Catching Up IV: Other 2008 FOs

And here we go with a final round up of 2008 finished objects. For the most part, these are parts of a set and I had planned to blog the whole set when it was finished (and may still do so), but as we have stepped across the annual FO divide, I will at least show off the parts of the sets that are finished. First off, I have finished two out of three BYOB bags I had planned. The third has been cast on...





...betcha can't guess the color combination to complete the set! ;o) These are great grocery/market bags and hold a ton of stuff! I really like the Cotton-Ease yarn too. With most cotton yarns, my hands tend to cramp up, but this has enough give that it is enjoyable to knit with. Still, I tend to work on these in small doses, as I am not a huge fan of seed stitch. I love how it looks, but, like ribbing, it tires my hands a bit.

Next, I started hats and mittens for all the kids. I have finished all the mittens, but not the hats. Cute little Beeb mitts. No thumbs. Talk about instant gratification! They took me an afternoon!



Next up, Bug's mittens. You may recall our excursion to have Bug and Bean choose their own yarn, so imagine my surprise when I showed these to Bug and his first question was "Why aren't they green?" Just when I think he has reached his pinnacle of leaving me speechless...



And Bean's...



If I can find some coordinating superwash solids, I'm thinking each of the bigger kids may need a fish hat. Beeb already has a hat in progess.

Finally, a project that started with a bang and ended with a whimper and as a result didn't get blogged. If my Ravelry entry is to be believed, I started this in April 2007, knitted it as if possessed, felted the purse part, and then let it languish a bit. I'm not sure how long it sat before I got bit by the bug again and lined it with some fabric I had stashed. I didn't get all concerned with matchy-matchiness as the whole thing was a bit obnoxious colorwise anyway (leftovers from Bug and Bean's felted clog slippers). And it sat, all finished except for a strap. I started a doubleknit strap with diamonds and knit mile after mile of it. I'd knit a little, lose patience and let it sit and repeat, with it never quite long enough. I finally was so disgusted with it I ripped out the double-knit version and went with striped i-cord, felted it, and eventually sewed it on, finishing it finally in early November.

Catching Up II: Stealth Projects

While there wasn't a lot of Christmas knitting and crafting, there were a few projects. First up, crafting with the kids. For the grandparents, we made tote bags with freezer paper stencils. The kids make the drawings on freezer paper and I did the cutting and painting. The bags are:

Sammy dancing in a mushroom (Beeb is on top) by Bean for our local adopted grandma:

Cat sleeping by Bug for Kitty Daddy's mom:

Bug in an easy chair with mom in the wind by Bug for Kitty Daddy's dad:

Kitty Daddy and Bean by Bean for Kitty Mommy's parents:

My bit of Christmas knitting was for my wee nieceling. She got a pair of Peace Fleece longies and a matching gnome baby with some of the leftover yarn:





Oh, and if you're interested, here are pictures of my baby brother being a dork with veggies. One of us was clearly switched at birth, as I am never goofy or odd. *snort*

Speaking of Malabrigo...

These have been done for a while as well. Also soft, soft Malabrigo, but worsted this time. I have more of the blue and also some buttery yellow, so I am planning a hat and/or scarf for me. Of course, it always seems that the "for me"s wind up at the bottom of the queue. Details on Rav.



Very warm and cozy, yet I have functional fingers for driving and fumbling keys and using cell phones and ...

FO: Laminaria

Yeah, well, this one has been done for almost two months! Although I have been pokey in blogging about it, I am just delighted with the finished product!!! The lace patterns just popped with blocking and the Malabrigo laceweight couldn't be softer or squooshier. Even if it didn't look lovely, I could still carry it around as a security blanket. It really is that soft!







Full details on Ravelry...

FO: Longies for the Beeb

I finished Beeb's Peace Fleece longies! I made them with some room to grow by stopping the stockinette about 1" shy of his inseam length and then put 3" of ribbing for the cuff. The cuff folds up and fits beautifully right now and when his legs get longer he can just have a longer cuff at the bottom!





Not that this little dude needs to be any cuter, but can I say that there is nothing cuter than a wooly baby butt with the skinny little legs sticking out! Actually, the cute little legs are plump and chubbly, but compared to a diaper butt, just about anything looks skinny. Especially with night-night diaper layers on!



Full details on Ravelry!

I have also been cranking away on winter wear for all the kids. One Bean mitten down (except for weaving in ends):



One almost Bug mitten (except for the thumb and weaving in ends):



And next will be one Beeb mitten with the leftover yarn from the longies. Then I can go repeat the sequence, for variety's sake.

Halloweenie FOs

Some spooky FOs...

First up, my "sketelon" dishcloth. This was the October entry in the Dish-Cloth-Along. Very cute and very seasonal!



Since most of my knitting peeps are in Ravelry, I'll refer you guys to Ravelry if you want the details and not bother with the links and lists. If you really want to know needle sizes and yarn specs and pattern details and aren't in Ravelry, let me know...

I also finished off Bug and Bean's costumes by finishing a couple of hats:



The poor felted princess hat has been languishing since January after over-felting the first try. I think the princess thinks it was worth the wait:



I also knit a second version of the pumpkin hat. The first one was too big around and not nearly long enough.



I'm much happier with this one and it is easier to navigate than the stem mask that belongs with the pumpkin costume. Plus, they can wear it all winter, too!

And some non-fiber works of art:

First up, the artistes with their complete oeuvre...

Yeah, it's pretty sunny out, the artistes are not at their most photogenic ;o)

Next, Bean's works


Bean provided artistic direction, while our friend K wielded the knife, though on the lower one Bean discovered that she could "drill" out eyes and nose by twisting the knife, so she helped.

Bug's works


He carved them himself, though I did some clean up to connect cuts and get the holes the whole way through.

And finally, a collaboration:

Beeb had this pumpkin to play with while we were working and started some preliminary carving with his teeth. From there, Bean took inspiration and made a full face with her knife. Beeb also took to the job of scooping pumpkin guts back into the jack-o-lanterns after they were carved. Mmmmmm, what texture! And almost as tasty as sand!

Something I have been dying to tell you...

*snort* *snicker* Sorry, had to get it out of my system.

Anyhoo, what started out as 100 grams of Knitpicks Bare Bulky weight yarn, ended up looking like this:



I split the skein into five parts and tried different dye/mordant combinations [Aside: a mordant is what you use to set the dye]; from left to right: Beet with Alum and Cream of Tartar, Coffee with Vinegar, Onion Skin with Vinegar, Beet with Salt, and Beet with Vinegar. And some progress photos (in all of these photos, you can click to go to Flickr and see dye/mordant labels).

In quart jars, soaking in dye and hanging out in the sun (kinda like sun tea):



Drained and rinsed out:



And hanging out on the deck to dry:



I had a good time playing with dyes and was very excited to get some pretty colors without using the kinds of serious chemicals that can wreak all tunes of havoc if you don't use dye-dedicated pots and pans and use care in handling them. Everything I used is in the kitchen for cooking anyway, so I wasn't as worried about getting interrupted all the time!

w00t! We have finished objects

First up, a whole mess of hats (and one pair of mittens) knit for charity. There are a bunch, but I have been going to the Sow's Ear Charity Knit for at least three months now, so spread these out over at least that long!



There is one more hat that fits between the mittens and the green hat. It has a tassle that matches the first two hats and the rest is green. I handed it over to the Sow's Ear without taking a picture. Hat number eight is on the needles. These are pretty quick and pleasantly mindless!

Next up spinning, but not mine! Well, okay, partly mine as I had a hand pretty heavily involved at most times! Here's Bugs:



A very high energy single yarn, which is remarkably apropos! And here is Beans:



Not much, as she lost interest more quickly, but I'm sure we'll pick it back up again sometime.

Next up, mine again. Because I simple do not spend enough time at the Sow's Ear, I have added the monthly Dish-cloth-along. September was a fallish squirrel (in the ever so fallish colorway Swimming Pool):



Next up, more of the kids' handiwork. I have been trying to get Bug started with finger knitting as I have heard that it can be fabulous for helping spunky/spirited/crazy kid settle themselves down. We have had limited success with the finger knitting (VERY limited compared to the frustration level!), so when I saw one of these demonstrated by one of the other kids at our homeschool group, I picked one up for Bug to try. And it was a resounding success. He loves it and has declared himself ready to go to Knit Night. Here is his first FO, a snake:



Bean was devastated at Hobby Lobby since Bug was getting something and she wasn't, so when we got home, I dug through my old cross-stitch supplies and got her started with embroidery (or, as she calls it, sewing). She picked out the colors and did all the sewing herself:



She has picked out a second set of colors and is currently working on her second piece.

Finally, one more from me. I finished up the last of the apples we picked last week and now we have:



There are two pints of apple butter and six pints of applesauce. That's in addition to the batch of applesauce we made last week (and ate the same day), the additional pint or so of applesauce I put in the fridge for dinner tonight, the half pint of apple butter that went straight into the fridge from this batch and about five half pints in the freezer from the first batch of apple butter. I'm going to be peeling and coring apples in my sleep!

Hopefully, I will have a few more FOs before long...I have several thing so close, but just need to be tipped over the edge (which I am just FAMOUS for, by the way). Laminaria just needs blocking, the purse I am making with the leftovers from the kids' slippers is so close...I just need to felt the handle and sew it on. When I felt the handle, I can FINALLY finish Bean's princess hat. I just need to find the purse handle. Umm, yeah. One of the hazards of moving.

FO: Arm Distaff Thingy

So, I have still been doing a lot of spinning. As we head through July into August, Wisconsin inevitably gets humid with more regularity. When I started spinning, I just kind of draped the roving over my arm and/or shoulder. However, when the humidity went up last year and the roving started sticking to me, I basically put the spinning away until winter. This spring, I started carrying the roving in a plastic grocery bag. I could loop the handles over my arm while I was spinning and just pull out more length as I needed it. Enter this year's increased humidity and one seriously sweaty forearm and/or elbow. So I scratched my head a little. Then I looked at my ball of viscose handspun a bit. I didn't have a project in mind for it, so I scratched my head a little more and cast on for this:

Here's what it looks like all stretched out:

Specifications
Pattern: Made it up as I went
Yarn: Viscose handspun
Needles: KnitPicks Options, size 8

The basic recipe:
Cast on enough stitches to make arm band a nice width (this one has 21)
Knit a few rows (I did 7).
Cast off 3-5 center stitches. Next row cast those stitches back on (leaving a slit between rows).
Knit until it's about wrist sized.
Next two rows: cast off edge stitches to leave a few stitches in the center (this one has 5)
Knit I-cord until it's long enough to fit a slip knot and a big bunch of roving.

The arm band could be anything from garter stitch all the way to as fancy as possible. I did a seed stitch border with a cable down the center:

More posts coming soon...In addition to our typical out and about summer schedule, I have also been doing more work getting the apartment ready to start moving, so blogging time gets preempted. I suspect that until we get quasi-settle in the new apartment, the blogging will look like this: long silence, then several posts in a day or two. I am planning on breaking things up into several short(ish) posts all at once rather than trying to cover everything in one monster post, so I don't wind up with a series of novellas with every label I have ever used attached to each.