knitting – Page 4 – Sheetar.com

Another year of Sock Knitting

By Sheetar 2 February 2016 1 February 2016

I finally got everything set up and photographed the socks that I’ve knit over the past year. The tally? 15 pairs! Some of them are from the end of 2014 since the last time I photographed handknits was September 2014, oops. Fifteen pairs of socks is no joke, but the majority of them are plain stockinette socks, so it’s really not a lot of substance when you get down to it, especially when you consider that I can knit a single plain sock in about four hours. I had an off year, what can I say? The majority of the knits from my past year in knitting were meant to keep my hands busy while I watched TV, fill time while waiting, and bust some of the more colorful sock yarn stash that isn’t suited for intricate cables and lace. In that way, it was a successful year indeed, and now I’m well stocked to continue working on a scrap yarn blanket for a few more squares. Here are the first two, and I’ll post a few more every week.

Fluormaina Socks
Pattern: Sock Knitting Workshop
Designer: Alysania (yours truly!)
Needles: US 1.5 (2.5mm)
Yarn: Schachenmayr Regia Fluormania in, “Neon Ocean”
Ravelry Project Link

Nothing really fancy going on here. I used the same basic sock recipe I use for all my plain vanilla socks, and I happened to publish it on Ravelry and the blog here a few years ago when I ran a sock knitting workshop at a local cafe. It’s easy peasy and lets the crazy wild color of this yarn really shine. I just couldn’t bring myself to do anything but a plain stockinette sock for this colorway since it may be my favorite one of the whole Fluormania line.

More Plain Socks
Pattern: Sock Knitting Workshop
Designer: Alysania (yours truly!)
Needles: US 1.5 (2.5mm)
Yarn: Wisdom Yarn Marathon Sock in, “Twin Cities”
Ravelry Project Link

This was a silly impulse purchase because the price was right at Tuesday Morning on a trip through one day. Green and blue self striping yarn at over 50% off? SOLD! It’s your basic sock yarn, nothing too fancy, not particularly soft, but it feels durable, so that works! I like how the colorway knit up and again, used the same simple basic sock pattern as before.

Baby, knitting

Knitted Baby Gifts, Part 1

By Sheetar 11 May 2015 12 May 2015

Apparently everyone is pregnant and due this summer. There must be something in the water, and just in case there is, I think I’ll stick with beer! The great thing about this, aside from excited new parents welcoming a baby into the world, is that this gives me the chance to knit sweet little baby gifts for my friends which is a ton of fun. Baby-sized sweaters have basically the same construction as adult-sized items but use less yarn and knit up much faster, so it’s pretty close to instant satisfaction. There’s also something about a handmade gift that’s really special for folks who appreciate the work that goes into them. This is the first round of gifts which have already been given to the recipient, so I figure I’m okay to blog about them and won’t spoil any surprises.

Pattern: Tilting Blocks Baby Blanket
Designer: Ranee Mueller
Needles: US 4 (3.5 mm)
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton Ease in, “Maize”
Ravelry Project Link
It’s a really simple stitch pattern and works up so quickly. The original pattern had a square of stockinette in the center, but I opted to just do the whole blanket in pattern. I used just about three whole skeins of yarn which is a basic cotton/acrylic blend which makes it great for use for baby knits. Durable, washes well, still pretty soft. It stretched out MUCH larger than anticipated since it’s lace, but it really looks great and will make a wonderful summer blanket for a summer baby. Plus, the parents have opted not to know the gender of their child, so yellow is a nice, neutral color.

Pattern: Sunnyside
Designer: Tanis Lavallee
Needles: US 4 (5 mm)
Yarn: Kangaroo Dyer Franklin Hand Dyed in, “Fried Green Tomatoes”
Ravelry Project Link
Knit in under a week! Super fast knit and I didn’t even use a whole skein of sock yarn. I made a small modification and flipped the cables on one side of the cardigan so they’d mirror the otherside (right twist instead of left twist). The size I knit was 6-12 month, but it came out at more like a newborn-6 month size. Next time, I’ll have to go up a size. Still, a really cute and easy cardigan to knit! I definitely prefer knitting baby items in fingering weight yarn instead of worsted or DK – babies are so small that a bulky sweater just doesn’t work out, and for a summer baby, a lighter cardigan is defintiely best.

Socks

Not Just Boring Dude Socks

By Sheetar 25 November 2014 18 November 2014

A friend was back at the sock designing board and needed another test knit, this time for socks for men. The husband has repeatedly refused my offers to knit socks for him, but let’s be fair, he wears t-shirts all year round and is ALWAYS too warm. Knit socks are not really what he needs, but he did request an awesome pair of mittens that I’ll get to in another post, soon.

Anyway, on to the Dude Socks! I had to figure out who to knit for, so I opened up a post on Google+. A bunch of guys responded, willing to be test subjects (and enthusiastic about hand-knit socks which was SO neat to see), so I random-number-generatored a winner who just happened to be friend and almost-neighbor, Steve. Steve gave me his foot measurements and I set off knitting the large size. After quick test-fit when the first sock was almost done, I managed to finish the pair in 8 days! Super quick knit, really squishy and stretchy, and the sizes fit anyone from a small woman’s foot to a large man’s foot with plenty of ease. Steve has already worn them a bunch of times which of course made me happy because every knitter wants to hear that their hard work is much appreciated and loved. The pattern went live on Ravelry recently, and the details are below.

Pattern: Not Just Boring Dude Socks
Designer: Corrine Walcher
Needles: US 2 (2.75 mm)
Yarn: Knit Picks Essential in “Sarge”
–Ravelry Project Link–

Socks

More Socks!

By Sheetar 23 October 2014 18 October 2014

Because one post wasn’t enough to catch you up on all the sock knitting I’ve been doing, here’s another one! These were from way earlier in the year, but I finally got photos and notes together to put on Ravelry. Don’t worry, there are still more to come even after this post. Yep, backlogged just a little.

Pattern: Jaywalker
Designer: Grumperina
Needles: US 1.5 (2.5mm)
Yarn: Zwerger Garn Opal Feelings in “1701”
–Ravelry Pattern Link–
I have a problem with Jaywalkers in that every striped yarn I find, I immediately think, “OH, this is perfect for Jaywalkers!” It’s more interesting than doing a straight, plain sock, and I love those chevrons. I will admit though to specifically buying this yarn to make Jaywalkers, so that’s okay, right?

Pattern: Jaywalker
Designer: Grumperina
Needles: US 1.5 (2.5mm)
Yarn: Snallygaster Fibers Lindy Hop Sock in “When Doves Cry”
–Ravelry Pattern Link–
See what I mean? OH STRIPEY, must be Jaywalker material! It’s neat how the pooling changed up so drastically on the legs as opposed to the foot. I still get my chevrons, but also neat tie-dye swirly craziness. Really love these colors.

Pattern: None / Basic Sock
Designer: Me
Needles: US 1.5 (2.5mm)
Yarn: dkKnits Technicolor Dream Toes in “Galleria Glitz”
–Ravelry Pattern Link–
Just your basic plain vanilla socks. The colorway did some neat pooling, and I love what happened on the heel turn with the individual stripes of color. It’s kind of a hot mess in terms of the bright colors, but in a good way, I think. They sure are fun, even for being simple socks.

Pattern: Nutkin
Designer: Beth LaPensee
Needles: US 1.5 (2.5mm)
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Lightweight in, “Rare Gems”
–Ravelry Pattern Link–
Really easy pattern to knit, even if it doesn’t quite show up that well in the image above. The colorway had a little bit too much contrast for the pattern to show up well, but it’s still got more interest than just straight stockinette. The yarn was purchased at Rhinebeck years ago, and it was finally time to go ahead and use it!

Pattern: Hisuiiro Socks
Designer: Claudia Eisenkolb
Needles: US 1.5 (2.5mm)
Yarn: Cephalopod Yarns Skinny Bugga! in “Mr. Nancy”
–Ravelry Pattern Link–
These were a bit of a slog and took me almost six months to knit. Mostly, the delay was because the pattern involved charts and a good deal of concentration which I don’t always have time for when I knit. I am glad I finished them because the design is really lovely, and that heel is so neat and fits in perfectly with the design but is still a slip-stitch heel (my favorite).

Socks

Summer Test Knits

By Sheetar 14 October 2014 10 October 2014

The blog is slowly sliding away from One Local Summer as winter draws ever closer, so I thought I’d fill in some space with knitting and spinning updates! For those of you unfamiliar with knitting, when a designer whips up a new pattern, he/she typically will want to have a friend test knit it to make sure all potential errors are worked out before officially publishing a pattern. It gives the designer another set of eyes on the pattern which can be really helpful. On my end, as a test knitter, it’s really fun to be the first person to have a go at a new knitting pattern and help out a friend at the same time. So, that’s what I did this summer (among other things).

Pattern: Barrel Riders Sock
Designer: Corrine Walcher
Needles: US 1.5 (2.5mm)
Yarn: Aisha Celia Designs Hand-Dyed in “178AA”
–Ravelry Project Link–
I finished these pretty quickly and love the neat detail on the heel as well as the wave pattern on the leg/instep. For the time being, this pattern is a special release just for a yarn club and isn’t available to the public just yet.

Pattern: Clara Barton
Designer: Corrine Walcher
Needles: US 1.5 (2.5mm)
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Lightweight in unknown Mill Ends colorway
–Ravelry Pattern Link–
Another fun project! I think I knit these in about a week, so they knit up super quickly. The yarn just happened to be a happy match for a sock pattern called Clara Barton, named for the woman who founded the American Red Cross. It was a Mill End I picked up at Rhinebeck a few years ago, and I’m glad I held on to it for just the right pattern. Love that little cross on the heel, and the cable running down the front. Another great design and fun test knit!

Gloves/Mittens, knitting

Night Owl Mittens

By Sheetar 18 September 2014 24 April 2023

Actual knitting content on the blog! Fear not, even though there have been a lack of posts about knitting and spinning, I’ve still been doing both. It’s just a lack of time to photograph the finished objects! But I have one here, and there will hopefully be more to post in the next few weeks. They knit up in three days (about 5 hours in the evenings after dinner and before bed), and used about 225 yards between the two colors (125 of the blue and 100 of the yellow). The yarn is a nice, densely spun wool completely sourced and produced in the USA from Rambouillet sheep, using natural dyes that surprisingly didn’t bleed when I gave these a wash and block. The yarn has incredible stitch definition and feels really sturdy which is perfect for mittens. I only made one big modification to the pattern – I switched the thumb to a “sore thumb” instead of the charted traditional Selbu Thumb since I find a sore thumb fits better. A pretty easy modification to make, just shifting the thumb gusset placement over a few stitches. Speaking of the thumb, I love that cute little owl worked into the thumb chart. Really happy with how these came out between the colors and the fit! Finished them just in time for the slow creep of Fall’s chill.

Pattern: Night Owl Mittens
Designer: Jorid Linvik
Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) for the cuff, US 2 (2.75mm) for the mitten body
Yarn: HiKoo by Skacel American B.R.A.N.D. in Yellowstone (Yellow-108) and Hawaii Volcanoes (Blue-102)
–Ravelry Project Link–

Shawls/Wraps, Spinning

Antarktis

By Sheetar 25 April 2014 20 August 2023

Another spun-to-finished project! I recently realizes just how much handspun I have sitting around, and how much I need to start using it instead of keeping it set aside as precious yarn that shall not be touched. The resulting shawl came out really lovely, light and airy, and I’m super happy with the results. I’ll admit to not really being a shawl person, but with the right pattern, I’ve slowly grown to like wearing them with the point in front, and sometimes add extra increases to make sure the long side is long enough to go all the way around. There’s nothing worse than a shawl that won’t wrap around the whole way without feeling like I’m being strangled. Details below!

First up, the fiber. This is Twisted Fiber Art’s Cloudy in colorway “Terrain” which is 60% Merino and 40% Bamboo. It looks like the name of the fiber was changed to Glam, and the fiber contents tweaked a little.

Next, the yarn. Spun to something between fingering and lace weight, I came out with 547 yards, chain plied.

The shawl! Pattern is Antarktis by Janina Kallio. Total knitting time was just over two weeks, so it went pretty quickly and was easy enough to bring with me to knit night. I used up pretty much the whole skein, following the pattern instructions until I got to the border section, except switching the wrong-side rows to purl so that it was garter instead of stockinette with a 3 stitch garter border. Just not a fan of garter stitch! I kept repeating the border section until I was just about out of yarn and then bound off using Jenny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off. Blocked aggressively with wires and the resulting shawl came out beautifully. Ravelry Project Link in case you’re interested.

On a non-knitting realted note, I’m really trying to blog more, especially with One Local Summer starting again. It always seems like I go from May to November only posting about food, and I want to try to blog more to break all that up a bit! I have a whole bunch of projects I haven’t blogged about lined up, and there will be PLENTY going on in the vegetable garden, so hopefully those will break up the summer monotony. We’re also going on some trips this summer, and I hope to be able to blog from the road. Anything you’d like to hear about specifically? Let me know in the comments!

Gloves/Mittens, knitting

End of May Mittens

By Sheetar 12 March 2014 16 January 2022

I’m REALLY pleased with how these mittens came out! The yarn was purchased at Purls of Wisdom in Kimberton, PA with the intent to make mittens at some point. Finally, I grabbed the yarn, found a pattern, and went to work. I managed to churn these out in five days (worsted weight mittens go pretty quickly even in colorwork), and have been wearing them since mid-January when they were finished. As usual, I’m super late posting these to the blog, but you know that’s nothing new. 🙂Yarn: Ella Rae Classic Superwash in colorway 15 (orange-rust color) and 19 (cream color). Lining is Alpaca from a friend’s farm.
Needles: US 3 (3.25mm)
Pattern: End of May Mittens by Mandy Powers
–Ravelry Project Link–
Notes/Modifications: The pattern originally called for the lining to only extend up about an inch or two from the cuff. I went ahead and used the same directions for the outer mitten minus the colorwork for the lining. It came out a little bit wide (there is some wrinkled-up fabric inside the mitten), but not enough that it’s unbearable. They blocked out to the perfect size for my hands! The alpaca actually came from a co-worker of the husband’s who owns an alpaca farm. It’s really luscious stuff and makes the mittens extra warm – perfect for the cold winter we’ve had!