The Little Red Hen

Mute Monday - I've Been Knitting

Crafting in 2012

It's fun and always makes me feel more productive to look back and see what I made during the year.  Do you do that?

I've been feeling very unproductive the last week or so. I've enjoyed having lots of family time but I haven't spent any time at all at my sewing machine. I pulled out a couple of long lost knitting projects to work on in the evenings because I can be a bit more social while still "making". Mostly I've not been crafting. I'm really feeling the itch.

This is MOST of what I did this year. 

1. ladybug mittens, 2. Crazy Love quilt, 3. estonian-socks-colorwork, 4. Abbey-Road-outside, 5. Pinwheels-and-Strings-close, 6. Lynn's hexagon quilt, 7. baby quilt whole, 8. happy drawing pattern, 9. Nancy, 10. bluebirds of happiness, 11. Paris on a Shoe String, 12. pixie hat side, 13. pixie hat girl, 14. hexagon flowers, 15. rug, 16. slip n slide 1, 17. Bento bag, 18. frame purses first, 19. frame purse monkey, 20. Flower Power close, 21. new dress action, 22. Washi front, 23. birds and the bees washi, 24. Anna Maria Horner Washi, 25. frippery washi, 26. ruby finished, 27. pink pixie, 28. Point Me big, 29. skinny tee P, 30. Cloud 9 frame purses, 31. Little Stitches embroidered, 32. Happy Land close, 33. Swiss Chard close, 34. chick on mushroom, 35. medallion top, 36. sneak peek

Halloween Elf

Here is our little Halloween elf.

I made the top from B's old terry/velour bathrobe using Rae's Flashback Skinny Tee pattern. I also added some pink braid from my trim collection. 

The pattern for the hat is Lyalya Hoodie by Natalia Schaffer. (knit earlier in the year and blogged here.)

Pretty close to the design she imagined, I think. She is thrilled with the soft, warm top. 

 

Odds and Ends

I have a few small recent projects to share with you.

Here's a pink pixie hat for a friend's daughter.

Bee blocks for Jennifer, she requested words of encouragement and healing.

Just one more pair of bee blocks and I'll be finished for the year. Tia has requested bird blocks!

It has been getting colder so I want to make sure that we all have warm slippers for the winter. I'm making a pair of "frankenslippers" that will use up a lot of the small ball ends I found when I pulled out my selection of worsted weight yarns. It will be good to clear these out of my sewing room. Yay for cleaning up and using what I have!

These fun vintage fabrics came in the mail yesterday. I did a little fabric swap with Katie. Don't you love those little Kangaroos? The two fabrics on the left are the old 36 inch wide yardage.

What fun little projects have you been up to this fall?

Slip-n-Slide

Adele and I have finished another pair of socks! These are for ME.

My sister gave me the book  Sock Knitting Master Class: Innovative Techniques + Patterns from Top Designers for Christmas and I had been wanting to try some of the great looking patterns in there.

I chose Slip-n-Slide by Chrissy Gardiner to go with this Berroco Sox yarn because it has long slipped stitches that help disguise the striping in the yarn.

I like that the pattern continues down the heel flap.

They were a pretty quick knit and I learned a new technique to get the little butterfly looking stitches that go down the front and back of the sock. 

I am eager to knit some of the other socks in this "master class" book. I'm sure I'll learn more fun and interesing knitting techniques as I work my way through the book. 

 

Wordless Wednesday

Pink Pixie Hat

I finished a larger version of the pixie hat for P to wear next year.

This one fits much better. The neck/scarf section is longer and will stay tucked into her coat better.

For this version of the Lyalya Hoodie I used Cascade 220 yarn. I do like the look of the more solid color yarn with this pattern. Miss P is thrilled with it.

I thought I might like one of these for myself but when I tried it on it made M laugh. I guess a second grader can pull off a pointy pixie hat look better than I can.

 

Pixie Hat

During our drive to Kansas City for Quilt Market, I did a bit of knitting.

I finished this super cute pixie style hat. It's really a pretty quick knit.

Miss Petunia loves it. I like that it comes down and covers her neck. I think that will be great to keep the wind off her neck next winter and will also make getting ready for recess a little quicker - no fussing with a scarf. This one is a wee bit small for her so I plan to make a bigger one and make the neck/scarf part a little longer. She has chosen a pretty pink yarn. She said I could give it to her for Christmas. Isn't that sweet? 

The pattern is sized from baby to adult. I kinda want to make one for myself. M thinks that would be a little weird. I offered to make him one but he declined. Well, he didn't want the elf shoes either so what fun is he?

The pattern for the hat is Lyalya Hoodie by Natalia Schaffer.
The yarn is Artyarns supermerino.

Abbey Road Socks

I've been a knitting fiend in the evenings the last few weeks. I finished the mate to Addele's Abbey Road.

I love the texuture pattern in these socks and the way it flows directly into the ribbing at the top. The cable pattern also goes down the heel flap.

It was an interesting change to make these toe up socks. The pattern was fairly easy to follow. I ended up knitting the heel and flap a couple of times but that was because I miscounted stitches not because there was a problem with the pattern.
The yarn was also really nice to knit.

Pattern: Abbey Road Socks by Ann Budd.
Yarn: Tern by Quince & Co. 75% wool 25% silk.

I have also made a couple pair of crew socks for B in the Midnight Stroll Sport by Knit Picks.

Estonian Socks that Rock

Yay, I finally finished my Estonian Knee Socks that Rock. In case you were wondering, knitting knee socks with a fine black yarn on size 0 needles takes a long time. My ravelry notes tell me that I started these back in early November.

I love the way they fit. I decreased two stitches every sixth row down the back from the bottom of the colorwork to the ankle which creates a lovely "seam" line. I tried to take a picture but it didn't turn out. And since you can see those goose bumps on my legs there I'm not going to try again. You'll just have to imagine it.
Here's the full view.
The yarns are Knit Picks Essential Soot Kettle Dyed and Jewel of the Nile lightweight by Socks that Rock.

I used the color pattern from Nancy Bush's Estonian Socks in her book Folk Socks.

It really feels good to finish a slow going project like this. I know I'll be wearing them though. They will be great with winter boots!