Calorimetry

As usual I'm far behind the trend. I think everybody has about eight Calorimetries by now, and I can see why!

Pattern: Calorimetry, from Knitty.
Needles: Size 8, 16" circular needles
Yarn: 25g Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool, hand dyed by me. This was the first yarn I ever dyed.
Supplies: One purple button from my Grandma's stash, two stitch markers

I cast on 88 stitches and repeated row 5 12 times - I think.

I took these photos on my phone, and they are the best I can do at the moment.

Bag Take 2

The reusable produce bag quest continues. I made this one with some nylon mesh, some crochet nylon twine, and my sewing machine. I'm mailing this one off to someone who is going to try to use it to death as a tester. I already have some ideas for Bag 2.5.

An action shot of Bag 2.0.

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Two-color hat

Last September I took a two-color knitting class with Trudi, who writes Knit Madness. The class project was a simple headband or hat. I thought it wouldn't fit anyone I knew and would just stand as a monument to my learning experience, but I decided to finish it off as a hat and guess who it fit?



Taken October 29, 2007.

Spike! I know this is not the best shot for showing off my colorwork, but it will have to do for now. Spike is starting to outgrow the hat so I'll have to make him a new one for the chilly time between now and May. I really enjoy stranded knitting; I hope that after all this time I can remember how to do it. I even got a copy of Folk Knitting in Estonia for Christmas!

I cleaned up the finished objects section of the sidebar the other day, and I realized that some of my finished objects from 2007 were listed but not blogged about. Now we're in for it.

Marvel-ous

Good morning! It feels like a Monday today, the beginning of a new week. As it turns out, it's Tuesday. Oh well. Today Spike and I are venturing to the post office and the store through some freshly fallen snow.

I have a quick confession - I bought a loaf of bread yesterday. One of my goals for 2008 was to begin making our bread. I planned for sandwiches for lunch this week and ran out of time yesterday, so I bought ome store bread that doesn't have high fructose corn syrup. I'm insulted by HFCS in my bread!

Of course, there was HFCS in the hamburger buns we ate Sunday and Monday night. I can't win every battle, I guess.

I do have a finished object to report! I made a garter stitch scarf out of a yarn called Marvel that I got at Jo-Ann's.

Yarn: Marvel, 100% wool thick and thin yarn
Needles: Size US 17
Pattern: garter stitch, 13 stitches wide, using the whole skein



(ravelry link)

This is the same yarn and pattern that I used to make a scarf for myself last year. That post is here.

2007 Finished Objects

Marvel Scarf 2

Spike Mittens

Ballband Dishcloth

Halloween Costume

Crib Dust Ruffle

Odessa 2

Two-color Hat

Baby Kimono

Newborn Wool Shorties

Prize Yarn

Baby Bunting

Marvel Scarf

Fetching

(posted during a reorganization effort, February 19, 2008)

With Liberty and Warshrags for All

ballband dishcloth 10232007
Originally uploaded by stephanie with the yarn

The Ballband Dishcloth from Mason-Dixon Knitting from the wrapper around the yarn. I used the cream from a cone and the red, cream and blue from a separately purchased ball. I've seen nicer looking dishcloths, but it was an experiment!

Six Weeks

This is not becoming a baby blog, I promise. In fact, this is actual KNITTING CONTENT.

I made the baby kimono from Mason-Dixon Knitting.

Here it is blocking, in January:



Here it is, modeled by Spike at 2 days old:




And at four weeks:



Freeze!



I mention this because it is now too small, mostly due to the sleeves. If I had it all to do again, I would have made short sleeves.

(For those inquiring minds, the diaper is a Happy Heiny's size small in a monkey and palm tree print. Too cute!)

Edit, later in the afternoon:

Debbie asked how I fastened the kimono since I didn't use the pattern's suggestion of a ribbon. I bought two dinosaur buttons at Jo-Ann's and used the eyelet edge of the kimono as button holes. I just sewed them to the appropriate spots on the other side of the kimono so that when the kimono is on the holes line up with the buttons.

Five Weeks

Everybody says that the time flies, and it does. I can't believe my little newborn is so grown up already. Last Wednesday, at four weeks, he weighed 10lbs 11oz, up from 8lbs 5oz at birth. He's already outgrown some of his clothes and smaller cloth diapers.

Including the soaker I knitted.



I thought it looked big, so I waited to try it on him. By the time I did it barely fit! So this was the first and last wearing. I guess I'd better get cracking on the next one before it's too late.

Coming soon... random meme.

I dyed.

I actually dyed a while ago at this point, but please refer to my prior two posts as to why I haven't mentioned it.




On the left, an oceanic type thing for Stephieface. On the right, cotton candy-esque business for Radmama. They're both 100g of merino sockweight.



Then there's this accident. I tried to dye three colors at once in one pot. It was working until I let the water boil (whoops). The yarn didn't felt but the colors mixed, and it doesn't look that bad despite the change in plans.



A while ago I sewed cloth wipes for little Spike, as we are cloth diapering. So far, we love it!



This one of Spike's friends modelling a newborn chinese prefold diaper held on with a Snappi - the newer alternative to diaper pins.

I'm not the only one expecting.

Stephieface - 2-3 days
Radmama - 4-6 days

Now you know... so when you get that package, rip it open!

I hope you're as pleased as I am with my dyeing.

Baby Bunting Bag

This has been a good year for reporting my finished objects thus far - as well as creating them! Here is one of the latest:

It's a baby bunting bag, sleep sack, whatever you'd like to call it. A prior entry on the subject can be found here. The sleeves, despite their appearance, are the same length. I promise.

Details - This is made from Simplicity pattern #5720. I also made the hat. I don't have any complaints about the project other than it was my first sewing pattern since circa 1992 and I didn't have any helpful folks around to tell me what things meant. I either had to wing it or scour the internets for assistance.

The zipper was quite a feat, and once it was in I decided it was good enough for a first try; the collar is a little crooked as a result. I'm still not sure what the instructions wanted me to do with that bias tape at the top, so I took matters into my own hands and I think it looks pretty nice. I don't think I pre-washed my flannel on hot so both this bag and the matching hat shrunk a little more in the wash. I'm sure that Spike won't mind any of these things though.

Speaking of Spike, he is creating a ferocious nesting urge here. So much so that I'm anxious for Paul to wake up so that I can vacuum. Spike's nest is coming together nicely so far, considering it is still without furniture. The furniture story is such a saga that it should be only repeated in three-part harmony with full orchestration with shovels and rakes and implements of destruction, so perhaps it is best to simply say that one way or the other, a week from today there will be a crib, changing table and rocking chair in that room. Until then, the pack and play sits quietly in waiting, ready to be called into service.

Quilt in Progress

I finished the teal blanket for my mother-in-law while my mother was here visiting. Of course, in my glee at finishing and my zeal to send it home with its new owner, I forgot to take any pictures. I intend to fix this at my first opportunity.

I also finished the bunting bag. I have no excuse for not photographing it excessively. Please don't shoot me.

I do, however, have a picture of the quilt I'm working on. In fact, I have several progress pictures. But here is the quilt top so far:

Other than what must be cutting and sewing errors compounding to make these blocks 6.25 inches square rather than 6.5, it's going well so far. The directions have you piece each row into pairs (well, 1&2, 3&4, then sew 2 to 3 and 4 to 5) to complete rows before sewing the rows together. I know I'm committing some sort of quilt blasphemy but I'm sewing 1 &2, 2&3, etc and then row 1 to row 2 before starting row 3. It helps me keep the seams where they need to be, especially since that whole business with all the blocks being the same size is more of a suggestion than something that actually worked out.

Did I ever show you this?

It's Fetching from Knitty. I used just over 1 skein, and made a few modifications. I decreased in the top cable section to make the part around my fingers a little tighter, and skipped the picot bind off. I know I used a tighter bind off recommended by someone, somewhere for this pattern, but I can't remember what it was. If anybody is dying to know, I'll try to figure it out!

Stitches of another color

I've been sewing.

I had some issues with tiny little technicalities, like when I bought a remnant I didn't know if it was 44 or 60 inches wide, and as it turns out I chose wrongly. So I had to go hunting for more flannel.




How could I resist? Look at that face...

I thought I'd start small, since the only sewing I've done in over a decade was a set of curtains last week (on the snow day). The results?



For you technical types who want to see the guts of every project (uh... me):



The darn cats don't "do" hats so I can't get any modeling pics.

I'm working on the bunting bag (that would look like either of the two views above that don't have legs). Zippers are, errr, trying. Not to mention zippers involve pinning (getting good at this) and pressing (again, I am an ironing goddess) and basting. Basting. I can baste a turkey, but a zipper? Yeesh.

In other project news, I have two projects on the needles with deadlines. It's always the deadline projects that throw me off. One is a scarf and one is a blanket, and both are supposed to be birthday presents. To finish the blanket in time, I need to complete 0.71 strips per day. I don't know what that means exactly, other than I am going to be crocheting a lot for the next week.

And then there's the scarf... but it's a ladder yarn, and garter stitch on size 15 vampire stakes. I think I'll make it.

Scarftacular

scarftacular
Originally uploaded by stephanie with the yarn.

Lookit! I finished a scarf. The yarn name is Marvel, it's garter stitch and quite cozy actually. More of a description on the photo's page.

Also, today I'm taking a few tips from the Harlot. I wonder what I could be up to?

2006 Finished Objects

These projects were completed in 2006.

Branching Out
Felted Noro bag (no real picture)
Salt and Pepper scarf
Basic Cable Hat
Anarchist Easter Egg Wool
Jaywalkers

(Posted during a reorganization effort in March 2007.)