Last week I received an email from my lovely & talented SP10 Hostess Robyn with our next contest "assignment": photo and blog all your WIPs. Now had this e-mail arrived 24 hours earlier this would have been a piece of cake. I was being very productive, slowly whittling away at the projects I had on the needles until I only had two left (can you believe?).
The end product is beautiful and I love the yarn (BSA Royal Alpaca) but it is dull to knit. The lace pattern is only a two row repeat so it doesn't require a lot of brain power. The whole thing is supposed to be 109" long but I will shorten it (I'm only 60" tall so I hardly need a scarf that long). This picture is old but I haven't picked up the scarf in moths so it is, unfortunately, still accurate.
I'm knitting these from Rowan Handknit Cotton in Chime (#204). My gauge is a little big but I went with it because babies grow and I'm guessing #2 will get more use out of these in the fall than he will in the summer. I took this picture 2 days ago so I am actually a little further along now, I just finished turning the heel on the first leg.
You might recognize these... I recently finished up the whole set but decided the booties were way too big for a newborn so I employed some math and came up with this, reduced size version. All the details (yarn, etc.) are the same as the original project.
This is knit from Aloo (nettle) yarn. Let me just say that this is a great idea for a project and I have wanted to make it ever since I got the book. My intention was to make several of these puffies and use them as gifts at Christmas combined with some yummy bath products. This first puffy is intended for my Secret Pal and it may very well be my LAST one. Allow me to make a public service announcement: If you do not like knitting with cotton, do not try aloo. I love knitting with cotton- I don't have any issues with it not being springy or having no give, etc. Aloo is another beast entirely. I can knit about ten rows in a sitting before I have to move on to something else. The yarn is stiff, sticky, twisty and generally a pain in the ass to work with. I knew it was going to be a different experience, it being a very "natural" fiber, but, ugh. And to think I had a really hard time finding the yarn. Must be lots of folks like me out there thinking "Hey, cool. Nettle Yarn." Maybe next time I should give a bit more thought to what Nettles are? Since I am a glutton for punishment and I already own the yarn, I probably will make more of these puffies- it just won't be in the very near future.
With everything I've been knitting for #2 I had to cast-on something for my darling daughter (oh, the mommy guilt!). This pattern is from Blue Sky Alpacas and matches the bonnet I made a while ago. The yarn is the same Rowan Cashsoft DK in Bella Donna. This is my first pair of "real" socks, even if they are little (all my previous booties for babies have been seamed) and I am so excited! I have a couple more inches complete now (the picture was taken a couple days ago). I am having a blast knitting these...
What is it? I'm not saying just yet, this is my "Secret Squirrel Project, Part 1a" and it will be revealed sometime later in the summer, assuming all goes according to plan. The color in the above photo is off, the color is really a rose pink.
But alas. The email landed in my inbox mere hours after a cast-on crisis (four new projects in an afternoon). And so I have a much longer list... and my knits barely fit into the ol' knitting bag.
First up is my oldest UFO, the Razor Shell Lace Scarf (pattern by Hilltop Yarn, an lys) started early last December.
The end product is beautiful and I love the yarn (BSA Royal Alpaca) but it is dull to knit. The lace pattern is only a two row repeat so it doesn't require a lot of brain power. The whole thing is supposed to be 109" long but I will shorten it (I'm only 60" tall so I hardly need a scarf that long). This picture is old but I haven't picked up the scarf in moths so it is, unfortunately, still accurate.Next up are the Baby Bottoms (scroll down) from Knitting Pure and Simple.
I'm knitting these from Rowan Handknit Cotton in Chime (#204). My gauge is a little big but I went with it because babies grow and I'm guessing #2 will get more use out of these in the fall than he will in the summer. I took this picture 2 days ago so I am actually a little further along now, I just finished turning the heel on the first leg.And now we get to the results on my cast-on mania from last week.
Booties from the Royal Baby Set, v. 2.0.
You might recognize these... I recently finished up the whole set but decided the booties were way too big for a newborn so I employed some math and came up with this, reduced size version. All the details (yarn, etc.) are the same as the original project.And then there is the Knitted Puffy from OneSkein.
This is knit from Aloo (nettle) yarn. Let me just say that this is a great idea for a project and I have wanted to make it ever since I got the book. My intention was to make several of these puffies and use them as gifts at Christmas combined with some yummy bath products. This first puffy is intended for my Secret Pal and it may very well be my LAST one. Allow me to make a public service announcement: If you do not like knitting with cotton, do not try aloo. I love knitting with cotton- I don't have any issues with it not being springy or having no give, etc. Aloo is another beast entirely. I can knit about ten rows in a sitting before I have to move on to something else. The yarn is stiff, sticky, twisty and generally a pain in the ass to work with. I knew it was going to be a different experience, it being a very "natural" fiber, but, ugh. And to think I had a really hard time finding the yarn. Must be lots of folks like me out there thinking "Hey, cool. Nettle Yarn." Maybe next time I should give a bit more thought to what Nettles are? Since I am a glutton for punishment and I already own the yarn, I probably will make more of these puffies- it just won't be in the very near future.And now we arrive at my favorite WIP- little socks for my Pooh Bear!!
With everything I've been knitting for #2 I had to cast-on something for my darling daughter (oh, the mommy guilt!). This pattern is from Blue Sky Alpacas and matches the bonnet I made a while ago. The yarn is the same Rowan Cashsoft DK in Bella Donna. This is my first pair of "real" socks, even if they are little (all my previous booties for babies have been seamed) and I am so excited! I have a couple more inches complete now (the picture was taken a couple days ago). I am having a blast knitting these...The last WIP is this:
What is it? I'm not saying just yet, this is my "Secret Squirrel Project, Part 1a" and it will be revealed sometime later in the summer, assuming all goes according to plan. The color in the above photo is off, the color is really a rose pink.And that's it. Six projects. But my fingers are itching and the yarn for another one has somehow made it's way from my craft room to my knitting bag so keep your eyes on the list to the right it could be expanding (again), soon.
2 comments:
You seem to be knitting very quickly, with one bootie off the needles already. Very nice!
So you'll have some Alpaca Royal left to make a little something... it is really nice to knit with, isn't it?
Maybe one of those "knitting frames" (meant for non-knitters) would be an easier way to knit with nettle yarn. Less "hands-on" if you know what I mean.
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