Baby Mitts

I work at my college library, and I can say with complete certainty that the library job is the best on campus.  Seriously.  It's fantastic.  Part of what makes the library so wonderful is the amazing people who staff it, and today is the last day for one of them.

The woman who's leaving is a new momma, so I made her beautiful baby some mitts!

Baby Mittens by Malin Knits

MC: Knit Picks Comfy Fingering in Whisker, CC: Premier Yarns Serenity Sock Weight in Rainbow

Seriously, how cute are these little things? The overall cotton/ merino/bamboo/nylon/acrylic fiber combination makes these super soft. It's interesting that the rainbow yarn yielded two completely different mitts -- one's completely orange!  

These mitts are so quick and use such little yarn! Since fingering weight yarn is my new favorite weight, all you new parents should watch out.  Your babies are getting mitten'ed.

The Hillside, San Francisco

My second order from Knit Picks this summer came in, containing yarn to make everything from my to-knit list.  I started with what may become a classic for me -- Cladonia by Kristen Kapur.

Ravelry project page 

I named the project "The Hillside" after my fiance's neighborhood in San Francisco.  Those of you familiar with San Francisco may not recognize Hillside as a neighborhood, and you are right!  Eddie's neighborhood is sandwiched between two larger ones, and his niche doesn't get distinction.  The Eddie solution?  Name it something new -- The Hillside.  My Hillside is knit with Knit Picks Chroma Fingering in Pegasus and Knit Picks Comfy Fingering in Whisker.  They're different fibers, so the gray really pops against the spectrum and adds a new texture dimension.

I visited ImagiKnit last week to get a Tosh fix.  Mission successful.

Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in Terra

I don't know what to do with such a glorious orange, but my needles busily click about Nathan for now, so I must stay focused.   After ImagiKnit, Eddie, his fantastic roommate Matt and I went to the cinematic glory known as Midnites for Maniacs at the historic Castro Theatre.  There, we saw a triple feature -- Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Vegan Police), Hot Fuzz (a great big bushy beard!), and Shaun of the Dead (You've got red on you) -- with in house Q&A from the mind behind these film-gems, director and writer Edgar Wright.   All for $15.  Bam.

I also visited a new yarn shop -- Atelier Yarns.  I bought some darning needles to officially finish The Hillside (I somehow lost my cherished yarn needle), but the yarn selection definitively tempted me.  Mmm Malibrigo.

San Francisco with my beloved delivers new adventures daily.  I love it here with him (although I suspect I'd love anywhere with him).

To-knit list (and why I love them)

I just made my last yarn purchase of the summer (and I'm blogging about it now just in case I forget -- no more buying yarn!), so it's time for a knit-list!

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Nathan by Jones and Vandermeer 

My Eddie is dapper, oh so dapper, and he is quite fond of sweater-vests.  He loves the last sweater vest I made him, but I'm not completely satisfied with the project in hindsight.  Textured Vest by Erika Knight is knit flat, and flat stockinette, while cathartic, drags.  Nathan is knit in the round, which will save yarn and also make the pattern go more quickly.  The sides are ribbed, which will help achieve an ideal fit (I want slim fitting, ala Joseph Gordon Levitt in Inception).  This pattern is free!

Hemlock Ring Blanket by Jared Flood

It's about time I knit something by Jared Flood.  While this isn't technically his pattern, I credit him for sharing it with the knitterverse anyway.  I am so excited for heavyweight lace.  This pattern will be a challenge (I haven't knit exclusively off a chart before, I've never made a blanket before) but I'm looking forward to it.  Plus, it's beautiful.  This pattern is free!

Cladonia by Kristen Kapur

(oh yes, I'm making another one)

My first go at this pattern went so beautifully, and despite being a large-ish shawl, I was never really bored by it (which is saying something).  Plus the outcome is stunning.  This time I'm using Chroma Fingering in Pegasus for the contrast color.  I love this pattern.

the beekeeper's quilt by tiny owl knits

tiny owl knits Oh my Gosh.  I first fell in love with her designs when I made "Baby Lamb Cuffs", and I had been keeping an eye on her new designs ever since.  Imagine my jubilation when I found the beekeeper's quilt.  It's made from stuffed sock yarn puffs (so there's no need to line the opposite side of the quilt) using bits of yarn, so it's an amazing stash-buster.  Pay close attention to the charts and tips discussion board on Ravelry where people post charts (for free) to make things like bees, foxes, owls, and gnomes for your puffs!  I am so excited

Pucker up, round 2

My lovely friend Ashley designed Pucker Up back in January, and I eagerly knit one up from my stash -- Lily Sugar & Cream in Rose Pink.  The project itself displayed the pattern well, and the color of the yarn certainly added a pop to my wardrobe, but all in all it wasn't the best yarn choice.  In these harsh economic times, we must cherish frugality, careful not to spend where we don't need to.  That's why stash knitting is so great -- we get to craft new and beautiful things using what we already have.

Earlier this month, I made some purchases at KnitPicks and bought the yarn for my beloved Cladonia shawl and some Comfy Worsted to remake Ashley's design.

Round 2 is so much better.

Pucker Up by Ashley Aguilar in Knit Picks Comfy Worsted, Fairy Tale colorway

Ravelry Project Page

Comfy Worsted is unbelievably soft, I want to make a blanket out of it and stay wrapped up for hours.  I love the color, although I admittedly have a thing for jewel tones.  Unlike Sugar & Cream, Comfy shows off the pattern more and can hold the picots without losing definition.  The drape is amazing, and the hat turned out much slouchier than I anticipated.

Mods:

I used size 6 needles throughout because I still can't find my interchangeables.

I cast on for the medium size and knit the body in large because I wanted it slouchier.  It turns out that wasn't necessary.  Tip: If you knit the hat in yarn that can be blocked, there is no need to size up to get a slouchy hat.

Worried about yarn shortage, I knit the pleated sections two rows shorter than written, but it turns out I had some extra yarn anyway.

The pattern is quick and unique, and it can hold my giant curly lion mane so that's always a plus.  The construction is simple but the result is super sweet.  I was so grateful to size up from fingering yarn.

Cladonia

I have nicknamed Cladonia Yarnie: the yarn baby.

This pattern held my attention really well.  Especially in a fingering weight shawl, knitting through the body can be dreadful.  But this pattern is different; with color changes every two rows, you're constantly switching up what you're doing.  As far as yarn choices go, variegated is tops.  Watching the colors change adds a new component to the knitting project.  Golden Glow changes from a pale, near white yellow to warm, honey yellow with bits of bright, intense yellow.  The pink changes from pale, near white pink to cool, pastel pink and deep, near almost purpley pink and of course, it has bits of yellow.

Combined, there are spots in the shawl where the pink and yellow are nearly indiscernible.

In the edging, though, I didn't like the yellow bits in the pink.  I feel like it took away from the overall look of color completion.  But maybe I'm thinking too much about it.

Yesterday Eddie and I took a bunch of photos of the baby in action (after busting it out at the theater while watching Captain America).

I knit the pattern as written, except on 6s instead of 7s (can't seem to find my interchangeable needles).  I was apprehensive to do the looped picot edging, but it's really not that bad and the end product is beautiful.

I really, really love my yarn baby.

My new yarn baby

I picked up my knitpicks yarn on Monday and oh my god, it is glorious.

Stroll Tonal in Golden Glow and Queen Anne

I feel like these colorways were made for each other; the yellow has bits of pink, the pink has bits of yellow.  I started a new project with this yarn, Cladonia, and it is beautiful:

Cladonia by Kristen Kapur

More on the actual pattern later, but I'm really loving that the colors switch every two rows.  It keeps the pattern very easy to memorize and the variegation of the yarn holds my interest (especially with the pink, I am really interested in how the colors knit up).

Knitting so many beautiful things makes me want to keep designing, but I oh-so nervously dip my toes into the waters of design.   But this makes me happy:

Look at all those hearts!  I hope people make more projects though, I'd really like to see what people can do with my patterns.

I wonder what I should design next...

Summer Flies

And so I am done with the first trimester of my senior year of college.  Only two more to go before I graduate in March.  This March.  In nine months. Wow.

When finals roll along, I have an unrelenting "No knitting until you're done" policy, so this yarn and this project served as an incentive to get all my work done (it's a good incentive -- I stayed on Dean's List all year!  Whoo!).

Eddie got me some beautiful yarn in Royalty from Sun Valley Fibers for my birthday. I normally buy fingering yarn in 440 yard skeins, but this skein fell short at just 400 yards.  But alas, there are plenty of beautiful shawlette lacy patterns under 400.  I decided to make Summer Flies by Donna Griffin.

The pattern calls for worsted weight yarn, so obviously my fingering weight finished product differs from the sample.  Most notably, the gorgeous knotwork section doesn't show up as clearly as it would in worsted weight.

I had trouble with the first butterfly section, and I ended up having a few extra stitches at the end of the butterfly sections, but it wasn't really a big deal, I just made up for the stitch count (skipping the m1s, ssk when there were extra stitches, etc).

The bind off took super long, but I'm glad it's done.  Blocking helped bring out the pattern.  The color is most accurate in the first photo.

Ravelry Project Page