A few FOs and a couple WIPs!

I'm making good on my post about keeping up with my posts and my knitting and I have a couple of FOs and a couple of WIPs to show off.

Firstly, here's a better picture of my Mother of Dragons shrug:

Secondly, I spun a beautiful new skin of yarn using some merino wool that a friend of mine picked up on a trip she took. I call it, Cream in my Coffee.

And finally, with Giftmas approaching, I have things to knit for little kids. I have three little girls and one little boy for whom to knit.  I am making three different ragdolls, one for each girl, and a ragdoll puppy dog for the little boy.

Here is the first doll:

And, of course, the cat had to check her out, too.

More posts, soon! T'is the season to knit things, so a-knitting I shall go!

Spinning until dizzy

I'm going to make this a quick post with lots of pretty pictures.  I received an Ashford Joy from a good friend, as mentioned in my previous post, and have been spinning up a storm.

Here are pictures of my new handspun!

80s Sweater

Sour Watermelon Candy

Royalty

Sunsets

Sunsets

Well Loved Jeans

Pink Carnation

Shadowstar

Rapunzel

Floral Frenzy

Floral Frenzy

Floral Frenzy

Electrical Wires

And the months dragged on

Wow, last post was in April. Bad jupe! I should've posted earlier, but honestly, I've not been knitting a whole hell of a lot. On the other hand, I HAVE been spinning a lot.

My lovely friend, Cindy Cole Bennett, gave me one of her old spinning wheels, an Ashford Joy. I've been spinning up a storm and will post pictures of many of my lovely new handspun at the end of this post.

First, though, is a short list of some of the projects I've been working on, in no particular order.

Booties for a lady at the gym who is pregnant. She runs the childcare centre and is always great with my kids. This is the least I could do for her.


Winter is coming and Nick's head is getting bigger. I made him a new hat and cowl set for the chillier months. I didn't line it with fleece because he's often running and playing and I want his head to breathe a bit.  I hope these fun colours keep winter bright.

The project that truly will never end, Aquaphobia, is now over 50% done, as I completed the first sock and started on the second. This pattern is so annoying to me. Some people love it, but not me.

A teacup cosy is exactly what the doctor ordered now that the weather is getting cooler and more cups of tea are being poured. I usually make it by the cup so a cup sized cosy made the most sense for me.  (I also started making a teapot cosy, but I haven't yet woven in ends nor added floral embellishments. I'll take a WIP pic)

Moving along, I have only a few more knitting projects to show off, then I'll make another post just for the handspun.

First off is a shrug that was called Birds of a Feather.  I made it out of a lovely eco wool in a navy blue and instead of birds, I used dragons. I call it my Mother of Dragons shrug.

I don't have any pics of the completed product but I wear it all the time, as the weather is perfect. Here's a WIP photo.

If you haven't already caught on from my other comments (Winter is Coming and Mother of Dragons) I'm a Game of Thrones fan.  These socks aren't close to finished, but they're a fun and focused knit named after Brienne of Tarth, the Sapphire Isles.

I think that's it, for now. I will have more FOs to show off at some point, as Christmas knitting is beginning to happen. Also, a huge project of many handknit items is coming up in preparation for Comic Con 2015 in Toronto. Here's hoping I can get enough stuff finished to make a profit! :D

Next post -- spinning!

A couple FOs, plus a Frolic.

It's been a fruitful couple weeks in the land of fibre arts.


 First off, I finished my niece's Zita.

Next, I finished the first Aquaphobia sock. After a year. I know, not exactly fruitful, but at least slightly productive, right?

Third, I started on a Young Einstein for the little guy. The shoulders are almost done.

Fourth, I'm working on a sun hat to match the Zita. The brim of the hat mirrors the band on the dress. (no picture yet, but the same colour as the dress) And Fifth, I just finished spinning the FML Skein. Why is it the FML skein? Because it got tangled all to shit and I spent three hours detangling it.

With that out of the way, I should also mention that I went to the DKC Knitters Frolic again this year. It's a once a year event where they hold workshops and have a huge marketplace of yarn and spinning and other goodies which you can buy (and for those with a budget, just drool over). I picked up some new fibre and a skein of yarn.

Super Mario colourway by Studioloo

Malabrigo fibre

Lime green Superwash wool

Wool and firestar mix

And, as you see at the bottom of the stash, a beaded row counter for lace and other pattern reps. Oh, and someone gave me some free hand balm because the skin gets dry from spinning.

The Frolic was great. It's one of my favourite events of the year and it was nice seeing my friends from the knitting group. Special shoutout to Sandy, who braved crazy bad traffic with me and endured our adventures into parts unknown on the way there.

Good times!

Oh, and lastly, I've added a knitmeter and spinmeter to the site. Just a fun way to keep track of how much I've knit and spun this year. We'll see whether or not I keep up with it :P

I love finishing projects.

My latest FO is a pair of socks called Tadpole. I used Cascade Heritage Paints sock yarn in a beautiful pink colour.

The original pattern called for a 64 stitch cast on which, for me, is usually good enough for my foot. This one knits a little bit tight and I found myself ripping out three reps of the pattern and casting on again with 72 stitches and adjusting accordingly. You can read about my adjustments on my Ravelry project page.

The pattern itself is really easy to remember. After looking at the whole pattern and counting the number of stitches I had to start with, the rest was instantly memorized.  I could have done the pattern for the whole of the leg, too, but I really wanted to knit it up quickly, so the project stayed as was stated in the pattern.

These are cosy and soft and fit perfectly. Anyone who wants a fast, easy, and engaging without attention pattern should try this one out.

I'm going to keep up, damnit.

I've been SO bad with updating this thing. I'm going to put forth a genuine effort again to keep things going.

First off, I finished my Miranda sweater. I misread the pattern and did the version without the front pocket, but honestly? I can live without the front pocket. I wore it on Patrick's Day. It's just warm and snuggly. I thought I would've needed a tanktop beneath it but it's perfectly fine against my skin. I usually find wool, even superwash merino, slightly itchy. This merino? Not itchy. It's just soft and lovely. Here are a couple pictures:

Next up is a WIP of mine. They're called Tadpoles and they're actually very reminiscent of Monkey socks, only reverse.

I originally cast on 64 for this sock and got to the third rep of the pattern when I realised in dismay that they were too small for my foot. After much swearing, I ripped the whole thing out and cast on 72 instead, modifying the pattern accordingly to work with the added stitches. The first sock is about 3/4 done now and fits like a dream. They also look beautiful. Here are some WIP pictures.

Finally, I finished a project that had been hibernating for about a year and another that had been hibernating about six months, now. First is my husband's Dwarven Battle Bonnet:

And second are the cigar smoking gloves I made him. He hasn't worn them yet but I know he likes them. It's just a matter of catching him for a photo wearing them.

And here I am, forgetting other projects I finished since my last post.

Hat and mitts for me to match the Honey Cowl I made ages ago.