stitchingmystressaway.com

So here you see me making a pair of socks for another coworker, Gina. Like Iliana, she has helped me a lot through some issues through this year, so a handknit for her too!

This is the information I had to go off of:

1. Her favorite color is pink.
2. She used to dislike wearing black but now loves it.
3. She loves loud loud socks

With that in mind, I made these socks

Think these fit the bill? I think so

Pattern: Ampersands (Upside Down) by Bobbi Kraft based on Through the Loops’ Design named Ampersand from the cuff-down
My Ravelry Project Page
Yarn(s): Chewy Spaghetti Spaghettoni
Colorway(s): Cheeky
Needle(s): US 2 – 2.75 mm
Casted On: August 6, 2010
Casted Off: August 15, 2010
Modifications: None

Can I just say I LOVE this yarn?! Gina wears a size 7 so I was able to knit these socks with a decent length. If I were to knit a pair of socks for me with this yarn, the socks would be a little shorter than what I’m used to. That said, because I enjoyed this yarn so much, I would be ok with that. The yarn was a nice sport weight yarn that reminded me of Socks that Rock Mediumweight.

I know Gina will love these socks but I certainly hope I didn’t take what she said too literally

Up next – I’m about to finish up some socks for Jermaine, because who doesn’t need 100% wool socks right now?

On the day, I finally return to work, I finished my Snowcopolypse Shawl. Here it is pre-blocking:

This color is a little difficult to capture so I might take ten minutes out of my day tomorrow to photograph it. More details on this project will come later with better pictures.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the Ravelympics project I picked, Seneca, by Jared Flood:

I’m enjoying the hell out of this project. The yarn is scrumptious and I have a lot of faith in Mr. Flood’s pattern. I just dont want to knit this sweater competitively. Sure this is a personal competition for me that I’m doing with a bunch of fantastic ladies and gents but I want to enjoy this project a little more and, ya know, I’m getting in touch with my inner process knitter. I don’t want something hanging over my head as I try to enjoy knitting this.

So what’s a gal to do? GET RID OF SOME WORKS IN PROGRESS

Jermaine doesn’t ask for much. He doesn’t. So when he asked for another pair of fingerless gloves, I said sure. That said, knitting five finger holes…..weelllllllll I’m sure many would agree it’s nothing that keeps you up at night. And, truth be told, this is the third pair I’m making him. There was his first pair, then I tried to surprise him and made him a pair and epically failed so working on fingers 21-39….head/desk. But he’s my pookie and deserves double knit gloves so, Laura, tackle ‘em!

Secondly is a scarf for a doctor if you can believe it. After a conference in Philadelphia in August, I strained/sprained my shoulder. (I honestly don’t remember the exact diagnosis but the doc used those two words. Whatever….it hurt). Anywho, I decided to make him a scarf because he’s good people.

Thirdly, this GORGEOUS cardigan just needs half a sleeve done and some finishing components. Seriously, if I don’t finish this within a week, you have my permission to come kick my ass. Cuz I would need it.

Knitters would think of any reason to start a project and/or have a knitalong. So….there are two blizzards headed your way?? Yes, I think it’s a great reason to cast on something.

I present…….my Snowcopolypse/Snowmageddon 2010 Shawl:

This is the Conifer Shawl from the Winter/Spring 2010 issue of Knitscene. It would have probably been done if I didn’t leave it at mom’s house when I was at her place on Sunday the 7th. opps. But I got it back and hope to finish it soon.

I also finished the first sleeve on Abby’s Starlight Starbright Cardigan

and I finally finished Courtney’s socks.

Pattern: Serpentine Socks by Wendy D. Johnson from Socks from the Toe Up
My Ravelry Project Page
Yarn(s): Fiesta Yarns Boomerang
Colorway(s): Sapphire
Needle(s): US 2 / 2.75 mm
Casted On: December 23, 2010
Casted Off: February 11, 2010
Modifications: I did a short row heel instead of a heel flap. no biggie

This was my first time knitting with Boomerang. It’s a warm thick yarn for socks and I’m sure Courtney will love them. I have another skein in my stash and I’m sure they’ll making warm socks. But it wasn’t the most flexible or giving yarn. The resulting socks will be warm and very appreciated so that’s all that matters, right?

Ravelympics

The opening ceremonies for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver will be starting at 9pm EST and that is the precise time the Ravelympics will commence I have decided to knit Seneca out of Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd’s Woo. Progress pics to come!

Happy Ravelympics everyone! Be safe!

Seriously, as someone who has had her share of tendonitis issues due to flute playing, if your hands hurt, STOP!

I finally found a pattern that is guy-friendly for Ray and I finished the pair of socks this morning on the Metro

Pattern: Elegant Ribbed Stockings by Ann Budd from Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs
My Ravelry Project Page
Yarn(s)ream in Color Classy, 1.32 skeins (150 yards)
Colorway(s): Don’t Be Blue
Needle(s): US 4 / 3.5 mm
Casted On: January 30, 2010
Casted Off: February 2, 2010
Modifications: I opted out of using a ribbon on the top of the socks. Me thinks Ray wouldn’t have digged it.

Needless to say, when I started these socks, they flew off the needles but it was a hard time coming. I’d start a pair of socks and they’d be ridiculously big or too busy or it didn’t match well with the yarn. When I picked up my ever-so-trusty Favorite Socks book and saw this pattern and it was perfect!

The cables pop as you wear the socks

Ray wears a size 11 sock and, yes I understand that it might look funny that I’m wearing his socks, with my size 7 (Men’s) feet. Well, they were big on me. Had plenty of room in the toes. But I’m sure they’ll be a little tight for him, still. That was my intention. I understand that Dream in Color has a tendency to stretch, which explains why I sized them a little small.

Guy friendly pattern with fun cables to make it interesting for the knitter

Wanna hear something interesting about this pair of socks, during it, I realized I was making short row heels the wrong way! Who woulda thunk it?? Yes I was wrapping my stitches in the wrong direction. It made a slightly funky looking heel but not one that I would object to. But I did get curious and looked it up and realized I wasn’t bringing the yarn to the front, when knitting. I wrapped from the back to the front as opposed to from the front to the back as you should. This is my 28th pair of socks and I’m still learning things. Gawd I love knitting!

So I mentioned that I joined the International Knit a Sweater a Month Group on Ravelry and I’ve been thinking about what sweaters/cardis I should make for a long time.  Evidently I have a thing for lace sweaters

The First is Lattice Lace Pullover by Laura Grutzeck from Knit So Fine: Designs with Skinny Yarn. I swatched for this sweater last summer but didn’t go beyond that. I have a wonderful collection of KnitPicks Gloss for this. This color looks great on me if I do say so myself The second is a pattern I’ve wanted to knit for a long time–Apres Surf Hoodie by Connie Chang Chinchio from Interweave Knits, Summer 2008. I was originally going to use some KnitPicks Gloss but I am not a big fan of the color I dyed it with. Instead, for my birthday, I got a gift card from mom and Lindsey to the Loopy Ewe. With it, I got some Dream in Color Smooshy in the Plum Paisley colorway for this wonderful hoodie. The third sweater is Lace V-Neck Top by Pam Grushkin from Vogue Knitting, Holiday 2009. I have no idea what yarn I will knit this sweater with but I have to say–it would be nice if people on Ravelry would state the size they knit and how much yarn they used. grumble. lt; Finally the fourth cardigan is Sabbatical by Connie Chang Chinchio. For a birthday present Jermaine got me a KnitPicks gift card and I got some Telemark with it. I got some of this yarn in the Aubergine color. How pretty!

Why am I thinking about these particular sweaters so early in 2010? Well lace sweaters have a tendency to take forever. I mean shooooooot—I got gauge on the Lattice Lace Pullover with US size 1.5s! That’s going to take some time!

These next two patterns will take some time as well–Autumn Rose by Eunny Jang (kit bought from Knitpicks) and Blackberry Cabled Cardigan by Alexandra Charlotte Dafoe. I got this wonderful yarn, Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd’s Wool, from Fibre Space in Alexandria, VA.

I don’t think the cabled cardi is going to take a looooooooong time perse but I’m still very excited to make it. The yarn is DELICIOUS!! I’ve already started swatching:

For the past few months, I’ve been considering countless sweaters.  These twelve, however, stick out the most:

TOP ROW: Blackberry Cabled Cardigan, Apres Surf Hoodie, Lattice Lace Pullover, Autumn Rose SECOND ROW: Sabbatical, Lace V-Neck Top , Kelmscott, Henley Perfected THIRD ROW : Notre Dame De Grace, Seneca, Fair Isle Cardigan (With different colors, of course!), February Fitted Pullover

Of course these can change. I won’t start any of these until I get this wonderful cardigan done for lil Abby. I’m test knitting the Starlight, Starbright pattern by Kirsten Jensen. Christmas knitting and some other personal events got in the way of my completing this so I’m bound and determined to get this done….as well as some Christmas socks…still!

I hope to have this completed really really soon.

Have a great night, everyone.

I finished Rose’s socks for Christmas and mailed them to her this week

Pattern: Nanner Socks by Wendy D. Johnson from her blog, WendyKnits
My Ravelry Project Page
Yarn(s):Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock – Mediumweight
Colorway(s): Flower Power
Needle(s): US 1½ / 2.5 mm
Casted On: November 11, 2009
Casted Off: January 6, 2010
Modifications: None

I asked Rose if she wanted these socks to be a little higher…higher than typical socks but shorter than knee socks and she jumped all over it. I split the skein in half and stopped when I ran out of yarn.

These socks were fun to make. The pattern was easy enough to do but interesting enough to keep my attention. I am a little anxious of the bias that formed in these:

But it is something that is bound to occur with some patterns. I’m sure Rose will still love them.

It’s such a pleasure knitting these for people like Rose, Courtney and my mom. Courtney and Rose can go on and on about how much they love their socks. I just got this email from mom this morning, all of which makes me beam

Where have I been?
Knitting a ton for Christmas and I’m not even halfway there!

I’ve stuck to the list of projects previously listed…and I feel I’ve done a really good job of knitting these projects, but let’s just say I’m thankful I have patient friends who understand that I only have two hands

But I did finish some projects and will continue to pop out FOs till they’re all complete. I finished mom’s Girl Friday on Christmas Eve Eve, just in time for when Jermaine and I went to go have dinner with her and Ray.

Pattern: Girl Friday by Mercedes Tarasovich-Clark from Knitty- Fall, 2009.
My Ravelry Project Page
Yarn(s): Berroco Ultra Alpaca, 5.5 skeins = 1182.5 yards (1081.3m)
Colorway(s): Marsh Mix
Needle(s): US 7 / 4.5 mm
Casted On: October 29, 2009
Casted Off: December 23, 2009
Modifications: I made it longer. I was very inspired by Ravelry user, Sweatshopoflove’s Girl Friday (her blog) to make it longer. It was the look mom and I wanted. I have to say, there are areas of the sweater that are a little tight for her but, because it’s a lacey sweater, I’m confident that it will stretch out a little. Until then, mom said she wouldn’t be wearing something too too heavy underneath.

Want to hear something funny? Dad and I went out on the 23rd to get buttons. We were walking to the car and I had a bizarre case of buyers remorse on the buttons. For whatever reason, I didn’t like them. Once we were in the car, Dad even asked, before he started the car up, if I wanted to return them. I said no and I went home and sewed them on. Care to know what mom’s first words after she opened the present? “What lovely buttons!” Laura=

Doesn’t it look great on her? I tell you–I was so so so nervous about giving this to mom. See, last time I gave a sweater to someone, Dad, and it was about two sizes too small for him. Of course this happens with a parent. Needless to say I didn’t want a repeat. But it looks great on her.

And isn’t that a cute couple picture??

Mom, this sweater was knit with a lot of love. I hope you love this sweater. God knows it will keep you warm! Love you!

I am a list whore! For two reasons…really. One… I need a list to keep track of things, be it work tasks or grocery lists, so I don’t forget about them and Two, there is something incredibly satisfying about crossing things/items off the list. I am either very well intentioned or damn right crazy. Here is my To Do List for Christmas projects for loved ones.

Project	Progress	Notes/Thoughts
Mom’s Girl Friday		This is going by really fast. I have actually been quite surprised by that. I’ve got the back and front left part complete and halfway through the right front. The yarn feels wonderful too. It’s been a pleasure–maybe a FO in a few weeks?
Jermaine’s Vest		I’m still in the process of finalizing the pattern for him. I’m writing it myself The challenge of knitting behind his back is still a little challenging but I try to think of the up side to his weird work schedule–I can work on his vest
Rose’s Socks		Pattern is to be determined. Man is that woman excited over socks. yay!
Rays Socks		I’ve got two good male sock patterns in mind for Ray and Corey. Escalator Socks and Basketcase Socks. The first one was written by the infamous LSG Mod, Eudyptula and the latter was written by another Rav buddy of mine, Dave. Nice way to show some love, right? They’re very nice, guy friendly patterns
Corey’s Socks		I have this image of handing Abby her loverly sweaters and Rose her socks and then be empty handed with Corey. Oh noes! Truth be told, I don’t know him that well but my girl, Rose, loves him to pieces, he’s a great dad he’s served our country in Iraq and Afghanistan. If the man wants a pair of socks, I’ll hook him up.
Courtney’s Socks		I want to knit this girl a sweater. She’s so worth it to me. But the woman just wants socks. OK, I guess? Pattern TBD
Abby’s OTHER Cardigan		Originally Abby was going to get one sweater but then Kirsten Jensen asked if I could test knit her wonderful cardigan. Couldn’t turn that down now could I?  On my Ravelry project page, I simply titled it Abby is my Barbie…cuz…well…she is.
Jermaine’s Gloves		OK I don’t know about these. Gloves? God knows the man wants some so that’ll be my inspiration but after knitting for finger #4, it gets old. This will be a true test. His vest takes priority
Family Stockings		I dont know how realistic this will be. AS MUCH as I’d love for my family to have some stockings, I also don’t feel too too terrible if, of all things, this one gets postponed till next year

I hope to make progress on these. Perhaps I should hop on my futon and pick up the needles as opposed to typing on this here computer. hmmmm

is complete:

Pattern: Cherished Pullover by Renee Sparkes
My Ravelry Project Page
Yarn(s): KnitPicks Pallette
Colorway(s):
Mist – 1.42 skeins, 328 yards
Marine – .26 skeins, 60 yards
Cornmeal – .08 skeins, 18.5 yards
Garnet Heather – .22 skeins, 51 yards
Pool – .12 skeins, 28 yards
Rainforest – .24 skeins, 55.5 yards
Liptstick – .34 skeins, 78.5 yards
Needle(s): US 1½ / 2.5 mm
US 3 / 3.25 mm
Casted On: July 18, 2009
Casted Off: November 8, 2009
Modifications: None–I followed the pattern to a tee because I don’t really know how to modify a stranded sweater. The only thing I changed was that I didn’t do the K2P2 ribbing at the neck because I was nervous the neck hole would be too small.

This pattern was so fun to make! The pattern was written so so well (Thank you Renee!) and the color combination just pops.

There was one area where I think I could use some help/practice and that would be in the sleeve area. Perhaps all I need are 12 inch circulars but I did notice some bulkiness. Hopefully that will go away when I block it? This sweater is quite dense so I don’t have a huge ton of confidence in the blocking process as I would if it were lace. But oh well. This is still a great sweater and I learned a lot.

I called this “Laura’s Experiment” on Ravelry because even if it doesn’t fit Abbey, which, I hope, is doubtful, I’ve learned a lot about steeking and more advanced fair isle techniques. So much so, I’m test knitting this wonderful cardigan from Kirsten for lil Abbey too. She’s going to be spoiled Christmas afternoon!

On October 29, I started a Christmas present–Girl Friday made out of Berroco Ultra Alpaca. This picture pretty much sums up how I feel about this wonderful yarn:

OK I used some alpaca yarn once about a year and a half ago and it shredded all over me. Unfortunately that turned me off of alpaca yarn for a while. Then I saw some folks on Ravelry who started the project with this yarn and started thinking about it. Mom wants a warm cardigan but it can’t be too bulky. This yarn’s alpaca content can provide some extra warmth without it being too heavy. I started this project and fell in love with this yarn. It’s so squishable and yummy! Here’s the progress so far

I’m knitting this at a 4.75 stitches per inch gauge as opposed to the 4.5 stitches per inch as instructed in the pattern. I am knitting the pattern for the 37in chest size and. with these modifications, the size will be 35 inches. My friend Steph helped me with recalculating gauge:

(pattern bust size in inches) x (pattern gauge stitches per inch) / (YOUR gauge stitches per inch)= bust size in inches of YOUR sweater. For example: 37” x 4.5 spi/” / 4.75 spi = 35”

I’m really enjoying knitting this. It’s going by pretty quickly too so who knows when I’ll be posting a finished cardigan.

Project #2

Jermaine did something dumb. He put a vest on his Amazon.com wishlist. Just for kicks, I was looking at it and saw this said vest and that’s when the monster came out &gt.  hehehe I sketched some versions of cabled vests for him to pick from.

I do, in fact, doodle on something called a Doodle Pad. HaHa Those squigglies represent where the cables would go. 1-many in parallel rows with equal spaces between them, two bigger cables on each side, one up the middle to follow the v-neck, or that last one with cables on each side. Jermaine picked out the fourth option. I will be spending some time with my favorite knitting book and an Aran Cable book to develop a vest for him for Christmas out of this lovely yarn:

Does anyone know any suggestions about knitting a garment for a significant other with whom you live and still trying to maintain the surprise aspect?

Have a great weekend everyone!