A Few Finished Projects....Finally

It's been a while since I've had something to contribute to this crazy site. Too many projects on my needles & not enough knitting time! But I finally got a few things accomplished today & off of my needles!

The first thing I finished were my Owling Fingerless Gloves. Super quick knit. These should be really warm come the cold weather. I can hardly wait to use them.

The second thing I finished is my Aquaphobia socks. So glad to have these finished. I made the mistake of using a yarn that I didn't have two skeins of which meant I had to find some from someone else. Huge mistake because the skein I bought is so drastically different in colors that it's silly. Oh well. I'm willing to give that up because these actually fit my feet. That's right folks! Out of all the socks I've made, these are the first ones that fit!

Chinook Shawl

This is a shawl that I am absolutely in love with. I love the pattern, and I love the colors! I bought this as a kit from KnitPicks in late Spring or early Summer of this year, and it has been sitting in a box ready to go ever since. I have gotten myself ready for this project in increments. In the Summer I made all the stitch markers I would need (or so I thought). Late Summer I knit the gauge swatch; mid-Autumn I re-made the stitch markers previously created due to the fact that jump rings with a bead on them don't keep their place when used with lace. I packed all my accoutrements and yarn into one of my knitting boxes and headed out the door. I got my stitches cast on, and got to the second row which consists of purling and placing markers only to find out that I had not made enough stitch markers and could not continue until I got back home to make more stitch markers. Total bummer.

After that minor set-back I have now knit through the first chart and arrived at the start of the second. I also arrived at my first problem with this pattern. The second chart is numbered incorrectly, which, thankfully, is a minor problem that is easily fixed. I am off and knitting again! So far, I highly recommend this pattern to anyone who wants to knit a shawl for the first time. The pattern only consists of knitting, purling, yo, k2tog, and p2tog. Those are pretty easy stitches. I think the hardest thing would be just keeping track of where you are in the pattern, which is a problem with all projects.

Emmaline's Toddler Jays

So.......................

The progress I have made on these socks can pretty much be viewed in my previous photo. I spent all of my knitting time Sunday (which wasn't very much) ripping back the heel of this sock, after having gotten a good two inches past the heel. I tried the sock on my little one the night before, and, much to my dismay, I could not get the sock past her heel. AAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Over the past few days I have spent time adding another increase round and re-knitting the heel. I got half an inch or so past the heel and tried it on Emmaline again, this time it was WAY too big. So, rip again I did. At first I had decided to rip back to the original increase round then knit the heel in a needle size larger to see if that would add enough room. However, once I had ripped back to the original increase, I tried it on Emmie again and saw that I should probably have knitted a few more rounds before starting the heel. This time I knit two extra repeats and started the heel. We'll see how it fits from here....

Oh the agony, oh the frustration!

Emmaline's Sweet Baby Jane

Not much in progress, but I am getting there. I've done one round of decreases to help shape the skirt a bit more. Hopefully, it will turn out great, and I won't have to rip back!

JP's Socks

OK, so these are done enough for me to take a picture of them and set them aside 'til crunch time. These projects for JP have been such quick knits, but for some reason I am sick of them. I think I am just a bit burnt out on knitting gifts. I need to make something for myself...(I've got a shawl in the works! Whoo hoo!)

Emmaline's Button Toque

Here is a hat I made for my little girl Emmie! Now we can have matching hats.

This was made with Rowan Country in the color Birch on size 13 needles. I got this done in one day, an impromptu birthday gift. Now, I just need to get her to stand still long enough to snap a picture!

And More Socks, Too!

Here are a pair of socks I am knitting for Emmaline. I am knitting them on size 1 (2.25mm) DPN's and am using Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Multi in the color Desert Flower, color #100. The pattern is Toe Up Baby Jays, and it is based off the adult sock pattern Jaywalker.

These socks have been really fun to knit, and the pattern is really easy to memorize. This makes it a pretty quick knit; it doesn't hurt that they are socks for a toddler instead of an adult, either. I do, however, have a few gripes about the pattern, or I should say the way the pattern was written. Now, mind you, I am keeping in mind that this pattern is free, so I'm trying to not complain too much. On the other hand there are several things assumed and left out by the author which I feel should have been included. This person just assumed everyone making these socks would know how to do short rows, and there is a stitch left out in the increasing round. I am not sure exactly where that stitch should be placed, so I knit that row as k1f/b, k9, k1f/b, k1f/b, k9, k1f/b, then spread the next four kf/b evenly across the bottom of the sock. Plus, there were no links, recommendations, or instructions for the provisional cast-on. I used this method.

After writing the previous paragraph, it occurs to me that these were my only tiffs with this pattern, which may seem silly or petty. I don't care though, not having the short rows written out just ticked me off! I guess I got upset because this pattern would probably be really confusing to a new knitter. Thankfully, I had a few other sock patterns I could reference for correctly doing short row heels and toes (I still messed up the heel). So, that's my tirade. All that said, I still have enjoyed knitting these socks, and I will definitely be making more!

Socks, Socks & More Socks

Here are a few pairs of socks that I'm working on as time allows. One pair (red) is called the Hourglass socks. The second pair is called Aquaphobia.

Lori's Prayer Shawl

This is a prayer shawl I made for Lori, Katie's sister. She belongs to our little Bible Study group & I wanted to make something special for her. I hope she'll enjoy using this in her daily devotion time.

Ava's Twirly Skirt

So here it is finished. I'm not completely satisfied with it but that's mostly due to my knitting skills (or lack thereof). Hopefully she will still like it!

Allhiskids Half Linen Stitch Longies - Completed

Emmaline's Twirly Skirt

Here is the final photo of the skirt I made for Emmaline. I procrastinated on actually "finishing" this project for so long! There is just something so hard about finishing a project when I have done with all the knitting but still need to sew. Oh well, at least it is done!

I braided three of the trim colors together to form the tie at the waist. It satisfied my need for instant gratification more than knitting an i-cord would have. Then I sewed the waist band down over the tie. It really didn't take me long; I just didn't want to do it...