beautiful things

I did it! I did it!

Yup, I finally finished the Aurora scarf and mittens, thus completing the set!

They've been pretty much done for weeks, but I wanted to knit an i-cord to connect the mittens so they don't get lost, and only last night did I think to measure my niece to figure out how long to make the cord. (Turns out she is exactly the size predicted by a 2-4 year old sweater pattern I looked at.) I also wasn't sure if the i-cord would be too bulky but it looks like that's what a lot of people do. (Also, look at how cute these are.)

I also had to bind off the scarf and add tassles (my new textbook, Coaching for Commitment came in handy for this!) I wasn't sure whether to make the scarf longer or not, but in the end I decided not to, and actually ripped back a few rows so I would have enough yarn for the tassles. This way I can return the remaining 2 skeins. I ended up really liking how these items came out but I don't think I'll be knitting anything else with this yarn.

I also tried blocking for the first time! I didn't do much research, just hit one of the first links that came up on google for an article on knitty.com. I tried steam-blocking with a wet tea towel, but I didn't have any blocking pins - I'm definitely going to get some as I think it will help to widen out the Yankees scarf. For the Aurora scarf it worked just fine - Aurora can actually be ironed straight according to the yarn label.

Aurora scarf

Date:
Started late Feb, mostly finished soon after
Yarn:
I think it was about 3 skeins of Aurora from Noro in color 8
$13.00 each from Gotta Knit
Needles:
US #8 (Takumi Bamboo)

Pattern:

My own - cast on 32st, *K2, P2, K4, P2* repeat 3 times, K2, cable every 6 rows.

Finished object: (pre-blocking)

Post-blocking:

Aurora mittens

Date:
Started late Feb, mostly finished soon after
Yarn:
A portion of a skein of Aurora from Noro in color 8
$13.00 each from Gotta Knit
Needles:
US #8 (Takumi Bamboo)

Pattern:

Based on "Child's hat, scarf and mittens" pattern from my Susan Bates starter kit with added cable detail.

Finished object:

The set

Flickr set is here.

Aurora hat

I have to say, I am getting a little annoyed with my unfinished projects, namely the Aurora set and the Yankees set. I am so close! Plus, the weather got cold again this week (snow flurries!) and I'm wondering, hmm, should I give them to my niece and nephew now after all...?!

I have decided that waiting until a whole set of items is complete before posting them as finished objects only adds to the sense of incompleteness so I now present to you, completed for some time now, the Aurora hat!

Aurora hat

Date:
Started Feb 16 and finished within a few days
Yarn:
I think it was less than 1 skein of Aurora from Noro in color 8
$13.00 each from Gotta Knit
Needles:
US #8 (Takumi Bamboo)

Pattern:

I adapted the Kable Kid pattern from kpixie.com even though I can't quite find how to get from that site to the pattern (there are other free patterns here).

At the time, I didn't know how to knit in the round, so I just took inspiration from this pattern, and knitted it flat based on the "Child's hat, scarf and mittens" pattern from my Susan Bates starter kit and used the cuff from this pattern too. To make the numbers work, I did *k2, p2, k6, p2* 7 times with the cable repeating over 8 rows.

This was my first hat, and my third completed item. It was very exciting to make something with a shape! (a shape other than rectangular that is). The yarn was a lot more colorful than I was expecting, so it ended up being a good pick for my two year old niece. I wasn't madly in love with its texture while actually knitting though so I probably won't use this yarn again. I used 4 of my 6 skeins in total for the hat, mittens and scarf, so I will probably exchange the remaining 2 skeins for something else.

Finished object:

Flickr set is here.

The magic loop

I went back to Purl again last week, oh yes I did.

Let's just recap where we are, shall we?

I have on the needles:
Aurora hat, scarf and mittens set for my two year old niece (hat is done, one mitten is done, the other just needs seeming, scarf is almost done)
Yankees hat, scarf and handwarmers set for my eight year old nephew (hat is pretty much done, scarf is about 3/5ths done)

The trouble is that, aside from the snow dump we just had, well, winter is pretty much over and excited as I am for spring to be here, am I going to give these gifts only to have them sit in a closet for the next eight months? Or should I keep them in my closet until then?

Also, the scarf is a plain 2x2 rib and a little monotonous to knit. I mean, so far, I've tried to give myself a new challenge with every piece I've knit but the plain simple sporty eight year old boy look that I wanted for the scarf overruled that. Besides, the hat was challenging and new.

But the real problem is that today my husband's family are having a big St. Patrick's Day get together and I wanted to bring something to knit, especially as I have pretty much lost my voice (combination of sickness and too much talking on my birthday), but I don't want to be knitting gifts that I am giving to people who are present because a) it ruins the surprise and b) it makes those who are not being knitted for jealous.

So, even though I have so far been more of a "one project at a time" kind of knitter, I have started a third project!

Now I realize that Molly is going to be one of the most hatted babies around but I couldn't resist a cute pattern and a gorgeous yarn, all of which will remain super secret until the gift is completed and given, except to say that I am trying a new technique called "the magic loop" whereby you can knit a smaller circumference item in the round using one long circular needle (the same site also has a good tip for a clean join a little way down this page - I was wondering about that when I knit the Yankees hat). It was a little hairy to start with, especially because with the yarn I'm using, you can't really see the stitches so easily, but now that I'm eight or nine rows in, it's coming along nicely, and I definitely recommend this technique.

And how did I end up knitting this way, you might wonder? Well, it wasn't really by choice, but Purl was out of the Addi Turbo's I wanted (12" US #7) and another customer in the store said "what about the magic loop." Honestly, I didn't even realize she was talking to me at first! But the sales assistant concurred and both said it should be easy enough to find out about how to do it on the internet (by the way, there are also some handy video clips although while actually knitting I found it easier to follow the instructions that were written with photos).

Anyway, I really like this method (I'm using 40" US #7 needles) because a) it means you really only have to buy 40" circulars to knit any size hat, mitten or glove and b) you can stay on the same needles as you decrease rather than having to switch to double pointed needles which I found to be rather awkward when I was knitting the Yankees hat. Also, I like the 40" circulars better than the smaller ones because you get longer straight parts to hold onto. I found I didn't really like the short straight parts of the 16" circulars - they kind of stressed me out a bit.

So that's what I bought last week - one skein of super secret yarn for Molly's hat, 40" US #7 Addi Turbos, and also another skein of Shepherd's Worsted in "jeans" to complete the Yankees set, and single pointed Crystal Palace Bamboo needles in US #5 and #6 to flesh out my growing set of needles and in preparation for Uniscarfity.

Silk garden scarf

So, I was coming to the end of "his scarf" and had an upcoming trip to Chicago. I needed a new project to bring with me that would last the whole weekend! So back to Gotta Knit I went. This time, after all the subdued tones of Mossy Tree, I wanted brighter "girl" colors. I was craving pink. I didn't have a lot of time to shop, and there were two yarns I couldn't decide between, so I bought them both! I was kind of astounded when, together with two sets of bamboo needles to fill in the gap between my Sally Bates #7s and #10s, it came to over $120! I had no context at all for the price of yarn but it seemed like I was buying expensive stuff. I got Silk Garden and Aurora by Noro (strangely I can't find Aurora on the Noro website) and have since heard and seen reference to Silk Garden and Noro in podcasts and blogs so I guess it's a pretty well known high end yarn.

I bought 3 balls of Silk Garden. The only had two in color 251 so I bought a third in a similar color 205. I bought Aurora in color 8. I'm not sure I knit the Silk Garden to its full advantage because look how gorgeous and delicate and fuzzy these look. Well, my scarf is different I guess. Here it is.

Silk garden scarf

Date:
Feb 3rd - Feb 10th, 2007 (approx)
Yarn:
3 skeins of Silk Garden from Noro, 2 in color 251 and 1 in color 205
$12.50 each from Gotta Knit
Needles:
US #8 (Takumi bamboo)

Pattern:

My own - four sections of five stitches of seed stitch divided by columns of K1, 27 stitches overall (I did K2 at each end). I learnt about seed stitch in the store and decided to try it as it uses less yarn than a ribbed pattern and I was concerned about how long a scarf 3 skeins would make (they didn't have anymore that went together).

The story:

I started this scarf on the plane to Chicago. I still wasn't swatching yet, but I did try a couple of things and rip them out before settling on the pattern. I liked the bamboo needles - easier on the finger tips. They only had long ones in the store though so they were a bit awkward, especially on the plane. I think this was my first knitting in public. I also knit on the CTA going into the city, and a bit around rehearsal for my sister's concert, and then back in New York at a Superbowl party. Yes, we left Chicago right before the superbowl, which I guess was good given the outcome...

I'm pretty happy with how the scarf came out. The second color blended in pretty well (I knit it in the middle of the scarf). I really enjoyed seeing the colors flow. It also knit up a lot more quickly than the first scarf. Because of yarn saving stitch pattern, it isn't the warmest of scarves - it's a good spring scarf for right about now when it finally starts getting a little warmer.

Finished object:

(Click images for enlargements of go here for the full set of photos.)