My special delivery from last Friday arrived at it’s destination this week….
Not exactly the use I had envisioned, but I guess a red/white/blue tutu can be an effective toupee, lol. And it definitely made this knitter’s heart swell to see someone enjoying my handiwork. Just the pick me up I needed. Albeit a strange one….
Only 3 months until Baby #2 arrives for the bald guy on the right and we can get a pic of the babies in the tutus, stay tuned!!!
Stashbustin’ #20 is done! Introducing my Spiral Staircase Shawl!!
I made a few amendments to the pattern:
– I cast off 12 stitches instead of the 10 called for the pattern
– I worked a total 17 teeth
This is a very narrow shawl and probably not incredibly warm. But it looks amazing against a black outfit. Wouldn’t this be an amazing pop of color with some red heels and a LBD?
All in all a very nice warm up project for learning shawl construction. Row and row of garter stitch with just a smidge of lacy detail at the edges.
Now what should my next shawl be? I’ll have to ponder on this…..
Happy Knitting!
Stashbustin’ #15 is complete! I really kicked this into high gear Wednesday afternoon/evening and cranked out the last two color changes. It has had a bath and was mostly dry Thursday night. I just couldn’t wait to photograph it, I am so incredibly in love with my Ombré Billow Blanket!!
The pattern is Constant Baby Blanket by Tina Laiho made with Knit Picks Billow in six coordinating shades. Great yarn for a great pattern.
I made a few alterations from the written pattern:
– I knit with one color until I ran out and then changed to the next color
– I knit the entire blanket in stockinette to show off the thick/thin slubbiness of the yarn
This blanket is beautifully coordinated to our living room colors and couches. And it’s so wonderfully soft after its wash and block in some gentle wool soap. The thick thin yarn texture really gives the stockinette interest and variety.
The only downside is this yarn did shed quite a bit and pilled as the blanket grew and rubbed on my lap. Most of that I was able to solve during the wash/block. All in all a very fun project! I might save this in my hope chest for our future rug rats….how cute would a nursery in these neutral tones be!?
Happy Knitting!!!!
Seriously I can’t stop making these tutus….they are like Pringles, you can’t have just one!! At this rate I’m going to run out of friends with little girls and be the crazy lady giving them away on the corner!!!
(This is my fav mostly because I’m in love with this baby and she’s not even 3 months old yet!)
Another awesome one in tan and gold!
How about punk princess in dark pink and black?
This is destined for a wee KState fan!
These are perfect instant gratification projects that keep me sane while I work on my larger Stashbustin’ projects. The pattern author even quipped that I have made more than she has….I may have a problem, lol!
Oh well, the hubs and I are off to the homeland for a friends wedding. Hope to snag some awesome photos to share next week 🙂 TGIF!
Instead of showing pictures of my marginal progress on my Ombre Billow Blanket (Stashbustin’ #15) or my Spiral Staircase Shawl (Stashbustin’ #20), I thought I’d give an update on my de-stashing efforts!
Late in 2012 as we prepared to start house hunting, I started packing up my yarn stash. I realized how easy it was for me to fall prey to the siren’s call of new yarn. My stash had grown CONSIDERABLY since the last time we moved. While my stash is pretty modest in comparison to some others, it bothered me to see all that gorgeous yarn is just sitting idle for the right project! So I vowed to “de-stash” in 2013. It’s now the middle of June and the year is half gone and here are my stats…
I have:
This means I’m knitting a little over a mile a month! Not too shabby considering I have FTJ (full time job), a husband, gym workouts, and theatre volunteer hours. Where I have faltered a little bit is in not adding yarn back to my stash. I have had to order yarn to fulfill custom orders and may or may not have ordered extra “just in case”. I have also fallen victim to yarn promotions and a splurge here and there.
I have added:
Okay, maybe that more than a couple of splurges. But it was all a really good deal I swear….and I’m still in the black by using more than I’m putting back in! The accountant in me is really excited to be in the black. Not to mention that all my yarn spreadsheets are up to date. I’m a GIANT nerd with mild organizational OCD if you haven’t already noticed lol.
Does anyone else organize their knitting on spreadsheets? Or am I crazy?
Hello from the boondocks of Kansas! I got to have my morning coffee from the deck of my parents house and watch all five dogs run around my parents yard chasing each other. I hope they wore each other out, lol!
Now on to some knitting news. Remember this Stashbusting #19 blanket? And all the problems I had with it here and here? And then the solution I talked about here?
Well I got brave and I measured (twice to be sure) and then got out the scissors and snipped it apart in the center. I wanted to rip back a few rows on either side and re-knit a new border on each side. Thus creating two new appropriately sized blankets out of one large wonky one. Well I soon discovered that it was going to be impossible to pick up and re-knit the edges. The yarn was falling apart and I cold not discern the individual stitches in the midst of the chenille. Not to mention that the way I snipped was not the same direction as the way I needed to work. So on to another back up plan!
I grabbed some bulky weight yarn in really close color match and secured the loose stitches I had created with my cutting. I paired the two squares wrong side to wrong side and seamed around the outside with a whip stitch using the matching yarn. And you can see my results below. A double thick blanket/pad thingy.
Chloe claimed it almost immediately. So I took this as a sign as this blanket was always meant for her, lol. Goes well with her coat don’t you think?
And then she proceeded to rub her scent all over it as to say “this is mine and you can’t have it back”!
It now lives in her kennel and she (and I) couldn’t be happier that this project is over. Good riddance I say! Well I need to get my butt in gear and get the dogs walked, shop for groceries, and get ready to cook dinner for my grandma and cousins!
Happy Saturday from the boonies!
I was so excited to be a part of Smashlee Stitches test knit of her newest pattern, Knit Tutu!! And now I can finally share the adorableness of this pattern. Seriously, I can’t stop making these!
The pattern is easy and very straightforward. It also has great instructions for those who aren’t used to working with ruffle yarn. The pattern is sized from newborn to 1-2 years. All you need is a little bit of worsted weight yarn, 1-2 balls of ruffle yarn (depending on your size), and a length of ribbon or I-cord for a belt. I can make one of these from start to finish during a single movie or a couple of episodes of my favorite TV show.
I got Baby B to model one more my first tutus!
She especially like the ribbon belt feature. It was yummy!
If you are interested in this pattern you can find it on Etsy or find it on Ravelry. This is great pattern for newborn pics and would make a quick easy baby shower gift!! It will definitely be a staple in my gift knitting!
TGIF!! I hope you all have a great and relaxing Father’s Day weekend. I’m off to visit my hometown and dog sit for my parent’s three pooches. Even though I’m approaching 30…it still creeps me out to be in my parents house alone sometimes. I think I’m going to take Dex and Chloe to protect me, lol.
See you on the other side!!
Here she is! Stashbustin’ #18 aka Shalom Caridgan finished and thanks to the husband photographed!!
This is an awesome pattern! Just as an aside this is only written for a small/medium size or 32″ bust. My chest is a bit bigger than that so I followed the author’s suggestions and tweaked the pattern for my needs.
I did dork up the garter border a bit. See my 911 post here and my fix here. But all in all I’m very happy. This will look great over a tank (as pictured) or thrown over a long sleeve tee in the fall/winter. Not sure I would re-knit this particular pattern but it’s a great addition to my wardrobe.
Remember my sweater 911 from last week? I mistakenly knit part of my garter edge as a stockinette edge. It looked something like this….
After some hemming, hawing, and wine drinking I decided on a fix. I picked up my yarn and tapestry needle and went to work. I ended up with something like this..
I cut a length of my leftover yarn and threaded on my tapestry needle. With the right side facing me I simply stitched over and around each one of the 7 edge stitches with a whip-like stitch creating the top of a faux purl like bump. When I reached the stockinette section I turned the work around and stitched back across but this time staggered by half a stitch. This way I could create the bottom of the row to create the look of garter stitch. It didn’t turn out as perfectly as I wanted but it definitely looks better then when I started.
I think the corrections are hardly noticeable when looked at the garment as a whole. Stashbustin’ #18 is officially complete! I hope to snag the husband some night this week so I can get some shots of this garment in action!!
Happy Monday and Happy Knitting!!
I don’t have a FO this Friday because I got all the way done with my Shalom Sweater and found two glaring errors I need to fix. That is for another post…..
So I’m hoping to distract you with a little cuteness….
Here are some action shots of my Snug…
Many thanks to Baby B for being a good sport about taking pictures in a sweater in June, lol!!
I’m off to work and then to work out how to fix my sweater problem, TGIF.
Happy Knitting!!
Michele plays with yarn, food, and music in Portland
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