another sweater for charity

I knit this sweater for afghans for afghans youth campaign using a little over 2 skeins of Lamb's Pride Worsted yarn, in old sage. Pattern is from a book called Paton's Back to Basics 2. I used an aran weight yarn for a pattern that called for worsted, and followed the sizing for an 8 year old. Buttons were 5/8”.

As it turns out, instead of having a ‘standard’ 25.5-26.5” chest, I think what I wound up with is a 33” chest. So, the 8 year old who winds up with this will be swimming in it. Oh well, lesson learned for the next time I make this pattern. (Or, to look at this more “glass half full” - this was purposely made to be loose fitting, lol!)

The pattern in the book says that a size 8 would fit a 25.5” chest, and according to the craft yarn council's site for sizing for an 8 year old, a 26.5” chest. Anything 4-6” bigger is considrered loose fitting, and 6” or more is ‘oversized’… hm… well, hopefully it’s a garment that will nonetheless be put to good use, it should be warm enough.

my first handspun

I used a drop spindle to make this:

It's my very first handspun. Overall, I think it turned out alright, although I did try to make it as thin as possible. I was aiming for something about fingering weight, although despite my best efforts, there are parts of it that are thicker (like dk weight-ish) and parts that got too thin (like lace weight-ish), but, oh well. I think that sort of thing just happens.

Now, in the end I wrapped the skein around my arm, so I'm estimating its length to be about 28 meters, although I was hoping for more. It's 50 grams all together. At the very least, I love the colourway.

makin' myself a sweater

I'm finally getting around on knitting myself a sweater - I've decided on Mariah - a knitty publication from a while ago. I noticed it when it was first published, but was initially discouraged for two reasons: firstly, because it didn't come in my size, and secondly, because I couldn't afford or decide on the yarn I wanted to use.

Thanks to ravelry though, I've collected a whole bunch of Debbie Bliss Merino DK in green - well, one of their shades of green. Since it's not a yarn I can find at an LYS within arm's reach of where I live, I had to rely on people's destashery to collect enough. I've got about 20.5 skeins all together, that I've collected from 3 different people.

Over the weekend, I've adjusted the pattern to fit me - the only major change I had to do was the torso part, but I think the XXL sleeves will fit alright, with maybe only some minor tweeking. Oh, and just to make my life easier (she says with sarcasm in her voice!) I'm going to change the zipper part to button holes. I've got some buttons in earth tones I'd love to use.

Now, realistically, based on the yardage used in the pattern, I may have just exactly enough, but since I'm tweeking the pattern, I realistically may be short. So, I've found someone else who's destashing some Debbie Bliss merino dk but in a different shade of green, of which I'll save for the hood. Of course, it's optional to not make it a hoodie, but hoodies are not only trendy atm, but convenient to have on those cool evenings.

Here's hoping I don't botch it up - I've already got a few inches of the sleeves knit! I both love and hate how confusing the cables on the sleeves are, but I'm sure they'll look great in the end! Phew!

Earth Day Knit completed

I've been having a bit of trouble uploading a photo, but I did manage to knit an earth day project as per a KAL on ravelry's Illusion Knits group, it's a Mother Earth illusion dishcloth made with Bernat Cotton.

I miss my illusion knits, they're very unique. One of these days I'll manage to figure out how to lay out an illusion pattern of my own, I hope!

Happy St. Paddy's Day / knit something green

Well, since it be St Paddy's Day and all, it only be appropriate to needle something green, so here be my contribution:

It's this version of the Candle Flame Shawl (there's at least 2 that I'm aware of) - I'm whipping it up in TLC Wiggles yarn, and on 4.5 mm needles. There's a wicked amount of yardage per skein - at this point I'm guesstimating that I'll have plenty in 2 skeins, despite my having 6 in my stash.

I would've rathered to have posted a finished item, but it's just a work in progress and about half done! By the end of the week I hope to have it completed.

eco-holiday/destash yourself

I've been wanting to write an eco-knitting/crocheting themed post for a while, and I figured now's as good of a time as any. Y'know, since those gosh-darned holidays are coming up. So, here we go:

seven ways to green yourself this holiday season

(and still knit or crochet)

1. Go through your current yarn stash and knit it. If you're like me and virtually any other knitter or crocheter, you've got way too much stash as it is. With less than a month to go (eek!) now's the ideal time to reduce your stash. Knit 10 scarves. Or 10 pairs of wrist warmers. Or ten hats. Entirely out of your stash, no store bought stuff. Set a goal to have these 10 items done within 2 weeks and you'll not only alleviate your stash, but you've got 10 gifts already made for the holidays.

2. Don't buy extra needles or hooks. One (or one pair) of each size is all you need. Buying extra needles and hooks means that more new ones (all made from new materials by the way!) are going to be made. REUSE your needles. If need be, finish your WIP's in order to move on to the next project with those needles.

3. Look for eco yarn. Organic stuff. Yarn made from recycled materials. Every once in a while, your LYS will have it. Substitute that for whatever yarn your pattern calls for, if you can.

4. Minimize the yarn you need to buy by looking for the maximum amount of yardage. If you can buy 7 skeins instead of 10, that's 3 fewer yarn labels that need to be made for that project. I know that Walmart sometimes carries those 1lb bags of yarn, check those out to see if you can use that for a project.

5. Recycle packaging. All those pesky yarn labels, plastic bags, and casings that your knitting supplies come in, make sure they get in the blue box.

6. Rummage through thrift stores and garage sales. Once in a while, they'll have craft supplies. One knitter's surplus is another knitter's treasure. Also, check out what ugly sweaters can be frogged into new beautiful clothes.

7. Save your scraps. All of your partial balls of yarn can be blended together to make ecclecticly striped scarves, hats, and blankets. (Interesting tidbit: the origins of granny squares comes from using up scrap yarn to make afghans!)

There's much more beyond this, but this is a good start for now. Go through these as often as possible to make your knitting and crocheting ecological, and save some money in the process.

crocheted fingerless mitts - again!

i just finished crocheting these yesterday - I love making them because they're not only a great way to use up less than 1 ball of yarn, but I can whip up a pair in less than one day! (and they're great for keeping my hands warm! woot!)