Tag Archives: Knitting

Liar! Liar! Gauge Swatch On Fire!

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It isn’t often that I work a gauge swatch but I have been known to do so when it really counts. This was one of those times.

It is going to be Dreamcoat, a one-size-fits-all technicolor coat, knit with two strands of fingering weight held together. There are many colorways included in the kit and the yarn is randomly changed as you go, making a multi-color, one of a kind garment.

The pattern called for size 11 needles, but my swatch said otherwise.

The swatch lied. 

I was almost finished with the front, left piece when the thought pinged in my brain. This looks kinda small, doesn’t it?

Kinda small?!? Kinda small?!? 

Try four inches too small!

AHHHHHHH!!!!!!! (that was me running and screaming with my hands in the air and yarn flinging everywhere)

Ahem.

I am better now. I have recovered from the shock. I have almost reknit the entire piece on size 11 needles (which, by the way, gave me perfect gauge when worked over a large area and not a small gauge swatch. Stinking liar of a swatch).

The good news is that on a larger needle, the knitting will take less time…. if you don’t count the time I wasted knitting an entire piece on the smaller needles.

Carry on, then.

This project is a “Knitter for Hire” project. For more information, see my custom knits page here.

Every Stitch An “I Love You”

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When I knit something for someone, I spend hours thinking of her, imagining her smile when she sees what I have made, hoping she will love it. A knitted gift is so much more than a mere pair of socks or hat or sweater. It is “I love you” said tens of thousands of times – one “I love you” for every stitch. But even a pair of socks cannot contain enough stitches for my mama.

My mom’s birthday was yesterday, and I was so excited to give her these socks (project page on Ravelry here). They are Esther Socks in MacKintosh Skye Sock Yarn Twilight.

Three things about this knit -

1. This pattern is so gorgeous. It was easy to memorize and turned out lovely. That said, there were a few quirks. The cuff is a bit tight and hard to get over my heel, and the difference between the small and the large was a whole ten stitches! I had to choose between too small or too large, not an easy choice for a gift. I chose too small hoping to stretch them a bit when I blocked them. It worked, but I was a little unsatisfied with it. Also, it was originally written in German and the translation is a little awkward. I relied pretty heavily on the Ravelry notes of those who had gone before.

2. I made some modifications (big surprise, I know). I only did one repeat of the pattern for the cuff before diving into the heel. As for the heel, I used my new love, the sweet tomato. I also switched the direction of the cables on the second sock so that the two socks would mirror each other. Mom will probably never notice, but it pleased me greatly to do so. :)

3. This yarn is a bit normal. Nice, but not fabulous. It knit up normally, it felt normal on my feet. The color is nice, but not fabulous. Maybe I am just still reeling from the amazingness of the Casbah, I don’t know. It is good yarn. It is a pretty color. Not every ball of yarn is going to knock me over, I guess. That said, I would buy more in a heartbeat!

Another happy pair of feet wrapped in knitted love. My job is done here.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Call in the Reinforcements!

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Yesterday I mentioned that I had reinforced the bottom of the foot section of my new socks. This is how I did it. (Inspired by this article in Knitty.com)

First, I turned the sock inside out and put it on my foot. Then, using a contrasting color yarn and a darning needle, I outlined my trouble area – the balls of my feet is where I always get holes in my socks.

If you are following along, outline your specific trouble area – do you get holes in your heels first? Your toes?

Yes, this totally tickled like crazy!

Next, I took the sock off and put it on a sock blocker (inside out). Alternately, you could use a darning egg or really anything that will hold the fabric slightly stretched.

Taking my matching yarn and my needle, I then began weaving up and down over the outlined area like so.

When I had covered the entire section with weaving, I cut the yarn and took my sock off the blocker.

Then I pulled out my outline yarn.

When this is done right, the reinforcement is totally invisible from the right side.

It is my hope and expectation that this will increase the lifespan of these most excellent socks. I will let you know how it works out.

Lil’ Olive

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It isn’t very often that I knit a pattern twice. I have now knit this one three times. You might remember these dolls that I made last year for The Princess and The Munchkin?

Well, I went and knit another. Meet Lil’ Olive, my gift to my niece for her first birthday.

Three things about this knit.

1. I still think that this doll looks so much cuter without a face. I also made the head larger than the pattern dictated and totally winged my own dress. I am so glad that I took good notes the last time that I knitted one of these, because I really like my modifications.

2. My niece, like her Mama and Papa, has dark hair, so I went with some black Knit Picks Palette. I should really make a tutorial on how I did the hair, because it was so easy and looks amazing (if I do say so myself).

3. I was so excited to give this to my sister in law niece. And her delight made my day.

Trumpets and Fanfare and A Giveaway, Too!

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WoolandChocolate, the blog, is now two years old! Happy Birthday, Dear Bloggy-blog! In celebration we should have a giveaway! But first, I must gush and prattle, right?

When I first began blogging it was really out of curiosity. Where would it go? What would I write about? Would anyone actually read it? Well, thanks to you, it has been so much fun! Writing a new post at the beginning of nearly every day for two years has been an amazing experience. I have met some fantastic people (you know who you are), I have learned new things, and I have been motivated to finish projects that otherwise would have just been forgotten. Since I always say three things about every finished project, I am going to say three things about this blog. A bit self serving, I suppose, but I am going to do it anyway! HA!

1. It was time for a face lift. Like it? I do too. Check out the new pages. There is a new “about me” page where I moved all the family bio’s and I rewrote them, gave them new, more recent pictures, and V got renamed.  There is a link page where you can find some cool stuff to check out. There is a new pattern page with new links to the patterns in the Ravelry store. By moving all that stuff to separate pages, I uncluttered the home page, which I really like.

2. WoolandChocolate now has a new address. I purchased the domain name and am now woolandchocolate.com. I am unreasonably excited about this.

3. WoolandChocolate can now be found on Facebook. And I actually have fans. Wow. Check it out and join in the chit-chat. facebook.com/sweetknitting

And now, the giveaway.

I have put together a headband kit (see below) to giveaway to one lucky winner. And, since I know that there are nonknitters who read this, if you don’t knit you can still win – I just happen to have one all knitted up and ready to go. So, knitters and knitters who don’t knit yet (because I am going to convert you eventually!) enter in three ways.

1. Leave a comment telling me why you keep coming back and reading this blog.
2. Like my Facebook page and leave a comment here telling me that you did so.
3. Pin something from this blog to Pinterest and leave a comment here telling me what you pinned and why.

Using a random number generator, I will pick the winner on Friday and announce it alongside my “This Moment” photo. Good luck and thanks so much for being the fabulous readers that you are! Here’s to another great year of knitting!

Headband kit includes a PDF of my Natalie Headband pattern and enough Malabrigo Chunky in black to knit one headband, plus a small amount of Malabrigo Worsted in Kaliedos for embellishment. Alternately, non-knitters will receive the headband pictured above instead of the yarn and PDF. 

Randomly Speaking

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A few thoughts -

1. I knit this adorable little something but I can only show you a tiny peek. My niece is turning one this weekend and I have a lovely gift made just for her. I can’t wait to give it to her. And now all my girls want one, too (it always works that way, you know).

I’ll show you more later.

2. “Mama,” The Boy said to me the other day, “I know you already know this, but I just can’t believe it. Anneli is your sister, but that is just too crazy because she is so young and you are so old!”

3. I found a use for this.

Handmaiden Casbah in Blackberry

I am making some super simple, extra lovely socks for myself. I am halfway through the second sock and will be wearing them in no time. I can’t wait! This yarn is definitely my new favorite. It is fabulous!

4. I have more yarn on the way. I have to say that Eat. Sleep. Knit has an amazingly genius business strategy and I keep getting sucked back in. I make an order, and with it comes a lotto ticket worth five dollars. I save up a few of these and mail them in. The $15 credit calls to me day after day. I dream about my free yarn (what will I choose?). I let it linger and ferment in my brain until one day, at long last, I go on a shopping spree and buy all the yarn!!!! I need $75 to get free shipping! I need 1200 yards to get to the next marathon milestone! I need the odd skien of _____ just because it is worth 200% for the marathon! I got off easy this time (I will show you what I got as soon as it arrives). But we all know that in that box that is on it’s way is another yarn lotto ticket waiting to start it all over again. Genius, I tell you. Those folks are geniuses!

5. It is cold in my house. Sunny and warm outside, but I am freezing. Time to go sit in the sun. And knit. In the sun. Oh, yeah.

6. One more thing. This blog will be turning two years old on April 8th! It’s party time all next week. But more on that later….

Giddyup!

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Today I have a cute, quick knit to show you.

This is Spark’s Pony Pattern made in Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock. It was a birthday gift for The Bookworm who is turned 12 this week.

Let me tell you, The Bookworm was thrilled. She carries it around on her shoulder! I love when I can put smiles on my kids’ faces with a bit of wool.

Three things about this knit.

1. This pattern is written for worsted weight yarn, but I wanted something smaller so I used fingering on size one needles. It is small, but I was hoping for even smaller. I probably should have whipped out some lace-weight and my 0000 needles. Oh, well, there is always next time. I also think that next time I will try the other head option for a smaller, more normal looking noggin. I did the big one this time because that is what the kids like, but I think it looks ridiculous.

2. I got this pattern almost immediately after it was added to Raverly’s pattern database, so it was brand spankin’ new. I got the “virgin” version and I felt the pains thereof. After I was about 2/3 through, I received an email containing the revised version from the talented designer and all was well. I still can’t figure out how the legs were supposed to be sewn together, but it worked out okay in the end.

3. The pattern did not explain how to do the eyes. For that I just went back to the Etsy shop where I bought the pattern and closely examined the pictures of her finished ponies. Then I did what I could with the felt bits I had left over from my calendar. I am pretty surprised by how well they turned out.

All in all, it was a good knit and so quick that I think I could do it again. The only downside was the amount of yarn used up on hair!

Maeva

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I had an epiphany. Are you ready? This one might blow your mind, not because it is particularly clever or new, rather because it took me so long to realize it.

Why do I knit socks with long legs when I clearly have a preference for ankle socks when I buy socks at the store?

How many times have I knit a pair of socks that take twice as much yarn and time as an ankle sock (which is what I’d really rather wear). And isn’t that the point of making socks? To make the perfect sock for me?  I mean, I don’t wear turtleneck sweaters, therefore I don’t knit turtleneck sweaters. I don’t wear long johns, therefore I don’t knit long johns. So, I made a decision mid-sock and knit a pair of socks that I would love to wear (fortunately for me, it was a toe up sock, so I could make that kind of a change).

Introducing my “Natalie Loves Me” socks (so named because this yarn was a baby shower gift from my knitting buddy who knows what makes me happy).

Maeva in Knit Picks Stroll Tonal, Foliage

Three things about this knit -

1. This yarn does what it does well. I am not saying that it is my new favorite, but for a pair of socks I think it will do just fine. I love the color and the way that I magically (and without trying at all) started each sock at exactly the same point in the colorway so that the semi-striping is perfectly matching. I love the sturdy feeling these socks have.

2. I learned many new things while knitting these socks, the least of which was the epiphany mentioned earlier in this post. I learned how to do Judy’s Magic Cast On, a truly wonderful trick. I learned that while toe up socks are fascinating, I would much rather start at the top and work down. I also learned that I actually do enjoy working socks one at a time (rather than both at once) and that knitting the second sock doesn’t have to be a painful chore (because this second sock was just as fun as the first). I guess you could say that these were educational socks.

3. I made many mistakes. Many. I mean it. A lot. I crossed cables willy-nilly with no thought to the way they were actually supposed to cross. I increased haphazardly. I decreased when I felt like it. I totally faked the heel flap without even peeking at the pattern. All of these mistakes are tiny, and really, (really) they make no difference (at all. whatsoever). I keep telling myself that I don’t care. But I do. (But not enough to frog them.)

Also, these socks are kinda baggy, which is weird because I have huge feet and every other sock I ever knit for myself has been tight. Maybe I can shrink them up a bit in the dryer. (note to self – next time do a smaller cuff)

All in all, a satisfying knit and a new pair of socks in my drawer. It’s been good week.

Oh, Dear. I Think I Deserved That

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Knitting disaster strikes me from time to time, and I guess I was asking for the latest one when I bragged about how easy that hooded scarf was.

This, My Dear Friends, is the kindle cozy for The Bookworm.

Strange, right? This is what it was supposed to look like (photo swiped from the pattern):

Now, a part of me wants to claim ignorance (“I don’t know what I did wrong!”) and maybe blame the designer (“What a stupid pattern!”), but I really do know what happened. All I want to say is this -

Next time I plunk down beside you at knit night and I wonder out loud how this thing thing on my needles is magically going to turn into a usable item, and then I say that I think that I have the pattern memorized after only three rounds please, someone, for the love of wool, SLAP ME!

That Was Easy

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A new creation just flew off my needles with only one frogging on the path to success.

Three things about this knit.

1. It doesn’t get much easier than this. A garter stitch scarf on large needles, picked up 32 stitches along the center of one side, kfabbed in each stitch on the way back, then worked a blown up version of the Stella Pixie Hat over 64 stitches, grafting the top together with some kitchener magic. My only difficulty was determining the amount of stitches to pick up, so I did have to frog it once, when I realized that it would only fit someone with a freakishly small head.

2. It doesn’t get much easier than this. My daughter’s smile was all the reward I needed. She is so easy to please and though I hate this yarn, it was worth it.

3. It doesn’t get much easier than this. Even the photo shoot was short and sweet. I’ve got a great knitted item on a beautiful model just as the sunset cast a beautiful pinkish tint to the world. That is a formula for fabulous pictures.

Oh, and the remaining 20 yards or so of this yarn went in the garbage. That was easy, too. :)