It’s WIPping Wednesday

Was I going to write regular posts about my WIPs when there seems to be little change? It is the season for WIPs so I think I should.

Everything is moving forward but no finished items to show. This is partially due to some unknitting. At the weekend I worked on the toe of one sock. I was about half-way through it and realized I had not changed needles. I have used a size smaller needles for the cuff and heel and would do the same for the toe – only if I remembered though. I wanted to start the toe shaping before finishing the colourwork pattern, which was only three rows and then I continued in one colour. When I looked at it the gauge was definitely too loose so it was pulled back to the end of the colourwork. Of course, I didn’t have the smaller needles to hand. If I had I expect I wouldn’t even have been in the frogging position. So what could have been a quick finish is waiting for the next opportunity.

I started the frill on the dinosaur, it wasn’t hard but so fiddly, which I write every time. I have not worked on it this week as the intended recipient has been at our house. This is another project that is so close but so far.

The jacket is coming along nicely. It is my easy knitting so can pick it up at anytime. I finished the second sleeve and picked up stitches for the hood and am half-way through that. I still am not sure if it will be finished by year end as although it is easy knitting there is a lot of it.

I have not picked up the complicated shawl as I am waiting for more yarn. I ended up buying some from someone on Ravelry who had some leftover from their project. I could continue working the border with what I have left but I am being prudent and waiting until I get the other yarn in case there is a difference in tone. There shouldn’t be as it is a commercial yarn but having got this far and taken a long time I might as well wait.

A Cheeky Little Cast On

My last post was about how well I was doing with my WIPs, so what did I do? Cast on a new project. To be fair it is a gift and it was a very quick baby hat.

When I was going through my leftovers to find leftover lace weight yarn my husband asked if I was going to make the new baby a blanket. I do not feel inclined to send a blanket to Japan but I said I would make booties. The problem with booties is that mothers either love them or hate them. So I decided on a hat. After a lot of thought that is. I have made many baby hats more than once as they are just so cute but I decided to make a different pattern, using leftovers of course.

The pattern is Gather by Tin Can Knits; the yarn is Baby Cashmere Merino Silk DK from Sublime Yarns. I worked as many complete rib rows as I could with the white yarn and then changed to the pink for the pattern. The hat is the total length as stated in the pattern but I though it looked a bit short in comparison to the width. But the baby was not big at birth, so I am sure it will be fine for a while as long as it doesn’t take forever to get to Japan.

WIP Update

I used to regularly write about my WIPs but I think I stopped when there wasn’t much change from week to week. I had a look through my posts and the last regular weekly update was in April 2014. I do not intend to make this a regular weekly feature but as we are in WIPping season it is time for an update.

I currently have six projects plus two blankets. The two year long projects are close to the end. The socks are at the toes and the shawl is at the border. It is sideways knit border and not hard after all the lace but I am pretty certain I do not have enough yarn. I worked about 1/6 of the border, weighing yarn before and after and I used about a gram. (Now I wish I had more accurate scales than 1 gram.) The yarn is discontinued so I cannot purchase any more. I have contacted a couple of people on Ravelry who have left overs from their own projects and I will write about how that went when I finish the shawl. I could take out a couple or four rows of the lace pattern but that is not a task I want to undertake, so I may have to work the border in a contrast colour. I have some leftover lace weight yarns in colours that will contrast nicely; just have to decide which one I am going to use.

I have been working on the crochet toy, and is it fiddly! It is nearly finished, just have to work out what the instructions mean for the frill around the head and I am done. Oh, apart from sewing all the little bits to the body. That should be finished by the end of the year.

I have nearly finished the second sleeve of the jacket. I have blocked the body and will pick up and work the hood and pockets before I sew in the sleeves just to make the knitting easier. I’m aiming to finish it by the end of the year but once it’s all sewn together there is still a big front band to knit.

I have been true to my word and not touched the lace cardigan nor the vacation knit so that I can finish the other projects.

A Quick Little Cast On

Since I started the WIP challenge, I have not cast on anything new. But two things combined to cause me to make something. Someone had posted a picture of a cute headband and there was a birthday coming up. I decided that was an acceptable cast on; otherwise I would be spending time shopping either rin person or online. The only limitation was colour.

I may have mentioned that I was given a lot of yarn from a friend of a friend’s stash and I took it on the basis that I could do anything with it. In there was a 50g skein of Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light in a greenish colour. It was hard to capture the colour with my phone. (I am having problem with my phone capturing true colours, but that’s a whole different story.)

Pattern is Headband with a Twist and is available fro free on the designers website. I used just under 30g and it would be perfect for leftovers.

When You Have A Choice of Beautiful Sock Yarn

What do you do? Knit a pair of socks from leftovers and take four months to do so! The yarn is left over from this project. I used about half skein of each and they are so beautiful I knew they needed to be used in another project. One of the options for July’s Sock Knitters Anonymous was Slipped Stitch Colorwork. Searching through Ravelry, I found this pattern 

I wasn’t sure if I would have enough yarn to just use two colours so I did use the third colour for the cuffs, heels and toes. Weighing the yarn after completing the project I would have been cutting it close so I saved future me from “do-I-have-enough-yarn angst”.

I don’t know why it took so long to finish these socks but when I had not even finished the first sock by the end of July they got pushed to one side. With the incentive of the WIP knitalong, these socks were the next project to be focused on and I completed them within the month of October. I am really pleased with them and they are lovely and soft.

 

I am now down three projects from the original eight. I am on target to finish the two year-long projects and have picked up the garment as my next project. The knitting on this is not hard but I am changing much of the pattern to fit with my gauge and measurements. The body is complete and I am now working on the first sleeve. After both sleeves there is a hood or collar and the front bands. I really would like to get it finished by the end of the year.