% Superwash Wool – Worsted
Swish comes in at a close second. It has all the same features as Liberty Wool, but doesn’t seem to have quite the same quality. Which, as you can see, is reflected in the price. However, since it is cheaper, I do frequently consider it if I’m working with a smaller budget than usual.
Knit Picks Stroll – $4.69/50g – 25% Nylon, 75% Superwash Wool – Fingering
I haven’t found even a close competitor for this yarn. While there are other yarns that give stroll a run for its money either in the quality or luxurious feel of the yarn, none of them come close to the price. Every other sock yarn I’ve been tempted by is at least twice the price, and I really have a hard time spending $25 for a pair of socks on a regular basis. It does seem like there’s room in the market for a medium priced sock yarn. Knit picks will set you back around $10/100g, while every other brand costs $20-$25. I’d love to find some reasonably high quality sock yarn for around $15. If you know of any I missed, please let me know!
Knit Picks Gloss – $5.99/50g – 70% Wool, 30% Silk – Fingering
I love, love this yarn with no complaints. well, maybe one. It really should be made available in the stroll tonal colorways.
Knit Picks Wool of the Andes – $2.69/50g – 100% Peruvian Wool – Worsted
My favorite for any felting project. I haven’t tried Cascade 220 yet, so I can’t offer a good comparison. Anyone want to jump in on this one?
Berroco Lustra – $12/100g – 50% Wool, 50% Tencel – Single Ply – Worsted
This one is a bit different, but a lot of fun to work with. It has great stitch definition and the Tencel gives it a wonderful sheen.
Spud and Chloe Sweater – $15/100g – 50% Cotton, 50% Wool – Worsted
I like this one for baby knits that are intended to be a bit more heirloom quality. it’s incredibly soft, spun to be a bit hardwearing, and is thoroughly washable.
Berroco Remix – $10/100g – 30% Nylon, 27% Cotton, 24% Acrylic, 10% Silk, 9% Linen – Worsted
I was really surprised that I liked this one as much as I did. But I’ve now used it in three projects, and I always love the result!
I got a comment yesterday, but I’d love some other folks to jump in too. What are you favorite yarns? Why?
A WIP and FO: I think I’m on a roll!
As expected, I’m making much better progress on this little sweater than it’s sister.
That probably has something to do with the fact that I’m hearing the tick of the clock roaring in my ear, and I’m getting increasingly motived by my ever growing pile of baby knits!
I finished this little sweater on saturday, and I’m in love! It’s made from Berroco Lustra, and while the picture doesn’t really do it justice, it has a gorgeous sheen. I haven’t put buttons on the side closure because I want to wait and give it a little more gender specificity. The most enchanting thing about this sweater is how LITTLE it is! I recently got some hand-me-down newborn girl clothes, and I knit the sweater to go with the smallest onesie in the bunch, since it’s quite likely I’ll have somewhat little babies.
I can’t wait to have a photo op with these little ones, I think only then will all this cute knitwear be brought to life in my photos.
Lots of Knitting
So, I’ve now been given an official “take it easy” from the doctor, and I don’t have to be on complete bed rest, at least for now. Which has been a wonderful relief.
It was fun to have a few days where I didn’t have to do anything but knit. While I don’t feel like I’ve been overwhelmingly productive, the amount of FOs and new WIPs have been adding up.
The first thing I did when put on bed rest was cast on this little cutie…
As I’ve mentioned before, my goal is to knit 2 boy and 2 girl sweaters, hats and booties, so that I have a perfect little outfit to bring them home from the hospital in, no matter how they surprise us. For some reason the boy ideas have been flowing and I haven’t been able to come up with cute girl ideas, but finally this one came together. It’s a simple raglan construction with a slip stitch pattern knit up in Knit Picks Felici self striping yarn. Unfortunately this colorway is discontinued.
I also finally finished the last step on this little sleep sack for my niece… sewing on the snaps and buttons.
I’m thrilled with the finished product… it’s a bit longer than I was hoping, but I think it’ll fit her for a good long while.
It’s so fun seeing new projects start and old ones get finished and to their owners. 🙂
Finished Object: Some super quick socks!
So, the other night, I decided I didn’t have nearly enough hand knit socks. But, with all the baby knits and other WIPs, I was just not up to the 8-10sts/in gauge, so I threw these on the needles and was completely done in just 2 days! I’m thrilled with how they turned out!
This was an original design, made out of Knit Picks Wool of the Andes. It’s a bit scratchy for my taste, but since the yarn was leftover from another project, it made the whole affair supper cheap. I used the new increase I “discovered” in my last post. I really like the effect. I think I’m smitten with worsted weight socks in a 5 sts/in gauge, and my brain is exploding with other 2-day-sock ideas. There is just something magical about sitting down to watch TV and in two episodes, you’ve made it through the leg and part of the heel. I also just got some super cute mary janes from Crocs, that will show of handknit socks very well. It’s time to do some stocking up!
Pattern to follow in a week or so!
Baby Knitting!
This weekend I made these…
I’m enchanted by the boots. I discovered Julia Noskova over at Knitterella and I’m so glad I did. Remember when I said I’m being really picky about what I knit my little babies? Well, I really was hung up on the bootie situation for the boy outfits. I kinda felt like all the bootie patterns I was finding were kinda sissy looking. I’m sorry, I promise no offense intended, it’s probably more a reflection on me than any other knitter, you really have no idea how perfectionistic I’m being about the baby knitting. So when I discovered Julia’s work I was thrilled, most of her baby booties/shoes are decidedly boy or girl, which is something that was a must for me. So I now have a whole set of patterns to choose from for both my boys and girls outfits.
One issue I did have with this pattern was the sizing, the 0-6 month size is really big when knit to gauge. I knit them on one needle size down and fingering weight yarn instead of Sport or DK, and they still were a 3-6 month size, not even close to newborn. Since I really, really wanted these to be part of the home-from-the-hospital ensemble, I needed them to be a lot smaller. I made a few mods which I noted in detail on the ravelry page linked below. The mods made for a perfect newborn/preemieish size, since I’m expecting these little twins to be on the smaller side.
It’s so fun to finally be getting some real momentum on the baby knitting. So far, I have almost finished two boy cardigans in different colors, one pair of boots, and about to start on the second. I forgot the instant gratification factor with baby knitting. Sit down for 3-4 hours and you have a bootie!
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Raveled: Here
Yarn: Knit Picks Gloss Fingering
Pattern: Winter Boots by Julia Noskova
Portable Organization
Please bear with the pregnant lady who has been completely overrun by every possible nesting urge. This house is being cleaned and organized from top to bottom, from attic to crawl space, from dusty top cabinets to the depths of little used closets. I have this drive to get this house completely clean by the time these babies arrive, even if they come really, really early. I think I’m consumed by the assumption that this is the one and only season in life where I’ll actually have time to clean and de-clutter, that if anything is out of order by the time the babies come it will never, ever be cleaned. There is probably a degree of truth to that, but it’s still getting out of control. 🙂
One organization project that consistently evades success is organizing all my knitting needles and notions. The stash (or “buffer” as I like to call it) is in pretty good shape. But all the darning needles, cable connectors, stitch markers, tape measures, and even needles and cables, seem to be in perpetual disarray. I find this annoying because I don’t even have that much in the way of knitting accessories. I just barely started buying more than one set of needle tips in each size, if that gives you a better idea of how little there is to organize.
This lack of success is not for lack of trying, I think I reorganize about once every 2-3 months, and yet I still don’t have a darning needle when I’m anywhere but in my living room. Some of the problem is that I expect my knitting to be fully portable. There are a few places I take my knitting pretty regularly, and there is just no excuse for a lack of notions in those areas.
I’d love to ask what y’all do to make sure you have all you need wherever you happen to be knitting. What works for you?
I’m going to throw out a my current hypothesis.
It seems that the things I like to take around with me fall into two categories. The first is the set of things that are little and cheap and I should have multiples of so I can put one in each of my most common knitting bags or spots. The other are the more expensive things like needles. I don’t need them with me that often, but I like them ready to grab if I’m packing for a trip (which has been happening a lot in the last few months).
So here’s what I’m thinking…
I’ve already started to use an altoid tin for my little, easy-to-lose items. I love it.
They’re the perfect size, durable and cute in a vintage-y sort of way. I’m even tempted to grab a few of the TINY tins too. So cute! My altoids tin can fit a handful of stitch markers, a darning needle, a small cable needle, a few cable caps and keys, and a retractable tape measure. This system works with two exceptions, scissors (even small ones) and larger cable needles don’t fit in these little kits. I’ve fixed this little issue, by purchasing the smallest Knit Picks project bag for $4. It fits the tin, scissors and any other larger notions I need quite easily. The main problem is that I don’t always remember to switch it from one knitting project to the other when I’m running out of the house, so it’s not always where I want it. Or I’ll pull it out of a knitting bag while knitting at home and since it’s such a floating object, I don’t have a place for it so it starts to clutter up my little spot on the couch. So I’m thinking I need to make up one or two more of these, so that I have two for portability and one that stays home all the time. The part that I hate, is purchasing more stuff, when the whole point is to simplify, but I can’t see another way.
So that takes care of the little, cheap stuff that I need in more than one place at once. So let’s see what we can do about needles. Right now I actually have repurposed my little Knit Picks project bag for my needles. This has two major issues. It robs the first part of my org system of it’s effectiveness, and all my needles are just in a pile and I have no way of knowing, at a glance what needles I have or are in use. So I’m thinking I need to buy an interchangeable needle case. I’ve thought about making my own little ultra customized version sort of like this one, and maybe I still will, but I’m hung up on how to distribute the pockets. If you take a quick peak through the zillions of needle cases on Etsy, they all do it a little differently, and depending on your needle collection have their pros and cons. For me, since I pretty much only use dpns, circular, and interchangeable needles, I need lots of shallow pockets. I’d also like to fit more than one set of tips in each pocket, so that if I have two sets in the same size they could share a pocket. So it seems like I can find fault with almost every case I find and I need to figure out what exactly I want. Maybe I’ll make that a little christmas sewing project to make myself one that works for everything I need it to. Cause the needle situation, even with my tiny collection, is getting out of control.
So those are the two big organization issues with my knitting. But maybe one more I should address is that of the knitting bag. What do you use? I typically shove some needles, an altoid tin, yarn, and pattern in a ziplock back and move it from bag to bag to couch depending on what purse I’m using or where I’m knitting. Then if I’m working on a sweater or something else big, it starts to spill out of the ziplock bag, so then I just shove it in my purse or bag, which usually involves problems with needles falling out or tangled balls of yarn. I’ve looked at other knitting bags, and I’m just not sure if I would use them effectively or not. I like my cheap solution, but it makes for a cluttery corner of my couch where multiple project bags get piled up. Any thoughts?
A Finished Gift
Remember this? From July when I got my new skein winder and cheapo home depot yarn swift?
I got a guilt trip from Janet when she visited last week about not having finished here Christmas present. I pulled it out and realized I had seriously 13 rows left. So I picked it up during the evenings while watching movies with my sisters. After a couple months… It’s finished!
Isn’t it adorable? I’m determined to make shawls cool again. It’s an utterly practical accessory, and I mean really, look at this chic! She rocks the thing! I love the mental image of her cuddled in her room (which is decorated in similar colors), reading a good book with this delightful shawl thrown over her shoulders is very rewarding. Even though these aren’t really my colors, (I LOVE neutrals) I’m so tempted to make myself a shawl. Focus Maria! There’s a release schedule to keep!
Raveled here.
Paper to Yarn
So, some black Wool of the Andes from Knit Picks is on it’s way. My warm and cuddly cardi will be on my needles in a week or two. Yay! If my yarn estimates are correct, I’ll be out $14 for a 100% wool sweater. Who says making it yourself isn’t cheaper?
In other news, I’ve made the leap from concept to design process for a new sweater. It’s really amazing how few ideas make it from paper to yarn. I don’t think I’ve ever sketched out a garment I didn’t have full intention of making. But then it gets tweaked once or twice and then I revisit it again, and then suddenly a whole new idea hits me and I’m off on a new concept. Then one day, the planets align, a sketch is scribbled down and within a week or two I’m well into a new sweater or tank top. The funny part is I really don’t know what makes the planets align so to speak. I just keep sketching ideas as they hit me, and when it’s time to select a new project, either for a full-scale pattern, or just for my own wardrobe enhancement, I’ll either select an evolving concept that’s stuck with me, or just start from a clean sheet of paper. I do know that yarn plays a significant role in the process of sketch to project. Many times I’ll run into a yarn I love while thinking through a new concept and the combination works magic in my mind.
That’s what happened with this concept. I actually tried it once with Suri Dream, which is a beautiful yarn, but so very, very wrong for this garment. I tore if off the needles, and forgot about it. Then I met Berroco Remix. I unboxed the idea and jotted it down, this time it had evolved a bit.
It stuck. Not only did I have a sketch, I was scribbling basic instructions on both sides of the paper. I had been rolling around this general idea for months. I wanted a sweater that would serve as a lightweight extra layer, that would look great layered over longsleeve shirts, but also look cute into the spring. Several design concepts have come and gone, but they all were intended to serve this same purpose. Here’s where we are now!
Isn’t that yarn great!? It’s 100% recycled and machine washable. I’m hoping to include this in my spring collection, which I’m currently targeting for release at the beginning of April. Stay tuned for updates!
Quick Knits? Meh…
I think I’m learning something new about my knitting style. So I’m working on this super quick-to-knit shrug out of suri dream, and I’m starting to reallize that I actually don’t like super quick knits. Wierd, I know. I mean, aren’t one skien wonders the holy grail of knitting? But none the less, it’s true. The irony is that the reason I don’t like them is because they don’t get done.
Want me to expound? My pleasure.
It seems that my short attention span doesn’t really like to be pampered, especially by knitting. Knitting (and coffee, but that’s a different post) calms me down, focuses me, gives the hundreds of thoughts running around my mind a common direction. I think when I’m working on quick knits I have this wierd assumption that they’ll be done instantaneously, that they require no work whatsoever. So I’m quick to cast on for these little beauties… but then because I think the thing will fly off my needles after the first 5 stitches, I don’t settle my brain into the work the way I do when I commit to a long term relationship with a sweater. So as a result my brain is just as crazy, I don’t enjoy working on it, put it down, don’t finish it and after a few rounds of this, I feel guilty because I have all these dumb little projects that aren’t done.
So I think the shrug discussed yesterday is falling into this category. I love the yarn, I love the fabric that’s being produced. However, because it’s a “quick knit”, I’m not giving it the design or knitting attention it deserves. I’m not ripping when I see mistakes, I’m not calculating ease and guage as rigorously, and as a result I have a shrug that isn’t done yet and doesn’t fit quite as well as I would like. What makes this sweater even less likely to be done is that I don’t even have enough yarn for it. To finish I’d have to order more, and with all the Christmas knitting upon me, I really can’t justify buying yarn at the moment.
So long story short, I think this little idea will have to go into the pile of concepts to be fleshed out at the proper level of detail at a later date. This time at the right guage, with the right level of commitment that I think a garment like this really deserves. I mean, I really want a cute little shrug. I wouldn’t have started it if I didn’t want it.
Question of the day… knowing that the likilhood of finishing is quite low, do I frog it? Or do I hope to come back to it? What would you do?