FO Friday: A layette of custard and mint

My first ever time making booties and mittens (thumbless ones)! Eeeee...everything is co cute, I feel like I could already eat those tiny little fingers and toes that will be cuddled in these!

My friend will hopefully be thrilled.

This was my third(!) Little Coffee Bean cardigan. Not my last I am sure. It's so easy and so cute. Maybe I'll even knit a solid version at some point? I tried to size down with smaller needles. I omitted buttonholes entirely and will be sewing on some snaps later.

The label only goes on the cardi :)

My second or third time making the Magic Coffee Baby hat. It just goes so well with the cardigan that I often wonder it isn't part of a set. I use regular ribbing and a smaller needle. Baby hat brims need all the stretch they can get IMO! Of course I had to add the pompom on top. It looks way cuter than an Icord I think.

I'm soooooo in love with these wee little mitts! Each one took me under twenty minutes to make on magic loop. I sized these down too.

The booties are well...not my favorite paret of the layette but they're still kinda cute. I'm not happy with the toe shaping on one of them. But that's my poor sewing at fault.

Link to all patterns here on my Ravelry page
Yarn used throughout: Knit Picks Brava, in mint and custard colorways
Needles- varied but ranging from 3.75 mm to 4.5 mm

Sharing today's post with FO Friday, Fiber Art Friday and Creative Friday. 

Pastel overload!

I've taken a break from the lovely Latvian Garden to work on some much needed baby stuff. They're all meant as gifts but I'm keeping the recipient a secret till the little munchkins arrive. All I can say is that everything needs to be ready by September, so that they can be sent to the recipient in good time and everything needs to be gender neutral.

First off, I'm doing my old standby for baby jackets- yes this is my third Little Coffee Bean cardigan!

I got a little tired of the grey stripes so this one is in pastel yellow and green. It makes me think of spring. So refreshing!

I'm also working on a matching hat-- yes its the Magic Coffee Baby hat again (another third!) in the same colors.

I've been asked to make matching booties and mittens too. I don't have a fixed idea of what pattern I'll use yet, but the color scheme will continue :)

I'm using the yellow as MC for the entire layette, so the green leftovers may work their way into another project.

I can't say enough good things about Brava worsted. Its the softest acrylic I have ever worked with, the colors are fabulous and so is the price. Plus I bought all the yarn during KnitPicks summer sale!

Sending to WIP Wednesday. I'm sure I'll have an FO post for Friday if I can get Blogger to work on my phone as we'll be traveling-- off to Cape Cod!

WIP Wednesday

Still working on my Latvian Garden, still making little mistakes but still LOVING it!

Action shot!

I finished Chart 1. Three more to go!

I'm using CC 1 (the red) for part of Chart 2.

Sharing post with WIP Wednesday.

Repost for Friday

ETA: Still plugging away at the blanket. I worked 3 rows of hearts in red, 2 in bouquet (a heathery purple) and 2 more rows in red. Will add a final row of red hearts and then move on to Chart 2 :)

Reposting for Fiber Arts Friday and Creative Friday.

Color! Why was I so late to jump on the color work bandwagon? I love bright, saturated colors (as Vianden, Aidez, and many more of my projects testify), so color work and I should be natural affinities. Sadly, I was scared of all the twisting of yarn and long floats of yarn that stranding involved, of the bobbins intarsia involves and I just find double knitting a bit tedious.

So I drooled over the Latvian Garden pattern for months. Years, maybe.

Till I decided to jump in last week. And I couldn't be happier! Tension issues, and minor mistakes notwithstanding.

I'm leaving reasonably long floats since the wool is scratchy and the blanket will be lined.

The stockinette curls terribly. As expected, I suppose. The Palette yarn is lovely and saturated but I've found so many frayed and broken bits in the green its disgusting. At  least it splices together like a dream.

I'm sure there will be many more color work projects in my future. And I will need some hand holding and possible Dutch courage for the steek!

Sharing with WIP Wednesday

TGIF!

I know I've been away for a very long time. I would start out by writing posts, then delete all my drafts. April was a hard month for us and we're only just getting over it. So much so that I lost my knitting mojo. I'd sit with the same unfinished sweater next to me, work a few stitches, then give up.

I've never been so slow to knit before. I guess sometimes knitting isn't therapy.

On to the FO, then. This one was finished ages back, but I never got round to writing about it. Mainly because of inertia-- why blog when its easier not to? Also my mods didn't quite work out like I had imagined.

I love how to top half of the sweater fits. Its like it was made for me- oh, wait, it was.

Now the bottom half, I wanted to make longer than the pattern and also try to give it an A-line shape. To that effect, I went up a needle size and made several increases on the sides. I'm wondering if I should have made increases all round to get more of a skater dress effect. In reality, I sbhould have started the increases sooner. Oh well. You live and learn.

I chose not to knit the cowl that the pattern calls for. I really liked the boat neck.

Still the color is very me and it does fit well. Maybe too well around the tummy!

Pattern: Francis revisited
Yarn: Knit Picks Brava worsted, wine colorway
Needles: 5.5 mm, 6 mm, 6.5 mm

Sharing this post with FO Fridays, Fiber Arts Friday and Creative Friday. (Linking up anyway even though Tami and Natural Suburbia are yet to add their posts!)

WIP Wednesday: Aggravated!

Sorry there are no pictures today. I'm kind of upset, because my project keeps encountering the same problem! I've been working on my Francis revisited pullover, and at last count, the cable on my knit picks options needles has snapped four times. Four times!!! Each time I end up dropping several stitches before realizing the darn thing has broken and picking up the dropped stitches. Ugh. The join where the plastic cable meet the metal holder must be weak because the plastic keeps popping out. I've thrown out three of the cables, kept the last one- which broke yesterday- in case knitpicks asks me to send the cable back. I've emailed customer care but I don't know what they will say. I'm really not inclined to spend postage money on returning a broken cable!

Ah.....end of rant. How much better I feel!

WIP Wednesday: Working on a wearable

The Voice is back! Its the perfect show to knit to in my opinion, because all my attention can be on my knitting, so especially perfect for cables or lace or whatever. I am however, working on stockinette at the moment. I bought the yarn for Francis revisited during the Knit Picks cyber Monday sale and was it a steal! I cast on early in January, worked the body down to the hip increases (its a top down) and then...stopped.

It would have been sensible to have worked on and finished this cute tunic when the polar freeze was shivering me timbers (is that a phrase that works in this context?!). I'm kooky that way however, and I got so bored of the mindless stockinette that I bundled int up in a bag and shoved it out of sight and started working on so many of the other things I've worked on and finished these past few weeks. I've just dug it out again so that I can at least wear it this spring!

I'm about 60-65% done with the baby blanket too. It will hopefully block to about 30 inches square. Since all that garter was also starting to get to me, I felt like I needed a change :)

I have enough yarn to lengthen the body to tunic length. I went up a needle size after finishing the hip increases to accommodate the extra length and get a figure flattering A-line shape. It just depends on how bored I get :)

The color is a very rich, very saturated wine. Its (yet another!!!) snow day here today so the color may be a tad off. Ugh. I'm tired of the snow. At least I've got coffee with my friends to look forward to later on.

Linking up with WIP Wednesday with Tami. And now off for my usual Wednesday blog hop. Stay warm!

happy new year!

New year, new resolutions? Nah. I'm one of the many who don't bother, my reason being that I probably won't keep them anyway. However, the only real one I can think of actually fulfilling is to finish at least SOME of the wips and ufos languishing in my house, frog those three sweaters which I will probably never wear AND use up at least 50% of my yarn stash. Okay so now that does sound like a resolution. Hm.

I finished the test knit I was working on for a fellow Ravelry member, but since the pattern is not out yet, can't really blog about it. Bummer. Except to say it is gorgeous, and I love the magenta like shade of merino I made it in, which is now, sadly, discontinued. Also, since the good folks at knitpicks have raised their prices, I hope my yarn splurges will stop, temporally at least. I bought enough wool of the andes worsted to make three sweaters last year, but other projects got in the way....which hopefully will be off the needles by January. It's SO cold, I wish I had finished some :(
K's due date is tomorrow, and her baby blanket is coming along nicely- I'm on block 10 of the length (had CO for 11 blocks width wise), but I think I may need to add a couple more blocks to make it look more square.

What have you been working on?

Reality check

I am embarrassed to say this but last night, we could not find the camera's battery charger. I was cooking dinner at the time (mattar ke parathe, nothing says winter to me like peas!) and my hands were all floury, so did not help the hub turn the place upside down. I eventually remembered that it was next to the TV. He then muttered under his breath, 'there's wool everywhere, wherever I look'. Sheepish looks.

Now, he's generally a fairly liberal guy and he usually doesn't bother me about the housekeeping and whatever money I spend (he knows I keep a fairly strict budget) but I think I need to go on a yarn budget now. After all, with enough wool to knit my way through probably 2013, I should stop at some point, I guess :(

I worked out how much yarn I have by yardage, even if it has been assigned to a project. I lost count after this number because it was exhausting and flat out shocking. Here goes.....66.3 km. Probably only about 70% of that humongous stash! Really? I don't think any more- I'm SURE I have a problem. and yes, I did post about snagging some stuff at the knitpicks sale too :(

Reality check. How much money could I have saved from not buying so much yarn? I'm betting $500 is a too conservative estimate. Especially since I have stuff to save up for! So, starting today, I will not be purchasing any new yarn until my stash drops down substantially. How much more depends on the total number, like I said, I lost count after 66.3 km. So according to my knit meter I have worked 8.4 km this year. I am not liking the stats. Of course, it does not include crochet, but then am not a big crocheter, although my granny square has eaten up 6 balls of yarn so far. Sniff.

And to think I signed up for classes at the lion brand yarn studio in January. Will have to make do with yarn from my stash if possible.

Sweetness

There is sweetness yet to be found in places where everything once looked bleak and dark. A few kind words (a sweet message by a fellow Ravelry member), a cuddle from my puppy, an early morning walk by the river when all is peaceful.... such daily sweetnesses soothe and, sometimes, enchant.

Speaking of enchanting, the knitpicks cyber monday sale started and I was online along with the rest, battling to load the page faster. I really have no room for it. My oven too is taken over, which is how I got this quirky name for my blog. My storage units, all my suitcases...everything is full of yarn. I got my first scolding from the DH who wonders if I will ever use it all up in my lifetime. Oh dear, the voice of reason. And yet, I find myself succumbing! So I got two things. Merino Style yarn (DK weight) in fairytale purple for a shawlette I will be test knitting (sorry, no more details allowed as of now) and in a bright blue for the Date night pullover which I so love.

I have signed up for the curvy knits course on craftsy, and I have to agree with the instructor, bulky yarns do not look good on me. Sigh. So back to the teeny tiny needles we Indians grew up with....although finer yarns tend to offer more yardage for the dollar...but enough said, and no more yarn this winter!