Sunday 31 January 2016

Huston, we have a problem....

I was just about ready to switch to the smaller needle and start the ribbing on the Monster Pants when I realized.... I was already using the smaller needle. Urgh.

Ooops
I don't know how well the picture shows it but there is a definite size difference between the two legs. I had to frog back to the start of the second leg and begin again with the correct needle size.

Thoroughly annoyed with that project I switched to John Deere Knubbelchen and finished him off. The picture may not show it but in real life he's pretty much the same colour as a John Deere tractor. The only change I made to the pattern as written was to make the hat pointy instead of tying a knot in it. I like it pointy. This will go to my Wee Niece when she comes to visit this summer. I should make a second as there will be another little girl visiting then too, the daughter of my sister's friend.

Pattern: Knubbelchen by pezi888
Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Solids, Heathers & Twists in White, Peapod, and Dandelion
Needle: 2.5mm
Gauge: not critical

John Deere Knubelchen

I'm finding the blue sweater a bit snugger than I'd hoped. It'll be fine for hiking when I want things to fit snug but I'm not sure how much I will wear it after all. Oh well.

In other news

Here's Ahab heading down the Scent Hurdle course. He wasn't having his best night and kept getting distracted. Oh, well; he tried.

Scent Hurdle

Current Weather
-2C
Cloudy with a possibility of light snow

Tuesday 26 January 2016

Blue Tuesday

I finished my Just Plain Blue sweater. I decided on a hood but no pouch in the front. You can't see them in the picture but there are holes running up the first couple inches of the neck opening where I will use a shoelace or some i-cord to help close it.

Pattern: Improvised bottom up raglan
Yarn: Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport
Needle: 3.25mm
Gauge: 5.5 stitches/inch

Blue

Naturally I celebrated by casting on another sweater. And a vest. Not that I've finished anything else you understand.

Tuesday 19 January 2016

Slowly but Surely

Well, slowly for certain.

The Basic Blue sweater has acquired a few more inches.

The yoke is starting to take shape at last.


The Monster Pants almost have one leg.

Urgh, ribbing.

And there is a heel on the first Nephew Sock.

Note to self: this one has a deadline.
Current Weather:
Partly cloudy.
-3C

Sunday 3 January 2016

First

First completed project in 2016 is a pair of socks for me. Grey from Dad's birthday socks and blue from the Blue Socks. Used up all the grey completely and only 1.5g remain of the blue. Cool. The remaining blue will go into the Sock Yarn Granny Square Blanket.

The math didn't quite work out and I ended up making the toe of the second sock blue. Meh, whatever. I'm not considering these Frankensocks though because I only used two different colours/yarns. If I'd ended up needing a bit more from a third yarn to complete the second toe then I'd call them Frankensocks.

Pattern: Improvised
Yarn: ONline Supersocke 100 and Schachenmayr nomotta Regia 4-fädig
Needle: 2.0mm

Almost Frankensocks
Next some socks are needed for my Nephew as his birthday is the second one of the year (technically third but my Scottish BiL gets stuff when someone is going to Scotland not by mail). So I texted my sister to see what size shoe he's wearing now and he wears a men's 8.5. He's only turning 10!! I wonder if I'll still be willing to knit him socks if he ends up with size 13 feet or bigger.

A Time for Spinning

Got some spinning done Sunday morning; spun up a second single of some lovely Blue Faced Leicester from West Coast Fibre Works. I don't believe they're around any more. Will see if I get around to plying before next Sunday. I suspect I won't.

Wonder if I should try some supported spinning for the next Time for Spinning. It might be fun.


Dogs

Took the boys for a walk today. It was sunny and warm enough that I only needed a not-to-thick wool sweater. Plus hat and mittens, it is winter after all. A good time was had by all. I've been remiss about this lately and the poor dogs are not happy about it.

Current Weather
Clear with periodic clouds
-4C

Friday 1 January 2016

2015 in Review


I thought I'd take a look back at some of the things that happened in 2015.

First up, Squish. His thyroid packed it in early in the year and he must now take medication for the rest of his life. 1 pill twice a day. Makes vacations tricky. Hopefully he'll be with me for many more years.

Squish

Next up, Ahab. In February he had to leave Scent Hurdle due to his missing paw and it took until December to get him back. This involved a major change to the rules of the game. He's back in action now though!

Whistler, Oliver, and Ahab at his last Scent Hurdle tournament of 2015
Continuing with health issues I had a major gallbladder attack early in the year which ended with it's removal in November. While I was getting that done Soccer had the worst ear infection ever which took over two months to clear up. I think that's it for heath crises in 2015.

Now for the fiber stuff!

Seamless Red
Fist project finished in 2015, although it was started in 2014 was a little red sweater for my Wee Niece, completed before I even new she was a Niece not a Nephew. It's sized for a toddler not an infant.




Grey Baby Blanket
Then a baby blanket for the same kid. The picture doesn't show the texture in it at all. I'm told Wee Niece quite liked this blanket as it's very soft. My sister likes it too because it's acrylic and easily washed. The grey yarn came from a commercial sweater of mine that fell apart and I scavenged the yarn for a future project. Well used I'd say. The yellow was pulled from the stash, a leftover from another baby blanket made years ago. I was unemployed while making this one, hence everything coming from the stash.

Cell Phone Case
Then I made myself a cell phone case. I used it for a while but found it inconvenient to have to fish my phone out of two pockets.







I found I needed something to hold treats for the boys so I made myself a bag to carry dog training treats in. It fastens to the belt loop on my pants.
Dog Treat Bag
Niece Socks

Followed by socks for my not-so-wee Niece. There were definitely socks for my Nephew completed around this time too but apparently I didn't put them in Ravelry or take pictures.



Then Wee Niece got an adorable little overall that ended up fitting her for about two weeks. Kids grow so dang fast at first.

Pepita
Got selfish and made some socks to keep my own toes warm. Actually, I don't think this counts as selfish. I need socks too after all.

Super warm socks

Mom and sweater
Followed by a sweater for my Mom. She wears it lots, which is really cool.


Knocked off a quick pair of booties to go with the overalls for the Wee Niece. Feedback regarding these says they stay on quite well, Wee Niece wasn't able to kick them off immediately.


More socks, this time Mother's Day socks for Mom.

Eventually, I got around to making another something for myself. A tank-top for hiking. Note to self: go hiking more so you can use this.

Papita II
I got worried about the little overalls not fitting the Wee Neice, with some subsequent justification I might add as she was a big baby, so I made a larger version of overalls for her. Although at this point I still didn't know she was a girl.

Had to interrupt all the baby knitting to make some Father's Day socks for my Dad.

Father's Day Socks

Then straight back to baby knitting for some booties to match the second overalls.


Found an adorable pattern for toy mice for the cats so Squish and Mouse got a catnip filled treat. Where they are now I couldn't say, under furniture I suspect.

 

Returning to baby knitting I couldn't resist making a hat to complete the set for the Wee Niece.

Sister socks.

Decided that a new mom might need some new socks too. The colour in this picture is all wrong, it's the same yarn as the Father's Day socks. 


Socks for BiL







And if a new mom needs new socks surely a new dad does too. Made these for my Scottish BiL. The colour in this picture is much closer to reality than the socks for my sister above.



Experimented with some Star Booties but ended up not liking them because I chose the wrong cast on. It's a neat pattern but I need to think about the cast on.


A$$ Juice Cozy
Got caught up in a record keeping mistake and ended up making an A$$ Juice Cozy for work. Modeled on a wine bottle here. Completed with only three days warning.


Another blanket for my Wee Niece. This time a Loom Knitting experiment. I like this technique I can see ways to do some really intricate colour work.

Loom Knitting

A random pair of socks that ended up going to Mom because I got caught up with baby stuff and ran out of time to make her a pair for her birthday in December. Good thing I had these in reserve.

Mossy

Then something for myself again, a green vest done in double moss stitch. Don't think I'll be doing that again in a hurry. Worked out though as I wear it a lot.





More baby stuff, this time for a different baby. The overalls and booties went to a co-worker for his baby. When I met his girlfriend at the office Christmas party she said she quite likes them.


 

Another vest for myself. This one from the same yarn as Mom's sweater.


Gallbladder
Because I had requests to bring in my gallbladder after it was removed I knitted one as it turns out they don't let you take your organs back after they've been removed. Imagine that. It's presently in a jam jar on my desk at work.


Christmas hats for the Canadian Niece and Nephew. I think these went over well as they wore them home after opening them.

 

And another a pair of socks for myself. In fact, I'm wearing them as I write this.


And to finish off, a final pair of socks for Dad for his birthday in January. Didn't notice how different the two skeins were when I started and ended up having to rip out the first sock back to the heel in order to make the heel and toes in the second skein.







Wow, 33 projects finished in one year. I sure hope I don't have to exceed this in 2016.

And I guess that pretty much sums up 2015. Looking forward to a great 2016.

Current Weather
Mostly sunny and 1C.