Ribbed Tank Top

Having discovered "Ravelry," I have been posting over there, rather than keeping up here, so these projects are going to be post-dated a bit. 

METHOD:
I started this on 4-23-07 and finished 8-18-07. 

This was a LionBrand pattern, from the website, and I had it in my head I would make a bunch of these, to fit the new "reduced" body I have now :) (20 pounds lost! and 5 inches gone from my waistline!)  It's done on LionBrand MicroSpun in color Turquoise. I purchased four skeins and had a lot left over. The piece was worked on #6 circulars and modified from the 2-piece pattern, so I wouldn't have to seam it and the sides would be even. 

AND WHAT DID WE LEARN?
1. I had issues with the ribbing and the decreasing. The count looks off and decreasing by one means you have an off-rib pattern.  
2. It didn't end up quite long enough, but that's my fault as I had tons of yarn and I need to remember I'm not a teenager. 

3. I liked this enough I bought fabric for a matching skirt I hope I can finish in the near future!

4. For something that only cost $6.64 I'm pretty happy with it!

A special gift for Captain Phil

Yeah, I'm a geek. So what. I love the show "Deadliest Catch" and for kicks I thought I would make my fave Cap'n a hat like the one I made father-in-law. So here 'tis.

METHOD:
Exactly the same as before. This is a pattern from Knitter's Magazine. It's garter stitch all through, with grafting so it's seamless. Or rather, it's supposed to be. I did this on #4 circular needles, just like before. I hope it fits! The base yarn is Debbie Bliss Cashmerino, and the flags are done in what I had leftover of the Cascade Wool.

AND WHAT DID WE LEARN?
1. To slip the darn first stitch on short rows!!!!! I didn't notice I had forgotten this until the hat was like halfway done.
2. There is definately a right and wrong side to garter stitch, when you're putting two colors together. Starting on the wrong side will give you a thin line of color before you're supposed to have it. Starting on the right side eliminates the line.
3. My floats are too tight. The flag for "P" is pulling in so much, but there's not a lot I can do.
4. Grafting in garter stitch. Looks good!
5. Each one of these I make still look amateurish, but they're getting better.

Here's hoping you like it, Phil!

Lace-Edged T-Shirt

Finally finished this one last night, after leaving off for a while because of

A. Christmas
and
B. The pattern is TOTALLY screwed up.

METHOD:
The yarn is from KnitPicks, a cotton frise yarn called "Crayon." I used color "periwinkle." I had to use a little larger needle than recommended -- #s 6 and 7 circular.

AND WHAT DID WE LEARN?:
The pattern is royally screwed up. That's the last time I'm buying a pattern from them, but the yarn is very nice and I may buy more of it. Someone on one of the knitting forums also had issues with the pattern.

Something went wrong when setting in the sleeves. One side of the lace is not connected properly, I think. That armhole is also a little smaller than it probably should be.

I enjoyed knitting in the round, and would have enjoyed it more IF the pattern instructions hadn't been off on the decreasing. I had a couple of questions about reverse shaping, which the local knitting group helped me to figure out. This was definitely a harder thing to knit, but I do feel like I learned a lot.

Semaphore Hat

Another late Christmas present, but I just couldn't figure out how to do intarsia in garter stitch. I tried SO many times, and frankly I'm still not happy with how it turned out. I'm hoping to get a pic of him wearing it soon. I chose this design because he goes fishing in the Ozarks and since he's bald, I figure this would keep his head warm.

METHOD:
The pattern was in the Knitter's Magazine Spring 2006 issue. The semaphore spells out MIKE for my pop-in-law. The base is Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Chunky (YUM!) and the flags are done in Cascade Yarns 128. The whole thing was knit on #4 circular needles.

AND WHAT DID WE LEARN?:
How to do intarsia in garter stitch, that Cashmerino is FUN to knit with, and that I really really need to pay attention when I'm counting. Also, this was my first experience with short-row shaping. The hat itself looks good, it's the flag (actually the first one) that needs work.

Boucle Poncho

I loved the colors in this yarn so much I ordered some of it from Smileys to make this poncho.

METHOD:
Done in Lionbrand Funfur "Lava" and LionBrand Boucle "Snow Cone," I used 10.5 needles, which seem to be my favorites for bulky yarns. It's one of Lionbrand's free patterns, and I had a devil of a time trying to figure out what color fur would match those weird purples in the boucle.

AND WHAT DID WE LEARN?
1. That I should have seamed this with thread instead of the boucle, as the bulkiness of the boucle made the seams overly bulky.
2. How to pick up stitches around an edge.
3. That LionBrand tells you to buy waaaaaaay more yarn than you will actually ever need.
4. I don't care much for hoods.

More socks! Now I want some for me.

Sock redux. Another gift for mom. She was supposed to get these for her birthday. In September. Of last year. I'm SO bad.

METHOD:
Lionbrand Sock yarn Magic Stripes again, in the purple color. Done from the pattern on the label, on #3 dpns.

AND WHAT DID WE LEARN?:
One is still shorter than the other. Maybe I need to knit for people with odd-sized feet?

I can't wait to make more socks, but I want to keep them for myself!

First Abandoned Project

I started this tank top at the monthly knit day at Borders, and was all excited about it for a week, until I started wearing the other one and realized I don't like the way it fits.

This is the same yarn, Caron's Jewel Box, only I thought I'd actually try to knit it to gauge this time. I'm just not keen on having no shaping around the waistline and under the ribs. I mean, I HAVE a waist, and I'd like to see it! The white version looks dumpy. The pattern is not flattering.

I took the jump. I frogged it and rewound the yarn back into a ball.


AND WHAT DID WE LEARN?:
It actually feels good to rip out and abandon something hideous. Now I can devote my time and energy to something that looks better.