FO: Peanut vest and hat

I’ve had this FO done since the end of 2017, but I was waiting for it to arrive with the intended recipient. He got it yesterday, so now I’m free to show you!

My very dear friend has a little boy who just turned a year old. I have been drooling over this Peanut vest since she told me she was having a boy, but I ended up picking several other projects for him, and this one went on the back burner. This fall, I decided it was time. I checked with her first to make sure she thought it would be useful for his wardrobe, and she said yes, so I was off!

I chose Simplicity by HiKoo for this project. The main color is First Press Olive, and I can’t seem to find the ball band for the gold! I used 2 skeins of the green, and one of the gold.

When I got done, I still had plenty of yarn leftover, so I decided this little vest needed a coordinating hat! I was inspired by the smaller motif on this project, but it didn’t have a reference for where that design came from. So I looked at the picture on maximum zoom and charted it from there. I then improvised around it to make it feel inspired by Peanut, but not a direct copy. I used the free Clayoquot Toque pattern to get an idea of how many to cast on, and also for the crown decreases. I went for 90 stitches, in between toddler and child, to make my colorwork chart work out evenly.

Then I put my yarn in my new yarn bowl, a lovely Christmas gift from my brother-in-law and his wife, and went to town! It’s a really beautiful bowl (I believe it’s this one), and I love that it’s wooden instead of ceramic. It’s lighter and it also seems less “break-y” if you know what I mean. 🙂

So here’s the completed set. I’m very happy with it and can’t wait to see a picture of the little dude in it!

 

 

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Halloween: A knitting odyssey

Yesterday at lunch, we were talking about how cold it was going to be for trick-or-treating (much colder than usual), and Mr Snips said we’d need to take a hat for BK. A hat. And I thought, why didn’t I think of that? Because BK was going as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and I have a fabulous skein of Cowabunga from BAH Yarns in the stash… and she NEEDS THAT HAT IMMEDIATELY for trick-or-treating. I felt like this was a major oversight for a knitter. I also loved the idea of the challenge.

So I zoomed home after work and cast on.

I did as much knitting as possible while trying to eat a quick dinner and putting several layers of clothes on my kid. I took any chance I could to knit even a stitch. I knew I couldn’t get it done before trick-or-treating started, but I thought maybe I could get it finished before dark. So I packed everything I needed, including a Knit Kit and DPNs, threw it in my cute Telephone Box bag, and started walking and knitting as we began trick-or-treating. (Mitts are October Leaves Fingerless Mitts)

Eventually, my fingertips started going numb and I decided to pack it away. I was sad to admit defeat.

I picked it up again after we were very snugly back in our warm house. By bedtime, I had done the first row of decreases.

My hope is to finish it up today! Even though it’s too late for trick-or-treating, she still loves TMNT, and she will need it for all of the chilly days ahead. It was good motivation to knock out so much of it in one go, and it’s all decreases from here.

I hope you all had a fabulous Halloween! I’ll leave you with a spooky moon shot from last night!

FO: Baby Pirate Hat

My cousin is expecting her first baby in June, and though I don’t think she’s super familiar with handknit gifts, I couldn’t resist the urge to make her something.

And then, I was flipping through 60 Quick Knits for Babies and saw the Pirate Hat. I knew right away that it was perfect. For one, it had skulls on it (she has a chair with skulls on it in her house!). I knew it would look nice in black and grey, which aside from having Cascade 220 Superwash in those colors in my stash, also matches the baby’s nursery colors. There was also the added bonus that a hat was small enough to be manageable for me, and something the baby is less likely to be sick on (though nothing is impossible!), which means little handknit care required from a tired new momma.

So I cast on!

Shortly after taking this Instagram photo of my knitting, I realized that my hat did not look like the picture. Why is that? Because the picture is seed stitch and my hat is 1×1 ribbing! Imagine that.

So anyway… I thought about leaving it and moving on, but then I realized that the ear flaps had a seed stitch border… so tinking it was. I tinked back 5 rows and picked up the seed stitch, and we were off to the races again!

I have to say that I’ve pretty much decided colorwork is my jam. I love it so much! I love working from the charts, I love working in the round, I love watching the pattern develop… it is just crazy addictive for me. Every time I do a colorwork project, I think that everything I knit should be like this. I JUST LOVE IT.

So this tiny hat (sized for 6 months only in the pattern) almost flew off my needles. I could not get enough of it. I took lots of pictures of it and put it on Instagram. I was so pleased with myself and my hat that I could not get over it.

Then, I made pom poms. That wasn’t so bad, but I really winged it and just wrapped the yarn around my fingers and sort of improvised it. It worked well enough. I thought a lot about the Mason Dixon post about pom poms and trimmed more than I thought I should. It was good advice.

And then it was over. And I was a little sad. Such a fun, addictive, bite-sized project. It was SO MUCH FUN to make. I hope the baby can feel my good vibes every time he wears it. I know BK was feeling the good vibes when she (sort of – while continuing to try to play) modeled it for me. Look at those curls!!!

FO: Reindeer wish you a happy new year!

I LOVE reindeer. Just love them. They are the main theme of my holiday decor, to be honest. I think it stems from my obsession with the 1964 Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer movie. It is tied for my favorite Christmas movie (original Miracle on 34th Street is the other). And nothing says Christmas quite like Santa’s support staff. 🙂

So even though I had a couple of projects on the needles that I planned to take to England when we went in mid-December (a Playful Stripes cardigan and Adrift fingerless mitts), my plans changed rapidly the day before we left when Ravelry displayed Donder and Blitzen in my pattern highlights. Reindeer, hearts, colorwork – I was already on board. I knew immediately that I had just what I wanted in my stash already, and it happened to be very similar to an already completed project. I had grey left over from my somewhat ill-fated Wildflower cardigan in Cascade Venezia, and some pink that I had been hoarding dyed by my good friend Mary Ann from A Good Yarn a few years ago.

I cast on in JFK airport during our layover, and powered through the ribbing. Then I attempted (and failed miserably) to sleep on the plane. Once I hit the colorwork at my in-laws house, I thought I was going so fast, I should have packed a few other projects. That progress slowed down significantly during the week, as we had activities of some sort nearly all day. So on the plane ride home, I didn’t watch any movies and just buckled down on this sucker. I wanted it done before Christmas, and we were flying on December 21. And I finished it! Boom!

Then we got home, and it was nearly tropical. I didn’t even get to wear it before Christmas. 😦

But I’ve worn it once since then. Even though I would normally celebrate this strangely warm weather, having a lovely finished hat I can’t wear is making me a bit irritated. I guess you can’t have it all!

These are unblocked shots, because honestly, if I wait to block it before taking pictures, the pictures will never get done! So here it is. I LOVE IT.

I love it so much I’ve started another one for BK. Though I’ve made so many foolish errors on the colorwork it’s unbelievable, so progress has been slow. I would like to blame it on the few mods I’ve made to the chart to make the hat more shallow for her little head, but that’s not been the real issue. I just need to focus! Hopefully, I’ll be back soon with a wee coordinating one!

And happy new year! Wishing everyone a fantastic 2016, filled with joy and fun!

 

FO: Ahoy Princess Beret

I don’t really do Christmas knitting. After the Dishcloth Debacle of 2010, I don’t really do Christmas knitting.

Well, I say that, but I do some. Last year, I made Mr Snips a Penguin Pillow (totally charming, but BORING to knit), and a year or two before that, I made my Mom and Dad a throw blanket for their new home, and once I made my Mom a shawl… I guess it happens sometimes.

But it has to be a special person and a special project to get me to commit to deadline knitting.

My niece has had a very rough year. And the only way I can think to show her that I think about her every day, and that I am proud of her, and that I am always rooting for her, is to knit her something.

She’s still in college and has a lot of long walks to class, so I thought a hat may be the most useful for the winter months.

I picked out this hot pint/reddish color for her for two reasons: 1) her school color is red and 2) I thought it would look amazing against her very dark brown hair. I had admired this Ahoy Princess pattern for some time, and thought it was the right time to finally knit it.

I hemmed and hawed quite a bit on what version to knit, since the pattern gives you a choice of intricate or simple cables and a choice to add some more repeats to make a slouchy hat. I was really thinking I wanted intricate and slouchy, but I did not trust I’d have enough yarn. I only had 200 yards, and the pattern called for 190 for the regular adult non-slouchy version. I told myself that I’m always a yardage coward, that I always have tons left over because I make a conservative choice out of fear that I’ll run out of yarn. Be bold, I told myself. Go slouchy! But I couldn’t muster up the courage and stuck to my cowardly ways and THANK GOODNESS. Do you see how much yarn I have left?! Hardly any.

This color is so hard to capture – both red and pink. This is probably the best picture for being true to color.

 

And really, I think it has enough slouch in it as it is. I think any more may have been too much. But hey, I’m not really down with the kids any more (I’m a mom! I’m in my thirties! When did this happen?!?!) so maybe extra slouchy would have been cool, too.

So… final result was intricate cables and the regular non-slouchy version. I really love it a WHOLE LOT.

This was my first time using Madelinetosh yarn. It was crazy soft and lush to knit. However, when I gave it a Soak, all of my water instantly went hot pink, and it also dyed the towel I dried it in. I’ve had other yarns bleed before, but I’ve never had them permanently stain my towel before. I’m not sure if that’s because it’s such a vivid red, and I don’t do much vivid red, or if it’s something specific to MadTosh. Regardless, the final product still looks and feels amazing, so I guess I’ll give it a pass.

Merry Christmas Eve!

It’s Christmas Eve! I’m getting so excited about what tomorrow with BK will be like. She really understands it this year (unlike last year when she was so small), and I think she’s going to have a great time.

Until then, Mummy is taking advantage of BK’s nap time to have her own fun. The Christmas tree is twinkling, I found John Mayer’s Where The Light Is on TV (silly, because I also have it on DVD and could watch it any time!), I’m working on a hat I’m really really excited about (Tantramar Toque from TFA’s Year in Colour Club) and I have Christmas cookies in my tummy.

As you can see, Santa is also hard at work in his workshop in BK’s North Pole Cottage. Last minute work, you know!

I’ve also finished my Christmas knitting project, and it is wrapped and ready to go, which is also something to feel great about! I can’t wait to share it with you soon. I’m hoping this horrible grey rainy weather will go away soon and I will be able to take photos of lots of my FOs in some lovely natural light.

So for now, I’m excited about our family gatherings. I hope you all get to share the holidays with family, friends, and good food. Merry Christmas!

TFA Year in Colour Club

As a little treat to myself, I joined the Tanis Fiber Arts Year in Colour Club.

I have only joined one yarn club before, and that was when my parents generously gifted me a Three Irish Girls subscription. I asked for the superwash worsted weight option (you can see one of those here). And while I loved the yarn, I’ve struggled a bit with what to make with one skein of worsted.

So I was excited to find the TFA club, since they also provide you a one-skein pattern that specifically goes with the yarn you receive. I received my first shipment two weeks ago (or maybe three?), since I signed up too late for the initial January shipment. Here are my beautiful Orchid and Fiesta yarns!

I am ridiculously excited about both colors – they are even more stunning in person than they are in this photo. The January skein is destined to be these gorgeous Cavalcade Socks. The March shipment came with the Causerie Hatt and Mitts pattern. I don’t know if I’m totally sold on the cable cuff yet, but I’m willing to try!

I’m dreaming of winding up that Orchid yarn and casting on for the Cavalcade Socks, but I’m forcing myself to finish up my Hermione’s Everyday Socks first. I’m very close to finishing, but my lukewarm attitude towards them is slowing me down. The benefit to my new job is that Mr Snips and I can carpool about half the time, and that equals knitting time! I’m only averaging about 4 rows per way (which is kind of sad), but I can’t help running my mouth while we are in the car, too! Maybe I can hunker down and crank those out so I can get started on this brighter, fresher, spring-ier pair.