Steggie

When this pattern came out in Knitty last year, I knew it was just perfect for my dinosaur-crazy son. Even though he has somewhat grown out of his obsession with dinosaur, he was still deeply interested when I decided to knit it recently. He has been deeply involved in the color choices. And he was so keenly watching its progress, I decided to work solely on this sweater in order to finish it fast. Besides the his obvious favorite in spines, he is thrilled with the hood as well. And you know what would have completed the awesomeness....a tail! LOL. 

   As for the actual knitting, it was a quick, easy knit. No special modifications except adding a few inches to the body and sleeve lengths. The yarn is good, sturdy Pakistani acrylic frogged from an pre-blogging era sweater for my husband, which ended up being too small.

Swish Pleated Skirt

Thus named, I finally wrote the pattern for the skirt modified from a vintage design and had it test knitted. It has gone up for sale at my ravelry store.

Swish Pleated Skirt is knit in rounds from bottom up in two colors.

Yarn weight:  Aran / 10 ply (8 wpi)

Gauge:  8 stitches and 12 rows = 2 inches in st st on 5 mm needles

Needle size: US 8 - 5.0 mm

Yardage: Approx 500(600, 650, 700, 750, 800, 900) yards MC(main color) and 150 (200, 250, 300, 350, 400, 450) yards CC (contrasting color).

Sizes available: 2 (4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14) years.

Finished measurements:
Hip: 22 (23.25, 25.5, 28.25, 29.25, 30.75, 32.25) inches.
Length: (easily modifiable)14 (16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26)inches.
Pattern Difficulty: advance beginner. Requires knowledge of knitting in round, slip st, k2tog, SKP, yo and I-cord.

A Baby Set

I knit this set of a baby sweater and hat for my cleaning lady's granddaughter. The hat pattern is Aviatrix Baby Hat. It is an excellent pattern, very quick to knit up and the short rows keep it interesting. The sweater pattern is Baby Boy 5 hour Sweater. I chose it because the purl ridges on the yoke went well with the ridges on the hat. To make them baby girlish, I embroidered some pink flowers (lazy daisy and french knot). It best thing about baby stuff is that these are so quick to make and so very cute.

Bamboo Wrap Cardigan

 I am back, with a finished project. After what felt like forever, the bamboo cardigan is finally done. It's taking so long might have been a combination of its being fingering weight, all plain stockinette st, a wrap style which meant more sts on the needle and that I had to frog it once. It is my own design (or lack thereof). I knit is top-down so I basically winged it as I went along. The yarn is MeiMei Bamboo.

It has turned out beautifully. It fits very nicely and bamboo gives it a wonderful drape and shine. And the color being one I wear often, I feel it will get used a lot. Only if we can have some winter already.

Shawl Update

It seems to be taking so long but it is growing. I manage to work for an hour on it on weekdays, if I am lucky.  Just about to finish the first repeat of the repeat section at this point:

 I am also working on a cardigan but it is no more than a pile of plain stockinette stitch at this point. SO a picture will have to wait till its finished.

Upcycled

My daughter had a embroidered top which was right-sized except for the length. It was too short to be wearable. So I decided to upcycle it with some cotton fabric that I had.

 

Basically, I sewed up a skirt and stitched it to the top. I think that made it into a very wearable casual dress.

Cubist Socks

So I managed to have a finished project this week, even if it is a pair of socks. These are my Cubist Socks in Knit Picks Stroll Hand-Painted (Make believe).

There are a couple of errors in the pattern, nothing crucial though. Firstly, the cuff chart is mistakenly mentioned as cable chart in the instructions. Secondly, after heel turning the st count is 66 not 72 as written. Even with these error, the socks were smooth sailing knitting experience once I had determined the right needle size for my feet. (The pattern does not have a lot of give, remember). And I love the FO.