NorCalKnitter

Name:
Location: Crescent City, California, United States

I love to make things with my hands. My current passions are knitting and spinning.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

More FO's

I have been a knittin' fool lately. I have completed several things, but they have all been quick projects. I knitted a baby hat in 2 days for a baby shower, then neglected to get a picture of it.
Chemo Hats: I have finished 2 since Jan. 1st. I made them both for a young woman with breast cancer. I have knit these before, and a local breast cancer support group reccomends the Cascade Fixation because it is soft and not itchy. There is quite a range of colors to choose from including pastels, solids, self-striping, and bright colors. I have now knit a total of 4 of the Chemo hats.

Specs - Pattern - Chemo Caps
Yarn - Cascade Fixation - Colors 9245 (striped) and 3077 (pale pink)
Needles - Size 6, Addi Turbos, 16" circulars
Time to finish - The first hat took about 1 week to finish. The last hat took 5 days of knitting in the car, in front of the TV and on lunch breaks at work.
I have also been spinning. The skein below is the first yarn for the new year.
Fiber - Blue faced Leicester - 4-5 oz.
Color - Pink Panther by Snake River Fiberworks (purchased in Montana while on vacation last summer).
Spinning details - spun 2 ply, 9 WPI. 138 yds. I also have another 42 yd. skein.

My fourth hat for this month is the Fake Isle hat by Amy King to match the last pair of Fake Isle Mitts that I made. The yarn is Lang Mille Colori #48 for the main color, and GGH - Bel Air #07 for the contrasting color. Time to knit - 1 week. I love this pattern, it is so quick and satisfying.
My husband's birthday was on the 13th and I had to search a bit to try to find something to knit for him. He doesn't wear knit sweaters or vests, knits socks are too hot, knit caps make his head look too small (in his opinion). I did find a knitted tie pattern in the new Fons & Porter's "For the Love of Knitting" magazine that just came out - and he does wear ties!!
Time to knit - probably 2 weeks (it went on forever, plus I was trying to keep it a secret)
Yarn - Happy Feet by Plymouth Yarn Company, color #1. Superwash Merino and Nylon. It took aprox. 1 1/2 skeins to make the tie.
Needles Addi Turbo circulars, US size 2
Pattern - Garter Stitch Tie

Saturday, January 10, 2009

My First Pattern !

I recently made the Fake Isle Hat by Amy King as a gift for my daughter-in-law. I really enjoyed knitting the hat, but felt that there should be another article of clothing to complete the ensemble. I used the basic Potluck Wool Mitts pattern by Missa from kpixie.com with part of the charted pattern from the Fake Isle Hat and voila’, there you have it!!

I finally finished editing and uploading the pattern for the Fake Isle Mitts on Ravelry. This is my first experience with designing and writing a pattern. If you are a Ravelry member, you can find it in the pattern section - search under the "Mitts" tag.

I finished the Mitts on the left before Christmas, but was waiting until I had the pattern available to post a picture here.
The yarn used is Lang-Mille Colori , color #048 for the main color. The contrasting color is GGH - Bel Air , color # 07.
Now that I have finally fiished the pattern, I am kinda nervous. I am hoping that there will be some interest in it. I would welcome any comments, positive or constructive!
I have continued to knit furiously on presents and managed to finish the Christmas/New Years presents for my mom and sister. It was very stormy outside when I took these pics and I was having trouble getting good lighting. The color is really very pretty.
Yarn - Lana Grossa Mellenweit Cotton Stretch, color #8004
Needles - U.S. Size 1 Addi Turbo circulars
Pattern - Celtic Braid Socks by Cabin Fever - (#157)
Time to complete - aprox. 2 weeks
Here is a close-up of the cable pattern -----I also finisihed some fingerless arm warmers for my sister

Pattern - Whitewater Wristwarmers (originally offered in Mag Knits, now available in Ravelry for free.)
Needles - U.S. size 1 Addi Turbo circulars.
Yarn - Oops, can't find the label without tearing the house apart. I do know that it is part Alpaca and part silk!!
The yarn (whatever it is!) was very nice to work with. The pattern knit up quickly and yet was challenging enough not to be boring. Using stitch markers really helped to keep track of the pattern repeats. I would do this pattern again probably for myself or as another gift.

Labels: , ,