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 : Knotty but nice, the tale of a hat...

My last FO of 2009 never had it's picture taken to this blog because of a simple reason : we though for weeks that my boyfriend lost it at the border when we head down there at the end of the year...but no, I was doing some changes in my condominium and I just found it !!!  So finally here are my FO post and pictures...

Spec :

Pattern : Knotty but nice by Nathalie Larson

Needles : 4.5mm

Yarn : .75 skein of Cascade 220 in dark gray

Cast on : December 16th 2009

Cast off : December 29th 2009

Mods : none

Comments : Umm if I ever do a hat with heavy cables, I'll remember to do it a bit bigger or knit looser because I think it's a bit thight. Fortunatly I have a very good nature and I will knit again for my man... :)

FO : Trellis, well not really a Trellis but a cute toddler sweater...

Yes done done and done with my modified version of Trellis by Britta Stolfus Rueschhoff avalaible on Knitty Spring 2005 for free.

Before showing my version of the thing.... let me show the "real" one as by designer

Here we are, cute cardigan with buttons and everything.

But here is what I done with that inspiration :

a sweater with buttons on shoulder to accomodate head easily and also not the real sleeves neither.

Here are the spec of that little creation (with lot of work...)

Original pattern : Trellis by Britta Stolfus Rueschhoff

Needles : 4.5mm

Yarn : Knit Picks Swish Worsted in color Marine Heather, about 4.33 balls

Size : 18 months

Mods... be take a confortable seat because there are a lot of them;

First,

BACK === I did add 6 rows of seed sts on the right side before binding off to be able to reinforce the shoulder and accomodate the buttons later.

FRONT === since I didn't wanted a cardigan but a sweater, I followed the instructions for the back again until the armholes decreases; after binding off 13sts on each side(armholes) I did continue to work in pattern as set for 15 more rows ending with a RS row. Work 22 sts, BO 3, knit in pattern til the end of the row. Nezt 17 rows, I decrease one at the neck edging every other row. Then BO all and right front is done. Do about the same thing on the other side. At the end, I add 3 rows of seed stich then work 2 buttons holes and knit 2 others rows in seed sts and after BO all. Front is now done.

SLEEVES === CO 39 sts as set in pattern. Work 20 rows in seed sts. Then, add one sts at beginning and ending of the row every 12 rows (7 times). While doing those instructions also add the biggest cable from Chart A in the middle of the sleeve. After last increase row, work 5 more rows in seed sts and BO.

After just have to sew every pieces together.

At the shoulder, I did sew the extra rows of seed stich on the shoulder and sew buttons on for reinforcement.

Note : I also decide not to add any other collar because anyway it doesn't show a lot and it's clean like that. About the yarn I choose : I may buy myself a whole truck since I love it so much !!! it's soft and superwash, what else can I ask for ?

Yeah ! done and I will send it by mail to his little owner, my nephew Zachary.

Keep knitting, just keep knitting...

....yes just keep knitting and maybe I will be able to finish knitting all my gift for Christmas. *crossed fingers* The longer one is the cutest one : a Trellis vest for my 16 months nephew Zachary.

Trellis is a pattern from Knitty Spring 2005 with only 890 projects on Ravelry, but that was before Ravelry and for sure there is a LOT of work involded in this one so not everyone with little one have the time to do it !

I also have 3 others projects to finish before December 24th at night.... just keep knitting, just keep knitting...

First Chritmas gift is done !

Hello !!!

i'm back with more knitting, I had a busy month in October and since I've been 2 weeks in Mexico, I did not had time to update here, I hope you still read me...

So, on a special request I knitted a second pair of Fetching, almost like the one I did in 2008 for my sister-in-law...but since my brother used them so much she really need another pair. I followed the instructions but I had a repeat of the cable on the wrist and also one more cable on fingers because I found them too short last time.


Don't worry about me spoiling the surprise...she doesn't read this anyway !!!

So here are the spec of my new pair of Fetching


Pattern : Fetching by Cheril Nyamath from Knitty summer 2006

Needle : 4mm DPN

Yarn : Michell and CIA Luxury fine merino superwash DK, about 1.2 ball


Cast on : November 7th
Cast off : November 8th

Was fun and I'm going back to knitting right away Christmas gift #2....stay tune... oh! and as soon as I have time I'll post pictures about my trip to Mexico and tell you how it was !

Frog pond

A long time ago, on February 2ND 2008, to be precise, I cast on for a lovely project : Cherie Amour published on Knitty... I choose the exact same yarn that the pattern called for at once and I even made a gauge of the lace and a gauge of the ribs... but I don't know why it doesn't came out gorgeous as I hope for. Body was too short and the sleeves a mess. So yesterday morning I took my courage and decide to pull out the project from the hibernation and try it a last time and finally frogged the whole thing...

Sometime don't you think it's the only thing to do !

Now I am feeling GREAT and he good new is that I have a lovely yarn in stash to use for a cool new project. I originally bought 5 skeins but I gave the 2 news one to my best friend for her birthday with cool patterns so now what can I do with 3 gorgeous balls of yarn.... Future will tell soon....

FO : Foliage for a swap

Yes another one FO, I am on fire these days... LOL I had to make a handmade item for a swap I am involved in. So here it is Foliage from knitty, fall 2007 in bulky version.

Specs.

Pattern : Foliage by Emilee Mooney, Knitty fall 2007

Needles : 6.5mm and 5.5 mm

Yarn : Knitpick Wool of the Andes bulky, about half a skein in color wine

Time : about 3 hours, yes really !

Mods : none, I knit it straight on Friday afternoon

I really like the rustic feeling of this hat if I don't block and when you wear it all the lace pattern opens up like a fantastic surprise... I don't think I will block and I will let my spoilee decide if she want to block or not one day. I will for sure make a hat for me now after one for the Man and one for a secret spoilee, when it's going to be for me ? Next one for sure !

Modeled by me and the the pretty red flowers matching... ;)

Another pair of sock !

Oh yeah, I just finished those yesterday night after leaving my BF at the airport for his transportation to work (next 8 weeks...) umm at least I have no escuses not to knit !

I just used the left over of the Cascade fixation multi of the other pair of sock that I made last week. It's a cute little pair of anklet and they were very fun to knit, here are the specs :

Pattern : Broadripple on Knitty.com

Needle : 3.25 mm Bamboo DPN

Yarn : Cascade fixation spray in multi

Fun factor : high !!!

Oh ! and this is how much yarn is not left in my ball... lol I was worried about yardage, so now I can breathe ! :)

FO : Pomatomus

Yes I just graft the toes of my Pomatomus, I did love working on those. It is a great pattern and with the stich definition of Noro Kureyon sock, they are near of perfection. I first said they won't match because I did not see the same color at the beginning of sock #2, but finally they are just right on colors. They are really twin brothers :).

Ready to go on the second pair of sock for SOS 2008, certainly I can't beat most sock record while doing those kind of socks but I really enjoy them !

Pomatomus is driving me crazy !

I just love how this pattern turns out with this yarn. I knitted all day long for the whole week end and here is the result : a first sock is done and the cuff of the number 2 sock is also done... wow ! It went fast. SOS is a perfect motivation to knit faster and to try new pattern without procrastinate with the second sock. Cookie A pattern are so well written that it makes me wanna knit all of her patterns. Pomatomus is now a knitting classis in Ravelry is it because of :

a- the fame of Cookie A
b- the genious pattern
c- the freebie factor
d- the exposure because of Knitty.com
e- all of the above

I would certainly answer e in my case, I love her writting, I love the way the stich pattern looks and I waited so long to knit those because I wanted them to be in the perfect yarn and knitted them perfectly. I love knitty.com because it makes me know new designers and try patterns that are differents. It also a good way to show : "hey I'm a designer, look what I do." Freebies are always a good way to get to know a designer style and writting style.

Look at all the pretty colors. They are definitly a keep for myself those, sorry everyone but they are MINE !!! :) The socks won't match for the colors but I don't care, I did not want to scrap a super long tread of green to match them. I like socks that are not perfectly the same anyway and as humans, socks can't be perfects neither. This is where the fun begins...

Tomorow I can knit all day long because it's day off for everyone here in Quebec, it's the national celebration for Quebec. 400 years of history in Quebec, 400 years of french speaking in america... I will explain a little bit of history about this "nation" tomorow.

Yay it's summer !

Hey all of you living in the up side (North Hemisphere to be politically correct) of the world, it's finally summer today ! It also mean the begginning of .... Summer of socks 2008 !!!! Yahoo !!! :) I could not find sleep last night so at midnight I was all awake casting on my Pomatomus, which will be my first cast on sock for SOS.

I am using as suggested 2.75mm bamboo DPN and my Noro Kureyon sock. So far I am not "in love" with the quality of the yarn. It goes from super thin to super thick and it's really easy to break the yarn if you don't pay attention (2 knots inside the sock yet...). But to the defense of Noro... I am totally in love with the colors which is the main reason why I bought this skein anyway. So enjoy the first pic of my Pomatomus...

As you can see I went a little crazy on knitting today... and I am almost done with the 3 repeats before the heel flap... ahem... don't expect me to be THAT fast all the time, but I had a knitting day since very early so ... no comments... ;)

Summer Knitty is up !

Hey look at the new design on http://www.knitty.com/ , here is pick of my favorites :

Spring forward socks : very cute I'm planning them very soon of my "to knit list"

Shetland shorty : Love it but not too sure because of my bust that it would come out as nice as on the model.



and my favorite : BYOB (Bring your own bag)



Ecological, simple and useful. What can we ask more about this pattern ? Maybe, for once, be able to find the recommanded yarn in a shop near of my home... lol but it helps me to use my imagination and try new yarn !

Finally something new to show !

I finally found something perfect to keep my hands busy until the beginning of Summer of socks 2008, which only begins on June 21st... so I have been mostly preparing all my pattern, needles and make ball out of the skeins to be prepare for it for the last 2 weeks. So it's why I am pretty quiet here since then... Not really fun for you or me taking about that, kind of do you know what I did today, I just found the perfect pattern for X skein of yarn and I can't cast on before June 21st !!! No, I prefer to keep all the surprises for now. And be prepared because from June 21st to September 1st this blog will be about socks only !!!

So now here is my new WIP : the world beloved pattern ... Clapotis ! And that's nothing more to say that only on Ravelry there are 6011 other clapotis, on needles or off needle since the edition of the pattern in fall 2004.

I am using the Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool that I bough a few months ago to do it and I am in love totally with this yarn, this is just SO soft ! Yummy ! I just want to order some more to do myself a nice cardigan for next fall ... It's the kind of yarn that makes you wanna cuddle the yarn all day long !

Here another peek of the first drop stich... say hello to monkey !

GO HABS GO !!!

Sorry for the title but... my hockey team just won his second playoff game against Boston... Yes I am talking about Montreal Canadiens !!!

Here some pictures M.Wonderful took at the first game last Thursday at Bell Center (another victory... 4-1 and tonight 3-2).

About knitting now... Currently finishing my Wisp, so close to ran out of yarn so I had to cut off a repeat for the lace pattern only 16 instead of 17 but it's still long enough. And also working hard on a secret project I had to rip off completly and restart this week, but it's very quick and I am 50% done so far.

Picture of my Wisp will be taken tomorow because I don't enought light tonight.

Finally, I went to my LYS today and I found this :

to replace GarnStudio Muskat in a future project and :

this to be a fabulous pair of sock by the end of the year!

Good night !

Tuesday night news

While browsing on Ravelry, I just came across the blog of Rachel which is link here and she have a fabulous contest that I must talk about. She is raising fund for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I know this society very weel since I participate in a fund raising effort last fall for the team of my sister-in-law who is afflicted by a lymphoma. So I could not pass by without donating something and I invite you all to maybe do the same because the society's mission is really important for a lot of persons. Oh! and I am almost forgetting to mention that she is giving yarn for every 100$ raised.

About knitting now because if I remember well it's what I'm talking about mostly here... umm I'm pretty sure about that.

My wisp is coming out nicely so far and I did 6 repeat for the lace pattern, only 11 to go before to be completly done! Take a look by yourself :

If I continue at this pace, I did one repeat Sunday, two on Monday, three on Tuesday... I will be done by the end of the week maybe!

And finally a extreme knitting experience... a motorcycle all knitted... or almost, create by Theresa Honeywell in 2006. After the knitted Ferrari, the motorcycle is my favorite extreme knitting!

Sunday knitting

Yesterday was a short post... so I take a few moments to show what I begun today, yes I know another new project, I need to finish something soon. But when I hit a little bump I prefer to switch to another project instead of unravel my work. I hate to work backward!

So I received this week a new yarn : Crystal Palace Kid Merino in color "Ultra Blues". Since it's my first time buying and using laceweight yarn, I only bough one skein and found a lovely pattern : Wisp which have been published on Knitty.com , this is what it will look like when I will be done on this :

Pretty hum ? I do like the fluffy look and the classic-chic texture... This is wehre I am after a few row today :

Not bad so far I think it's pretty easy but I can't go fast I have to check and count my stitches to be sure I don't end with 2-3 stitches short than suppose. The yarn is fun to work with and I found that it's softer when knit than in the ball, good thing because I won't be wearing the ball but a knitted garment after all !

About other yarn news, I did receive my BO from http://www.yarnandfiber.com/ it has been really quick to get it and as usual from them, quick delivery and no shipping cost... I love that! Good thing that the March Madness sales are finished because when it's about sock yarn...

Cherry Tree Hill Sockittome Yarn in color Gypsy Rose

And finally a very romantic attention from Mr Wonderful yesterday he came back from work with...

a dozen of red roses... wow ! I cannot dream of a better BF in my life. I love you too honey !