Unconventional

My Unconventional pattern is up! This pattern comes with two versions; both use short rows for shaping, and one has cables. It's a tricky pattern, and not for the faint of heart. If you choose to knit it, you should first have a solid grasp of cabling and short rows, as well as reading your knitting. Because it's very easy to get confused.

 The pattern is available on Knit Picks, for $4.99

Knitting in a certain yarn...

I got an email from Knit Picks recently, asking if I'd be interested in coming up with a design for a new yarn colorway. Free yarn is free yarn, so naturally, I said yes. The yarn arrived, and it was beautiful. I've converted all my photos to black and white, since the colorway has to stay secret until it's released. I immediately dived in; I had already come up with a design that I thought would work... but it didn't.

The tiny-cables stitch pattern I wanted to use was completely obscured by the color variations. So I frogged it and started over. And frogged it and started over. And frogged it and started over. Finally, I came up with a design I liked; the cables and lace showed up well enough. But when it was about halfway done, it was clear that it was going to be enormous and not fit anyone with a normal-sized head (did I mention it was a hat?)... so I frogged it and started over. Again. I made some more adjustments to the cable pattern, to make it fit into a smaller stitch count, but I forgot to take into consideration that eight-stitch cables pull in much more than four-stitch cables do. Long story short, the hat I was designing to fit me ended up fitting my six-month-old niece almost perfectly.

 She's adorable, and she knows it.

 I like how it turned out, and may make another one, with the intention of having her model for me. But for now, I've abandoned that hat design. A friend of mine suggested that the stitch pattern would look nice in a cowl, which I thought was a great idea. Since a cowl wouldn't have any decreases or increases to worry about, I wouldn't have to figure out how to fit them into the design, as I had with the hat.

Three days later, I had a finished cowl, and almost no leftovers. My friends suggested 10 inches for the width. I was running out of yarn, so I only did 8 inches, which is fine for me, because I have a really short neck.

So I went through all that stress and ripping, to come up with a super-simple cable-and-lace cowl(and a hat idea for another day). And next time I'm asked to "come up with something" for a new yarn, I'll only agree if it's a solid color.

Exercise and knitting

Just for fun, I did this yesterday:

I put on the shirt I'd worn in my January 1 "before" photo, and took a new picture and put them side by side. Nice change for only three months of work!

And my friends and I started a new exercise challenge. We're doing the Hundred Pushups Challenge. The goal is to be able to do one hundred consecutive pushups six weeks from now. When I did the initial test, I was able to do 12, so I have a long way to go. Yesterday was day 1...and my chest and ab muscles are incredibly sore today. Today is a rest day, and I'm hoping the soreness wears off by tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to the benefits of this program; it should make a big difference in my arm strength, and I'm hoping it'll firm up the saggy "girls" as I continue losing weight.

In other news...

I've finally settled on a design for the hat I'm making for Knit Picks. The colorway is still a secret, so I've converted the photo to black-and-white. But you can get an idea of how the hat will look. I'm knitting it top-down, and instead of columns of purls between the cables, I'm using columns of lace. The way it kind of swirls out from the center reminds me of a spiral galaxy. So I'm thinking of giving it a name that has something to do with the stars...

Bayerische Progress and a FO

I've gotten the first repeat done on my Bayerische sock! The trickiest part so far was the increase round after the ribbing. The cables aren't any harder than ones I've done before. ☻

And I finished my Unconventional Hood samples! Here's the cabled version:

 And the simple version:

And the pattern has been sent in to Knit Picks. Hopefully it'll be up on the site soon, before knitters turn to summer projects...

Hunter Socks!

I finished Hubby's Hunter Socks! And we had a little photo shoot today. ☻

Hubby's socks...

Me on Hubby's lap...

Us...

With Sarah, my shotgun (which was unloaded and pointed in a safe direction, with the safety on)...

Totally off-topic: OMG, I need to go on a diet after Christmas! Yikes!

New Patterns!

I've already talked about these patterns, so I'll make this a short post. 

Willow Carroldine is available on Knit Picks for $2.99.

 Cathie is also on Knit Picks, for $1.99.

Enjoy!

R and R Shawl

I finished my R&R Shawl sample!

 It took one intensive week of knitting, and seven skeins of KP Galileo, which I raved about in the previous post. I am in love with this yarn; it is so silky and soft and warm.

And the color is true in these photos; this is what "Luminous" really looks like. On KP's website, it looks much lighter. Not that I'm complaining; it's a gorgeous color. It just wasn't what I expected. I can't wait to see some of the other colors in person.

Oh, and again, these photos were taken by Angel. Her photography skills are really coming along. She managed to not cut my head off, and to get a few good shots as well. ☻

The election is only a week away! Get out there and vote for R&R!

Yarn Review: Knit Picks Galileo

I haven't done any yarn reviews before, but I've fallen in love with this new yarn, and feel I must share.

Knit Picks recently introduced a new yarn: Galileo. It's a 50/50 Merino/Bamboo blend in a sport weight. I'm using it to make a large shawl. It's a wonderful yarn. It has the soft warmth of Merino and the silky coolness of Bamboo. The colors are terrific. I'm using "Luminous", which is actually a bit darker than the photo on the website; it's a rich teal. Galileo glides smoothly on the needles, and has great stitch definition even on the size 8 needles I'm using. I chose it because I wanted to see if it was similar to Caron Spa, which is a DK weight bamboo/acrylic blend. I like Galileo better, because Spa is a bit splitty, and Galileo doesn't have that problem. This yarn is $4.99 for a 50 gram ball. Considering the quality of the yarn, I think that is a very reasonable price. I'm going to save up and get enough for a sweater.

This photo is of my current project. It's not blocked, and the sun was shining on the piece. I'll post more pics of the shawl when it's finished and blocked.

Willow Carroldine

I finally finished my Knit Picks sample of Willow Carroldine! It's named after my brand-new niece, whom I haven't met yet, but hope to later today or tomorrow.

I'm writing up the pattern now, hoping to get it submitted before the girls and I head to Kansas to visit my family. We're leaving this weekend, and we're very excited. ☺

R and R

I've recently found my knitting mojo, which had been on a little hiatus. I'm hanging on tight to it, so it doesn't go walkabout again. I had a design idea that had been bouncing around in my brain for a while, and I finally decided to put it into yarn. I used Caron Spa, which is a bamboo/acrylic blend. I love Spa; it's so silky and comfy. I had five skeins of the colorway "Ocean Spray", which is a gorgeous light turquoise. Now I have one and a half...and a big, silky, warm shawl.

It's perfect for those chilly autumn days when you want to just curl up with a shawl and a book.

  I used similar construction to a triangular shawl, but made it with three sections instead of two. It stays on my shoulders much better, and has a lot more fabric to wrap around myself.

I designed this with Knit Picks' new bamboo blend in mind. I think it will look amazing in Galileo Yarn. The name of the pattern is R&R Shawl, and I sent in a design proposal to Knit Picks yesterday.

Now I'm back to working on my Cathie scarf, and my unnamed baby blanket. I need to get those two projects done before I start any more. I have chronic start-itis.

Woohooo!

I finally have something to post that isn't about the house!  I finished my Frost Cowl.  It took forever, because my knitting mojo decided to take a vacation.  But I think it's back now.  I'm thinking of starting another baby blanket pattern; I have an idea already, and I'd started a swatch ages ago, but I think it's in storage with the rest of my life.  So I need to start over.  Or maybe a good sketch will work for submitting the design to Knit Picks, so that I don't have to make it twice...

And I'm also going to teach Angel to knit socks.  She picked out some sock yarn, and I got her her own set of DPNs.  She was a little disappointed when I told her she needed to learn with DPNs first.  She thought she'd be able to use a circular, not understanding that they don't make circulars short enough for child-size socks.  I told her that once she has a good grasp of knitting with DPNs, I'll teach her to do Magic Loop.  First I need to teach her to do ribbing.  She still doesn't understand purling, but that's because she gets tired of it too quickly.  Maybe she'll be able to tolerate it as ribbing.  We're going to use Silver's Sock Class, but adjust the numbers to fit a child-size foot.

A little update on the house: we're getting very close to being able to move in.  We have electricity, and water, and heat.  So now we need to get the finish work done, and the kitchen floor in, and the carpet in.  And the appliances in.  And...I think that'll be it.  Then we can finally get all our stuff out of storage and into our new place.  It's been a long four months.  I am so ready to be in our own place.

Hey, check this out!

My patterns and I were featured on the Knit Picks blog yesterday!  They've introduced Freebie Fridays, in which they will release a new free pattern each Friday, with a blog post about the designer. ☻And they started with mine!

Freebie Friday

Wooooohooooooooooooo!

And another pattern!

I have another pattern up today!  It's a freebie, on Knit Picks, called Lacy KiP Bag.  It's perfect size to hold your 100g ball of yarn when you Knit in Public, and way cuter than a ziploc bag!

The pattern can be found for FREE here.

Little Sweetheart Knee Socks!

My latest pattern is up!

The pattern can be found here.  These socks are knit toe-up, and are sized for little girls.  The hearts are on both the front and back of the socks.

Progress...

The footings for the basement have been poured.  They'll pour the walls next, then the plumber can come in and get everything roughed in.  The floor will be poured after that.

 Over Labor Day weekend, we went to South Dakota for some family time.  Which meant lots of driving time...also known as knitting time!  I made a lot of progress on my BBSweKniMo project(no picture, sorry); the raglan increases are done, and I've separated for the sleeves, and done several inches on the body.  When my hands were tired of working with bulky yarn, I switched to sock yarn.  I finished this sock:

I haven't cast on the second yet.  I need to do that today.  These will be some of my favorite socks this winter!  I'm using Malabrigo, which is going to make my feet very happy.

Oh, and by the way....Knit Picks likes both my "Little Sweetheart Socks" and my "Frost Cowl"!  Still need to make adjustments to the cowl pattern; the yarn support should be arriving any day now.  And I need to hunt up my notes from the socks!  I think they're in my old computer, which is in the process of dying.

More socks!

They're done! ☺ The "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" Socks are done!  Took me less than a week, too!

I had hoped to get a good pic of Kitty...you know, her whole self...but she decided to be difficult this morning.  She smiled menacingly, like she wanted to eat the camera.  She smiled a tiny bit, like she was bored and thought taking pictures was stupid.  She giggled, but not real giggles, so the smile just looked weird.  The only time she gave me a real smile, she covered it with her hands.  Finally, when she had a meltdown and threw a tantrum, I gave up.  The above will be the photo for the pattern.

I am glad, at least, that I didn't have to buy new shoes.  I knew I wanted her to wear black "Mary Janes", and her old "church shoes" from last winter were too small.  But I remembered that there are still a few decent shoes in the shoe box; a big plastic container into which we toss shoes that don't fit anyone and wait until they fit someone.  Angel checked for me and found these shoes.  They were scuffed; obviously they've been worn by two girls before, but fortunately Hubby had black shoe polish.  I got them all polished up, and they look almost good as new!

Anyway, they're done, and so is the pattern.  I love this colorway; it's so pretty.  I hope they're sending the same colorway in Swish for the scarf sample. ☺

Another design...

I've just sent off the design proposal for this scarf.  It matches the "Girl's Best Friend" fingerless mitts pattern that is on Knit Picks.  I actually designed the scarf at the same time, but I had forgotten about it.

I hope they like it!

♥

For this one, I used some lovely, soft Reflections yarn.  It turned out a little short, since I had only one skein, but it will be a nice Christmas gift for someone.  In the design proposal, I suggested KP Swish Tonal, which is a new yarn line they've just introduced.  There are some terrific colors in their new tonals.  Thunderhead and Pearlescent are my favorites; if I were any good at colorwork, I would design something that uses both of those colors. ☺

♥

I'm still waiting for my little sister to send me photos of her modeling the bag I made for her, so I can send off that design proposal.  I'm going to hang on to my Frost Cowl design until fall; I haven't finished it yet anyway.  I'm ready to send in the proposal for Kitty's socks, which have earned the moniker "Girls Just Want To Have Fun".  I'm still working on Princess's "Sweetheart Socks", and I haven't started yet on Angel's socks; I still need to decide on a lace pattern for them.

♥

Back to knitting!

Crown Jewels is up!

My latest pattern is up on Knit Picks!  Here's a pic to remind you what it looks like...

 Crown Jewels Shawl can be found here:

http://www.knitpicks.com/patterns/Crown_Jewels_Shawl__D11059220.html

♥

And today I got tired of the "Mommy Gives Up" look, so I went and got a haircut.

I finally have a style again! ☺ The girls all got their hair trimmed too.  We went to the salon at Walmart, because the guy we "usually" (once or twice a year) go to is out of the country.  I think I'll stick with the Walmart salon.  It was quick, and relatively painless when it came time to pay.  The stylist gave me exactly what I asked for; long layers, without taking too much length off.  And all the damaged hair from when I used to dye it is gone! Finally.  It took about two years to grow it all out.

Another finished project

Yay, I finished the Winding Road Socks!

They turned out great, if I do say so.  Okay, vital stats:

Pattern: "Winding Road" by Mara Jessup (available on Knit Picks)

Yarn: Reflections Indulgence Sock (Merino/Cashmere/Nylon)

I don't know that she has any more of this same blend and colorway, but you can find Mara's yarn on Etsy; her store name is Reflections Yarn.

Needle: US2

♥

Next I'll finish the "Popped" socks, which is also a Knit Picks pattern, but not one designed by a Bunker Babe.  I had already turned the heels when I set them aside (magic looping, two-at-a-time), so I should - in theory - be able to finish them this weekend or next week.  I'm waiting on my sister to send me pics of her modeling the bag I made, so I can send off that design proposal.  USPS tracking tells me that Knit Picks has received my samples for Crown Jewels and the Lacy KIP Bag.  But it usually takes a few weeks before the patterns get put up.  And until they accept Katiee's Bag (I hope) I don't have any more samples to make.  So I get to work on whatever I want to!  That's a kinda nice feeling! 

♥

Oh, I almost forgot: I got an email yesterday telling me that one of my patterns would be in the May catalog!  Finally!  I've got six up on the website, but so far none have been in the catalog.  They didn't say which one, so I'll just have to wait and see.

♥

No news yet about Hubby's truck.  Considering it was stolen on Monday and it's now Thursday, the likelihood of it being recovered is pretty slim.  It's probably across the border by now. 

Soft, beautiful yarns...

I got yarns in the mail!!  Woot!

Knit Picks announced last week that they were having a sale on selected sock yarns.  I had been waiting for this!  I wanted to get some yarns to make socks for me and the girls, and I really like Stroll.  So I went and looked...and found that all the colors I really wanted were in the sale list!  The red (Gypsy Tonal) is for me, the green and brown (Aloha Multi, which actually looked turquoise and brown on the website) is for Angel, the darker purple (Berry Patch Hand Painted) is for Princess, and the lighter purple (Dolly Hand Painted) is for Kitty.  I did a little swatching(with scrap yarn) last night, and came up with a plan for Princess's socks.  Now I just need to swatch with sock yarn to figure out the needle size I need to use.  But first I need to finish the second Winding Road Sock.  I'm just a few repeats from being done. ☺

♥

I've started doing yoga, in the hopes that it will make my back better.  Yesterday Princess was doing it with me.  I thought the video was over and put away all my equipment, and she said, "Oh, look, mommy, there's more!"  so I left it on for her to do.  And she looked so cute, I just had to take a picture.

Please excuse the mess in the background.  We were doing laundry two days ago, and some of the stuff didn't get put away.  And now it's time to do laundry again, so why bother?  Haha.  Ow.  I shouldn't laugh.  Or try to move.  My back went out again while I was sleeping.  It hurts.