Pattern: Woodins (Log)
For: Baylie
Yarn: 194 yds Cascade Yarns 220 Heathers in Chocolate Heather (outside), 135 yds Cascade Yarns 220 Heathers in Vinci(lining), 5 yds Mountain Colors 4/8's Wool in Olive (leaves)
Needles: US 7 Knit Picks Options
Timeline: started 05.01.2009; finished 05.21.2009

When I first started this, I was sort of aggravated that I had to make up my own bark pattern as I went. (I was feeling lazy and just wanted to follow something so that I didn't have to think.) However, I absolutely adore it. It knit up pretty fast and the end product is completely adorable. I felted it very, very lightly in the washer (to preserve the aforementioned bark pattern) and then tossed it in the dryer for a little while, just so that it wasn't sopping wet. Then, I stuffed it with a bit of an old pillow, sewed it up, and added the leaves (which I had felted by hand). I definitely need to make some cute little things to live inside of it, though.

Pattern: Birthday Cowl
For: me
Inspired by: Tasha
Yarn: 164 yds Malabrigo Worsted in Tuareg
Needles: US 7s (for first 7.5", 7s for the rest, 8s for bind-off (Knit Picks Options)
Timeline: started 05.22.2009; finished 05.29.2009

It's a cowl. What's not to love? I knit this a bit longer, and changed to smaller needles toward the top, but otherwise followed the pattern as written.

Pattern: Felicity AKA Swatch Hat
For: me
Yarn: 185 yds Berroco Ultra Alpaca in Peat Mix
Needles: US 5 and 7 Knit Picks Options
Timeline: started 05.20.2009; finished 05.23.2009

I've had this queued for a while and decided to cast on to check my gauge for Cobblestone. It's a nice, simple pattern, although I'd definitely recommend casting on more stitches if you don't have a smallish head.

I absolutely adore Ultra Alpaca. I need to knit myself something big out of it. After I soaked this and let it dry, it was even softer and felt lighter. Sigh...lovely, lovely stuff. Also, I like that I can fold this over to keep my ears warmer when the weather is bad.

I did make some other changes aside from how many stitches I cast on. Here they are...
Cast on 80 sts instead of 70.
Knit on 5s until 3.75"
Knit on 7s until 6"
Increased until 150 sts
Decreases:
Worked 2 rounds even between the first 3 decrease rounds
Worked 1 round even between the rest, until there were 90 stitches
Then…
k1 k2tog around - 60 sts
k even
k1 k2tog around - 40 sts
k even
k2tog around - 20 sts
k even
k2tog around - 10 sts
k even

Pattern: Ishbel
Inspired by: BigSister
For: me
Yarn: 260 yds Handspun Malabrigo Sock in Lettuce
Needles: US 5 Knit Picks Options; US 11 Denises for the bind-off
Timeline: started 04.23.2009; finished 05.05.2009

I don't know what to say about this pattern other than it is fantastic. Ysolda's patterns are always so clear, and this was no exception. I made the smaller version and loved working on it from start to finish, and would have finished sooner had I not forgotten it one Knit Night.

And the yarn...oh, Malabrigo. I loved working with it. It's definitely a thinner fingering weight, but it was so soft. I'm also really pleased with the stitch definition. I mean...check this out.

The only change I made was to knit it on US 5s (no reason other than I couldn't find my 6s) and bind off on WAY bigger needles (US 11s) because I knew some people were having issues with curling and losing the pointiness. This was the first time I broke out my blocking wires and I really liked them. Yay for control! They definitely helped with the points.

Oh, and who's a knitter? I am!

06.21.2009
Re: the pointiness
I used blocking wires, so I just ran through them the last stitch on each point and, well, blocked the shit out of it. It worked really well. It isn't as pointy right now, but it is pointier than most other ones I've seen. Plus, I wear it constantly. Ha!

Pattern: Morning Surf Scarf
For: Kristy
Yarn: 221 yds Handspun (by me!) - FiberLady Bamboo
Needles: US 11 Denises
Timeline: started 03.13.2009; finished 03.17.2009

Not much to report. A quick knit that was PERFECT for traveling. I knit the entire thing on the trip down to and while I was in Florianópolis. The pattern is simple and easy to memorize, and worked out great with this bamboo handspun.


Also, I can't believe it's been more than a month since I last posted. To be fair, I've probably done more frogging than knitting and I have a lot of things on the needles right now. It would be nice to finish something again...someday. Ha!

Pattern: Lace Capelet
For: me
Yarn: 273 yds Malabrigo Lace in Lavanda / 192
Needles: US 10 Knit Picks Options
Inspired by: AShrillCaramel's version
Timeline: started 02.09.2009; finished 02.27.2009

Well, not much to report on this. The pattern was straightforward and it knit up really fast. I followed some other people's suggestion of casting on 140 sts, and it worked out well. I also knit additional decrease rounds on rounds 81 and 85. I would have finished it sooner, but I first bound off knit-wise, which ended up too tight. Then I did a sewn bind-off that was way too loose. Finally, I went ahead and redid the sewn bind-off so that it was tighter. I think it looks better now.

I really liked working with the Malabrigo Lace and enjoyed the subtle color shifts in the yarn. I think this will be great to toss over a tank top during the summer. If I had been paying attention, I probably would have made it so that there wasn't a disruption to the yarn-over pattern where the row began, but I was lazy. I don't think it's that big of a deal anyway. I probably should have knit another repeat before starting the decreases, but...yeah, lazy.

Pattern: Tapestry Cowl
For: me
Yarn: 147 yds Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Blue Green, 155 yds Spindle Cat Studio Handpainted Merino Wool Yarn in Olde Gold
Needles: Knit Picks Options and fixed circs in US 4/3.5 mm, US 3/3.25 mm, and US 1 1/2/2.5 mm
Timeline: started 12.29.2008; finished 02.14.2009

When I first saw this pattern, I knew I wanted to make this for myself. I also had a couple skeins of sock yarn that I thought would look good together. Normally, I wouldn't want to pay $5 for a cowl pattern, but I thought this pattern was pretty extraordinary. However, after purchasing the pattern I was blown away. The pattern is so well-written and has tons of useful information for double-knitting, including video tutorials. If anyone is thinking of buying this pattern, don't hesitate. It's fabulous. I would knit one of Pepperknit's patterns again in a heartbeat.

Before starting this cowl, I thought this might be the sort of project that takes months and months to complete. Seeing the pattern emerge helped this move along a lot more quickly. I've only double-knit one thing before and I didn't really know what I was doing. I decided to knit this continental and the suggestion in the pattern for continental knitters was awesome.

I knit the pattern as written aside from needle size choice. I had read that a lot of people had issues getting gauge, so I started out on US 4s instead of US 5s. I ended up going down another size to US 3s and finally down to US 1 1/2s. I didn't rip anything out, though. I just moved down in needle size as I went, which resulted in the bottom of the cowl being wider than the top, which I like. It seems to stay up on my face pretty well and I can't wait to try it out in the cold.