A Knitter In Queens

A New Project

For the last two weeks I've been obsessed with Anna Hrachovec's new book, Knitting Mochimochi.  Every few minutes I find myself flipping through it.  A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting Anna at Brooklyn General for the release party for her new book.  While there, I was able to see all of the toys from her new book.  For a long time, I've had a crush on her line of knitted toys.  Last year I even bought yarn and dug out some needles to begin.  I was all ready, but never started it.

Lately, I've found myself repeatedly flipping through pages 71 to 75 of Anna's book.  The pages contain the pattern for Grouchy Couch.  When I saw him at Brooklyn General, I knew I wanted to knit him up. 

 

Knitting Mochimochi by Anna Hrachovec (Book Cover)

I'm in the middle of the colorwork section of the base.  I had a little trouble starting the base.  It took me about 2 to 3 tries to get the provisional cast-on right.  The first time I was a little overeager and didn't read the pattern and used a cable cast-on.  The second time I casted on, my stitches were all twisted and wonky. (Is that even a word? Hope you understand.)  After a half hour of watching You Tube videos on provisional cast-ons, I did it.  Yay!!!

 

The Base of Mr. Grouchy Couch

Besides, Grouchy Couch, I've been working on my Button Up Cowl.  I finished the cable pattern and am now working on a whole lot of ribbing.  It's kind of mindless, which is a plus.  Mindless TV knitting is always a plus for me. Hopefully, the next post you see here will be about it being finished.

Happy Knitting! ♥ 

The Lion & The Elephant

Well this was totally unexpected. I took this project out of my knitting bag, expecting to do a few rows and before I knew it, I was finished.  Well, truthfully, the remainder of this project was knit during the 100 degree heatwave we had this past week.  I mean, what else could I do but sit in front of the air conditioning, watch movies and knit.

I really enjoyed working on this latest project.  As I said a few posts ago, when I saw this at Knitty City, I knew I wanted to knit one up.  It was so simple and sweet. I used the yarn called for in the pattern, O-Wool Balance.  I ended up going up a few needle sizes (no surprise there) to get gauge.

First, I knit the lion.  I think the most time consuming part of this whole project was his mane, which consisted of knitting 17 two and half inch I-cords.  Once the lion was finished, I moved on to the elephant.  Everything was pretty much the same except for the ears and trunk.  The pattern gives two options for the ears.  You can either knit or crochet them.  I was all for the knitted ears, but when I began to knit them up I changed my mind.  The shape was very different from the one pictured.  I quickly came to the conclusion that the sample shown was crocheted.  So, I had to enlist my aunt to give me a basic crochet lesson.  After the ears were done, it was smooth sailing from there on.

 

Pattern: Lion and Elephant  from Itty Bitty Toys by Susan B. Anderson

Yarn: O-Wool Balance (Lion: Amber #6122, Agate #8014, Elephant: Opal #2026, Slate #2215)

Needles: Crystal Palace Double Pointed Knitting Needles US 8

             Susan Bates Crochet Hook (F)

Started: April 27, 2010

Finished: July 9, 2010

I loved making this project, I could have done without the mini I-cords, but the finished piece makes it so worth it.

Happy Knitting! ♥

On Vacation

As of 2:15p.m. exactly one week ago, my vacation officially began.  I thought that day would never come.  I've been enjoying myself and relaxing.  I've been sleeping, knitting and watching a lot of Maury Povich (It's a weakness. YOU ARE THE FATHER!)  Also, I found myself in 6 different yarn stores, two of which were in Philadelphia.  So, I think my vacation is off to an excellent start.

The last time I spoke to you all regarding any knitting, I had started Blue Sky's Button Up Cowl in Tosh Sock.  I had just began the first repeat.  Since then I've managed to make it through 4 more repeats and am in the middle of the sixth.  By now, I had expected to be further along with it.  I accredit my lack-luster speed to knitting all of those cables with my cable needle instead of without.  Once this project is complete I will be learning how to cable without a needle.  I would learn now, but since I'm in the middle of the last repeat and have ribbing left, I'll wait.

 

 

Since I began working on the cowl, I've developed a little bit of an unhealthy obsession with Madeline Tosh yarns.  At the moment, I have a pretty healthy stash of her yarns.  I love all the colorways offered.  My favorites include the red and blue colorways.  I'm not exactly sure what project will be next, but I'm pretty sure it'll be knit with a Madeline Tosh yarn.

Happy Knitting! ♥

Happy Father's Day!

I'm not sure how many dad's frequent this blog, but this video goes out to you.

Happy Father's Day!

Guess Who's Been Knitting?

Me! I know, I know! I'm never consistent with my knitting; but lately  I have been.  I think my knitting mojo has returned.  Somehow, I've been  finding the time to work on two new projects.  I am feeling very productive, what a great feeling. A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting Susan B. Anderson at Knitty City.  She had her new book, Itty Bitty Toys and samples from the book in tow.  All of the samples were beautiful.  My favorites from the book mostly included the Reversibles (two toys in 1).  My favorite is The Lion & The Elephant.  So cute!  All of the reversibles use Vermont O-Wool Balance.  I ordered & received a few skeins  for the The Lion & The Elephant a few weeks ago.  Last week, I decided to cast on.  I ended up finishing the body and head for the lion. So far it's going very quickly.

Besides working on the reversible, I decided to cast on Blue Sky Alpacas Button Up Cowl by Kristen Rengren.  I've been drooling over this cowl ever since I saw it knit up on Ravelry.  I'm using some Madeline Tosh Sock in Oxblood that I've had in the stash for awhile.  I'm really enjoying the pattern and the tonal changes in the colorway compliment the cables.  I can't wait to see this complete.

 

Happy Knitting and Happy National Teachers Day! ♥

Rocketry Baby Cardigan

Once Springtime Bandit and the Ravelympics wrapped up, my knitting mojo decided to stick around.  A little after, I had a baby shower to attend for my co-worker Bibi.  Since she was expecting a little boy I decided to knit up Dream In Color's Rocketry Baby Cardigan.  I love their colorways and have wanted to work with their yarns for awhile.  I was having a difficult time trying to choose colors for the sweater.  Once I went on Ravelry and saw Thanh's sweater, I fell in love.  The colors worked so well together.  I found out they were given in a kit from Purl Diva in Brunswick Maine.  So, I called them up and ordered one for myself.  I ended up getting the same colors as Thanh.  You can see hers here (rav link).

Rocketry Baby Cardigan In-Progress

The sweater was so easy and quick to knit up.  The directions were very clear.  It''s knit from the top down.  If you intend on making this cardigan with Classy, I suggest purchasing the yarn in a kit along with the pattern.  I used very little yarn for each 10 row section.  When I finished the body, I knit the sleeves and then picked up stitches to work on the border.  it really turned  into a beautiful sweater.  As I said above, I enjoyed working with Classy.  I love the array of colors it comes in and the fact that it's superwash helps too.  I will definitely be adding this pattern to my go to pile for baby items.

 

 

 

Pattern: Rocketry Baby Cardigan by Lindsay Pekney

Yarn: Classy by Dream In Color

        Body: November Muse, Chinatown Apple, Strange Harvest, Good Luck Jade, InVino Veritas, Cloud Jungle

        Braid: Blue Lagoon, Strange Harvest 

        Border: Deep Seaflower

Needles: 24" Addi Circular Knitting Needles US 9

             24" Addi Circular Knitting Needles US 7    

Started: February 19, 2010

Finished: March 3, 2010

Happy Knitting!   ♥

Springtime Bandit

DONE, Done and done! It feels so good to say that, especially since this was my first finished knit in 4 months.  This was my first shawl and definitely won't be my last.  Although the pattern is 4 repeats, I knit 7.  I wanted the shawl to be bigger.  It was a lot easier than I thought it would be, as this was my first experience with lace and repeats.  The pattern was very easy to memorize.  I was able to to sit back and knit while watching TV once I got the hang of the repeats.  I was about halfway done with the edging when I stopped back in December.  When I resumed, I had a little trouble with one or two rows.  Thank goodness I used a lifeline.  I ended up ripping back until I corrected my mistake.  (Never knit lace at 2 in the morning when you only got 4 hours of sleep the night before.)  I also enjoyed working with the yarn, The Fibre Company's Terra.  So soft. I completed the shawl during the Ravelympics.  I can honestly say that if I didn't join in, the shawl would still be sitting in its unfinished state in my knitting bag.  I participated in WIP's-Dancing.  I ended up getting a gold medal. YEAH!!

Pattern: Springtime Bandit by Kate Gagnon Osborn

Yarn: Terra by The Fibre Company (sh. Yarrow) - 6 skeins

Needles: 32" Addi Circular Knitting Needles US9

Modifications: I knit 7 repeats instead of 4.

Started: July 10, 2009

Finished: February 16, 2010

Springtime Bandit Blocking

A few months ago, a blog friend Kim (AKA - Afroknits (Rav)) sent me a gift in the mail.  She sent me beautiful stitch markers and two books, Beautiful Knitting and Knitted Socks.  I've been using the stitch markers and flipping through the books and feel horrible that it's taken me this long to blog about it.  Thanks again Kim!

Happy Knitting!  ♥

Ravelympics

Hello all, and happy very belated new year.  Per a conversation with some friends and coworkers about my lack of consistency in the posting department and the recent time off, I had some time to sit down and write this post.  I don't know where to begin. Whenever work gets intense, this blog ends up taking a hiatus until things calm down.  :(  These last two months, work has been insanely overwhelming.  Lately, I've felt like I don't have time for anything.  This year, my school isn't going through an official Quality Review (an intense 3 day walkthrough by 3 or more DOE officials).  So, this year, my principal has decided to have 3 mock reviews from now until June to keep us on our toes and prepare us for next years review.  Every time I think about it, I have a little panic attack. One day last week, one of my students came up and gave me a hug.  He said, "I thought you needed a hug." I guess the stress was really showing.  Thank goodness I'm off this week.

As a result of my week off I've picked back up my knitting.  The last time I knit a stitch was back in December.  This past weekend I decided to participate in the Ravelympics.  I'm participating in WIPS-Dancing.  I'm working on Springtime Bandit for the event.  In December, I managed to get to the middle of the edge chart. I was so close.  I'm hoping to finish the shawl in the next day or two.  If I finish early, I'll try to go for gold in the Junior Olympics with the Rocketry Baby Cardigan by Dream In Color.  This will be a baby shower gift for a co-worker.  The shower is in March.  I hope I don't take as long as I did with the shawl.  I'll be using the same yarn called for in the pattern, DIC Classy. 

 

Springtime Bandit

Happy Knitting!  ♥

J's Booties

Pictured above are the booties I made for my co-workers nephew, J. 

Pattern: Posy Booties by Martin Storey from Jaeger Handknits Collection For Babies and Children (JB29)

Yarn: Classic Elite Princess (sh. 3475 - Beyond Beige)

Needles: Crystal Palace 9" Straight Knitting Needles US 3

Tools: Clover Pom Pom Maker (small)

Started: November 9, 2009

Finished: November 13, 2009

Happy Knitting!

PS - Go HERE to get your Interweave rebate coupon.  In honor of the holiday season and your LYS, Interweave is giving its customers a $5 rebate on any interweave product purchased until 12/31/09.  This includes books, magazines and DVD's. 

2 months and 18 days

I can't believe it's been that long since I last posted.  Time sure flies.  I didn't intend for my next post to be two months away from my last.  I've been working hard. This year I'm in teaching third grade again and am very happy.  I'm working with some great people this year.  I have 26 students, which is a nice break from the 31 I had last year. Those 5 extra bodies make such a big difference.  I loved my class from last year, but they seemed more like an army troop than a class. 

In addition to school, I have been doing some knitting and traveling.  During the first week of school, I knit up two Brambles.  One went to my aunt and one to my cousin.  I love making these little guys.  They are so cute and make such a nice gift.  Now, besides the two Brambles that I completed in September, I haven't been doing much knitting until recently.  I always find it difficult to manage schoolwork and my knitting in the beginning of the school year.  For the past two and a half months my poor Springtime Bandit has been sitting in my knitting bag untouched, collecting dust.  

Pattern: Bramble Owl Softie by Sonya Philip

Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers (sh. 9456 - Left) (sh. 1910 - Right)

         Lambs Pride Worsted (sh. M-10 Creme)   

         Galler Yarns Flore II (sh. 014 - Left)  (sh. 002 - Right)

          Kid Classic (sh. 817 - Bear)

Needles: Lantern Moon 7" Ebony Double Pointed Knitting Needles US 9

Started: Spetember 10, 2009

Finished: September 13, 2009

A couple of weeks ago, my co-worker Francesca commissioned me to make her new nephew a Trellis sweater and some Posy Booties.  I finished the booties and am in the process of completing the Trellis.  In both projects I'm using the same yarn and colors I used previously.

As I said above, I've been doing some traveling.  In October, I took a trip to Rhinebeck for the NYS Sheep & Wool Festival.  I purchased yarn from The March Hare and Green Mountain Spinnery.  The next weekend I drove to Hartford, CT for Stitches East.  This was my first Stitches and definitely will not be my last.  It was held at the Connecticut Convention Center.  Being indoors was an added plus.  Yarn and warm hands go together beautifully.

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Knitting!