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Category: Finished Knits (page 4 of 9)

From Head to Toe…and more

December 2, 2007 / / 13 Comments

As I mentioned in my last post – my Thanksgiving travels provided me the opportunity to start and finish a new winter hat and also finish up some socks.

Purple Purl Beret

From Head…The Purple Purl Beret…As I was packing for my trip home, I picked out a skein of Malabrigo in the Pearl Ten colorway from my stash & put it in a ziploc bag with my size 9 DPN needles – I figured I would improvise some sort of hat as I went along. A quick search on Ravelry pointed me to The Last Minute “Purled” Beret over at Knit & Tonic. I printed out the pattern & added it to my bag. Once I got to the gate, I cast on for the hat. As the afternoon progressed into evening my flight was canceled & the next flight was delayed for several hours. By the time I arrived in Atlanta over half of the hat was complete. This hat was a quick project to complete & has been in use every day since I’ve been back from Thanksgiving. The beret is very warm and doesn’t leave me with hat head when I come indoors. An added bonus is that this beautiful colorway compliments my Silky Summer Scarf that I made from the Brooks Farm Limited Edition III earlier this year.

MTM Socks

To Toe…My MTM Socks…My fourth pair of socks and the first “real” pattern that I’ve followed. And my favorite socks to date. I have often said that I’m a sucker for well named yarns – this yarn was one of those moments. I saw this Mary Tyler Moore colorway in the TV Yarn collection and knew that I needed it. I’ve always enjoyed the show – when I moved to Chicago over 8 years ago I remember an email from my Dad on the day that I flew up here where he imagined me throwing a hat in the air on Michigan Ave. as I walked into my new office. Through Ravelry I discovered the Ampersand pattern and thoroughly enjoyed knitting it – I will use it again in the future. On the foot of the second sock I accidentally went down to 23 stitches on the 2nd needle which caused the blue pooling towards the toe. The yarn was great to work with – I’m sure I will knit with it again (although I need to work through my stash a bit before picking up another yarn).

Silly Sis!

And More…Earlier this fall I finished up an iPod case for Rebecca and sent it home with Dad before I took a picture. While home, I managed to document the project. The flap is the “Grandma’s Favorite” dishcloth pattern – I used bits of Cascade 220 from my stash.

Over 2 weeks ago my sister had an encounter with a deer while driving home from school. When she called to tell me about the accident she referenced the scarf that I knit for her earlier this year. Being the silly sister that I am, when I saw a skein of Bernat Camouflage yarn in pinks while in Meijers I knew a simple scarf was in order. I cast on 25 stitches & worked the yarn in a K1P1 pattern until I ran out of yarn. The gauge and width of the scarf cause the camo coloring to knit into more of an argyle pattern. I don’t expect that this scarf will get a lot of use but when I saw the yarn I couldn’t resist.

First Snow 

Not only is the holiday season in full force these days – the handknit warmth season is in full effect here in Chicago. This weekend saw our first “real” snow of the year. As the snow moved through and changed to sleet and then rain it was “perfect” weather for staying inside and continuing to make progress on holiday knits. The forecast for this week looks very chilly – so handknit hats, scarves and wrist warmers will definitely be in use during the commute.

Tricks, Treats & Sweets

November 2, 2007 / / 7 Comments

This past weekend it was time once again to spend several days in Texas with the adorable Miss Butterfly & Miss Doodlebug and their parents. I arrived on Friday evening (after the girls were in bed) and by the time the I left on Tuesday evening had enjoyed several days filled with tricks, treats and sweets.

The Tricks – Isn’t it amazing what sticks & strings can become? This Halloween I used sticks to trick yarn into 2 Halloween costumes. Last Thursday I decided that I needed to bring a costume for the family Halloween party on Sunday evening. On Ravelry I had seen the Candy Corn Hat & had the colors in my stash of Sugar’n Cream dishcloth cotton – so Thursday evening I cast on for the hat. The hat was a very fast & easy knit – most of the knitting was done at the airport on Friday afternoon. As I was finishing up the hat on Saturday afternoon the girls were sitting on each side of me watching the stitches & giggled when I put a big candy corn on my head.

Super Sweet
1 Candy Corn Hat + 1 Superman t-shirt = Super Sweet!

The 2nd string trick turned out to be the hit of the party. On Friday Matt decided he wanted to be a lion for the party because the girls love when he “roars” at them. Maya was stumped about how to do that costume on short notice. A trip to Hobby Lobby on Saturday morning yielded the ingredients for a yarn mane. On Saturday afternoon while the girls were napping I started to map out the mane and decided the best thing would be to knit a hat & attach the ears & mane to that. I cast on some stitches & made it up as a went along. Sunday morning the girls jumped on my bed to watch me knit and “helped” with the knitting and sewing (pulling yarn out of the skein). By Sunday afternoon we had a pretty cool mane (a skull cap, 2 knit ears & lots of loops of yarns) – I think I will write up this “pattern” & post it in the near future. Add a fur boa for a tail, some fur “scrunchies” at the wrist, paint on a nose & whiskers & soon you have a lion. The girls loved their daddy as a lion – they dubbed him the Lion King of Texas.

The Lion King of Texas

Another trick that had great reviews – the purple & orange finger jello that I made for the party & that we also took to the preschool party. The “magic” of 3 small boxes of jello + 4 packets of knox gelatin + 4 cups of boiling water never ceases to amaze kids & adults.

The Treats & Sweets – It is always a treat to spend time with these sweet girls – there were so many fun little moments as we were hanging out at home or out and about that just made me smile.

On Saturday evening we went out for dinner – at the last minute the girls decided that they wanted to dress up in dresses & high heels – they were so proud of their outfits and tried to act so grown up.

Dressed for Dinner

Home highlights – swinging on the swings, watching Disney’s Robinhood – their continuous giggling during the archery contest scene was contagious, reading lots of stories, doing crafts, sitting on the bathroom counter while I did my makeup so I could powder their noses.

Milkshake Gals

On Monday afternoon we made our annual trip to the pumpkin patch. In 2005 it was “too hot” on our visit (in the 90s) and in 2006 it was “too cold” on our visit – this year was “just right.” Both girls were pretty adventureous with feeding the assorted animals. On the hayride we saw some turtles sunning themselves on a rock. Of course we took pictures in front of the “How Tall This Fall” scarecrow (taller & taller) and picked out some pumpkins to take home.

On Tuesday morning we dropped off Tinkerbell and Witchy Woo at preschool. Maya & I enjoyed a few hours of “big girl time” with some shopping & sushi before going to the school for the Halloween parade & classroom parties.

Dallas Highlights

(more pictures here)

Too quickly it was time to come back home to Chicago. It truly is a treat to spend time with the girls.

Getting Crafty

September 16, 2007 / / 10 Comments

How appropriate that after blogging about the sounds of summer this past week treated us to a taste of fall weather. And how better to spend a fall-like Saturday than at a fair? The Renegade Craft Fair was in town this weekend so that became the starting point for a fun Saturday with friends. After picking up Kristy & Elaine we headed over towards the fair. We spent several hours looking through all of the booths of fun, quirky, unique and beautiful items. While I didn’t leave with nearly as many things as previous fairs this summer I did pick up a few things as a jump start for Christmas gifts. (As such, they are tucked inside the cute zippered pouch that I picked up for me)

Renegade Loot

Our time on Division ended with a great mid afternoon meal at Aki Sushi. It was our first time at Aki and we weren’t disappointed with our order. Since we were feeling crafty we decided to check out a “new to us” local yarn – Knitwerks. For several months I had been wanting to check out this store and after hearing Lolly and Nova rave about it when they were in town I knew I needed to get there soon. All of the buzz that I’ve heard was right – this is a great addition to the Chicago yarn community. So many beautiful yarns and colors – you just want to touch it all. Cherrl was so welcoming and friendly – Kristy’s sandal had broken and she offered a nearby store to pick-up a pair of flip-flops, our next visit will need to include time to check out the nearby Italian cafe that she recommends. Of course, we didn’t leave there empty handed. Elaine discovered the beauty of Dream in Color yarn and picked up a couple of skeins – she isn’t sure if she is going to crochet a scarf or have me teach her to knit one. I also picked up some needed needles and also some yarn for gift knitting (so no pictures here).

Speaking of local yarns – have you seen KnitMap.com? It has just launched and aims to collect all of the local yarn shops in one “go to” site with ratings and comments from local knitters. As someone who travels a lot, this will be a frequently visited site. I’ve already added one of my favorite shops to the mix.

Saturday’s weather was perfect for revealing a new knit project. Earlier this summer I made a scarf as a gift for Elaine (either a very belated gift for her last birthday or an early gift for this year). I gave it to Elaine first thing and it turned out that it matched her turtleneck perfectly so it immediately was put to use. Introducing – Sage Friend:

A Sage Friend
The details: Midwest Moonlight from Scarf Style; 2 skeins of Baby Pima from Catalina Yarns; Size 10 needles; This was a very fast knit. The yarn was very soft and even after blocking it retained the softness.

There has been a lot of knitting happening around here in recent weeks. Some has been gift knitting so it can’t be revealed. Other items are ready to show.

First up: Silky Summer Scarf

Silky Summer Scarf
The details: Montego Bay Scarf from Interweave Knits, Summer 2007; 1 skein of Brooks Farm Yarn – Limited Edition 3 (picked up at Midwest Fiber & Folk Art in July); Named Silky Summer because of being a summer knit – which will keep me warm in the fall & winter. This yarn was such a treat to work with – it was so fun to see the colors change from one to another and also see the yarn change from really thick to really thin. I’m glad I picked up 2 more skeins of this for another project.

Next up: Knit for a Cure

Knit for a Cure
The details: Based on Bejeweled; 2 skeins of Lion’s Brand Nature’s Choice Organic Cotton in Strawberry; Size 13 needles; Knit in preparation for a Breast Cancer Awareness event. Stay tuned for details. This was my first time working with this yarn and it was great to work with – I think I might add it to my list of baby blanket yarns. The resulting scarf is so soft. As I’ve said before, the Bejeweled stitch pattern is a great go-to pattern and each time I knit it the result is beautiful – on the large needles this was a fast knit – I started & finished it this weekend while catching up on my Netflix.

During the odd bits of time & while watching movies at the theater I’ve continued to build up the dishcloth stash.

More Dishcloths

Many other projects are currently on the needles – including some holiday gifts (so no pictures). The knits that can be shown are very appropriate for this final month of Project Spectrum 2.0 – variations on browns.

Brown Knits

Chocolate & Spice Socks – my current “basic sock” (in Trekking XXL #183) that stays in the work backpack or purse; Celebration Tote – my latest felted bag starts with a lot of brown knitting.

While the list of projects I want to knit seems to be never ending it is nice to see projects get completed and come off the needles.

A Bit of R&R

July 31, 2007 / / 7 Comments

A quick trip home to see the family in “The ‘Ville” was just the bit of R&R that I needed after a pretty crazy couple of months at work. I flew home on Thursday morning and when I left on Monday evening we all agreed that it was just the right amount of “together time” that we all needed – it had been a while since we all had just hung out.

On Friday we loaded into the car, picked up iced coffees (an Artisan family staple) and headed south for a day trip. First stop: Warm Springs, GA. We didn’t visit The Little White House this time, instead we did a bit of shopping in some of the cute shops and enjoyed a delicious lunch at The Bulloch House. From there we headed east to Macon, GA – with the specific goal of spending time on the Mercer University campus where my sister & I went to school. There has been a lot of construction on campus since we were students there; however, it was nice to see how the new buildings tie into the beautiful older architecture.

Mercer Memories

One of the highlights of the walk around campus was seeing the statue of Jesse Mercer – when I was a student there I was part of the Heritage Life committee that selected the design from several that had been submitted. When we selected this design we liked the concept that you could sit with Jesse – so of course Rebecca & I had to sit with him while visiting. (Um…sitting on a brass bench in 90+ degree weather is not so fun.) Surrounding the statue are several of Jesse’s sayings – it was fun to read them and chuckle at some.

Hanging out with Jesse

(The rest of our photo album is here)

Our day of fun ended with a bit of shopping at the outlets and then a quick dinner and dessert at the local Chick-fil-A Dwarf House where I worked when I was in high school.

A gift card for Barnes & Noble was a perfect excuse for my sister & I to spend some time at the bookstore on Saturday afternoon. While enjoying our frappucinnos, Rebecca settled in with a book and I spent the time looking through some knit books and magazines. A couple of magazines came home with me with specific project plans (including *gasp* maybe my first sweater).

When Rebecca & I were in Michigan in June we each selected some Cotton Blossom yarn as our yarn souvenir. Earlier this month I did a quick knit with Rebecca’s Tangerine yarn and she now has a cozy shawl to wear.

Rebecca's Tangerine

This knit was a great example of Ravelry in action – I stumbled upon it while browsing through patterns and it seemed like a good fit for the yarn. This “Simple Yet Effective Shawl” was a fun and easy pattern – I can see using it with several yarns in the stash.

When not out and about – there was plenty of time just hanging out at home. Lots of knitting time (details to come in future posts), lots of reading time, watching a few movies (Mame – a perrenial family favorite and the delightful Miss Potter). I also spent some time in Artisan Tech Support mode for my sister and dad. Earlier this summer my sister was a chaperone on the youth group mission trip to Moldova so I helped her build a web page of her highlight pictures (I’ll provide the link in another post). Artisan Dad is working on starting a blog as well.

Since starting to build out my notebook on Ravelry I realized that a few gifts that I knit for the family hadn’t been photographed so I captured them while at home.

Knit Gifts

#1 – The Berthe Collar from No Sheep For You for Mom’s Birthday this year – knit in bamboo; #2 – A Bedroom Pillow for Mom a couple of years ago – 3 colors of sale yarn from the LYS and a stitch pattern from a stitch dictionary; #3 – Rebecca’s Reading Wrap – 2 skeins of Homespun; #4 – Grandma’s Resting Wrap – 2 skeins of Homespun

This weekend was a lovely reminder of how much fun my family can have – even when we don’t have a lot planned. It’s not the “things” that we do – it’s the time that we spend together!

Springtime Fun

April 24, 2007 / / 10 Comments

While March may be known as “in like a lion, out like a lamb” it seems as though April has been a bit lionish as well. Although, spring may be reemerging once again. The last 2 weekends have been warm and sunny – the perfect backdrop for hanging out with friends.

Last Sunday was a belated Easter dinner with friends. (I had bought all the fixin’s for Easter dinner “on” Easter and then ended up going to a friend’s house instead.) So on Sunday my dining room table was filled with good friends – all of whom hadn’t had a real Easter dinner the Sunday before.
Easter Table
A “simple prep” menu yielded an excellent dinner: roast turkey breast with lemon, tyhme & garlic; roasted mini golden potatoes; steamed asparagus; corn; fruit salad; and Rhubarb-Strawberry Pudding Cake from the April Gourmet, a quick and tasty cake that I will be making again.

This past Saturday was an all day scrapbooking event – it was great to catch up with friends & make good progress on my 2006 album. By the end of the day I was almost done with the album. (yay!) At the end of the day, Jen & Kristy drew names for my 100th post contest.

Thanks to everyone for sharing your friendship memories on the previous blog entry! Congratulations to Amanda Cathleen, Erin, Laura & Sarah – a copy of The Friday Night Knitting Club is headed your way. Also, congratulations to Jane for leaving the 800th comment on the blog – a few treats are headed your way as well.

After church on Sunday, Jen, Kristy & I tried out a new creperie in Andersonville. Icosium Kafe was a great find – the banana & Nutella crepe and apricot iced tea were a perfect brunch choice. We all agreed that we’ll be back soon.

In the midst of getting back into the routine of being home the last couple of weeks there has been quite a bit of knitting going on around here. Last Friday evening I continued to make progress on sock #4 while attending the “Cast On, Bets Off” reading at My Sisters Knits – it was a packed shop for the event. By the end of the weekend I had finished the sock & now have 2 pairs of socks to wear. I’m not as happy with these socks – I think they may become house socks.
2nd Pair of Socks Bejeweled Teal
When I was at Loopy 2 weeks ago I picked up several skeins of Cascade Pima Tencel in a beautiful teal color. It became a spring “Bejeweled” scarf for me & is getting a lot of use with my spring coat. I have also finished up a secret knit with some beautiful bamboo – it will be revealed in the coming weeks.

My work routine has me once again taking the EL downtown to a client site so I have some training knitting time. I’m currently working on a simple sock using some OnLine Summer that I picked up at My Sisters Knits last year. The colors are perfect for the second trio of Project Spectrum colors.
Next Sock

With the spring weather, green is starting to return to the landscape. In my front yard, one tiny tulip managed to come back this spring; however, the bloom was past it’s peak before I got out to take a picture. In the coming weeks I’m looking forward to spending a bit of time in the backyard getting the flowerbed & deck ready for some summer plants. Because I was on the road last summer I didn’t do any gardening & missed it – I’m pleased to see that several perennials have returned for another season. Hopefully this blog will contain garden posts in the coming months.

What springtime fun are you up to these days?

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