Some WIPs

Here are a few WIPs to tide you all over. These are both knit using the LTK Picky Pants pattern. They have ribbed waistbands, and I'm doing increases and short rows for the rear shaping, with an extra short row added about halfway down.






This is 3ply Purewool in Fresh Blue. I love how the colors are coming out, and the yarn is so incredibly soft to work with! I really enjoy it. I've finished the body shaping, split for the legs, and just need to finish it up. These will become a pair of longies for K.










This yarn is Patons merino that I dyed a few months ago, along with matching trim. I had to add a couple extra increases to fix some wonky pooling, but I'm loving the effect now. These will become a pair of shorties, and with any luck will also fit him next summer!



Last but not least are some pillows I made (minus stuffing). My Gram gave me her sewing machine, along with a bunch of fabric. These don't match anything in the living room, but, I can't say no to pillows. Besides, it was a good way to use up the fabric!

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Listening to: Barenaked Ladies - Hidden Sun
via FoxyTunes

The new bag!

I recently sorted through my yarn stash, and filled an entire laundry basket of yarns I didn't know what to do with. Two of those skeins were Reynolds Lopi, in a nice denim color. It's a bulky weight wool yarn, but was too rough to knit something for Kaiden with. Instead, it became a purse for Mom!

I used the Sophie pattern from MagKnits. Since Mom isn't a fan of small bags, I didn't bother adjusting the gauge to compensate for the bulkier weight wool, so it's larger than the pattern states. I also didn't add the handles, since I was running short on yarn. Instead, I plan on sewing on some wooden handles. I just need to get some handles now!

Here is a picture after completion. It has since been felted, and is now drying. Another picture will be coming soon!



Edited to add the new pic! It's all dry and had a good shave. Now to get some handles...

Skirty - All done!

I finished this skirty last Sunday on the car ride home from camp. It was then washed, and got mailed out on Thursday after it was all dry. It's a present for another online mama, I can't wait until she gets it!

It was knit on my Sweet Tarts, with matching trim. The undersoaker is made from the LTK Picky Pants pattern, with rolled cuff and ribbed waistband. The skirty I did without a pattern, doing increases by upping the needle size, with occasional kfab. The ruffle I did by doing kfab every other stitch for 2 rounds, knit a round, kfab a round, knit a round, then bind off. I love the way it came out, and it looked even better after washing and blocking.


Here's the skirty, that's all that was left of the Sweet Tarts -talk about cutting it close!

The undersoaker before picking up stitches for the skirt.

Here are Kaiden and my little sister modeling the skirt for me. (Before weaving in the end)

On the Needles - Skirty!

My first girly item! Woo! I dyed some more Patons merino to match my "Sweet Tarts", and decided to make a girly knit with it. It's a surprise for an online friend, and a very fun knit! I don't have a pattern for a skirty, but was able to get some help to figure it out.

Currently I'm ready to bind off the leg cuffs on the under-soaker, then I'll be picking up the stitches on the purl row near the waistband, and starting the skirt portion. I can't wait to see this finished! I tried it on K, so it should fit the recipient well. :)

New FO! Zen String shorties

Here's my latest finished item. It is a pair of shorties knit with the WW Perfection Pants pattern. The trim is knit with white Peace Fleece, while the body is knit with Nirvana worsted Zen String in the now retired Pumpkin Pie colorway. The waistband is a 1x1 ribbing, while the legs cuffs were done in seed stitch. I still need to add a drawstring, but they're otherwise finished. I LOVE the way these came out, and the Zen String was a dream to knit with! So luxuriously soft and smooth in your hands, and the color is just beautiful!

I was a bit worried about the length in the legs, but it came out just right!

Sweet Tarts and Blueberries...

After Easter, I bought a bunch of egg dye with the intention of dyeing some wool yarn. Friday night I finally got around to dyeing my two skeins of natural Patons Merino. The intention was to make a pair of shorts out of each skein, but the end result of one skein is too girly for Kaiden. I think I have a plan for it though. ;)

This first skein is "Sweet Tarts". I asked my baby brother and sister what to name them, and they came up with "Pickle Pumpkin", Mom and Nate came up with the final names for these skeins.

The first step was to soak the yarn in water and vinegar. I soaked it for about an hour, then squeezed out the excess liquid, and laid it out on top of plastic wrap. After mixing the egg dye, I painted it on with a sponge brush, then wrapped it up in the plastic wrap. To set the color, I used the microwave. Cook for two minutes, let cool for a couple minutes, repeat for a total cooking time of 10 minutes. After it cooled down completely, I spun it out (on gentle, of course!) in the washer, and hung it to dry. Saturday afternoon, when it was all dry, I reskeined it.

Pretty, no? Unfortunately, way too girly for Kaiden to wear!

Here it is in a center pull ball, and a swatch I knit up to see how the colors blend.


Next up is Blueberry Fields. Nate said he wanted something blue and green, so here it is! The bright blue and neon green are original egg dye tablets. The darker shades are ones I mixed out of various colors.

For this one, I followed the same steps as above. Here it is after painting and hanging to dry. Saturday it was all dry, so I reskeined it as well, then put it into a center pull ball and knit a swatch as well. This will become a pair of cargo shorts for Kaiden, though I'm not sure what color I'll use for trim yet. I love how the colors came out though, and I can't wait to see a FO from this yarn! Here it is in the skein, before I rewound it into a CPB.

Finally, longies are done...

I finished my first pair of Picky Pants tonight! All I had left to do was kitchener stitch the crotch closed, bind off the second leg cuff, and create an I-cord for the drawstring waistband. It's now been finished, washed, and dried. I made them a size larger, so they've got a TON of growing room! The legs are way too long, but they're still cute rolled up. Considering it's my first pair, I don't think I did too bad! Now I just need to remember to work from two skeins at a time when I use Paton's again - talk about long color repeats!




For those wondering specifics, I knit these in Paton's Merino, using Forest for the body, and Leaf Green for the trim. For the pattern, I used LTK Picky Pants, size large with a 1x1 ribbed waistband, backside increases, and the ribbed leg cuff options. Now I finally have another pair of longies I can use!



Here's the crotch with the kitchener grafting. Look Ma, no holes!