Saturday, January 05, 2013

Off to a Good Start

 Resolved: to post more regularly.

Eyes right: first woven project off the Flip in 2013. Three cotton dish towels in an unmercerized cotton purchased (I think) from Webs and aged nicely in stash. Finished size, approximately 15" X 24".



First knits off the needles, car and TV knitting. A pair of dishcloth cotton baby bibs in Bernat Handcrafter cotton, Beach Ball Blues.

Bib on the top is sort of cobbled together with i-cord ties.

Pattern for bib at the bottom can be found here.

I finished both in record time (today, in fact) and used about 1.5 balls (about 2.5 ounces) for both.
And this, is one of the last FOs of 2012.

A teensie baby sweater in the dreaded "pinque" colorway, because it seems, we are getting one of those pink-wearing small people in the spring.

Yes, the Tiny Princes (Original and Too) are being joined by a Tiny Princess.

We are excited!

Yarn is Filatura Lanarota Cool Cotton from Smiley's.

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// posted by Ann @ 1/05/2013 09:05:00 PM 1 comments

Monday, December 31, 2012

What a year!

I've been keeping track of my yarn usage for the last 11 years. I've been posting those totals here for at least the last six. And this year is no exception. Despite my missteps of blogging, I have actually been very productive with my fiber arts:

2 adult sweaters
3 afghan squares (for my charity group)
4 bibs
29 pairs of booties
2 cat toys
17 children’s sweaters
1 Christmas stocking
9 coasters
19 cowls
13 dishcloths
3 dishtowels
5 adult hats
1 baby blanket
5 pairs of mittens
1 pillow cover
13 placemats
2 potholders
6 baby caps
1 felted purse
1 bathmat
6 scarves
1 shawl
8 tea toters
1 teddy bear sweater
6 holiday ornaments

I used a total of 34,526 yards of yarn (that’s more than 20 miles!) weighing just a hair under 33 pounds!

This is the 11th year I am keeping track and my 4th most productive year.

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// posted by Ann @ 12/31/2012 09:13:00 PM 1 comments

Sunday, May 06, 2012

Moving Right Along

  

What's this?
Why, this!

EZ's Surplice Baby Sweater and matching bonnet .

Yarn is Plymouth Encore in several stashed shades (same as the Rambling Rows blanket that Bub --Big Ugly Baby--is seated on).

Both are relatively mindless once I got in the groove.

Good TV knitting; not especially good car knitting because of the need to check the pattern regularly.

Fair entries.

And I believe that this is 12 of 12.

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// posted by Ann @ 5/06/2012 09:14:00 AM 1 comments

Sunday, April 15, 2012

That Would Be 10 and 11

 The Tiny Prince Original needs a new Wallaby! He's outgrown his last one (red, his favorite color).

Mammo (that would be I) pulled out the yarn and the pattern, then decided to knit up a similar sweater (hoodie, pouch) but from the top down this time. Kids to Grown-ups Seamless Sweaters had just the ticket. Yarn: Filatura Lanarota Easy Wool in the denim heather colorway to the rescue.

Tiny Prince Two/Too will be getting one as well.


And then there was Number 11!

Same pattern as before, but made to the exact specifications of the pattern!


This one's a size 4. The yarn is Sidar Tropicana Cotton Effect DK (100% acrylic) in a shade of pink best described as "watermelon."

Impossible to photograph true.

It's sort of a vest, sort of a sweater.

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// posted by Ann @ 4/15/2012 01:03:00 PM 2 comments

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Knitting With My Eyes Closed--Again!


Younger Kid (who ain't all that young) was back to shop at the Baby Store of Mom (tm) last week. Seems his buddy (the Oakland Raiders fan) just became a papa for the second time.

There being no suitable gift in the stash (who knits in gray and black for a baby??) I cast on, knit, and cast off this little hat. Pattern (not that I needed one) is in Sock Yarn One Skein Wonders. Yarn is well-aged Cervinia Cazetteria (black) and Elann Sock It To Me (gray).

Then I added the pink cardigan from a prior post because the baby's a girl, for lord's sake!

Anyone who has made one will recognize this immediately. Anyone who hasn't is scratching his/her head in total confusion over the very strange, manta ray-like shape, the mitered decreases, the M1 increases.

'Tis a mystery for sure!

Add caption




Better?

It's Elizabeth Zimmermann's Baby Surprise.

Love, love, love this pattern (even though I frogged the back extension twice before I got it right--counting apparently isn't my strong suit).




Yarn is a mixture of odd balls of cotton. The MC (the light yellow) is Red Heart Cotton Soft ( a cotton/ack blend). The rest is at least 3 different types of mercerized cotton. Worsted weight. Size 7s. Buttoned, it's about 18" around at the underarm which some patterns call "12 month".Pattern available from School House Press and in EZ's books.

FWIW, once you have made one and impressed the family with the intriguing design, they are no longer impressed with subsequent offerings. Just saying.

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// posted by Ann @ 3/11/2012 07:58:00 AM 1 comments

Sunday, March 04, 2012

Thinking Pink

 New family baby on the way.

It's a girl.

And you know what that means.

Tiny Pink Things.

This one is for the Tiny Princes' Hypothetical Girl Cousin (due in May).

It's called Baby's Bamboo Singlet. The pattern can be found in Luxury Yarn One-Skein Wonders by Judith Durant. I used Dale Babygarn washable wool.
 This one is called "Baby Boy Vest and Bow Tie" from Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders also by Judith Durant.

Please note that 1) I did not make this in a "boy" color. I think pink suits it just fine! and 2) there is no bow tie. Seriously!

Yarn is Martha Stewart CraftsExtra Soft Wool Blend (Lion Brand) in Gerbera Daisy.

My opinion (for what it's worth) is that this is an overpriced craft yarn. I bought 3 balls at $7+ each because I wanted washable, wool blend, and pink.

There were multiple knots in the three balls.
 

The first two balls of above were knit into this cute sweater from the IK Holiday Knits 2010 magazine.

The sweater is Jubilee Cardigan and calls for short sleeves. You'll notice that I lengthened them to about 3/4 length, one I find better suited to babies (as did EZ) since babies of this size tend to suck on their hands and their sleeves if they are wrist length.

This one's a fair entry.


Those would be Numbers 6, 7, and 8! Wow!



And just to prove that Princelings wear the sweaters that Mammo makes!

I'm not sure who's happier--Tiny Prince Original, Tiny Prince Two/Too, or Mama!

Package arrived one afternoon, sweaters were on their way to school the next morning.

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// posted by Ann @ 3/04/2012 11:34:00 AM 1 comments

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Knitting With My Eyes Closed

Well, what would you have done?

Other Half, Younger Kid and I (and many, many relatives) are graduates of Penn State. The Daughter In Law  (Tiny Princes' mom) is a Florida State graduate. She spotted the perfect sweater colors in my project bag during the last trip to visit.

Yes, I did. Under protest.

I think it's called "love."

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// posted by Ann @ 2/19/2012 05:00:00 PM 2 comments

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Four?




A quick trip to visit the grands allowed me about 8 hours of car-knitting. A little time at home in front of the television gave me what I needed to finish #4 in 2012.

This one is a size 6, Rialey's Sweater (Cottage Creations), in Elann's Superwash worsted, avocado, camel, and rust.

It's for (not so) Tiny Prince Original. His brother's is already cast on and progressing nicely.

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// posted by Ann @ 2/11/2012 09:06:00 PM 1 comments

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Definitely 3

I wove in the last of the ends tonight and packed this sweater up with the first one I finished for Afghans For Afghans.

I'll be mailing both of them after work tomorrow.

The particulars: Pattern is Cottage Creations' Rialey's Sweater. Yarn is worsted weight Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride (wool and mohair blend), the yellow, green, and light blue, and odd bits of Patons Classic Wool, the red and darker blue. Size 5 and 7 needles.

Knit top down, in the round. Minimal finishing (unless you count all the ends.


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// posted by Ann @ 1/22/2012 07:49:00 PM 0 comments

Sunday, January 15, 2012

This Will Likely Be 3

I started another sweater using odd balls of various colors of Brown Sheep Lambs Pride and Patons Classic Wool.

The colors in the picture at the left are pretty true to life. Yes, really that bright! I am loving working with these jolly hues! Just saying.

But I digress. Yeh, yeh, I know.

The reason for the really, really huge photo is to call attention to the raglan increases. The pattern is Rialey's Sweater which carries a range of 2-10 child from Cottage Creations (my favorite go-to pattern company for nearly every occasion).

Take a look at that increase . The technique is described (and shown) in the booklet, so I'm not repeating it here, but I am genuinely stoked at how cool it looks!

This photo shows it as it's worn.



And this one shows it as it's knit.

It's top down.



Here's how far I've gotten. If I finish this week, it will go in the mail with the other A4A sweater next weekend.

I am using the basic sweater pattern and striping it since I need a bigger size and my stashed yarn is limited to 2 skeins each of the gold (wild mustard) and the green (evergreen) and smaller amounts of the other 3 colors.I think the next one will use the great graphics that Cottage Creations intended to be knit into this sweater.

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// posted by Ann @ 1/15/2012 01:55:00 PM 0 comments

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Two

Cute little polo sweater in Encore (well aged), about a 9 month size. This one is modified like the last one of 2011--collar instead of hood, joined and made a pullover instead of a cardigan.

I think the covered tummy makes for a warmer baby, though cardis are much easier to get on and off. Trade offs, folks.

This one's for Cheyenne River Reservation.

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// posted by Ann @ 1/12/2012 05:00:00 PM 0 comments

Monday, January 02, 2012

One

Let the countdown (or up) begin!


Patons Classic Wool in Denim Marl, Burgundy, and Evergreen, well-aged stash. Approximately 1000 yards (14 ounces) total. Pattern is a modification of Rich Designs Kids to Grown-ups Seamless Sweaters "tunic" in the smallest adult size.

Recipient: Afghans for Afghans sometimes abbreviated A4A for their current youth campaign.

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// posted by Ann @ 1/02/2012 02:54:00 PM 1 comments

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