All posts by Peneloping

Jetlagged

Well, I’m back in Boston where there is an utter lack of snow. Or anything resembling snow.

As a form of protest, I’ve spent the afternoon oggling patterns and buying yarn online.

My next two projects are going to be this one and this one, probably in that order, although I guess it depends on which yarn arrives first.

I popped over to my lys earlier because I knew I’d seen Berocco Campus in there before. Sadly they didn’t have the color I wanted, and every single other colorway is either a mix of gray/black/white which is not what I wanted, or was a hideous mix of colors. So I ended up ordering the yarn from WEBS. And now I’m antsily attempting to work on Seester’s Christmas sweater instead, whilst intermittently checking the shipping status of the order I just placed two hours ago every fifteen minutes.

I ordered yarn for Bazan from eBay because I couldn’t find the colorway I wanted anywhere else. And of course the more places that didn’t have it, the more I wanted it. There was a moment right before I clicked “Place Order” when I asked myself, am I really going to wear a red shrug? But I decided that yes, I am, so I bought three skeins. For $5.80 each! Even WEBS lists this yarn for $12.95 per skein! -happy dance-

Speaking of Seester’s Christmas sweater, I think I mentioned that she squee’d over my Effortless Cardigan when I wore it at home and decided she wanted one in a plum-ish color. I’m currently about 2.5″ past splitting the sleeves. Note to self: straight stockinette is no fun when you’re impatiently awaiting more exciting yarn deliveries.

Finally, as the title suggests, I’ve been here two days and am still feeling groggy. You’d think that three hours wouldn’t be that hard to adjust to but technically waking up at 10am here is like waking up at 7am back home, and that’s quite a difference. Especially when you take into consideration the fact that I actually woke up at 1:30pm today. Which technically, my body thinks of as 10:30am, which is a perfectly respectable time to wake up.

Anyway, my point is, pictures later and apologies if none of this made sense.

Finished Project: Ron Weasley’s Hallows Pullover

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Pattern: Hallows Pullover by Melissa Metzbower
Yarn: Knitpicks Wool of the Andes Bulky
Started: September 23, 2011
Finished: December 11, 2011

Ravelry page

I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Remember the Super Secret Project I mentioned a few times and promised to post pictures of but never did?

Well, it’s done!

I can’t recommend this pattern enough. It uses bulky weight yarn so it knits up super fast, and the pattern is pretty easy to remember. I did make a few adjustments though. I lengthened the body by about an inch. For the sleeves, I did increases every 5 rows instead of 4, up to 67 stitches, and then knitted even for an extra 22 rows to accomodate Boyfriend’s monkey arms.

Love! It looks just like Ron’s in the film:

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Boyfriend was pretty happy with his Christmas present.

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3 Comments finished knit - - - - -

Finished Project: Veyla in Dusk

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Pattern: Veyla by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll in Dusk
Started: December 20, 2011
Finished: December 21, 2011

Ravelry page

I think I’m jinxed when it comes to Ysolda’s patterns.

I absolutely love nearly all of her designs, but I’m always a little apprehensive to start one because for some reason I will always inevitably make some stupid mistake or assumption that leads to a tangled mess that does not remotely resemble something wearable.

When I first started these, the first thing I did wrong was to assume that because they were gloves, they must be knit in the round. So I cast on 23 stitches and started knitting in round. It was not until an embarrassing number of stitches later that I realized that I was knitting a pretty little finger warmer.

My next attempt failed because I didn’t realize the chart is read back and forth and not all from the same side. In my defense, I’ve never actually used a chart that wasn’t symmetrical before. In my stupidity, I failed to realize that the chart was also written out until after I finished an entire cuff.

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In the end we came to a truce, and the result is these gorgeous little gloves. These are going to live with my friend but I have a ton of the yarn left since they hardly require any so I’m definitely making a pair for myself.

Note to self: you have tiny wrists and maniacally large hands so make a small cuff and a large mitt.

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3 Comments finished knit - - - - -

Finished Project: Dusty Green Tread Mittens

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Pattern: Treads by Victoria Anne Baker
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca
Started: December 8, 2011
Finished: December 9, 2011

Ravelry page

These were a Christmas gift for my roommate and I love how they turned out!

The linen ridge stitch looks really cool but you have to make sure you’re knitting very tightly or the effect won’t be right.

I’m also a huge fan of the sideways braid but it takes absolutely forever to knit one row of it.

One alteration I made was to ktbl the knit stitches in the ribbing of the cuff.

Finished Project: Heart Cable Mittens

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Pattern: Baby Girl’s Sleeveless Gloves by Devon Clement
Yarn: Vanna’s Choice Baby in a light pink shade I can’t remember the name of
Started: December 10, 2011
Finished: December 10, 2011

Ravelry page

I don’t have kids, nor am I usually around any mini-humans, and to top it off, I have ginormous hands for my size, so I’m really hoping these mittens will fit the little girl they’re meant for.

The pattern page shows pictures of a pair of these mittens knitted with a heart cable on the front and another pair with flowers. I wanted to do the hearts but I had no idea how to do the heart so I sort of ran with it and managed to cobble together something that vaguely resembles one.

My heart was knitted over 14 stitches. I can’t remember off the top of my head how I did it but I’ll take a look at my notes and write it up.

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