allisonElizabethKnits

Patsy

2012-02-19T21:22:00.001-03:30

Another original design of mine... Patsy:

Another design inspired by a family member; my Aunt suggested I knit a poncho as they are back in style this season. I couldn't find a pattern I really liked so I tried reverse engineering one I saw in an ad. I got the pattern perfect but I couldn't get the shape (my rectangle was too wide and didn't want to be a poncho). So I cut it (yes, cut it) down the middle and used the two pieces as the front and back of this poncho-style pullover. I love the fabric and it's really cozy.

Pattern: Patsy
Project notes: Ravel me
Needle size: 8 mm / US 11 & 6.5 mm / US 10.5
Yarn: 800g of Berroco Peruvia Quick in colourway 9117

Bertha

2012-02-16T21:54:00.003-03:30

It's not much, but it's my first published pattern: Bertha!

My grandmother, the one who taught me how to knit, passed away in November and yesterday the sale of her house was finalized. I have been wanting to knit a cozy for my cylindrical glass teapot because, while cute, functional and perfectly sized, it doesn't keep my tea very warm. So coincidentally (or maybe not), after driving up to say goodbye to Grandma's yesterday I was inspired to knit this cozy, write up the pattern and name it after Grandma.

I realize it's not a common size/shape for a teapot but I made it available as a free Ravelry download anyway.

Pattern: Bertha
Project notes: Ravel me
Needle size: 5 mm / US 8
Yarn: 30g of Spud & Chloe Sweater in Grape Jelly

The Key to Surviving Winter

2011-02-11T15:44:00.002-03:30

The key to surviving winter is wool socks that fit in normal shoes.

I knit these last winter, and get a lot of wear out of them.

Pattern: Froot Loops by Kristi Geraci from Knitty Spring '08

Check out the details: Ravel me

I am the worst blogger on the interwebs

2010-06-23T14:49:00.004-02:30

But I'm preparing for a resurrection. I promise. Very, very soon. xo

Hat Trick Hat #3: A Hat To Match My Mittens

2010-02-05T10:29:00.002-03:30

Goal #3... hat trick completed!

Pattern: A Patterned Watch Cap to Match Your Mittens by Robin Hansen

Size: I measured my head and got 21.5 inches, which is between the Adult M and L sizes. It says in the instructions that you need to use the stitch count given as a guide - you need to add or subtract the least amount of stitches from the suggested number. Because my head size was between sizes, I am using 126, because it is between 120 (M) and 132 (L).

Needles: KnitPicks Harmony nickel plated interchangeable, size US 6 / 4.0 mm, 16" cable

Details: I’ve been wanting to make a traditional patterned hat from this book to match my trigger mitts, and I love the non-traditional look that can be achieved with this one! I did 4” of ribbing and just over 5” of the same diamond pattern used in my mittens (5 blocks high). Despite the fact that my gauge is perfect, this hat is HUGE. So huge I may frog and re-knit it.

Hat Trick Hat #2: Wood Hollow Hat

2010-01-26T15:36:00.010-03:30

Goal #2 of this year's hat trick:

Pattern: Wood Hollow Hat by Kirsten Kapur (purchased as a .pdf file on Ravelry.)

Size: O/S

Yarn: KnitPicks Swish Worsted superwash wool in Lawn.

Needles: KnitPicks Harmony nickel plated interchangeable, size US 8 / 5.0 mm

Details: I can’t believe I finally found a pattern for this yarn. I’m amazed. I bought it specifically for a matching hat/mitt set. I followed the pattern exactly, except the needle size. That said, it did come out a little bigger than I expected. I think it looks kind of cute with a bit of slouch, though! :)

Hat Trick Hat #1: My Cabled Beret!

2010-01-26T12:44:00.005-03:30

The folks in one of my Ravelry groups, the lovely ladies and gentlemen of Puck This!, have been spending the month of January participating in a "Hat Trick" KAL (knit along). Essentially, it is a challenge to net three goals (i.e. knit/crochet three hats) in the month of January. This is my first:

The photo isn't the best, as it was taken with my webcam. I'll upload a better one soon.

Pattern: Star Crossed Slouchy Beret by Natalie Larson (purchased as a .pdf file on Ravelry.)

Size: O/S

Yarn: Briggs & Little Heritage wool in Royal Blue

Needles: KnitPicks Harmony interchangeable nickel plated needles in US 10 / 6.0 mm for the ribbing, and US 11 / 8.0 mm for the body of the hat.

Details: I followed this pattern exactly as set. It knit up so quickly and was just the right combination of easy and interesting. I love how it turned out - I’ll definitely be making another! I was able to finish this hat in two days at a friend's cabin.

Heavy Socks

2010-01-23T17:09:00.005-03:30

Remember the socks from this post that were supposed to be for Dad? Well, I finished them... for me! And they are awesome:

Pattern: #101 Heavy Socks by Briggs & Little

Size: I tried to make a man's size 12. I instead ended up with a woman's size 8. Live and learn.

Yarn: Briggs & Little Tuffy in Ecru, Oatmeal and Red Mix (sock monkey colours!)

Needles: One US 2 / 2.75 mm 40" Addi Turbo circular

Details: I modified this pattern in an attempt to knit two socks at once on one circular needle. I used 2-at-time Socks by Melissa Morgan Oates as a reference for learning this technique. Although I like the concept of finishing both socks at the same time, I found it to be more trouble than it was worth, especially where the socks themselves were so heavy. I didn't like how much needle/cable adjustment was required. It ended up being quite time consuming. That said, the socks turned out great, and are very warm and cozy.

- CO 54 stitches for each sock onto a 2.75mm x 40” circular needle (I am a tight knitter and I swear this needle gave me the correct gauge) using the long-tail method
- Rib for 8 3/4” = 74 rows (pattern calls for 11” but any longer and I wouldn’t have gotten it up over my own calf, and these were originally supposed to be for Dad).
- Heel flap is 3”

Girly Trigger Mitts

2010-01-07T17:00:00.000-03:30

After slaving away on stranded mittens for my Dad and brothers for Christmas, I decided I deserved a pair. I cast these on on Christmas Day, when I was full of turkey and hanging around with the family after dinner. I finished them on New Year's Eve.

Pattern: Mrs. Martin's Finger Mitts by Harriet Pardy Martin, from Favorite Mittens by Robin Hansen.

Size: I used the stitch counts for the biggest child size, and the measurements for the women's sizes.

Yarn: Briggs & Little Tuffy, in Oxford and Rosewood.

Needles: US 4 / 3.5 mm Clover Bamboo dpns.

Details: I LOVE these mittens, they are so warm and cozy. I have also gotten a lot of compliments on them. I love the look of the traditional pattern combined with the non-traditional "girly" pink/gray colour scheme. As with all the "finger mitts" I've done, the cuffs are nice and long, perfect for tucking into jacket sleeves.

Christmas gifts... revealed!

2010-01-07T11:45:00.001-03:30

This is WAY overdue... but here goes!

Buddy Bags for Lily and Gus

Pattern: Buddy Bags by annypurls

Description: I fell in love with these the moment I saw them. I knew I'd knit them for the kids at some point, and Christmas seemed like a good enough occasion! I didn't stick to the colour choices exactly, but besides I that I kept very close to the pattern (which is great - very well-written and easy to understand).

Materials: 1 skein of Bernat Satin Solids in each of Flamingo and Maitai for Lily's bag, and in each of Saphire and Lapis for Gus's. I used up some remnants for the embellishments.

Lily's Buddy Bag:

Gus's Buddy Bag:

Christmas Ornaments for the Penney/Healy Family

Pattern: Sweater Ornament from the KnitPicks Tidings of Joy Holiday Ornaments Pattern by Nina Isaacson.

Description: I ordered this pattern when it was available as a kit, before Christmas. I made hangers for the little sweaters out of beading wire.

Materials: KnitPicks Palette in Cream, Ivy, Pimento, Clematis Heather, Blue and Camel Heather (eight colours came with the kit, these are the ones I used for these four ornaments).

Trigger Mitts for Jeff

Pattern: Mrs. Martin's Finger Mitts by Harriet Pardy Martin from Favorite Mittens by Robin Hansen.

Description: When I asked my brother Jeff what he wanted me to knit him for Christmas, his answer was "trigger mitts like Nan used to knit". Easier said than done. Traditional Newfoundland patterns are hard to find in written form. Luckily, with the help of my Wednesday night knitting group, I was able to track down Robin Hansen's book, which is a collection of traditional patterns from the east coast of North America. It is quite the find and I LOVE how the mittens turned out! Robin gives not only the patterns, but the history behind them, as well as tips on how to master the double-knitting techniques used in the book.

Size: The only issue I had with this pattern was the sizing. I ended up using the stitch counts for the women's mitts and the measurements for the men's mitts to get the right size.

Materials: I didn't know if I could trust Jeff not to throw these in the washer/dryer, so I knit them with Lion Brand Vanna's Choice in Navy and White. This is one of the nicer acrylics I've worked with. It's must softer than Red Heart!

Trigger Mitts for Dad

Pattern: Mrs. Martin's Finger Mitts by Harriet Pardy Martin from Favorite Mittens by Robin Hansen.

Description: Save as above.

Size: Again, I ended up using the stitch counts for the women's mitts and the measurements for the men's mitts to get the right size.

Materials: I used wool for Dad's mitts, and I must say that the pattern really "should" be done in wool - the mittens look and feel fabulous. I used Briggs & Little Heritage in Bleached White (love the colour, hate the name... ew!) and Khaki.

Fingerless Mitts for Adam

Pattern: A modified version of Mrs. Martin's Finger Mitts by Harriet Pardy Martin from Favorite Mittens by Robin Hansen.

Description: Save as above except I modified the pattern to have cut-off fingers. Each finger consisted of 7 stitches from the front and 7 stitches from the back of the mitt (i.e. one pattern block and the stitches behind it). I then cast-on/picked up extra stitches between these and ended up with the following stitch counts: – Pointer: 17 (8 rows in pattern, one row dark brown, cast-off) – Middle: 19 (8 rows in pattern, one row dark brown, cast-off) – Ring: 19 (8 rows in pattern, one row dark brown, cast-off) – Pinky: 17 (5 rows in pattern, one row dark brown, cast-off) – Thumb: 19 (6 rows in pattern, one row dark brown, cast-off)

Size: I used the stitch counts for the women's mitts and the measurements for the men's mitts to get the right size.

Materials: Like with Jeff, I didn't trust Adam to care for wool properly. I used Lion Brand Vanna's Choice Espresso (LOVE this colour) and Red Heart Super Saver in Buff.

Now... it's time to knit something for ME!

Happy Birthday, Gus!

2009-11-23T13:37:00.009-03:30

My nephew Augustus celebrated his first birthday on the 15th of November. I knit him this cute vest as a gift:

I was very worried about the sizing. After lots of consideration, I first cast-on the "2 years" size. A few inches in, I showed it to Mark's mom said she thought it looked too big. So I frogged it and cast-on the "12-18 months size" (I mean, he *is* 12 months old, after all). I had the whole back panel done and I was really happy with the size, but then showed it to Nan Penney, who thought it looked too small.

I had a mini panic attack, but I was not frogging it again.

Luckily, it fits him with room to spare. He should get a lot of wear out of it. And he looks pretty darn adorable in it, if I do say so myself:

Project Details

Pattern: Keene Toddler Vest

Yarn: Patons Decor in Rich Grey Heather 87673 (MC) and Rich Country Blue 87622 (CC). I chose this yarn so the vest would be machine washable.

Needles: Addi 40" circulars, sizes US 6 (4.0 mm) and US 9 (5.5 mm)

Notes:

I made the body of the vest a little longer than instructed in the pattern because others on Ravelry had commented that it knit up a little short.
I knit fewer rows of ribbing for the arm and neck bands because the ribbing looked too "long" to me in the pattern photo.
I seamed the shoulders using the 3 needle bind-off as suggested in the pattern, and mattress-stitched the sides.

Mittens for Steph's Silent Auction

2009-11-06T10:51:00.007-03:30

My good friend Steph is playing for Team Newfoundland at the 2010 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship starting on November 14th in Burlington, Ontario. To raise funds, her team had a silent auction, so Steph was looking for donations of items for that would attract bidders. I decided I would knit a mitten/hat set to help her out. Unfortunately, the hat is still half-finished on the needles. Fortunately, the mittens turned out great, and found a loving home (and fetched a few dollars to help Steph and her team pay for their trip)!

The design is my own, which I am working on perfecting and may offer as a pattern when I'm satisfied with it. I used Briggs & Little Tuffy yarn, which is 80% wool and 20% nylon, in the "Red Mix" colourway. I used this yarn so the mittens would be easier to care for than 100% wool and still have enough wool content to be warm. This wool does tend to be a bit scratchy, so I washed the mittens in lukewarm water with a bit of dish liquid. This softened them up considerably.

I'm knitting, I promise...

2009-10-26T11:58:00.004-02:30

Long time, no update. But I assure you, I am knitting!

The thing is, I'm knitting Christmas gifts, and I don't want to spoil any surprises. The exception to this is a birthday gift for my nephew, and while he is turning one and hence too young to be reading my blog (although he is a smart one, if I do say so myself), certain parents could be lurking, and I'd like for it to be a surprise for them, too.

I have a few non-gift projects coming, though, so stay tuned for updates on those. It's quickly becoming winter here and I need to make some accessories for me (the fingerless mitts just don't cut it when it's snowing)! Seriously, I'm a knitter who has never knit a pair of mittens or a hat for herself. Something needs to change here.

In other news, I've started going to a knitting meet-up at The Rooms on Wednesday nights with some local knitters I found on Ravelry. I have been meaning to go for a while, but always found excuses not to (honestly, I was just chicken). I'm so glad I started going. They are a great group and I enjoy having other knitters to hang out and chat with "in real life" (and not just on Ravelry).

Signed, sealed and soon to be delivered...

2009-09-16T18:35:00.002-02:30

... my first package of charity knits is on its way to Ottawa! :)

Christmas knitting has begun

2009-09-13T23:30:00.004-02:30

Now that I've finished the knitting I'm doing for Warm Hands Innu Knits, it's time to concentrate on my Christmas knitting. I won't be posting everything here (some recipients might be lurking around) but I'll put a few things up.

The first thing I started was a pair of socks for Dad. When we were in Big Falls this summer he saw me knitting a pair of socks and mentioned that Nan used to knit them for them, and that he likes wool socks for his waiters when salmon fishing. I decided to knit a nice, thick pair of wool socks for him. The pattern I chose is "#101 Heavy Socks" by Briggs & Little, which I found for free on Ravelry.

I decided to knit these in "sock monkey" colours and I like the way they are looking so far. I am using the Briggs & Little Tuffy yarn suggested in the pattern, in the oatmeal, ecru, and red mix colourways. I am knitting them using the magic loop method, using a US size 2 (2.75 mm), 40" circular needle.

Warm Hands Items... Complete!

2009-09-13T17:53:00.009-02:30

I finished my last hat for my package for Warm Hands Innu Knits today! I'm happy I reached my goal of five pairs of mittens and five hats in time to mail everything to arrive in Ottawa by September 30th. I ended up having enough of the right colours to do five matching sets - two small, two medium and one large.

I'm so happy with how these turned out. I'll be sure to take a picture to post when I package them up.

Who?

2009-09-13T16:51:00.006-02:30

I posted in July about a swap I was involved in with one of my Ravelry groups, "Puck This!", as a way to occupy ourselves in the NHL off-season. Well, we just finished round 2, and this time I decided to knit my swap buddy I super cute hat I found in her Ravelry queue:

The pattern is "Who?" by Sara Amoroso, and is available for free on her blog. I followed the pattern for knitting the hat itself to the letter - which is REALLY strange for me - but I am extremely happy with how it turned out! The way the cables form the owls as you are knitting is so cool to watch. I only sewed on two buttons for eyes, and I like how it looks. To my surprise, I was even able to find matching buttons of the same size in my spare button tin.

I used Briggs & Little Tuffy yarn in the oatmeal colourway, and US size 6 (4.0 mm) bamboo dpns, and a metal cable needle.

My heart skips a beat when I see a Canada Post truck

2009-08-12T10:10:00.004-02:30

My Knit Picks order arrived. Can I get a "squee"? :)

Unfortunately, I spent most of my night baking and wrapping things related to Mark's birthday, and had very little time to play with my new toys (well, unfortunately for me, not for him). I did manage to assemble my ball-winder (which fits the edge of my desk PERFECTLY) and wind a few odds and ends to test it out. I love it so far. I can't wait to organize my stash! The scale is going to be great for making the most out of the acrylic stash I'm trying to get rid of (see this post for details), as well - I was already able to determine that I have enough of the yarn used for these mittens left for another pair!

Warm Hands Update

2009-08-10T09:45:00.006-02:30

Between knitting socks for Mark and goodies for my round 2 swap partner, I've been trying to make some progress with my mittens and hats for Warm Hands Innu Knits. So far I've finished 3 pairs of mittens (one pair size 2-4 and two pairs size 6-8):

They want mostly stuff for the 5-15 age group, so I'll do some bigger ones next.

Magic Loop: Take One!

2009-07-29T11:33:00.009-02:30

A few months ago I ordered some awesome Habs-themed yarn from a fellow Habs fan/Raveler on Etsy. Her name is Brigitte and her shop is called Les TricotLores, and she hand dyes the yarn in colours inspired by former and current Montreal Canadiens players (there is also a "trophy" line). She donates money received to the Montreal Canadiens Children's Foundation (and I believe the Alex Kovalev yarn proceeds go directly to his own Kovalev and Friends Foundation for Children).

Beautiful yarn, great cause, all with a Montreal Canadiens theme... obviously, I bought two skeins of sock yarn - Mark and I picked out one each (he chose "The Artist" based on Alex Kovalev, and I chose "Broken Heart" based on Howie Morenz) and I am determined to turn them into socks!

Now... to knit the socks.

I have tried a few practice socks. One cuff-down. One toe-up. Both on dpns. Neither a *perfect* fit. However, I think I now know enough about sock construction to give these puppies a chance (I didn't want to risk using my beautiful hand dyed yarn before I'd practiced up a bit).

After much pattern research, I settled on the Two at Once, Toe Up, Magic Loop Socks Pattern by Knit Picks Design Team. It matched my 3 criteria (magic loop, 2 at a time, toe-up), and it's gotten good reviews on Ravelry. I wanted to do these toe-up at the same time so I can better judge the height based on how much yarn I have left once I get close to the cuffs.

I've got about 15 rows done and I'm loving this method so far. I am finding the Magic Loop technique pretty easy to get the hang of, and I love my Addi Turbo 2.5mm 40" circular needle!

Girly Mittens

2009-07-27T09:49:00.003-02:30

I finished my first mittens for Warm Hand Innu Knits yesterday. I knit them out of yarn I got from frogging a hideous and incomplete scarf I struggled through a few years ago. The yarn is acrylic, although Warm Hands prefers wool for warmth - the whole point of this for me is to be able to do something good with my stash bust, and most of the stash I'm trying to bust is acrylic, so hopefully they'll be ok. They knit up quite tight so I'm hoping they'll be warm, anyway.

I think they're cute, and I hope they will warm the hands of a little girl somewhere up in northern Labrador.

I've since started a pair of plain red ones out of some more acrylic stash. I am thinking I may dress these up with a cable or something because the yarn is plain. I'm anxious to get the digital scale I ordered from KnitPicks (see this post) so I can weigh all the spare bits I'm planning on knitting up into mittens and hats and decide what to use for what!

KnitPicks: Taking my hard-earned money since May 2009

2009-07-27T09:15:00.002-02:30

I got paid on Friday and decided to treat myself to some goodies from KnitPicks.

I tried in vain to wind a hank of sock yarn into two equal balls by hand last week. What a bad idea that was. I've got it all sorted out now (with some help from Mark - thank you, hun), but I decided that I won't try it again until I have at least a proper ball winder. I'd like a swift, too, but until that fits into my budget I have a pair of strong hands belonging to the handsomest human swift around that will do just fine. I skulked around Ravelry for a bit and settled on the KnitPicks Yarn Ball Winder. I've heard it's a bit on the small side, but that it works well, and for that price, I'll manage.

This is where things get messy.

So I go into the checkout to see how much shipping to Canada will cost me so I can estimate my total price after currency conversion. Shipping for one item is $7.99USD. Then I think... as long as I'm spending $7.99 to ship this, maybe I'll pick up something else to make it "worth it" (read: I'm trying to justify spending more money). It's pay day, I've been good all week, etc. By the time it was all said and done, my cart consisted of the original ball winder, yarn for a matching hat and mitts set for myself (KnitPicks Swish Worsted in the Lawn colourway... squee!), and a digital yarn scale. All this, and just one extra dollar for shipping.

And now, to wait patiently for this stuff to arrive from the US...!

Warm Hands Innu Knits

2009-07-23T14:26:00.000-02:30

I have been playing around with the idea of doing some charity knitting for a while now. My grandmother and I both have a lot of excess stash and leftover yarn, and I thought charity knitting would be a good way to put it to use. The other day I was browsing the Ravelry forums and someone posted a link in the "NL Knitters and Crocheters" group forum about a charity called Warm Hands Innu Knits. From their group description on Ravelry:

We are a charity knitting project that make hand knit items for Innu kids in Northern Labrador. Our stuff is distributed through women in the community and out of the clinics, safe houses and community outreach programs there.

I think this is the perfect charity for me. As a Newfoundlander, the cause is close to home. Also, my (half) brother and his children (my niece and nephew) are part Innu, and my brother actually grew up in Labrador.

The deadline for their Christmas shipment is September 30th, meaning I would have to have all items mailed to them by then (they operate out of Ottawa). I've got about 2 months before I have to mail everything off, so I'm going to set myself a goal of 5 pairs of mittens and 5 hats for this shipment. It might not seem like a lot, but it's over one item per week, and I have lots of personal and gift knitting to do, as well.

Fetching

2009-07-22T15:38:00.001-02:30

I love this pattern.

I wanted to knit myself some fingerless gloves to keep my hands warm while knitting at Mark's soccer games (yes, it's summer, but it's also Newfoundland, and it usually gets quite chilly in the evenings no matter how warm it is during the day). They are popular among knitters, I'm guessing because you can wear them and knit at the same time. I wanted something with cables, so I settled on Fetching by Cheryl Niamath. I found the pattern through (surprise!) Ravelry, but it is originally from Knitty.

Did I mention how much I love this pattern?

It was so straight-forward, knit up so quick, and the results are great.

Some notes:

I used size 4 dpns (as called for in the pattern) and Briggs & Little Tuffy yarn.
I used the cable cast-on, as recommended in the pattern. It’s not quite stretchy enough for my taste, so if I knit this pattern again I will definitely use a long-tail cast-on.
I did a plain vanilla bind-off instead of the picot bind-off specified in the pattern and I think it looks just fine!

Mystery bag for round 1 of 'Puck This!' swap (July 2009)

2009-07-22T15:34:00.006-02:30

My favourite Ravelry group, Puck This!, is having a series of off-season swaps, to help us hockey fans cope with the lack of action over the summer. I decided to knit a drawstring bag in my round 1 swap partner's team colours (which happens to be my team and team colours) to hold some of the goodies:

I found the pattern on Ravelry and knit the bag out of some acrylic stash (as called for in the pattern). I love the way it turned out, and I think the recipient, Stephanie, enjoyed it, too!

Cupcakes for BBQ at Dad's (June 2009)

2009-07-22T15:26:00.000-02:30

Dad had a BBQ when my brother and his family were home from Ottawa this summer, so I decided to whip up some cupcakes. I used a Duncan Hines french vanilla cake mix and vanilla icing which I tinted green myself. I also picked up some green sugar to decorate the edges (simple to do, but always looks great). I didn't have much time to decorate them, so I went with the easy but effective jelly bean flower technique:

They were delicious, and only one was left at the end of the night!

My First Sock (May 2009)

2009-07-22T14:43:00.000-02:30

So, I decided to try knitting socks. Why, you ask? Well, sock-knitting has a bit of a "secret club" feel to it. As a knitter, you either become addicted to knitting socks, or you detest it. People who knit socks are so passionate and enthusiastic about their craft, how could I NOT try? I could be missing out on a world of sock-knitting fun!!

After much research (i.e. trawling through Ravelry) I decided to use Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's "Sock Recipe: A Good, Plain Sock" from her "Knitting Rules!" book. There are so many different ways to knit socks. Cuff-down, toe-up, one at a time on dpns, one at a time using the Magic Loop method, two at a time using the Magic Loop method, etc. I decided I didn't trust myself all that much to do a good job on the first go, so I used an inexpensive yarn (Patons Kroy Socks in the Gentry Grey colourway), dpns and a cuff-down pattern.

Some notes:

CO 60 stitches (long-tail) on US 2 (2.75 mm) dpns
k2 x p2 ribbing for approx. 2 inches (22 rounds)
Stockinette for approx. 2.5 inches (30 rounds)
Heel flap: approx. 2.5 inches (42 rounds) of s1 k1 (rs)/s1 p1 (ws).
Pick up 22 stitches on each side of heel flap
Gusset decreases until back to 60 stitches
Instead of keeping stitches on the designated needles, I used markers to mark where the needle joins should be - otherwise my stitch distribution was 15, 30 and 15… which made for unhappy pulling between my dpns!

I thought a "recipe" style pattern would work best for my first sock, but I was wrong. I spent the entire time second guessing my foot measurements and stitch calculations, obsessed over checking and re-checking my gauge, and ended up with a sock that was a tad too short in the foot and a tad too baggy in the leg, anyway. Also, one side of my gusset is beautful (the k2tog side), and other side has a bit of a hole/ladder thing going on, which I neglected to fix while knitting (I was going to see if I could block it out), and I also dropped a stitch somewhere along the way that I was going to try to tack down on the inside of the sock. However, I think I'm not going to bother, and just consider this a learning experience instead. I have returned the ball of yarn I bought for sock number two, and will keep poor, lonely sock number one as a sad trophy of sorts.

Now that I at least know the basics of sock construction, having gone through the process once, I have higher hopes for my next sock endeavor! Maybe then I'll be allowed in this mysterious sock-lovers club...

Mother's Day Mini Cupcakes (May 2009)

2009-07-22T14:29:00.000-02:30

I baked these mini cupcakes for Mother's Day. I got the idea from the book "Hello, Cupcake!" by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson.

They are supposed to look like a box of chocolates. I used chocolate caramels, discs and crispy crunch bar pieces drizzled with melted chocolate to make the "chocolates".

Mom's Wine Bottle Cozy (May 2009)

2009-07-22T14:08:00.000-02:30

For Mother's Day, I knit Mom this wine bottle cozy. It's one of my crowning acheivements to date, and the first time I've knit anything with a lace-type pattern. It took me a few tries to get started (to get the bottom and transition row done properly, as well as getting the lace pattern down), but the pattern was pretty easy once I'd memorized it (just a combination of k2tog, ssk and yo).

The pattern I used is called Wine by Elizabeth Warner, which I found through Ravelry. The pattern itself was wonderful. It introduced me to Judy's Magic Cast-on, which allowed it to be knit in one piece (have I mentioned I hate seaming?) and had both written and charted instructions for the stitch pattern.

Some notes:

The yarn I used is Patons Silk Bamboo in the Moss colourway
I used size 2 instead of size 4 needles, to obtain a “daintier” fabric (my gauge was 8 sts/inch).
Regardless of this gauge difference, I knit the bottom according to the pattern (I wanted it to be smaller than shown anyway - the one in the pattern has a big bottom.
I added 1/3 to the body (5 pattern repeats) and 1/3 to the top (5 pattern repeats) to obtain the right height.
As a result of these modifications I used about 1.5 65g skeins of yarn.

Cell Phone Cozy (April 2009)

2009-07-22T13:13:00.000-02:30

I originally knit this for the Samsung Slyde I had for a week (replacing my RAZR, which died a horrible and mysterious death). But I hated (HATED) that phone with such a fiery passion that I exchanged it for the new MOTOKRZR, which I love. Luckily, due to my lackluster knitting/swatching skills, the cozy fits the new phone better than the old:

The pattern is based on "iPod Sock - tight fit" by Bettina Lundgaard, which I found for free on Ravelry.

Some notes:

I used acrylic, worsted weight yarn from my stash (which I got from my Grandmother)
CO 28 stitches in the contrast colour on US size 2 (2.75mm) dpns using long tail method (the long-tail CO automatically gives me the one fully knit row before starting the ribbing, and I’d like to kitchener stitch the bottom closed, so I made the number of stitches a multiple of 4), and continue in k1 p1 ribbing for 3 additional rows.
Switch to main colour and knit 41 rows of k1 p1 ribbing on US size 3 needles (yarn is finer than contrast colour yarn)
Use kitchener stitch to close bottom
I omitted the hole for the headphone jack

This is one knitted item that I have with me wherever I go, because I rarely take my phone out of it. I've gotten loads of comments on it (and requests from friends to make one for them). I really should knit a "neater" one, with all the exposure this one gets. I found it really difficult to keep consistent gauge in ribbing when I knit this, so it's a little lumpy - and using worsted weight yarn on size 3 needles didn't help!

Striped Children's Mittens

2009-04-27T12:23:00.001-02:30

My first mittens! I knit these children's mittens from the " Mitts knitted on 4 needles" pattern in Patons pamphlet #140 (I got the pamphlet from my grandmother, as mentioned in this post). I knit size 2-4.

I used some old acrylic worsted weight yarn I found in Grandma's stash, US size 3 (3.25mm) metal double-pointed needles, and my gauge was, as the pattern called for, 6 stitches and 8 rows = 1 inch in stockinette stitch.

These turned out better than I expected (for a first attempt). One is slightly longer than the other, so I may frog that one out a little to make them match. I followed the pattern, using measurements in inches instead of a defined row count. I think next time I try this pattern I will keep track of the number of rows in the first mitten - that way when I'm knitting the second mitten I can use that number in addition to the measurements to help make sure it comes out the right size.

One great thing about this project is that by adding a second colour, in addition to trying out a great tip I found on TECHknitting for joining circular knitting, I was able to practice new methods of joining colours and knitting jogless stripes. I only had to join colours once - the first time I switched to the second colour. This is because the thin, 3-row-stripes allowed me to use this method to carry the active strand (i.e. still attached the ball of yarn) of unused colour up on the wrong side of the knitting while it wasn't in use.

knitPro

2009-04-23T11:21:00.000-02:30

I have been searching the webs for a Montreal Canadiens logo knitting pattern since Christmas. Upon joining Ravelry, not only have I found a group of fellow hockey-loving knitters, but they have led me to knitPro, a tool for generating knitting patters based on images. The tool lets you upload an image and generate knitting-proportioned charts (5:7 or 7:5, depending on the orientation, as knit stitches are wider than they are tall) in three different sizes. Exciting!

Ravelry - A knitter's paradise

2009-04-23T10:20:00.000-02:30

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I can't believe I've been searching the web for knitting patterns and instructions for 5 months and only stumbled upon ravelry.com last week. I was reading an blog entry on the lovely and wonderful TECHknitting blog, and TECHknitter mentioned something about a site called Ravelry. All I can say is thank you thank you thank you!

How can I describe the wonders of Ravelry? As they put it:

"Ravelry is a place for knitters, crocheters, designers, spinners, and dyers to keep track of their yarn, tools, and pattern information, and look to others for ideas and inspiration."

That's very modest. It pretty much takes every piece of information I have ever tried to find on knitting and serves it to me on a platter. I'm overcome with how amazing and useful this community is (to call it a website would be an understatement).

Ravelry allows me to organize and document my projects (works in progress as well as ones I've completed), link my projects to the specific patterns/yarns/needles I used, search for patterns/books/yarns and get information on who else has attempted a particular pattern and what they had to say about it (what yarn they used, any adjustments they made, how difficult they found it, what their finished product looked like), socialize with other knitters on all kinds of topics (patterns, yarns, techniques), and much more. It is the ultimate integrated knitting resource. Just... wow.

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"New to me" patterns and yarn!

2009-04-17T10:03:00.000-02:30

Last week my family went out to my Grandmother's house for dinner on Easter Sunday. Upon learning of my recent return to knitting a couple of months ago, Grandma has been after me to take a look through her old yarn stash and help relieve her of some (/all) of it. Not only did I find an impressive selection of both full skeins and scraps in a variety of colours and weights, but I found all the old Patons Beehive patterns she used to use for knitting hats for all ages, and mittens and socks for children. What better way to attempt the daunting tasks of knitting my first mittens and socks than with my Grandmother's tried, tested and true pattens (not to mention free yarn)?

Most of the patterns are classic enough to still use. And if the patterns don't keep me busy, I can always have fun looking at all the stylish models in the books.

Mittens pending!

Dave's Birthday Cupcakes

2009-04-02T14:02:00.000-02:30

I haven't baked anything in a while so I figured I'd bake some Habs-themed mini-cupcakes for our friend Dave for his birthday.

The best thing about mini cupcakes is that they bake quickly and evenly (about 10 minutes for 24). The worst thing about them is that filling the cups with batter can be difficult and messy. I will usually fill a decorating bag fitted with a very small tip with the batter and pipe it into the cups. It is also worth noting that I intentionally "over-fill" my mini-cups. Otherwise, I find that they don't fill all the way into the papers as they bake, and the papers come off. One Duncan Hines French Vanilla extra moist cake mix yielded about 55 or 60 mini cupcakes.

As mentioned in a previous post, I used to make my own icing for decorating cakes and cupcakes. One great cupcake tip I got from my friend Katie a few months back was that store-bought vanilla frosting is yummy (albeit expensive) and can be tinted just as easily as home made icing. It also saves time, and the price difference is negligible for small projects like this one. For these mini-cupcakes I used one large can of Duncan Hines French Vanilla frosting. I tinted 1/4 of the can blue and 1/4 of the can red. I also beat the remaining white frosting for a minute to give it the same consistency as the tinted stuff.

I decorated the cupcakes fairly simply with icing and sprinkles. This is another great thing about mini-cupcakes. Because they're so small you can arrange them any way you want, and even if you just spread the icing on and use a plain round tip to make letters and designs, they can still look great!

Finger Puppets

2009-03-31T13:02:00.000-02:30

Before I went to Ottawa to visit my brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew, I found a cute pattern for barnyard animal finger puppets, so I thought I would give them a try, and bring them up to the kids if they turned out well... which they did!

I used only leftover yarn for this project. For this reason I deviated slightly from the suggested colours. Most of the yarn I used was worsted medium weight yarn, except the white (which was lighter, so I knit these sections with two strands held together). The pattern suggests using US size 3 needles, but I ended up using size 2 to get the gauge right. I also deviated from the pattern by knitting all but the cow on the round (instead of knitting them flat and sewing them up afterwards). This eliminated a large portion of the finishing work required. The reason I didn't knit the cow on the round was that I wanted to have enough room to switch colours neatly without things getting too tangly.

One great thing about these puppets is that they are small but complex. This is great for beginners because it lets you experiment with more advanced techniques, and it isn't a lot of work to unravel and re-knit anything that doesn't look quite right the first time. The most difficult one was the cow - so much colour-switching, and sometimes just for one or two stitches!

Lily's Earflap Hat

2009-02-15T18:27:00.000-03:30

I'm going to visit my brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew in Ottawa in March and I wanted to bring up a little something for the kids. So, I decided to knit them some winter accessories. I found a great free pattern online for baby/toddler earflap hats (thanks, Julie!). Because I got this pattern from someone else, I won't divulge too many details on my own blog (you can get the pattern from Julie's blog).

The materials I used diverged slightly from what Julie used, but the yarn/needle combination knit to gauge so I wasn't concerned. The important thing for me (as Julie suggested) was to use cotton yarn so I could block it when I was done to prevent the ear flaps from curling. I used Bernat Handicrafter Cotton Ultrasoft worsted weight yarn in rose pink (198409) and off white (00002), and US size 6 (4.0 mm) needles. I also used four double-pointed needles instead of a round needle, and added a tassel to the top. I'm really happy with how Lily's turned out!

UPDATE: Here is a pictures of both hats:

Adam's Harry Potter Scarf

2009-02-15T17:18:00.000-03:30

I got back into knitting just before Christmas. My brother Adam wanted a Harry Potter scarf for Christmas, so I thought it was a good opportunity to pick it up again.

The best way to do this scarf would probably have been to knit it entirely on the round in stockinette stitch. However, due to the fact that it was my first knitting project in a while, I decided to keep it simple (and quicker) with garter stitch on straight needles. I used Red Heart Super Saver medium worsted weight yarn in burgundy (0376) and gold (0321), and US 8 needles (5.0 mm). 35 stitches yielded between 23 1/2 and 24 cm (9 1/4 and 9 1/2 inches), which was slightly larger than that yarn/needle combination should have yielded, so my knitting was a bit loose and inconsistent. I knit 8 alternating coloured blocks, at 46 rows per block.

When I was finished, I added alternating coloured "tassels" (these aren't true tassels, just pieces of yarn slip knotted through the ends of the scarf).

Habs Cake, Take Two!

2008-12-09T10:48:00.000-03:30

So after I made Mark's Habs Birthday Cake, I got a request from my friend Ericka (Mark's sister-in-law) to make one for her son (Mark's nephew) Owen's 3rd birthday party. Apparently, when asked what he wanted for his birthday, his response was a "Go Habs Go Cake" like uncle Mark's. How could I say no to that? :)

The first time I made this cake I was super stressed out about it because I had never stenciled something onto a cake before and I really wanted it to turn out nice. So instead of adding the work of tinting the icing myself, I just bought tubes of red and blue Wilton icing.

This time I decided to make double the white buttercream icing (again, using WHITE vegetable shortening), and tint the red and blue myself. I used Royal Blue and No Taste Red (because the red portion of the cake is significant). Laura warned me that it is very difficult to tint icing a nice, dark, "Habs red". She also suggested I make it in advance, because it darkens over time. I used almost the whole jar of red tint and the best I could do was a very dark pink. So, I covered it and put it in the fridge, and by the next morning when I was ready to decorate the cake, it was the perfect colour! Getting a nice, dark blue colour was a lot easier. I think my colours look much better than the store bought ones. :)

Patrick Roy Jersey Retirement Cupcakes

2008-11-28T11:56:00.000-03:30

Apparently I have a thing for Habs-themed baked goods. I was off on Saturday and in the mood to bake something, so I asked Mark if he had any requests. The Habs were set to retire Patrick Roy's jersey later that night, so he suggested Habs/Patrick Roy-themed cupcakes.

I decided to do mini cupcakes so that I would have enough of them to spell out a message. I borrowed the pans from Laura. I went to Bulk Barn and got red and blue candy, sprinkles, and gel icing for decorating, as well as mini cupcake papers. I decided to use a french vanilla Duncan Hines cake mix and made the icing using Wilton's buttercream icing recipe. I actually used golden shortening (instead of white) because Mom had some in the fridge and it wasn't imperative the icing be pure white.

I've never done mini cupcakes before, and there were no time suggestions on the cake mix box (only for various sizes of cakes and regular cupcakes). Usually when I have a baking question, I go to Mom. She had never done mini cupcakes before, so her advice was "don't take your eyes off them" (I was using her oven, which is usually notoriously "quick"). My next resource was the Wilton website. I found this awesome cupcake chart which tells you, for the different sizes of cupcakes and muffins, how much batter to use, what the baking time and temperature should be, and the yield of one mix. They ended up taking exactly 10 minutes in Mom's oven, and I rotated the pans half way through.

Once the cupcakes were baked and the icing made, I iced them all (which took a long time because there were so many). Then I just spelled out what I wanted to say and decorated the remaining non-lettered cupcakes with different combinations of red and blue candy and sprinkles.

Halloween Insect Cupcakes

2008-11-28T11:00:00.000-03:30

We had a Halloween potluck at work on Friday the 31st and I decided to make cupcakes. I got the idea from an excellent cupcake book that Katie introduced me to called Hello, Cupcake! by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson.

I used a Duncan Hines chocolate fudge cake mix for the cupcakes, and instead of making icing, the book suggested I use a can of vanilla frosting (Duncan Hines as well). I'm glad I bought the canned frosting, because the rest of the decorating was a lot of work.

I made the insects from melted chocolate and M&Ms following the templates in book. It took a lot of effort to get them right, mostly because it was hard to control the consistency of the chocolate. Piping the melted chocolate became difficult if it was too soft or too hard, and I was constantly popping it back into the microwave and waiting for it to cool down to a good temperature.

I was fairly happy with the result, although I only fully decorated 12 of the 24 cupcakes I baked because it took so long to get enough "good" insects.

Montreal Canadiens Cake

2008-11-27T23:23:00.000-03:30

I wanted to surprise Mark with a Montreal Canadiens cake on his birthday. This cake was my first big baking project in a while, and I had some help getting started from Mom.

I played around with a few ideas but finally settled on baking an oval-shaped cake (I rented the pan from Bulk Barn for $1.99) and stenciling the logo on it so that it took up the entire cake. I had to print the logo stencil off a few times before I got it just the right size. Mark likes chocolate cake so I used a Duncan Hines chocolate fudge cake mix.

I iced the top and sides of the cake and then I cut out the stencil pieces, laid them on the cake and traced around them with a toothpick. Then, following the toothpick marks, I just used a star tip to pipe the design onto the cake (I did the sides white first). I made the white icing using Wilton's buttercream icing recipe. I used white shortening (instead of golden) so the icing would stay white. I didn't want to fool around with tinting the red and blue icing, so I bought that in tubes.

I was very happy with the way it turned out (and so was Mark)!

Old blog, new purpose!

2008-11-27T17:36:00.000-03:30

When I finished my degree last year I found myself finally able to get back into some of the hobbies that had been gradually left by the wayside through out university.

The other day I was thinking it would be nice to have a place to keep track of all my creative endeavors... and then I remembered this blog. I used to update it fairly frequently, but it has since fallen silent (mostly because it lacked a real purpose). So, from here on in, I'll be using this space to both display and keep track of the projects I'm working on.

Stay tuned!