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.

I'm Back

This blog has been badly ignored, almost abandoned, for the last seven months. I have nothing better in the way of excuse other than that life got in the way.  I put away my needles for the summer and all the other crafts also took a back seat to my family obligations. The next few months are also going to be busy but I hope to put up a few posts now and then.
In knitting news, I only restarted knitting last month and have knitted only two pairs of fingerless gloves.

The first one was a DROPS design that I made on comission. I always enjoy colorwork so it was a breeze. Once it was done, I wanted to knit another.

This design was reverse-engineered from an pin on pinterest. It has some embroidery too, in the form of a flower an the back of the wrist, and I add some pearl beads for good measure. I guess my eldest daughter will be claiming this pair.

  In other news, my biggest project of the year (fourteen months to be exact), the dollhouse, is nearing completion. I just need to add a few minor things and take pictures.

  Other than that, our life has been most ordinary and routine, Alhamdulillah. The weather is slowly turning milder and I feel knitting beckoning me once more. Letvus see how much I can manage in the coming months.

Spring Knitting And Sewing

The spring in definitely in the air, here in Islamabad. The winter chill is gone and we have days at a stretch, of warm sunshine, interspersed with spring showers. My latest projects suit this change in weather.

My old reader might know that I have a thing for girl dresses with knitted bodices. So, I recently got hold of two balls of cotton yarn, in light fingering weight, to make a couple of spring dresses for my 6-year-old. I bought the yarn online and was a bit worried about running out. But in the end, I managed two get both bodices done, using down to the last inch of both yarns.

Next, I went to shop for matching fabrics and thankfully found some suitable ones quickly. It took one evening to sew up the dresses and another to sew on the buttons.

I love these part-knit part-sewn dresses and would love to test some other stitch patterns in the futre, insha Allah.

In other accomplishments, I did an early spring-cleaning of my craft closet and it has made me resolved to use up some of my stash. I'm still undecided about what to cast on next, socks maybe, or a stole.

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.

Smaller Things

With our temperatures rapidly climbing and the weather turing unusually hot for this time of the year, I have quite lost the will to work on my cardigan. Instead, I did reorganisation of my yarn stash and decided to knit up some cotton yarns to free up some space. Two potholders and two dischcloths later, I had managed to use an equivalent of only two balls of yarn.

The potholders are crocheted while the dishcloths are knit.

Anyway, the potholders are pretty awesome and performing very well in the kitchen. The dishcloths have not been used as of now, but I can foresee their use in the near future.

I am already looking for some other small knitting or crochet project. Any ideas? 

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.

Driftwood Cardigan

The plain black sweater is finally done and I have been wearing it for many days. It is warm and comfortable. Its construction was a bit weird in that the pattern asked for too many sts in the underarm area. Also, the neck was too gaping. I will have to live with the former issue, but fixed the later by doing a row of slip st crochet with a smaller-sized hook.

In the end, it has turned out almost just as I had wanted _ black, plain and comfortable. Next, I have some hankering for stranded work. I may already have cast on another cardigan.

Simple and Black

Before I got caught up in sewing my daughters' dresses for a family wedding, I had cast-on for a black cardigan. I needed one for routine use, and considering how black (and sparkly black at that ) can be a difficult color, I wanted a plain sweater. And I wanted to knit contiguous sleeves. And I was feeling too lazy to figure out the details on my own. So I searched and found a free, contiguous pullover pattern and chose to knit it as a cardigan.

This is how far I came, before the wedding sewing put the inevitable pause in my knitting:

 As you can see, I have divided for sleeves and from now onwards, it is just rows of simple stockinette stitch, with a little bit of waist shaping. I hope to resume work on it in a couple of days. It is going to be an loosely-fitting, cozy sweater. For this season or next.

Poppy II

So the first finished project of 2017 gets to be a hat. More specifically a school hat for mu pre-schooler. She would wear no hat except her older sister's Poppy, so I decided to make her one of her own. This one too, is in DK weight, yarn probably being some ancient wool blend, I got from my mother-inlaw. It got done well before the preschool reopens on Monday, just right in the chillest and rainy part of our winter.

Lemongrass

This pattern must be easy to adapt, because I successfully managed it with different yarn weight, needle size and guage, considering too, that I knit this adult-sized sweater for my 10 year old. The ease was for most part due to the top-down construction and loose fit.

 

 I simply cast on with the sts for smallest size and winged it from there. I did do little math and worked out the number of sts I needed to have at the underarm, considering my gauge. (I do not remember the exact number, as it was mostly in my head). I also drove my daughter crazy, having her try it on several times along the way. Beyond the armholes it was all plain sailing.

 

The yarn is our good old acrylic. I am planning on adding a third button to the sides, to decrease gaping. Other than that, it is all done and looks good. 

New Addition And Blue Flowers Cardigan

I know this blog has been neglected for too long, but life has been crazy busy lately. It has been hard to find a moment to catch my breath and slow down, let alone find any time for knitting or other craft. Besides all the usual stuff taking up my time, there was one unusual (for us, at least) thing as well.

 Let me introduce the cutest and bounciest cause of my full days, the newest addition to our family, Ginger. We rescued it form the streets, couple of months ago. He was in a very bad shape, being very sick, weak and abandoned by his mother. After many weeks of love and care, we finally have him thriving. It is a full time job, keeping him out of mischief.

For the last two months, the only knitting I managed to get done, was a few rows here and there. The knitting was put on hold for several days at such points that required some mental calculation, because I was not free enough to sit down and do that. Extreme but very true. And thing look even bleaker for the coming months with ever-increasing loads of homework,  exams, projects that need a hand, on top of all the housework and errands.

  

     For now, I have managed to finish a cardigan for my five year old. I had a hard time picking a pattern for this yarn. I finally took inspiration from a picture and equipped with that picture and a Google Translate page for the pattern, I set about knitting this cardigan. Other than the flower chart, I did not use the translated pattern but did my own construction,knitting a round yoke and other omitting the collar.

It was an interesting knit and went smoothly for most part, except at the end when I forgot how to crochet. I kept holding my crochet hook and yarn like I hold a knitting needle and wondering why it felt weird. I had to do a net search before I figured out the problem. The little grey cells are really feeling the age.

My daughter is happy with the sweater and keeps asking when she can wear it. It will not be long now as the weather is turning cold now.

Little Pullover For June

I reclaimed this yarn from a baby sweater, that I had knit for my littlest two years ago and had since then been outgrown. After searching through all possible patterns and failing to find a suitable one, I improvised one of my own. It has turned out on the smaller end of my target size range, but I am just glad to have a finished sweater.

This sweater marks the sixth sweater of the year, namely the sweater for June. I have already cast on for the next one, which promises to be a lot more exciting.  Still, Ramadan is round the corner,  and I plan to take a break from my crafty pursuits during the holy month. To this end, I am rushing through my Eid sewing,  these days. My girls are getting some sparkling, traditional dresses this year.

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.

Selina Tunic

The March sweater got finished on Friday.  What can I say about it, it was just my kind of project _ a yoke full of colorwork, and stretches of plain stockinette stitch for mindless knitting. And it turned out pretty cute as well.

The pattern is another DROPS free one, the yarn, our local acrylic. My daughter did not want crosses in the center of colorwork,  so I replaced them with some flowers.

I have selected the pattern for the next kids' sweater, but the yarn for it still needs to be wound. While I wait for that to happen, I have started a vest for myself.
And as it is spring already, I have many sewing projects lined up.

March Sweater Progress

My knitting resolutions for 2016 include knitting at least two full-fledged sweaters for each of the four kids, plus a couple of vests and a sweater and vest for myself, insha Allah. It roughly amounts to a sweater a month. I finished one sweater for my son at the start of the year, and completed the second one for him, last month. Now I am working on the third sweater.

  It is to be a tunic/dress for my second daughter. Now that the fun part of knitting that is colorwork, is done, I feel my progress slowing down. But with half a month left, I am optimistically hopeful that it will be done within my set deadline.

Meanwhile, I am shortlisting patterns for another five sweaters for my girls. Do you have any favorites to recommend?

Endpaper Mitts

Life has been very busy lately. March is the month of kids' final examinations. So on top of all the drudgery of routine housework, I also have to help them with their exams preparation. At the same time, I am also fighting a case of common cold. Not an ideal time for crafty pursuit, but colorwork made this project to interesting enough for me to make steady progress.

Modelled by my oldest daughter 

I had wanted to knit this pattern for a very long time.  The yarns are leftover Knit Picks Stroll Solids (barn red) and Knit Picks Stroll Tonal (Springtime).
I enjoyed colorwork so much, that I have cast on another project involving it. That is to be a tunic for my middle daughter. 

Laddu Pullover v 2.0

The sweater for my son was done during the week, and a brief spell of rain, brought down the temperature low enough for him to wear it during this winter. I used my laddu pattern for the design with a few bits of modifications. Firstly, I upsized it. Secondly, I knit the sleeves in same color as the body. Thirdly, I joined the sleeves and body and knit the yoke in round. Fourthly, I incorporated some cable into the raglan decreases.

Despite all the modifications , the sweater knit up quite fast. My son approves of it and gives it a high score of nine out of ten.

Knitting Update

I am working on a sweater right now, another one for my son. It is more than half done, only half a sleeve and the yoke being left.

For the last few days, I have taken time away from i
t to sew a dress for my daughter. That dress is now done, so I hope to dedicate my craft time over the weekend, to this sweater, inshaAllah.

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.