FO : from 2010 finally got pictures

Yay another FO from 2010 made it to the WEB !!!

I am proud to present you my nephew Zachary wearing is very cool hoody ! Go boy and enjoy...

Spec :

Pattern : What a Character Hoodie by Kerin Dimeler-Laurence (bought as a kit on Knit Picks)

Needle : 4.5mm

Yarn : Knit Picks Comfy Worsted in color Jalapeno, Peapod and Fedora.

Notes : forgot the character part of the pattern I wasn't pleased and thought it would be more wearable without. Made the 4 years old size and it's big enough and he have plenty of room to grow into (I was afraid of making again a sweater too small for him!). I hate the way the hood is attached to the body, if I do it again I would simply go on from the body to the hood instead of knitting in 2 parts. I add bias tape inside to solidify and used a zipper.

The yarn is simply soft and can go through washer and dryer which is very good ! Loved working with it and I already bought some more.

FO : Proverbial Cap

Another FO that didn't make it to the net... bad me ! I did not even talk about all the yarn acquisition or anything like that. I was asked by my mother for a winter set to match her new winter coat, so here is the first item : this cute cap. Since we have barely no winter here in Quebec this year, it gives me time to knit her the other items... hahaha!

Sincerely, I have to admit that I am very behind on many points in the past few weeks and knitting is one of them ! The Christmas and New Year parties went in and out so fast I have not even realize it's already over for the first Christmas of my daughter... she have been totally spoiled! and she love to unwrap presents,that was very funny to let her rip out paper. I am not sure if we will be able to have a Christmas tree next year but since she still small we went crazy (especially my lover...) and bought a tree that is almost touching the ceiling !

Look this out

We all had a lot of presents and I got all I need to practice on my painting skills, which I am very very happy about. I wanted to do it for several years and N. got me the perfect kit to play with colors.So maybe I will present not only knitting but painting this year !

Back to the knitting concerns of the day : Proverbial Cap Specs

Pattern : Proverbial Cap by Meg Swanson (Interweave Knit Fall 2010)

Yarn : Wool of the Ande worsted by Knit Picks in Fairy Tales colorway (about 1.2 skein)

Needle : 3.5mm DPN

with my favorite model...

 

Comments : This hat is intended for a child of small adult, be careful to read about this to avoid making a hat too small for you ! I knit this for my mom and it have the perfect size for her. It doesn't cover the ears totally but since I said earlier I made this set according also to the mellow temperature we got this winter. When I saw the hat in my magazine I had to knit it anyway because of the cables. I love twisted stitches too. I used the second skein only for the crown decrease and made it a little longer because it was too short for my liking. I would have appreciate a bigger size explanation to be able to make one for me, but I think about doing one for my daughter by just making it shorter... :)

FO : Little bubles cardigan for Rosalie

Last September, on the 17Th to be exact I became an aunt for the second time of a charming little girl named Rosalie. This little one is the second child of my brother and they have everything for her. So it was pretty difficult to find an idea of gift for her birth. I am a bit late with my post and gift too but I manage to knit an adorable little cardigan for her.

I choose from Knit picks in sale the Little Bubbles set in purple, it was under 10$ when I got it, just perfect ! I quickly cast on for the cardigan itself but since I did it just before we left for France,I didn't bring it so it slept in my knitting bag for about 5 weeks and at the beginning of December, I finally went around and finish it in a breeze. Super cute and adorable, but TONS of ends to weave in which is a bit annoying to me.

Here are the complete specs :

Pattern : Little Bubbles Baby Set Pattern by Nina Isaacson (available on Knit Picks website)

Yarn : Knit Picks Simply Cotton Sport

Needle : 3mm

Here it is modeled by Florence

I adore the buttons my mother found for the cardigan ! Rosalie is much smaller than Florence (she was born 40 days later) so it fit her just perfectly, I am very proud ! The 6-12 months size is barely a 6 months in regular clothing size, so be aware of it if you plan to knit this. I will try to see how much yarn I have left and maybe do the cardigan or the hat for Florence. Just repeat to myself weave in end often during the process to avoid procrastination at the end in finishing ! :)

Happy New Year 2011 !!!

Hello 2011, good bye 2010,

I had a fantastic 2010 and I hope to have a year as good this year. I wish you all health and properity and good luck in your knitting ventures. I hope you didn't think I was out of blogging with my lack of posting for the past weeks. I have to say that taking care of a little one, going back to university and keeping myself knitting and having somekind of a life is really hard ! So blogging went at the bottom of my todo list unfortunatly...

Thanks for the comments during this period and all your littles messages kept me in the mood for knitting so I will post in the first days of this new year all my FO of 2010 and also my UFO and WIP. I have so muchof those three that I have enough content to keep posting for all January.

For now a little picture of my best FO of 2010 : Florence

She is almost 5 months old now. She's growing very fast and she talks a lot ! I hope to hear the first "Mommy" very soon!

FO : Secret Cobblestone

Yes I made it !!! The surprise was perfect, he never had a single though about my plan in his back... Let say with the pregnancy it has been quite easy to hide while on maternity leave, and before that I cast on and work on it when I was on lunch time at work, while waiting for him when he's playing tennis or soccer... I am pretty proud of my surprise ! :-)

 

Let's see the spec of my new FO.

Pattern : Cobblestone Pullover by Jared Flood

Needle : 4.5mm

Yarn : 10.5 skeins of wool of the andes worsted weight (KnitPicks) in mist color

 

Cast on May 21st

Cast off : July 22nd

The Man love his new pullover and wears it a lot in the past few days, I am already thinking about a number 2... maybe for Christmas ... ;)

FO : Tri-Peak hat

Yes I actually had time to knit since I gave birth to my daughter... awesome ! :)

Let be honnest, she was sleeping on me and that was only stockinette but I am still very happy to be able to knit a bit, let's see the specs.

with my proud father

Pattern : Baby Tri-Peak Hat by Woolly Wormhead

Needle : 4.5 mm

Yarn : Lana Grossa Teddy print in a lovely varigated color (received in my last swap box) about half a skein (80 yards)

Cast on August 15th and cast off August 17th

Super cute and neat project, perfect to keep a small baby warm outside or inside. the yarn is very very soft and I really enjoy knitting with. I still have about 1.5 skein so I will find another cute project for baby Florence to match, maybe a cardigan ?

with great-grand-mother

FO : Cloud bolero

Yes another one again ! So fun to bust quick project like those one. I am super productive these days with my knitting and also with my cleaning, must be close to end of my pregnancy I am super active in cleaning too!

This one was mostly knitted while watching Wimbledon and being so proud of Nadal !!!

Here are the spec

Pattern : Cloud bolero by Ysolda Teague

Size : medium (36-38)

Needle : 8mm

Yarn : Mano del Uruguay Cotton stria in pink color that I love, just under 2 skein (approx. 220 yards)

Cast on : June 30th and Cast off July 2nd

Mods : none I just for sure didn't use yarn called for but was right on gauge (for one time a year that I check...)

Errata : there is a little errata in the pattern in the first section at row 20, after you place the second marker B it says (k1, yo) 3 times, but it must read (yo, k1) 3 times. It's not fatal and doesn't compromise your knitted bolero if you don't notice but it's always fun to know that we made the best we can to achieve the best knitting in each piece.

___
18th FO of 2010, already have knitted 6496 yards so far

FO : Capitan hat

Another FO in no time was done! Cool huh ? I am quite a bit behind on my blog because of the bad weather we had last week, that was not fun to take pictures in my condo, so I waited until today to take the coolest pictures with the big bright sun !

I also use leftover of yarn which is always a good news and I had fun too. Bonus point, it fits me well too even if it's not for me...

Pattern : Capitan hat by Rosi Garmendia

Needle : 6mm

Yarn : Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Bulky in wine color, about 1 skein (137 yards)

Cast on and cast off : June 28Th

Mods : Umm it wasn't enough long after 3 repeats of the cable repeat as stated in the pattern, so I added one more repeat before the decrease. I also improvised a bit in the decrease as I don't really like to follow pattern for that, I know what to do anyway to make a cute decrease.
First hat with a brim, I must have to admit that I like it and it makes me smile. Did you see the perfect buttons I had in stock for this hat ?

===
6276 yards knitted so far in 2010 and this one is my 17th FO of 2010 !! not bad...

FO : Baby stroller blanket

Yes I finally finish THE blanket for my daughter and I am very proud of it ! So I also decided to publish my pattern, not that it's so complicated but it may be useful for any knitter that what it and likes my work on this one. So here are the instructions for my first free pattern ever !!

Pattern : Stroller baby blanket by Sophie Bergeron

Needle : 3.5mm

Yarn : Bernat Baby Sport in white and popsicle blue about 150 gr of each color (478 yard of each color)

Pattern :

The blanket has been created to be perfect size for a stroller, a car seat or also to carry around in little hands. I choose acrylic yarn to be easy on care and mom budget too ! Contrast colors are also great for our kids eyes and are easy for them to focus on. Also with two different texture it will be a great exploration for the little hands as well.

The little story behind this blanket is that the day that my love, Nicolas, and I found out that we were having a little girl at the ultrasound, we bought the stroller in a turquoise color that we both love and then my boyfriend came back from the end of the row at Walmart with two huge balls of Bernat Sport Baby and his best smile asking if I can do something for our daughter to go in the stroller. So I cast on for a blanket without any other though and I finally made something from my mind completely.

Finished size is : 24 inches 1/2 by 24 inches 1/2

Squares instructions :

Using 3.5mm needles, CO 72 sts

Row 1 : k 36, place marker, k36

Row 2 : k 2 sts before marker, ssk, k2tog, k til the end of the row (70 sts)

Row 3 : k all sts

Repeat row 2 and 3, 2 more time (66 sts)

Attach contrast color

Stockinette section

Row 1 : p until 2 sts before marker p2tof, p2tog, p til the end of the row (64 sts)

Row 2 : k all sts

Repeat row 1 and 2, 3 times (58 sts)

Continue with main color

Garter section

Row 1 : k 2 sts before marker, ssk, k2tog, k til the end of the row (56 sts)

Row 2 : k all sts

Repeat row 1 and 2, 3 times (50 sts)

Repeat stockinette and garter section one after the other alternately until there are 10 sts left on needles. Using main color.

Row 1 : k3, ssk, k2tog, k3 (8 sts)

Row 2 : k

Row 3 : k2, ssk, k2tog, k2 (6 sts)

Row 4 : k

Row 5 : k1, ssk, k2tog, k1 (4 sts)

Row 6 : k

Row 7: ssk, k2tog (2 sts)

Row 8 : k2tog

Leave a long tail to sew squares together later on.

Using any color contrast you like, make 16 squares and sew them together. I begun with 4 bigger squares together and then I assemble the 4 big squares together and weave all ends in too.

You can add a liner to hide the wrong side, personally I will buy white polar fleece to add some comfort to the blanket and made it easy for me to wash it as often as needed... :)

Let me know if you do this little blanket for your own little kids !!!

Only thing left for me now...have my own bundle of joy and be super hot with my matching blanket and stroller ! Hip mama, watch out I'm coming !

FO : Citron vert

Yes yet another FO in my knitwear collection 2010, already have completed 15 projects in 2010, not so bad ! :) Here are the spec :

Pattern : Citron by Hilary Smith Callis

Needle : 4 mm

Yarn : Malabrigo yarn Lace, almost exactly one skein, less than one yard left after stretchy bind off at the end in color Verde which is a very deep green.

Cast on : June 13th

Cast off : June 19th

Mods : I did add 2 rows in the ruffle section of the fourth and the fifth repeat and then follow the pattern but use a yarn over bind off like for my last FO Haruni shawl/scarf.

It was fun and mindless, perfect project to begin my maternity leave without thinking too much in a complicated pattern. Yes you read well, I finally took my maternity leave and it's a real joy to be able to relax at home and enjoy my free time before being a full-time mom in a few weeks.

 

Destash project : 4301 before this project before reducing stash before 2010 level minus 470 yards today, have 3831 yards left.

FO : Haruni

Yes finally presenting my new addition to my collection of knitwear 2010, here are the spec

Pattern : Haruni by Emily Ross

Needle : 3.5 mm (with a needle broke on my harmony set so sad)

Yarn : Malabrigo Lace in an unknown colorway, about 70% of the skein (329 yards), will confirm when I get my scale!

Cast on May 22nd and cast off June 13th

Mod : none but I wish I made it larger to use most of the skein and made it more like a shawl than a scarf/shawl.

Anyway I still love it and enjoy knitting it, I did great knitting and un-knitting many time the same row ! I knit the row 17 of Chart B 4 times, after that I put work aside and continue next day and made the whole knitting part except for cast off.

For the cast off, I used the yarn over cast off to have a stretchy bind off while having no need to use a crochet as suggested in pattern. Since my crochet skills are not so great I wanted to avoid a mess on finishing and It's perfect cast off for a shawl, stretchy and neat too.

About my cold sheep goal : I said I have 4630 yards to knit before reducing my stash from what it was before 2010...

So after this project I still have : 4301 yards to knit before being in the target !!!

Stash management

Do you ever bought yarn without knowing what project you are going to make with ? It happens to me everytime I buy yarn in a LYS unless it's sock yarn, not too difficult to choose a project after buying. When going throught my yarn I do discover yarn that I have no idea what to make with and it's a little problem when you try to reduce the amount of yarn waiting to be knitted.

 

So in my reduce that stash year, I have more time to think about yarn management and also with my little one on the way I also needed to move my stash from his previous emplacement (now converted from a office/craft room to a girlie baby's room). After 5 months this is how it goes...

New additions :

- 14 skeins of Cascade 220 that I bought myself (3080 yards)

- 2 big balls of Bernat baby sport from my BF (2228 yards)

- a big bag of unknow fiber from my BF (approx 1200 yards)

- 7 balls of Bergère de France Merino from my mother-in-law (798 yards)

- 2 balls of Bernat Cottontots from mother-in-law too (300 yards)

- 2 skeins of wool from Laine douceurs from my BF (860 yards)

- 1 skein of Kiss and Curl (Fleece Artist) from my BF too (547 yards)

total of 9013 yards

and that's all... I made not so bad if I look at what I pay or not, but the 3 last skeins are totally on my head because even if he insist and pay, I did choose the yarn myself and enter in the LYS by myself too !!!

I did use :

- 476 yards for the Trellis toddler sweater

- 626 yards for my February Lady sweater

- 1144 yards for my Tilted for the Olympics

- 93 yards for the Hodge Boy

- 70 yard for the Hodge girl (I made them smaller)

- 303 yards for the Easter's BSJ

- 176 yards for my Rose Red

- 231 yards for my Bird in hand

- 287 yards for the Pea Pod baby set

- 460 yards for my dad's sock

- 363 yards for the Baby girl jacket

- 88 yards for the Aviatrix hat

- 66 yards for the Flakey socks

not counting the WIP I have on needle I used up : 4384 yards so far in 2010

 

 

So if I want to be cold sheep by the end of the year I need to knit at least 4630 yards of FO by the end of 2010 to be reducing my stash...at least with my 3 current project I will used more than 2000 yards so as usual, just keep knitting.

 

Happy knitting dear readers

FO : Pea Pod baby set

Yes finally got buttons and time to put them on too...

Specs of my new creation

Pattern : Pea Pod Baby Set by Kate Gilbert

Needle : 3.75 mm

Yarn : Cascade Yarns Eco + in kiwi green about 0.6 skein

Cast on November 28th 2009 and cast off May 4th 2010 (doh!)

Size : 6 months

Mods : none except using very cool buttons... :)

Pattern is very clever but once more I think than arms a little strange and makes a bulky seam to attach the arms too. Anyway I'll have my own model to play and make adjustements soon enough now...

FO : Flakey socks

Another quick FO in 2010, cast in and cast off on May 21st, perfect to work on my colorwork abilities and quick enough to make a pair in a few hours...

Here are the spec ...

Pattern : Flakey socks by annipurl

Needle : 4 mm

Yarn : leftovers of Cascade 200 from my own Tilted Duster and my daughter's jacket I recently made

Mods : none except using a bigger yarn and it makes me end with bigger socks, fitting a 2 or 3 years old I think... but that's ok she will grow soon enough anyway !

Can't wait to see her now... less than 9 weeks remaining before my due date.............................

Double FO : Baby Jacket and Aviatrix hat

Had this little Cascade yarn coming by the mail 2 weeks ago and I made a promise to myself : use it as soon as possible to make the baby's jacket and also use those uber-adorable buttons receive from South Africa in the favorite thing swap last year. (by the way thanks again to my spoiler if you read this) So mission accomplished and double accomplishment by also making mods on a pattern AND made a second project to match the first one and use the last button.

Specs of the jacket :

Pattern : Seed Stitch Baby Jacket by Elinor Brown

Needle : 4.5 mm

Yarn : 1.65 skein (165 grams) of Cascade 220 Heather in color Aster

Size made : 6-9 months

Cast on May 4th and cast off May 15th

Mods : First of all the most obvious....no hood, I preferred to make a collar instead. Also opted for a regular button placement one under the other one to make adjustments easier and to facilitate my life too with baby girl.... Then I made a little brodery of a cat on the sweater to embelished it.

Can't wait to try it on my girl :)

Then specs and pics for the second part of the show...

Pattern : Aviatrix baby hat by Justine Turner

Needle : 4.5 mm and 5 mm

Yarn : 0.40 skein (40 grams) of Cascade 220 Heather in color Aster

Size : 6 months

Cast on May 15th and cast off May 16th

Mods : I made the worsted weight instructions except that I had a repeat of the 12 rows section because I found that was a little on the short side and I prefer to be sure that the back of the head will be well covered too. The only comment less positive about that pattern was the cast on suggested (cable cast on) not enough strechy for a hat so next one will be in a strechy cast on and cast off.

BUT my overall comments are : superb, cute and addictive pattern ! I am already planning making one for my nephew. :) It was also a very good refresh on wrap and turn too.

FO: Rose Red

Yes another belated FO...

Spec

Pattern : Rose Red by Ysolda Teague
Needle : 4.5 mm
Yarn : Blue Sky Alpacas 100% Alpaca Sport Weight in Red, approx. 1.6 skein

Cast on April 10th and Cast off April 11th

I loved that quick project, was very fun to see it grow before my eyes... Also the yarn and the pattern were both offered to me in swap I did last year so extra happy to use it and enjoy it ! Yarn was from Amy in the Warm Ewe Up Winter Swap. I knew I had to make myself a little treat and my friend Robyn offered me the pattern in Swap on Budget so I only had to knit it then... :) Super super happy !!! Still have another leftover of yarn that I will please to find an use to.

Little note to myself : buy more of that yarn when I have money to make something else next to skin like a bolero or a scarf...

Also do you like my new hairstyle ? Super short and fun to dry now !!