The Gamble Life

Last Minute Knitting!

I've been busy trying to knit just a few more things this year...and I've gotten quite a bit done.  And I'm glad I've still got a week left to knit!  Interesting note, um, interesting to knitters that is, some of these projects have had the actual knitting completed for awhile now, but hadn't had buttons sewn on, been blocked, that kind of thing.  When do you count a project as "finished"?  I tend to say it's finished when all the knitting is done, but of course, it might not be usable for quite a while after that.

But, these projects are really and truly finished:

Ravelry link.

Ravelry link.

Sweaters for two sisters...

Ravelry'd here.  The most adorable baby boy sweater, even if I do say so myself.  Seriously, who could resist that little shawl collar and the manly buttons on a baby boy?! No one, that's who.

Ravelry'd here.  My TENTH shawl of 2010!  I can barely believe it, but I did it.  I'm not all that interested in knitting anymore shawls right now though.

Probably my favorite of the ten is this one, which I knit out of odd balls of koigu that I've literally had for at least 12 years.  Plus one new skein I had to buy when I ran out!

I've been wearing it around on all the cool days, mostly all bunched up like a gigantic scarf.  I just love all the colors and the way the ends wrap around.  Ravelry details all here.

I have plans to be back before January 1 with one more sweater and two hats (all presents) and maybe even something else, who knows?  Are you in a frenzy of last-minute knitting?

a (very) little knitting

 

I just haven't been knitting as much.  I'm not sure why.  It's much hotter in Texas than in North Carolina, I have lots of friends and lots of family to spend time with and we have been spending time with them, the house needed (well, needs) setting up...but I think the main reason is that we did not bring our TV with us.  That's right, we are TV-less!  That doesn't mean we don't watch any though, since hulu has almost every show I like, and most of the others are on the network website.  This way I still watch shows I really like, but none of that mindless watching whatever is on happens.  And I never get sucked into all those terrible medical shows (aka modern day traveling freak shows).  Those shows are hypnotic and then afterwards I would feel guilty for watching them!

A side effect is less knitting time though.  That's alright, I don't need as many knitted things here in Texas anyway.  And it isn't like I've given it up altogether!  I can't imagine that.  Also, the yarn would really make me feel guilty then.

I made these socks (the pattern is Sam by Cookie A.) in trade for a beautiful woven scarf that inspired me to ask for a loom for my birthday!

I've finished two little sweaters, one for a new baby and one for a five year old, but both lack buttons, so pictures for those later.  Several shawls and gifts...of course.

A lacy scarf for my sister-in-law...and I've seen her wearing it several times!  Rav link here.

oops, this one is for me!  a little dropped stitch scarf.  Rav link here.

Adorable dresses for new baby girls!  Rav links here and here.

A really sweet pattern named Clothilde.  I doubt I'll ever wear it, but it came out just lovely.  Rav'd here.

This is a long rectangular shawl, symmetrical (you start at the center and work out in both directions)...very beautiful and hopefully just perfect for the person who is going to get it as a gift.  Rav'd here.

I have one more to show you ... but I think it will get it's own post!  What have you been working on?

 

Summer Knitting

Doesn't really mean much different for me than winter knitting since I am a big believer in air conditioning!  But if it did this would definitely fit the bill:  a light as air shawl, very easy knitting (a little boring, actually), this is Emily Dickinson by Kieron Foley.

You can see some of the beads in that picture, but this blocking shot shows them a little more clearly.

I finished some socks for a "sock wars" type game, but got only crummy pictures, and I'm almost finished with three different baby outfits but two of them have run into snags.  Definitely not enough yarn for one of them and I can't decide what to do, and the other is just too boring for words.  Eventually I'll finish them and let you see what I did.

26 Pairs

Last June I joined a group that had as its goal knitting 52 pairs of socks over the next 12 months.  At that point I think I had knit three pairs of socks...not including one pair I had knit three times before I got it right.  I never really thought I'd get 52 pairs done, and I didn't, but I was trying for 26 pairs and here they are!

Of these, 14 have already been given away or reside in the "gift closet" waiting for their future owner's next gift receiving opportunity.  12 are in my sock drawer!  I had so much fun that I'm doing it again starting June 1.  Here's to my second 26 pairs of socks knit!

Lace & Socks (how unusual!)

Chris likes to tease me by saying I have the tastes of an old lady...and I guess I do when it comes to lace knitting, if you believe the stereotypes anyway!  This is a sampler pattern I'm working on; when it's finished it will be a half circle with five or six different lace patterns in half rings.  I love the color of the yarn, and I love that I bought on some crazy discontinued sale for $6 or something crazy like that.  This picture is after the first two lace patterns, so I've got quite a bit to go.  Also, since it is knit from the center out each row or section increases the number of stitches so it takes longer and longer to knit across.  Worth it though!

I've also made it through round three and into round four of Sock Madness.  I believe I finished seventh overall, first in my division.  I am planning on giving these to a friend who I think will really like them.  Of course, I don't have her foot measurements and she has bigger feet than me, so I just sort of guessed.  These are very stretchy socks though and I think should fit her fine.  Ravelry'd here.

I also finished two shop samples to take to Maryland Sheep & Wool (which I really wish I was going to!) for a friend of mine who dyes yarn and sells it, Mary Ann, of Three Waters Farm.  Her yarn is just wonderful and her colors amazing.  I knit Skew, from Knitty, which is just such a cool pattern.  Ravelry'd here.

And I also knit Multnomah (a free pattern), also from Three Waters Farm sock yarn!  This will be a present for a good friend of mine, when I get it back (well, at her birthday!).  Ravlery'd here.

Matching

I love putting my boys in matching clothes--luckily they seem to like it too.  This is the third year I've knit them matching sweaters and I hope to keep the tradition going even though the knitting involved obviously gets greater every year.

This is a lovely pattern, pikkuveli; not free, but worth paying for.  The yarn I used is Cascade 220 a nice sturdy yarn that comes in over a hundred colors I think.  It is not washable so the sweaters do require a little bit more care.  Gus' sweater is already showing a bit of wear, which is disappointing.  However he wore it at least twice a week since I finished it and he is not the type to take extra care of it just because I made it.  I regularly find pine straw, leaves, and sand from the playground in and on it not to mention bits of lunch.  I also saw him make a lasso out of it and play tug of war with it.  So all in all I'd say the yarn is holding up beautifully.

Abe's on the other hand is still pristine because he's only consented to wear it one time.  Here's hoping he likes it more next year!  Projects are ravelry'd here and here.

The Sock Bug is Sticking Around

I am still really excited about knitting socks.  I finished five pairs in March which is definitely a new record for me (some of them were started in February).  Some for Chris:

On Ravelry here.

Some for me:

Ravelry'd here.

Ravelry'd here .  And seriously, aren't these socks sexy?

Some as part of Sock Madness IV:

These you've seen, they got me through round 1:

Ravelry'd here.

And these, which got me through round 2 and are the first pair of fair isle socks I have ever knit:

Ravelry'd here.

These were a true learning experience!  But I am happy and proud to announce that I can now knit fair isle holding both yarns in my left hand at the same time.  Woo hoo.  My tension is so tight that I have to switch from a 0 needle, my usual for socks, to a 2.5 or 3 needle AND pay attention to knitting loosely.  That is fun!

My first attempt couldn't even get half way up my foot (sorry about the state of that foot, by the way, I've got a pedicure planned!):

And when you flip them inside out you can see how inconsistent my yarn handling was as I figured out what I was doing.

I'm so excited I stumbled across Sock Madness (it's a speed sock knitting competition loosely based on basketball's March Madness) because I don't know how long it would have taken me to try fair isle without the motivation of wanting to advance to the next round.

By the way, the links to Ravelry will now work for anyone; you don't have to be a member of Ravelry.

Happy Easter!

I finished Gus' angler fish for his Easter basket.  What do you think, will he like it?  Does it make think springtime?

Hey, if you've knit one too, post a comment with a link to a picture!  I want to see the other angler fish out there.  Ravelry'd here.  Pattern is from the excellent and very cool Amigurumi Knits. 

Baby presents & old college memories

I finished a little baby vest today that is a present for a new baby.  Here's a peek (don't want to give it all away until it's delivered), and my picture of the day, number 80 (I've got all the others taken, I just need to put them up here, and at the 365project...).

Back in college I was on the rowing team and at our big end-of-the-year race (which was more of a tournament) the rowers from different schools would trade shirts.  The men would actually give their racing jersey to the winning squad...so at the end of the year if you were fast you had a collection of racing jerseys from all the teams you'd beaten.  The women's squad didn't do this, instead we (and almost all the other schools squads too) printed up t-shirts at the end of every year and then rowers would buy as many as they wanted and trade them with rowers from other schools.

I wore all of these for workouts in college and when college was over I didn't want to get rid of them.  I didn't want to wear them out.  Really, I wanted to keep them somehow, but I wasn't sure exactly what to do with them.  I had the idea of making a quilt out of them and spent a couple of years coming up with ever more elaborate designs (making the shape of a Y for Yale out of the shirts, that kind of thing) and carting them around with me from move to move.  Eventually I decided I would do some kind of quilt for our guest bedroom.  Well, we don't have a guest bedroom, and really, wouldn't that be kind of embarrassing?  Then, last summer we bought our awesome hammock on vacation.  Gus and I discovered that the hammock is a lot more comfortable with some blanket between the ropes and your flesh, so last night I FINALLY just did it.  Threw the t-shirts and some fleece together and didn't worry about it being clever or perfect or anything.  Just fun and DONE. 

The sewing is definitely wonky in places and I don't care at all.  It's finally finished, I can use and enjoy the shirts again and the next time we move I won't feel guilty about carting around a box of t-shirts from college and fleece I bought way back in 1997. 

Some of my favorite shirts:  a painted sweatshirt my mom made for me, a clever cartoon from a Boston University shirt (I think), and my year, my crew!

 

Any hey, go comment on Toy Truck!

Easter Bunny

Finished up Abe's Easter Bunny...I think it came out so cute.  This pattern is from Itty Bitty Toys, a very sweet book of toys to knit.  I have plans for several more.  I've started on Chris' March socks and when those are finished I need to knit Gus' angler fish and several baby presents.  Fun!

Do you think Abe will love that little face?  And orange ears!

I couldn't resist making his tail a little orange too.

This bunny is knit in pieces and sewn together (you can see where I didn't do such a good job sewing on the one leg), which is kind of annoying but I think probably makes the finished toy a lot stronger.  Such cute proportions--I really like how he came out.