Northern Wind Cardigan

The only cardigan I knit this winter is for my eldest daughter. My husband picked out the color and yarn, while my daughter selected the design. The yarn is some Turkish acrylic from our local yarn shop. The design is a free DROPS pattern.

It was a fairly straightforward knit, nothing too exciting or boring. I managed to finish without running out of yarn which was a win. The real callange was getting the lower scalloped edge to not curl. I crocheted two rows of slip sts to counteract that and it works for now.

My daughter is happy with it and that is what I was aiming for. Next up are a few smaller projects.

Little Knits

This winter, my knitting has been sporadic at best. I just managed to finish a few small projects and worked on and off on a larger one. The first small project that got completed was a vest for my seven-year-old. It was entirely a utility project as my daughter needed a warm underlayer to her winter clothes and I needed to use up some yarn that I quite disliked. So there it is.

The second small project was a pair of fingerless gloves for my daughter's friend. The design was selected by the recipient. This pair knit up quick and again used up some of my stash.

 The bigger project that is so near completion is a sweater for my eldest daughter. Hope to get it done this weekend and share it soon afterwards, in sha Allah.

Gloves

The past few months have been intense. Important family affairs took much of my attention, time and energy, so I had little to give to this blog. My crafts slowed down but did not halt, as I would be lost without them.

Coming to knitting, I got some comission work for the first time in my life. I used to dread knitting to someone else's specifications, but it was surprisingly pleasant. I knit some things, I would not normally knit and it was refreshing and fun.

As for the actual projects, these were fingerless gloves_ four pairs. The first was straightforward enough, a DROPS pattern which went fast and quick.

The other three I had to reverse-engineer from some photo the client sent me. There were two pairs of same design in different sizes.

The last one was unique in that main and contrasting colors were revesed for the two gloves of the pair and there were pompoms. Now while I know how to make pompoms, I have not had much practice. So it was an interesting experiment and I got them right in the second try.

Here is the completed comission in full. I am happy to report that it was well-received.

The glove saga does not end here, as last week, my son handed  me some yarn (he has some of his own, isn't that cool?) and asked me to make a pair for him. He drew out the design for me. This one was simple enough to knit, but six rows of duplicate stitch took almost three hours. He is well-pleased with his design.

Hopefully these are all the gloves for this season. I'm eager to work on something new and have just cast on a different kind of project.

Winter Fantasy Cardigan

After a summer-long hiatus, this project was recently picked up again.  At that point, it needed a few inches of knitting on the body and both sleeves. A few rows on it every night and it is finally done. I sewed the buttons on it last evening and wove in the ends this morning.

I like stranded work so this was a good, fun project. Knitting top-down meant reversing the instructions and doing some recalculation to adjust gauge. The cardigan is on the smaller side, because I was tired of baggy sweaters (and perhaps am a bit deluded about my actual size). All-in-all it was a satisfactory project and just the thing to bring back the knitting mood.

Craft Break

The final examinations are over and the school is out for the older kids, so I have a bit more free time, Alhamdolillah. I have been putting that time to good use by expanding my craft horizons. I have been indulging in clay art and jewelry making. Only a beginner in both, I have had a lot of fun with both. My oldest daughter joins in the fun and has been enjoying herself a good deal. We made some fridge magnets, candle holders and heaps of jewelry.

 Besides all that and a bit of sewing, I also managed to start the colorwork cardigan that I was hoping to, in the last post. I have never made a colowork sweater for myself and had been wanting to for some time.

 The pattern is a DROPS free pattern, but I decided to knit it from the top down. The yoke is done and I am halfway down the body now. It is looking good, though the progress has been slow on 3 mm needles. I am thinking of adding the colorwork to the sleeve cuffs. That should keep it interesting.

Toddler Dress

The finished sweater (in this case, I use the term loosely to include all types of clothing) for the month of May, is the dress for my youngest daughter that I started last October. It was a good thing that I cast on for a size bigger than her size at the time, seeing how long it took me to finish it.

 It is another DROPS pattern, one which I have knit once before,  back in 2010, for my niece. I knit the 3/4 year size, and the skirt portion had knitting in it equivalent to an adult sweater.  It got boring and went into time-out, at the end of last year. But I got it out a couple of weeks ago and knit the remaining few inches on the skirt. From then on, it went relatively fast, and I am happy to have it finished.

Now that I have no project on the needles, I have been dealing with the pre cast- on inertia, where I take my time getting things like pattern , yarn and supplies ready for the next project ready.  And some quiet time to actually cast on. This may happen tonight or tomorrow.

 Meanwhile, we have a birthday to celebrate. Our middle daughter  as turned five today.

April Vest And Spring Break

So while I waited for the right time to wind yarn for the next sweater for my daughter, I cast on a vest for myself. This change of plans means that the sweater of the month, for April, is this vest. It got knit up pretty quick and had minimal finishing. Just the shoulder seams and a row of crochet around the neckline. I ran out of yarn, right at the end and used some variegated leftover sock yarn, to finish it up.

 

The pattern is another DROPS free pattern. It was an easy knit and the result is very flattering and practical. The side ribbing plus the waist shaping makes sure of that. The yarn is of unknown composition, upcycled from an old sweater.

In other news, we took a much-deserved vacation before the grind of new school year kicked in. It was our first vacation in a very long time.

We went to Murree, which is a very popular hill station near Islamabad. People go there all the time, for many it is a routine thing. But our kids got to see it for the first time.

 The timing of our trip could not have been better, it being the lull period before the start of summer season, Murree was not jam-packed with tourists.

The weather was amazing.We spent wonderful three days filled with sightseeing, shopping and dining out. It was a nice time to relax and unwind and enjoy our family. It made us determined to make vacation more of regular feature rather than once in a decade thing.

Dreams Of Aran Pullover

 

Three weeks ago, I made a tall claim of getting this sweater done in a week. But seasonal illnesses took most of December away from me and I was only able to really knit during the last week.

 Still, I cannot help but be thrilled about being able to post a FO (finished object) on the first day of the new year. Especially, since it means that I have finally finished a project that I started in October 2014, and that I was mostly successful in getting it done by the end of December (It was all done except the neckband).
You can tell by the length of time it was on the needles, that it was not an easy project. Like all knitting project for men, it took too long to grow. The cables slowed the knitting even further. Then I ran out of yarn, with both sleeves to go, and could not find the color in the same yarn wight. So after much misgiving, I knit the sleeves with two strands of much thinner yarn, held together, and am happy to report that the difference between two yarns is barely noticeable.

 

The pattern, like most DROPS patterns, was a bit difficult to decipher at places, but was well-worth the effort. In the end, I am totally pleased with the sweater and the fact that it got done in time for my son to wear during the winter season. My son rates it an eight out of ten, which is not bad at all, considering he compares it to his Neville sweater, which is totally awesome.

Neville Sweater

I started this sweater in March and worked slowly on the body. Then it remained mostly untouched during the summer, only to be taken out last month. At the time of my last post, two weeks back, I was working on the first sleeve. Continuing on, I knitted both sleeves and joined them to the body and knitted up the fair-isle yoke to finish up the sweater.

 The yarn is our local acrylic, the pattern is a Garnstudio DROPS free design. I chose to make an adult size sweater for my ten-year-old, because it is a bit tiring when kids grow out of the handknits after a single season. My son can wear this one with rolled cuffs this year, and hopefully will last him a few more years.

The plain black part was boring and tedious stockinette st, and it was extremely slow-going, but the things looked up with the yoke. I loved knitting the fair-isle part. And the end result was totally worth all the slog.

The sweater has been well received, my son did not want to take it off, regardless of the fact that it was 32 C today. My husband also thought it was outstanding. And as a bonus, I think I got my knitting mojo back with this one.

Fair Isle Baby Set

 

 This baby set winds up my baby knitting, unless I decide to knit a random vest or two. I took my time with knitting this set but still it got done pretty fast. The jacket, cap and socks are one DROPS pattern and the pants are another DROPS pattern. I have knit the later twice before, in fact the last baby pants were also made in this pattern.

The yarn is all our local acrylic in DK weight and I love how it is far softer than the usual stuff, and has a nice variegation to it.

This little fair Isle project has put me in the mood for some more colorwork and I am contemplating an intarsia project next.

Cabled Baby Jacket

 

This one turned out far better then my last baby cardigan. But then, I have always had good experience with DROPS patterns, even though the instructions can be a little tricky and hard to understand. This was a joy to knit and so cute to boot. However I got unlucky with the yarn as the second ball of yarn turned out to be a shade different in color and also texture. You can pick out the difference if you look closely at the collar. That put quite a damper on my knitting spirits and I am now debating if I should continue with the matching bonnet.

Pink Baby Set

This was one deceptive little (!?!) project. Despite being for a toddler, it required almost as much work as an adult sweater.  But I think it is worth the effort as it turns out so cute.I made a similar one for my older daughter in my pre-blog era. It was a big hit. The pattern was easier to follow, second time around.Knitting more rows of ribbing at the leg cuffs as in the pattern, would have made them a bit narrower but I ran out of yarn. The yarn is our local acrylic, which works beautifully for kids in our climate.

Fingering weight and 2.5mm needles for the last 6 weeks, I think I need a change now. Most probably I will be casting on a vest in worsted weight.

Little Things

 Lately, I have been sticking to small and simple knitting projects, so that when I do get some knitting time at the end of a long day, I have something mindless and relaxing to work on. Besides, it is simply too hot to handle any bigger projects.

   I managed to complete this pair of pants for the baby. I used this pattern earlier to make a pair and loved it enough to knit another.

And also a pair of ribbed tube socks that use up leftovers.

Next on the needles is a pair of socks for my husband, using self-patterning yarn. It has been the most relaxing knit I have done in some time, very therapeutic.

Lace Cardigan

I started this cardigan about two months back. I wanted to take this DROPS pattern and make it my daughter's size (5-6 years). So I worked out the maths, knit the body and the sleeves up to the armholes, then chickened out at the idea of set-in sleeves and decided to do raglan sleeves instead. Also, I opted for a round neckline and in the end, I ran out of pink yarn, so had to improvise and do a lace portion in orange color.

All in all, if was an interesting project and turned out OK. The cardigan is a bit large for my not-yet-five year old, but she will grow into it, inshaAllah. My only concern is that the sleeves might be disproportionately longer. Or not. The yarns are Mondial Delicata Baby (pink), Knit Picks Palette (orange) and some KoolAid dyed wool, leftover from my tangled yoke cardigan.

DROPS Cabled Jumpsuit and Basque Hat

Here goes the first set for the baby. It is a DROPS pattern, which was a bit hard to decipher, leading to small bursts of frogging. Especially the part where the cables start, the stitch count seemed off and I had to work it out on my own. Other than that, it was a quick knit and seems to be well-sized. I knit it in 6/9 months size. The hat is the one modeled with the jumpsuit, though it does not exactly match, with no cables and all garter st. It turned out a bit too large, a toddler size. I have tried to fix it by running a couple of rows of elastic sewing thread through the head band. The yarn is Bally DK, our good local acrylic.
  Next up is a baby sweater, another DROPS design and thankfully, it has been a breeze to knit so far. Hope to post the FO during the next week, inshaAllah.

Baby Dress And Bonnet

I have been working on another dress for my niece, with a matching bonnet. This is another gorgeous DROPS pattern. Armhole shaping instructions were a bit confusing on the pattern, but other than that, it was pretty straight forward. I knit size 12/18 months.My only modification was omitting the crochet edging at the bottom and sleeve cuffs. The yarn I used is Knit Picks Comfy fingering weight (color- flamingo).

DROPS Baby Dress / Vest

I have been working on a baby vest / dress for my niece.The pattern is a free one from Garnstudios  DROPS design. The yarn I used is Knit Picks Comfy fingering weight (color- jelapeno). It is a lovely yarn, so soft and squishy. The project was great fun once the bottom ruffles were done-I was not exactly thrilled to do 420 sts on 2.5 mm needles for the ruffle.

  This vest reminds me of how baby projects can be so sweet and cute!