Knitwith Homespun

Turns out, Savvy has a gown she is borrowing for her baptism.  She also has a shawl, but as her Godmother, I’m pulling rank.  Both the gown and the shawl are borrowed.  I am knitting her a shawl that she can keep and hand down to her children for their baptisms or wear at her wedding.  I decided to design it myself after perusing a bunch of patterns on the internet.  What I intend to do it knit a square for the center, pick up the stitches on each of the sides and knit lace panels from there.  The next panel for each side will be a little more than lace and have some more detail and more coverage then the second panels.  Then, I will knit an edge with some lovely detailed design.  Should be fun.  Now, I started this yesterday and I thought I would make a cabled X for the center piece.  I hate it.  Not only does the cable not show up well enough or in enough detail, my X is not symetrical.  Please also note that my square is a rectangle.  I knew this would happen after I got to the center but I thought I would compensate for that later in the second level of panels.

The next step will be to frog this, cast on a few number of stitches, graph it out on some knitters graph paper, and use eyelets instead of cables for the center square.  It will be an X again but I think it will look much better than the cable.  I think if I were knitting at a tighter gauge, the cable would have looked much better.  The concept here is a lacy, airy, pretty little shawl and knitting a tight cable was a wrong turn.  Frogging now and posting other designs as soon as possible.

I was asked in Plurk if I would put any handspun into my Etsy shop so I went a lookin and what do you know, there was some.

	This is Icelandic wool from Spunky Club and is 376 yards of 2 ply and 12 wpi..
	100% Alpaca buttery soft goodness and 112 yards 2 ply 16 wpi.
	Superwash merino in Sunshine of your Love Colorway, 82.5 yards, 16 wpi, and 2 ply
	Singles called Deep Blue Sea, 24 wpi, 158 yards.

I have to say, of course, that I haven’t sold anything yet.  However, I am pleased with one thing that has happened.  A plurk bud, Illiane, informed me that I may need permission to sell other designers finished objects as a condition of the license provided with each pattern that I used.  I hadn’t thought of that and I try to be lawful in every respect.  I wrote each of the designers of the objects I am selling that I didn’t design.  I am very very pleased with the outcome.  So far, only one person has asked that I take their item off my Etsy page because she sells them on her Etsy page.  I took it dowm immediately.  The other two that I have heard from have granted me permission as long as I mention their name in my listing.  I have done this.  I am still waiting for one more response.  I am so pleased wtih people being so nice.  However, I think I am going to try to avoid this problem in the future and either design my own stuff to sell, or ask permission before I pull the trigger.

This is one of the designs that I have permission to sell (thanks Cosymakes) that I didn’t design.  I did, however, design and make the model and I grant permission to myself to use my daughters likeness here and on my Etsy page.

You know Savvy Rose, right?  This is her.  She is beautiful and she is being baptized at the end of May (hopefully).  I am going to knit her gown for the ceremony but I can’t find a good pattern.  Do any of you have one or know of one?  I want something long and lacey but with good coverage.  I don’t know why but once I figured out I was going to do this, I can’t seem to find anything.  There was a good one I liked in Leisure Arts Beautiful Baby book but I can’t find that either.  Ravelry has a few but nothing that pops.  If you know of one, please direct me.  Thanks!

Yep, I finally did it.  I 0pened an Etsy shop to sell some stuff so I can buy more yarn!  Ha!  That’s all she wrote.

Please visit:  Loopykd’s Etsy Shop

I am too excited not to blog this finished sock.  I had such a good time knitting it and I am so proud of myself for the adjustments I made in the pattern and that it was all successful.  I really want to talk about it so I am blogging before I cast on the second sock.

One of the things I learned from knitting this sock is the cuff rib.  This was a new one for me but I love it so much.  The rib is knit one, purl one, very simple.  However, the difference is to knit the K1 into the back loop.  This makes the rib look so lovely.  I think I will use this again and again because the look is so clean and sharp.

Here is the photo of the finished sock.  The fit is lovely and even a bit big.  I was worried that it would be tight because to get the right size, I had to drop an entire repeat off the sock and that’s 11 stitches.  I thought that might be too many to make the fit right but I was wrong.  Now the 11 stitches is what I am most excited about adjusting.  This adjustment takes the sock from 66 stitches down to 55.  That’s an even number of stitches down to an odd number.  I am mostly a new sock knitter, I think, because this is only my 6th pair of socks or so.  I have less than 10 pairs of socks under my knitting belt so this is definitely a milestone for me in socks.  Here’s why:

I got to the heel flap and I got confused.  What am I to do?  The pattern says to put 23 stitches on one needle, 13 on another, and 30 on another.  Since I had 55 stitches I had to really think about what I was going to do.  So I broke it down.  The stitches on needle 3 (30) were for the heel flap.  Therefore, it didn’t matter how many stitches it was because it was just the heel flap.  I can do heel flaps, in fact they are my favorite.  I use the magic loop method for socks so I only had to spread my stitches over two needles.  I had done the leg with 33 stitches on one and 22 on the other since the repeat is an 11 stitch lace pattern.  Therefore, I thought it best to make the heel flap on the 22 stitch needle.  This worked well I think.  Once I realized what I was doing, it went fast and easy.

The next challenge was the gussett.  I am proud of myself because I didn’t even read the pattern for this part.  The lace repeat is so easy I had it down very nicely and it was like buttah!  Therefore, the gussett was smooth too.  I made sure I was knitting in the right direction and I picked up the selvedge edge stitches as I came to them and started the gussett decreases like an old pro!  So fun!  I decreased down to 22 stitches on either side of my center foot marker and continued the lace pattern down the foot until I got to two inches before the end of my toe.  That’s it!  The bottom of my sock is stockinette and 22 stitches wide and the top is perfect and lacy and pretty!  I never looked at the pattern again after I reached the heel flap.  I did look at the chart for the lace to make sure everything was correct but that’s all. I am so pleased with myself and my sock I could scream!

Here’s the next best part.  I blogged about this, I think, before, but this little cheater tool is my most favorite thing that I use for my socks.  When I get to the toe of a top down sock, I take my cheater out and start looking.  It’s so easy to use and follow.  I got it from Scout’s Swag and I can’t live without it!  I highly recommend picking one up.  On the other end of this same chain, I put a yarn cutter that I also keep with me everytime I go anywhere with my knitting.

Here are a couple of other shots of my finished sock.  Enjoy!  I surely will and I will knit this pattern again and again!

New socks hit the needles this week. I really miss knitting socks so I am now going to try to always have a pair on needles somewhere.  Therefore, I am only trying to conform to my rules by casting on this pair for this week.  I love knitting this pattern and I’ll get to that in a minute.  First, I had to adjust the size by dropping an entire repeat of the lace.  Cast on 66 was changed to cast on 55.  That’s a huge difference and I wasn’t sure it would work very well but it sure is and the fit is very nice.  The last pattern is fabulous.  It looks lovely and is very very fast knitting.  I can’t wait to finish these.  This is the best fit for socks for myself to date (although it’s only my third pair for me).  The color and yarn are really working wonders for me too.  The smoothness of the color transitions and the colors themselves are perfect.  I am thoroughly enjoying this knit and I’ll keep y’all posted on how these are going.  Hopefully, you will just see the finished object by the weekend.

We went to dinner this week with some out of town guests and some family. While we were there, Bella didn’t really misbehave or anything, however, she wasn’t on her best behavior either.  She would interrupt people while they were speaking and she popped off with loud noises and thing and just generally unpleasant stuff.  I doubt anyone else noticed unless you were the one she interruped but I sure noticed.  I thought long and hard about it and I thought that yelling at her or telling her she had misbehaved might not get the job done.  So I took a note from my pain management class and thought about how could I correct her behavior.  I discussed it with her.  She is 8 and very smart.  I told her I was unhapy with her outbursts and interruptions at dinner and that we needed to behave better when we were out to dinner.  I suggested we get a book on manners and etiquette at the book store and start working on being a proper young lady.  She suggested we get the book at the libary.

Today, we went to the library.  On the way, we stopped to see Savvy Rose on the spur of the moment since her house was on the way.  Hence, the picture to the left.  So the plan is to learn about manners and proper young lady behavior.  Whenever she demonstrates proper behavior, we will give her a sticker or star or something.  When she misbehaves or does something obnoxious or interrupts, we will take away a sticker or star.  When she reaches 20 stars or stickers, she gets to go to Target to get whatever she wants worth $10 or less.  I’ll keep you all posted on the count.  So far, we have 4 books on manners and no stickers.  We are both reading though.  Wish us luck!

This is my Cloudy Day Woodland Shawl.  It is finished and blocked.  It is quite lovely howver, I have some issues with it.  First, whoever spun this yarn did a lousy job! There is one skein which is significantly different than the other skeins of yarn.  I would say there is a difference of 2 weights between the one and the other.  I am probably the only person who will ever know this or even notice.  It’s just irritating and quite frustrating.  This is what we can chalk up to learning curve and beginners problems.

Somehow to me, this shawl is unfinished.  It is blocked to larger than the pattern specifications but to me, it seems small.  It also seems like it needs something.  Perhaps some edging in crochet or something.  I am not sure.  It doesn’t quite fit on my shoulders nicely.  It feels like it doesn’t fit.  I don’t know.  It’s pretty and warm and I love the pattern but I am not sure it is going to stay this way.  Here is a close up of the leaves.

The new shawl is another attempt at a handspun handknit shawl.  This pattern is called Seraphim Shawl and I chose it because it has a solid stockinette portion at the neckline and the lace portion doesn’t start until you are 247 stitches into the stockinette.  I feel this yarn requires something like that to show off the color and tweediness of it.

This photo shows the stockinette portion in progress and shows the yarn color.  Hopefully, this shawl will look finished as a shawl and won’t require additional work.

I saw this on Zu’s blog. She always has fun stuff plus I was tired of looking at my flower. Just kidding, I love my flower.

I have entered a Spring Wildflower Photo Contest.  Please help me if you like my photo and vote for me.

Here is a link to my entry.  The prize is a small handheld point and shoot but this is the first contest I have entered and this is one of the favorite photos I have taken while hiking.  If you agree, please vote for me and ask your friends to vote for me!  Thanks for your help and have a great Tuesday!

My Kai-mei socks are done.  I love knitting these so much.  I think I will keep the pattern in my gift repetoir because they are so quick and they look so special.  I love how the left one turned out.  It’s much more even and the edges of the panel look better.  I don’t know why it worked out this way but it’s definitely true.

Notice at the top of the sock along the panel. This panel has the improper edging.

At the top of this panel, the knit stitches are correctly placed. They do look more like hearts in this shot.

My Right Sock for Kai-mei is finished. Other than a straight stockinette sock, this is the fastest and easiest sock I have ever knit. True, I don’t have a lot of socks under my belt, but I love this pattern and truly enjoyed it. I hope to finish the next sock by tomorrow night. Here’s the scoop to date:

In the pattern, it’s written to have a row of knit stitches and a row of slip slip knit stitches next to it. Well, I’m a picker and my slip slip knits never look right so I always do a knit 2 together where it says slip slip knit. Therefore, my ssk along the panel doesn’t look right. I’m ok with that because I much prefer to knit as a picker than a thrower. However, I frogged the first panel when I noticed I didn’t like the lack of knit stitch at the top of the panel. If you look at the images above, you will notice the difference. There is also an issue with the way my last stitch on the needle stretches when I am knitting. I knit magic loop for my socks and this happens every time. It should even out somewhat (but not all the way) when I block.

Along the right side, you can see the direction the panel takes as you knit.

I adjusted the toes to fit me better but doing an extra K2tog on the right side of the sock two times so there is a steeper slant along my smaller toes. This is the first pair of socks I knit for myself and I am glad I did this because the fit is amazing!

In case you didn’t notice, I love this pattern! So fast and easy and this is well on my way to becoming my favorite pair of socks. I am casting on the left sock as soon as I am done here. Yes, these socks are knit specifically for right and left due to the lace panel running along the foot. I can’t wait to finish! Yipppeeeeee!

Yes, I am going to frog but only a bit.  I decided I can’t take the incorrectness of the lace panel.  I need to have to knit stitches at the edges as the pattern was written.  I will frog back to the heel flap and restart the lace panel.  It was a very quick knit to this point so it shouldn’t take me very long to make this correction.

Secondly, to demonstrate the need for this correction, I took pictures of the panel close up and personal like.  The color came out very funny so I did a white balance to correct that.  I have included these pictures below to show a) the panel needs the knit stitches at the edge, and b) white balance does make a huge difference.

Inaccurate color

Accurate color