Sunday, January 29, 2006

Another finished project



I finished felting a hat yesterday. My goofy 11 year old son saw this hat in a store and begged me to make it for him. I think he sees it as a Jamaican style hat. The pattern is Fiber Trends AC-08 Felt Cap and the yarn is three skeins of Kureyon knit on size 10 needles. I was a little unsure it was going to work pre-felting stage as the hat was approximately 12 inches high! But sure enough, after three cycles on the hottest temperature, it turned out perfect. See the before and after shots.

Clapotis # 2 is done!



I made my first Clapotis in Knitpicks Shimmer (morning mist) which was a lighter weight summery wrap. For this second Clapotis, I used Lorna's Laces Lion & Lamb in Iris Garden colorway. Pricy yarn but it is gorgeous!!! I'm thrilled with how it turned out.

Sunday, January 08, 2006

Lots of finished projects




I haven't posted much due to the holidays but I did finish some projects both for Christmas presents and a baby gift.

Project #1 - Baby sweater and jester hat for co-worker's new baby son. Pattern is from Lion Brand and the yarn is Cotton Ease in popsical, orangeade and vanilla (and no, they are not Miami Dolphin fans; my son picked out the color combination.)

Project #2 - Bengals scarf and fleece blanket for my daughter. The scarf is made in boucle and the fleece blanket is the simple, cut 4" square out of corners of blanket, cut 4" strips every inch and tie. She was able to take it with her to the last Bengals game of the season.

Project #3: Scarf for husband - very hard to see the detail but it's a pattern of k3, p3 for 14 rows, then switch the pattern. Almost a cable effect. i found the pattern in the little scarf book from the grocery store and knit it in Bollicine which is 50% wool, 25% acrylic and 25% alpaca in shades of blue/greay. It's for him to wear with his navy coat. It's still sitting on the chair where I gave it to him so I don't think he likes it! LOL! The yarn is wonderfully soft. I have about 180 yards left, I'm hoping enough for a hat for one of the kids.

Other projects. I am working on my scarf for the International scarf exchange. Can't show a picture of it because it's supposed to be a surprise but it is WAY COOL! I just started the decrease section on my second Clapotis in Lorna's Laces. It looks fabulous, if I do say so myself. Next up - a goofy felted hat as requested by my son!

Monday, January 02, 2006

My First Felting Project




Hooray!! I finished knitting my fuzzy feet this morning and just pulled them out of the washer. Voila! From giant size to just right!

The particulars: 100% merino from handpainted yarn. I don't remember the name of the yarn but I've been struggling to find a project that suits it. Not totally in love with slippers in these shades but what the heck, it was an experimental project! I also used some fun fur I purchased from turkey last year as an accent. I knit on size 9 dpn. The slippers were approximately 12 inches (maybe 13, I forgot to measure) before felting and are now approximately 8 inches. I wear a size 8 shoe and they are very snug.

I own a front loader washer so I wasn't confident the felting was going to work but it did. I can see that it's a tad uneven - i can still see stitches here and there but overall, I'm happy with it. Based on tips I read at the knit list this morning, I used wool-lite and fairly hot water - 160 degrees. I threw it in a zipper pillow case and also threw an old pair of jeans in with the pillow case.

I'm ready to move on to a goofy felted hat my son has requested!