FO Friday 9/12/14

Boy have I been busy!  I felt a push to get a few items off my to knit list, and I was successful.  I also ended up making a small unexpected project for Quidditch that the kitties like.  Let me start by sharing my Halloween Spooky sampler from last year! I stitched this up during the actual stitch along and managed to keep up. I then said I was going to frame it, or make a pillow out of it, and did neither.  It has just sat since last year.  When I saw that Jess had her Halloween sampler was all framed, I knew I needed to get mine done.  We finally have some room to decorate at the new house too, so I think it will look great. I actually want to have a small table by the entry where I can have seasonal decor.  I haven't found a table I like so for now the sampler will sit on the stone in front of the fireplace.

Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery - Halloween Spooky Sampler

I LOVE Peeps, so this little witch Peep had to come home with me from Cracker Barrel a few weeks ago .

For Quidditch, we needed to make an item to butter up Dolores Umbridge.  I picked this little item from her "favorites" and added a bit of catnip for Phoebe and Athena. It was a super fast knit, and I may make a whole jar full of them in the future heh

Gruesome Knitted Eyeball by Mary Jane Mucklestone

For the year long swap I needed to make toys for my partner. I made a minion already and for the second toy I decided to make a dinosaur. I used scrap sock yarn for this little guy. He is actually a pretty fast knit too. I was worried that his spines would be a pain to add, but it was actually really easy to sew them on as it is all one big strip.  

Grumpasaurus by Kat Lewinski

The hardest part was actually getting a grump enough face. The first time I embroidered it on, I tilted the eyes the other way and he looked so happy. I had to look at the pattern again to realize my mistake.

I am one grumpy dinosaur!

My last FO of the week is a pair of baby booties. A Rav friend of mine and I were chatting in the beginning of the year about babies and said that we would knit for each other when we each got pregnant. She is expecting a baby girl in October so I whipped up some Monster Booties for her.

Monster Booties by Rebecca Danger

She and I met in a Monster making group on Ravelry, so I know she will just love them!  I knit these in a size 6-9 months which should work out perfectly as the baby will be born in Australia and they are just starting to have their Spring. By the time she can fit these booties it should be starting to get cool there.  I knit them up in Cascade 220 superwash so they can be thrown in the washer and dryer as needed.  

My vacation ended and I am back to work.  I managed to finish 2 FO's this week though :)  The first is the Pedestrian Crossing Cowl that I knit for a friend.  I am excited to give it to her and hope that she loves it.  It's knit in Malabrigo Worsted in the Plena colorway.

Pedestrian Crossing Cowl-pattern by Melissa Sibley

Next, I finished my This Isn't a Man socks.  I just did basic, toe-up socks with a fish lips kiss heel.  The weather today is supposed to be chilly and rainy so I might be wearing them today.

The Cyborg's Craft Room This Isn't a Man self striping

Sharing FO's Saturday 7/12/14

So we have missed Friday, but we still had a few FOs to share.  I have been busy spinning for the Tour de Fleece, but I did manage to finish my mitts!

Winter Twilight Mitts - Cascade Heritage and Crystal Palace Mini-Mochi

They do not match, but they certainly go together.  I love how they turned out.  I can slip them on my hands (although my first mitt is a little tighter than the second). They are super warm and I need to cast on a pair of colorwork mitts for myself for this winter.

I also made sure to get my Once Upon a Time July square done before my mom comes for a visit, and we move. 

The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery - Once Upon a Time sampler

The theme for this month is Thumbelina and she is floating in a walnut shell! So cute!
I've been busy working on my shawl and spinning so this week I just have 2 teeny gnome ornaments to share.  I will probably wait to share the rest of the ornaments I make until the end of the month, but here is a little preview:

Gnome is Where the <3 Is by Susan Claudino

WIPs Wednesday 7/9/14

I've been spinning so much this week so I only have a bit of a WIP to share this week.  One of the class prompts for the House Cup this month is to make something that brings you back to the reason you began crafting.  

My mother taught me how to knit almost 10 years ago.  She has been knitting all of my life (and then some).  I remember the clicking of her needles as a small child and how relaxing it sounded.  In 2004, my oldest brother passed away unexpectedly.  I was devastated.  I isolated myself from everyone, the only social interaction I had was in online video games and talking to family.  His fiancee had started knitting to calm her nerves so I asked my mom if she could teach me how to knit, too.  The first time I picked up the needles, I was so frustrated.  I didn't think it would ever click.  Finally, after a dozen or so tries, it did.  I made a bright garter stitch scarf out of Red Heart.  It was short, it was scratchy, and I loved it.  I absorbed myself in my knitting to deal with the pain.  After awhile, I met my now ex husband.  I still knit, but not regularly.  When we separated, I picked the needles back up and haven't set them down since.  Wherever I go, my knitting goes with me.  

Since the 10 year anniversary is coming up in September, I wanted to do something for my mom as a thank you and also something that could help comfort her.  I am making her 198 yds of Heaven out of the special Malabrigo Rios that Jen brought back for me from New Orleans.   It's soft, cozy and I hope it makes her feel better.

198 Yds of Heaven in Malabrigo Rios 

First off I want to give Jess a big hug right now. I love that the yarn I gave her is going to such a special project.  I have two projects currently on the needles. Lately I have been busy with packing and getting things ready for the move.  My crafting time has mostly been spent spinning for the Tour de Fleece.  I need to finish my OWL in time to turn it in so I worked on it a few nights ago while watching a movie with the hubby.  Last time I shared the scarf I had 35 finished stripes.  Now I have 42! Not only is this an awesome amount of stripes (it is the ANSWER after all), but it also means that I am getting closer to finishing it.  Just 11 stripes to go!  

It was hard to find a way to show all of the stripes!  The other WIP on my needles is a pair of socks that I cast on.  This will be my 8th pair for the year, and is another Christmas present.  I have knit this pattern twice before, it is the Jeck, pattern by Regina Satta.  I love that the combination of purl and slip stitches adds so much character to the sock.  

Jeck - Plymouth Yarn Happy Feet

Sorry about the bad pictures, my old laptop died and with it my photo program that I prefer to use so I am going to have to find something else to use on the new laptop.  

WIPs Wednesday 7/2/14

I only have two projects on the needles right now. I have finished a few projects in the last few days so I am left working on my Mission and my OWL.  I have 27 rows to go on my second mitt. Almost done!

Winter Twilight Mitts - Cascade heritage and Crystal Palace Mini Mochi

The colors do not match up, but they definitely look like a pair of mitts.  I definitely see a second pair of these in my future.

My OWL is slowly coming along. I have 35 stripes of the 53.  I found the needles chomped and the yarn messed up on the scarf this evening. Luckily when Athena chomped the needles, none of the stitches dropped.  So all I had to do was transfer the stitches over to new needles.  Then when I finished the grey stripe I wound the tangled yarn into a ball.  

WIPs Wednesday 6/25

I am back this week with my WIPs too!  I am still working on my Dr. Who scarf. I have about a month to go to finish it in time for my OWL and I hope I can do it.  I am on stripe 30/53.  I didn't take a photo since it it doesn't look all that different from the last time that I posted. I worked on it yesterday in the car on the way up to Glen Onoko falls.  The hubby and I had lunch outside and it was so nice out he said we should go for a walk.  We hopped in the car and headed to Jim Thorpe. We have been up in that area before, but not to the waterfalls.  We have been living here for 4 years and haven't seen many things in the area. We are hoping to spend as much time as possible outside while we can since it is so much harder to do in the winter.

Glen Onoko falls, Jim Thorpe, PA

I am wearing an FO in that pic that I will be sharing on Friday!! I have also been working on my Simple Skyp socks. I have one finished and am halfway through the leg of the second one. The goal is to finish these by the end of the month so I can submit them for Flying class.  

Sock #2, Simple Skyp Socks - The Cyborg's Craft Room - "Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock"

Lastly I have been working on my Wintry Mitts. I finished the first mitt and continued on in the Crystal Palace Mini Mochi skein. So whereas the first mitt starts at green at the bottom, this one is a purple.  I know that looks more magenta than purple, but the color is very different in real life.  Hopefully my swap partner is not too OCD about her mitts being identical.  

Wintry Mitt #2

I made a list of all of the deadline knitting I have to do and I almost cried.  When I first commited to doing everything I figured, I have all year, why not?!  Now that the year is half over and I am just starting some of these things the panic is setting in.  There's no way I can do everything, so my Adrift cardigan is going on hiatus until I can finish up some deadlines.  I would have loved to finish it by the OWL deadline, but there's no way it can happen.  

I am happy to say that I finished two bigger projects this past week that I will be sharing on Friday.  Now I am just working on my deadline knitting.  I plan on knocking a huge portion of it out in July so I wanted to see how many of the smaller projects I can finish before then.

I cast on this adorable pumpkin  hat using Knit Picks Brava.  When Brava first came out I loved it!  Now that they changed manufacturers I'm not a huge fan.  I think it will still be durable, it's still easy to care for.  It just doesn't feel nearly as nice as it did before and squeaks when I knit it up.

Pumpkin Hat pattern by Eileen Casey.  Yarn:  Knit Picks Brava Worsted in Orange.  

The other project on the needles this week is for my swap partner.  I'm knitting her the Cruiser Mittens.  The pattern calls for worsted weight but I am double stranding sport weight instead.  

Cruiser Mittens pattern by Cailyn Meyer.  Yarn: Cascade 220 Sport in Charcoal Grey

Tonight is your last chance to enter our spindle and Gourmet Stash puni giveaway in the Ravelry thread!  The winner will be announced in the group tomorrow morning so if you haven't already, get those last minute entries in!

WIP Wednesday 6/11/14

This past week went so fast!  Friday & Saturday I had plans and didn't get much time to work on any knitting.  Sunday, rather than knitting I decided to pick up my Halloween Spooky Sampler and work on that.   I made some progress and will be trying to work on that each week so I can actually be done before Halloween.  I really want to buy the Halloween Town pattern by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery, but I am trying to finish the projects I have started before starting a new one.  

I haven't made any progress on my June socks in the past week.  They are currently sitting in the WIPs basket until I make a little more progress on my sweater.  
I finally started the sleeves.  Monday & Tuesday I was home sick so I tried to spend an hour a day working on it.  At this point I don't see myself finishing by the end of July and finishing my OWL.  I'll still work on it, but I can't let myself stress out over it.  

I was traveling this week so I really had to make some crafting choices before I left.  Since my OWL scarf is getting so long, and it has 7 different colors, I decided to leave it at home.  When I got home last night I finished the last two stripes that I needed to do to hit my 50% mark!  Now I can submit that for 75 points and keep working on it.  I have 26 stripes to go and the tassels, but I think I can totally do it.  After I block it, it will feel so good to trim all those woven in ends!

I brought two projects with me, one was a pair of socks. When I left last week I had the cuff done on the sock, now I am on the toe of the first sock.  This is the Simple Skyp Socks pattern by Adrienne Ku.   It is not a pattern that I have done before, but I knew that Jess had, so I decided to give it a try.  The colorway is the funnest part of these socks though.  It is The Cyborg's Craft Room Assockilate in "Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock." I am a sucker for anything that can be connected with another fandom that I love (this should make sense since we are the Fiber Fangirls!)  So I knew when I saw the Big Bang Theory colorway that I just had to have it! These socks will be a Christmas present so I cannot tell you who they are for, but I love them so much. Too bad they would never fit me!

My last WIP for the week is my Wintry Mitts that are for my Order of the Phoenix Mission. I have about 4 colorwork rows to go, and then the ribbing on the top of the mitt, and the thumb and the first mitt is done! I don't think I am going to be able to match the two mitts, but I think that the mitts will still go together well.  

WIPs Wednesday 6/4

Still working on the Dr. Who scarf.  I am at 25 stripes so far.  I was taking a picture of it and the hubby asked, "Are you done?" I responded with, "Almost halfway." 

It is too big to photograph on the table so my pictures from now on will be on my carpet.  I am almost to the point where I will have to climb on furniture to fit the whole scarf in the shot!

A few nights ago I binge watched Gossip Girl (thanks for introducing me to that wonderful show Jess!) and worked on my mitts.  They are feeling pretty snug, but I can still get them on my hand so I think that they will work.

So sad that I will not be keeping these mitts, I see another pair in my future.

I cast on a pair of socks today too, but since I am only three rows into the cuff I will wait and share the progress next week.

I finally got finished with the raglan increases on my Adrift cardigan!  Now I just need to knit the sleeves and I will be at the halfway point.  After that, just 10 more inches (ha!) of stockinette and then I will have a finished wool sweater just in time for a heat wave!

I started my June socks.  This month I am knitting Rainbow Explosion by Lauren McMordie.  I am using Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Slushie Facial.  The pattern is easy to follow, I love the textured panels on the side.  I just feel like my tension between knit and purl might be too loose so I don't think my rainbows look very rainbow-y compared to others that have been knit.  They are still neat looking though :D

We have a new contest up on the Ravelry group just in time for Tour de Fleece!  To celebrate our first ever TdF as Team Fiber Fangirls we are giving away a top whorl drop spindle and a sampler pack of Gourmet Stash punis!  To enter, just go to the thread in the Ravelry group and tell us what one of your spinning goals are.  The thread will close at midnight on 6/25 and the winner will be announced on the 26th.  

WIPs Wednesday 5/28

Besides my sock yarn blanket, I have two WIPs on the needles.  I am still working on my Dr. Who scarf.  Another few stripes done. I cannot believe how long it is getting!

I have also been working on my Winter Twilight Mitts. The colorwork is slow going, but I haven't had to rip it out since the last time.  I bought some great magnets from Slipped Stitch Studios which helps me to keep track of which row I am on.  

I keep trying on my mitts every row or so to make sure that they are not too tight. I even had a friend try them on too. They are definitely more snug than other mitts I have made, but if the floats are too loose you end up with ladders.  I am assuming that I could soak and block will help them even out a bit in the end.  

I just kitchenered the toe of my 2nd Van Gogh sock, so I will be sharing them on Friday.  That leaves my Adrift as the only WIP on the needles.  I haven't made much progress since last week, but I did knit on it yesterday morning.  I am so close to the sleeves and am hoping to be starting them by the weekend.

Modular Monday 5/26/14

I've been working hard on my sock yarn blanket this week.  I managed to knit 21 squares so far which brings my total to 88!  Now I am at the point in my BROOM mission where I can knit a square a day in order to submit my mission on time for the House Cup.  

Jess's Sock Yarn Blanket

I have received so many mini skeins from various Ravelry friends and Instagram friends.  Thank you all so much for being a part of my blanket <3

I have also been working on my blanket. I just finished the 20th square of the month last night.  I also received a big bag of mini-skeins from a Ravelry friend, and there are even more on the way. It is so fun to have a blanket filled with yarn from so many people.

Jen's blanket

I am up to 143 squares.  I am starting to work on my blanket across each row, instead of randomly picking a spot and each column has at least 5 squares. 
How are your modular projects going? We only have 5 more days to enter our contest in our Ravelry group. Don't forget to vote on our Tour de Fleece poll as well.

FO Friday 5/16

So this week most of my knitting has been on WIPs so I have no new FOs to share.  I have been using my multi-craftual skills this week though.  I have finished a sewing project and a fused glass project.  Each month for the HPKCHC we have class prompts and sometimes they allow us to do Non-Rav projects.  A Ravelry project is knitting, crocheting, spinning, dyeing or weaving.  I get excited when I can fit fused glass in my classes. I feel so fortunate to have a kiln in my garage so I want to use it whenever I can.  The prompt this month was about bio-luminescent animals.  I was inspired by a jellyfish that makes its own light.  I also took inspiration from my night light kits. So I made this dichroic glass jellyfish nightlight!

 It is all one nightlight shown in different ways so you can see the colors of the dichroic glass and how it looks turned on. It is really hard to take a good photo of a nightlight when it is all lit up!   I really like how it turned out.  
The other project I completed this month is a lined small tote bag.  I followed this tutorial. It took less than 2 fat quarters and it was really easy to make.

This week I have 2 FO's to share!  The first one is the Chiron socks that I was knitting with Jen.  We both opted out of doing the pattern on the foot.  The pattern itself was easy enough, but to continue it on the foot it would have involved moving around stitches since I knit magic loop instead of DPN's.  If I need to think about a pattern too much, I'm over it.  I loved the yarn, I am sad I can't get my hands on more of it.  Everyone cross your fingers that Younger Yarn re-opens her shop at some point, mmk?

Chiron Socks in Younger Yarn Shire String-Bayou Blood

Next, I knit a baby bib to donate to one of the expectant mothers in the Hufflepuff Baby Brigade.  She is having a boy, so I knit it it blue Knit Picks Dishie.  The pattern is Grandmother's Favorite Baby Bib and it was such a fast knit!  I cast on Monday morning and was finished a few hours later.  

WIPs Wednesday 5/14

This week, I have mostly been working on my Adrift Cardigan.  I finished two projects that I will share on Friday and cast on a pair of vanilla socks.  I am still on the raglan increases of the sweater but it is finally starting to look like it's growing!  I'm trying to knit anywhere between 4-8 rows a day on it.  In the beginning it took me about 15 minutes per row.  Now that it's getting bigger, it takes a little longer.  By the time I am ready to divide the sleeves I'll have almost 600 stitches on the needles!  I'm trying to get to the sleeves by Memorial Day weekend (that's just a little over a week away).  That way I will have 3 weeks to get the sleeves done and be at the halfway mark by mid-term.  Will I make the deadline?  I see lots of trips to Starbucks and lots of chocolate in my future to make this happen.

I finished my Chiron socks over the weekend so I decided to cast on a pair of vanilla socks to play around with in between working on my sweater.  I'm using the Van Gogh yarn by Opal.  It's Cafe at Night and I am in love with it.

I'm about halfway through the leg and will do a basic slipped stitch heel flap.  It's always nice to work on vanilla socks in between socks with a chart or a pattern to it.

What have you been working on, Jen?

So I have been working on my Dr. Who scarf and have 12 stripes now! 

Phoebe is trying to help me out, luckily she isn't the cat that chomps needles. Ideally I would like to be at the halfway point a month from today, which is 27 stripes.  There are 53 stripes total and I need to make tassels and block it, so I counted 27 stripes as 50% for my OWL.  I am making good progress so far, and it isn't terribly boring yet.  I have been weaving in my ends as I go and will trim them all off after I block it.  

I am still working on my Chiron socks even though Jess already finished hers. Isn't she fast?!  I did finish one of them, and am about 1/3 of the way through the leg on sock #2

That is Phoebe's tail in this shot too

Lastly, I cast on a toy that I will be sending to the Hufflepuff Baby Brigade. We make care packages to send to our expectant Puffs. Each of the Puffs who are expecting have children already so I am making toys so the older brothers get something too.

Voodoo you love me? - by Susan Claudino in Dancing Dog Dyeworks Waltz Worsted - "Big's Beautiful Blues"

Hopefully I will have something knit to share on Friday as an FO. I will have some fused glass and a sewing project to share though :-) 

Modular Monday 5/12/14

My sock yarn blanket currently has 67 squares.  For the HPKCHC, I proposed my Order of the Phoenix mission and challenged myself to knit an additional 70 squares between May 18th and July 13th.  Awesome, since my blanket will double in size, not so awesome that I can't work on it until next Sunday.  Well...I can but any of the squares knit before then won't count.  I'm not going to show pictures of the 5 squares I knit last week, I'll just share pictures when there is significant change.  ;)

I have been working hard on my OWL and other projects so my blanket has not made much progress. It is funny just how many squares that I made during break month for the HPKCHC and as soon as term starts I slow right down. I have so many fun mini-skeins that I got at Maryland Sheep and Wool and from friends that I really want to get back to it.  It will be fun to see Jess' blanket get bigger really fast though!  Remember to visit our group on Ravelry and share about your own modular projects.  We also have a new thread talking about a possible Tour de Fleece team, so come join the conversation!

FO Friday 5/2

Today we are headed to the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival in West Friendship, Maryland.  Cephalopod Yarns is having an open house tonight so after we check into our hotel we are heading over there for the festivities.  I am SO excited!!!  I have my shopping list ready, my bags packed and house straightened up.  

The Spring term for the HPKCHC began yesterday.  This term, I requested to be sorted into Hufflepuff so Jen and I could be in the same house.  Before classes began, I was frantically trying to get all of my WIPs off the needles.  I managed to get it all done by Sunday night, so I was able to work on my blanket squares for most of the week.  

Transient Socks (pattern by knitlovesteph)

Snowball Buddies (pattern by Susan Claudino)

Ballband Dishcloths

This morning, I submitted my OWL proposal and it was approved this morning, so I cast on my Adrift Cardigan.  I plan on taking it with me this weekend since the endless stockinette stitch will be perfect car knitting.

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend, I know I will! ;)

So excited about Maryland Sheep and Wool! This weekend is sure to be fabulous. I promise we will take lots of pictures to share with everyone!  I only have one FO to share and it is my Sunflowers socks! I promise they are the same size, I have no idea why the pooling changed at the toe of the second sock. So with that I have my first Christmas present knit for the year!

FO Friday 4/25

So Jess has been hard at work on her WIPs but doesn't have any FOs to share this week so I am writing this post solo.  I have been working on more preemie hats for the local NICU. I have ten finished so far.  Here are the three latest ones. They are all knit in DK using Plymouth Dreambaby DK, and Sirdar Snuggly Crofter

I have been working on Pufflecards during break month in the Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup.  I have been sorted into Hufflepuff the last two terms.  Break month is the month between terms but the hard working Puffs don't just relax we keep working heh  To play I must complete a variety of tasks from finishing WIPs to getting my yarn ready for my OWL with each task earning a card.  One of the prompts talked about getting past a project that has been holding me back. You either frog it (reclaim the yarn from the project), embellish it or overdye it.  I have a baby blanket that I started last year for a friend and realized that I would not finish it before the baby was born.  I decided I was going to frog it and use the yarn for something else.  When I pulled it out I realized that I was over halfway done! So instead of ripping it out, I decided to work on it until it was done.  

Lion Brand Pound of Love in pale yellow and antique white

It measures about 34" square which should be good for a car seat.  I am mailing it to a friend who is expecting her first baby this year.  It feels good to have this project done and I even earned a Pufflecard for it!