FO : Little Bubbles for Florence

Yay another FO and this time I took pictures right away... good me

Second time I knit this pattern and with the same kit I only switch colors to fit my leftovers. I have barely 30 cm left of the purple and almost nothing of the green yarn too ! Yay 2 points for using leftovers :-)
 
So here are the spec of my brand new FO who made it the same day to the blog...

Pattern : Little Bubbles Baby Set Pattern by Nina Isaacson (unfortunatly no longer sold as a pattern alone or a kit, it's now part of a ebook on Knit Picks website)

Yarn : Knit Picks Simply cotton sport in haze heather, camel heather, malted milk, green tea heather, duchess heather.



Needle : 3mm circular

Notes : I really enjoyed knitting it for the second time. Since the pattern is made very small I decide to go for the biggest size but with some addition here and then to lenghten and widen it a bit to fit a real 12 months size. And compare to other clothes in my daughter closet is closer to a 18 t-shirt in popular brands. So she have a little room to grow in it.


First for the body I made one more bubble pattern at the shoulder. Then 17 rows of green, 12 rows x 3 of one row stripes, 6 knit rows and cast off. I pick up 70 sts at each side and k for 6 rows, for the button row (at the 3rd row) : k4, yo, k2tog, k8 repeat 6 more times and k4.

For the sleeve : pick 7 sts under the arm on each side instead of 5 (making the kimono sleeves). K for 7 rows, decrease row on row 8 (k1, k2tog, k til 3 sts before the end, ssk, k) and on row 16. k one more row (17 total). Then one row stipe 12 of each color combo. k 1 row in purple, p 1 row repeat 3 times and bind off all sts.

I highly recommand to weave in ends a few times while knitting this if you don’t wanna be frustrated at the end of it… :-)

Working on test knitting

I have a new quick wip on needles since yesterday night : I am test knitting the new pattern of Lily France from Joli House : Kirstone. She is one talented young designer and I am very proud to test knit one of her design !!! I am already almost done with first repeat of the pattern and I truly enjoy this knit. I will also wear proudly the final product : a cute slouchy hat just how I like them.

Here is my progress so far with my little helper

Hopefully it will be soon my first FO of 2011 ! :)

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 ! :)

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 : 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 !!!

Almost FO...

Almost done with my Haruni shawl/scarf... it's currently blocking in my living room. I am pleased with it but it's a bit too small and I have plenty of yarn left on my skein. So I will find a way to use it as well and I will take a note to myself about these kind of pattern : listen to myself when I want to make a shawl larger : just do it ! They do sell yarn anyway if I run out of yarn and even I had made one more repeat I am pretty sure I would had enough and leftovers too.

This project was a bit of pain sometimes because I couldn't knit it while tired or not concentrate on my knitting or I would mess everything also I broke one of my needle tip in my Knit Picks Harmony needle set, so now I need to order a size 4 needle to replace it but again... little problem : I am currently in a yarn diet AND it cost the same to order for 5$ or 50$ in shipping from them :( Will think about it and maybe wait to combine my order with other items.

At least I have my almost FO to comfort myself on my knitting habilities...

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 !!

FO : Easter'S baby surprise jacket

Yes I did the most classic baby's sweater for my daughter... but so cute and modern colors I couldn't resist. Most of all I was dying to try out the yarn I received from my swap parthner in South Africa and also the uber cute buttons inclosed in the swap package too !!!

Here are the spec of my Easter pleasure...

Pattern : Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann

Yarn : directly from South Africa (I called it my world cup project because of it... lol) Bambi Yarn from Vinnis colours made of 70% Organic cotton and 30% Bamboo. 3 colorway : the bright orange is Tangerine, the yellow is Sunshine and the red is Tomato. Yarn is perfect for baby knitting and I would totally came back from South Africa with a full trunk of local products if they are so cool and well made.

Needle : 4 mm

Size : This is the charm of this pattern : the yarn and needles you used made the size of the pattern, with a Dk weight and 4mm needles is says that the sweater will be about 9 months in size, which is about true in my case when I check on other pieces of clothing I have. Hopefully it will fit my daughter next winter...

The other super cute feature are the buttons star-shaped made by hands by south african woman too... really if baby wasn't planned for July, I would book my vacation over there to discover this wonderful country and buy a bunch of local products...for now I will follow up the Football World Cup with my love and find some place on Internet to restock on those cool yarn and buttons... :)

Last detail about my FO : machine washable and unisex so our next creation will also be able to wear it...

Happy Knitting in 2010 !!!

I begin the new year while I still knit my old WIP from 2009...but I will keep knitting on them for as long as they took to complete them all, finally !

So take a look on those projects one by one :

First the highly modified Trellis sweater for my nephew Zachary...

I think that a button vest is not really well suited for a little boy who just want to play and run all around, so I decided to turn the vest into a sweater with a bigger head opening and I also modify the sleeves. I found the originals one to be too busy and distracted my attention from the body which I want to avoid. I will post all my mods with the FO post (soon enough I hope). I will finish the first sleeve today hopefully and cast on for the second one right after.

Then what about the Pea Pod Set for my own little one to be

I did finish the second sleeve yesterday and I still have to sew it on the body and then make the matching hat. The whole thing will need a good bath and blocking to open up the lace part. I already have many button in sight to finish the project perfectly...

And my last project in my current WIP bag are the plain man sock for my dad that I begun in *sigh* August of 2008... bad me ! At least he still want them and will be very happy in those socks. I turned the heel on the second sock and going great on the foot part, just have to sit and knit a bit everyday because it's not the most exciting knitting for sure !

Target end of project for the Trellis and Pea Pod are before the end of January, and the socks... right after I'm done with previous two, wish me luck !

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...

FO : Habitat

Oh yes I am way behind on blogging and since I am constantly out of home for many reason it's hard to keep up...

So here is my latest creation :

Pattern : Habitat by Jared Flood
Yarn : Malabrigo Merino Worsted in color Azul Profondo 150
Needle : 4mm and 5mm

Cast on September 20th and cast off September 26th
Mods : none

Comments : I love love love love, adore and love again the yarn !!! Why didn't I knit before with Malabrigo ? It's now my favorite yarn ever ! It's soft, fun to knit and the colors are gorgeous, did I say that I LOVE Malabrigo ? ;)

On the serious side : pattern.... Jared Flood is a genius with cables and did a great job designing this hat. The S/M size is too short to cover my ear but that's ok because I will use it mostly in fall season here and in Swiss this winter so not too cold. I was planning to do a M/L for the Man but I think it will be a bit short because he have a bigger head than me. If I do I will use a color that both suit us to be sure... And I am so happy to finally had knit a hat for ME and no one else ! :)

What about a close-up on the cable to finish ?

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 : Thrum mittens

Yes yes yes !!! My hands will be toasty this winter to play in the snow with the Man and throw snow balls in the back of his head when he's not looking at me.... ;) lol !

Specs :

Pattern : Thrum mittens kit by Fleece artist, color is Mineral I think... but not sure it wasn't written on the pattern.

Needles : 3.5mm

Size : adult medium

Cast on : September 12Th

Cast off : September 18Th

Mods : none

Notes to myself, don't be afraid about pulling on fleece and pay attention to my hands and wrists, I don't know if it's the thrumming but my hands were very painful at the end of this. But quick and fun pattern will certainly make more.

Tonight is Stitch and bitch with the group of Quebec city ! Yippee !! :) See you tonight girls :)

FO : Bellatrix socks

Yes done under one week, then went very fast because I did not spend too much time and they are complete ! Yay !

The pattern is very fun (and free) to work with and very easy, after the first one, I knew the whole pattern by heart with the always same 8 rows (6 time st st) it's quite fast and easy to remember the pattern...

Here are the specs

Pattern : Bellatrix by Monkey Toes

Yarn : Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino in color Serengeti about 75 % of the skein

Needle : 2.5mm DPN

Cast on January 10th

Cast off January 16th

Comments : I find the sock a bit baggy on the leg, good thing that it has twisted rib at the top because if not they would fell off my leg and the heel is really too short in my taste but it goes well with the very stretchy pattern and the drops stitches. About them, this stitch pattern is really fun because you have to create hole into your knitting which is not usual at all and it had interest to the whole process. The yarn compliment the pattern well and the color combo is well choose with the story and inspiration behind the pattern (Harry Potter inspired).

2 FO in 2 weeks, not bad huh ? Be prepared, 2009 will be a big knitting year !

Drop design new collection : vote now !

Hey look at all the pretty new designs that are planned on http://www.garnstudio.com/ for fall/winter 2008... the vote is now to let them know which pattern are most attractive in whish language and this determine the schedule for translation of the patterns... must say I am totally in love with some patterns. As many knitters know : so many knit so little time !!!

Unfortunatly I can't show you pictures because they are still protected and I have no access to the pattern... so bad. But take time to vote on them and maybe I will be knitting some of these in next fall.

Umm, by the way I will have something to show tomorow...stay tuned !