The Throws have landed......

Piper loved her throw.   It is the combination of purple and bling that she, at 12 (yikes!) is perfect for

her.

The throw ended up taking three and a half or so skeins of the James C. Brett Marble Chunky Glamor.   To make sure that I did not run out....I had five skeins total.  While I could have made this a bit longer, I was happy with where I ended this.

This yarn was a bit of a risk for a busy household. Normally, I will only send knitted offerings that can go through the washer and the dryer.  This time, because the yarn was so perfect, I send something that needs special handling.

The Chunky Glamor can't go in to the dryer or it will die.  Piper is old enough so that she can take care of this.  On the upside, it should not need laundering often.

Mallorie's throw was done from Willow Burrow bulky.  That washes and dries beautifully.    The easy care and the lovely color choices make this yarn a favorite for me.   When I was doing the arithmetic for the required yardage, I decided to guess on the high side.   The throw took twelve skeins rather than the 18 that I had purchased.   I would by far rather have yarn for a second project than worry about running out.

Figuring out the pattern for the horse throw was an interesting challenge.   Once I roughed out what I

wanted, I used Excel to chart the patterns to make sure everything would fit.   While I would normally use Knitbird for this, the graph was very large and ended up working much better in Excel.

Writing the pattern out so that I could use it to actually make the blanket was enough of a challenge that I decided not to write it up for others to use.   I found I had written things out a bit oddly and could proceed because I knew what was in my head.   I don't want to torture anyone with trying to figure out what it is that I meant.

Most of the horse throw was done over a two week vacation.  It was hot outside so I sat in the air conditioning working on the blanket.

 This is a detail of the blanket...the row and stitch gauge changed the horses a bit...the vertical line of horses is a bit more stretched out as though the horses are running faster.

I am glad these projects are done...and won't do another big one for awhile!

A Tale of Two Throws....

Piper and Mallorie are my grand nieces.   They both have moved into new bedrooms and have new decor.   Every year I knit them something.  This year it will be throws.

Piper loves bling.   She also loves purple.    James C. Brett has come out with the perfect yarn.....Marble Chunky Glamor.    As I do love the Boulevard Blanket pattern, I decided to use it as it is a subtle pattern and the yarn is busy.   Originally, I thought I could get away with three skeins. 

When I finished the first skein and measured......I bought a fourth.  After more thought, today I will go buy a fifth.   Will I need it?  Likely.  I do not need to scramble towards the end of this project.

As Depth of Field had ordered a bag of this yarn so I could have part of it, I am glad I can buy all of it.   That way, the other skeins are not lonely on the shelves.

This project is a fairly soothing no think project.   I am carrying it around with me to knit as long is it is not too large to make this impractical.

Mallorie still loves horses.   I could not find a pattern that I liked.   Off to the drawing board!   This taxed my math skills, but I have come up with something that will, I hope, work.

Sharon, Mallorie's grandma, showed me pictures of the new room.   I had thought to do it either in Burrow Bulky Delicious....a delicious red or one of the horsey looking browns.  After consulting with Sharon, we agreed while red might look nicer in the room....Mal likes things that are "horse colored." I am going to do this in the Fireplace colorway.  The pattern is drafted and the yarn is on order.

The chart has enough going on so that I will be working on Mallorie's throw at home....alone.....maybe even without the TV or music.  

As these are the largest of my planned projects for fall and the holidays, it was important to get moving on them both!

Dishcloths?

Dishcloths might not seem the most fun thing to knit...but they can be.  Pinterest, Ravelry, and random blogs on the internet have a wide variety of patterns.  Many of these patterns are free.  As everyone, even those with a dishwasher, has to wash a few dishes this makes a practical and quickly done gift.

Dishcloths are done in many themes:  animals, plants, pictures, sayings.   Finding the right pattern for your victim  recipient is half of the fun.

One day at work, we were joking around.   Out of that came a need make someone a special dishcloth.   Had I not been able to find a very nicely done (and free) pattern, I would have drafted one.

As I have a nice supply of Willow Yarns Sudsy at home, the only challenge was picking the color.  That problem was solved by grabbing the ball closest to hand...which also happened to be just about my favorite.    One cast on and 47 rows later.....voila!

Thank you holynarf for the pattern and the fun!

The Polar Bear and the "In Threes" have gone...

The polar bear is done.    I really liked the way that the head was done in the version of a bear.   What did I like most of all?   The nose was knit separately and attached.   It was easier to make sure the

nose looked the way that I wanted it to look.   I also liked doing the eyes before attaching the head.  It was much easier to place the eyes and make them look nice.

Doing faces on stuffed animals is not my favorite thing to do as I am always afraid of making the animal look.....psycho.   The animal is supposed to be a friend for a little one, not the stuff of which nightmares are made.

The tail on this polar bear was cute too.   I had thought about skipping the tail but then decided

that I needed to do it. The tail is not stuffed, but puffs nicely on its own.

Helen, my sister, likes the creatures to smile.   This was easy to do as I also did this before I closed the head.   The pattern's creature used a small, straight-line mouth that just did not look friendly.   I used duplicate stitch to make a smile that would be hard to pick out.  In fact, everything was sewn together firmly to make it easier to play with the bear without killing it.

The Wendy Eider yarn that I used for the "fur"

part of the bear was really not bad to knit with.  Dropping a stitch was NOT a good idea.   This bear felt soft and very cuddly which was the point. I hope this happy bear will make Henry a happy boy.

Rory is Henry's baby sister.   If I send something to Henry, I also send something for Rory (and vice versa).  

The In Threes pattern has been on my list of little sweaters to try for a long time.    Rick had gotten really beautiful dark rose skeins of Encore for a

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different project.   I made the year old size.   When I was done with the knitting, I had maybe two yards left of one skein.

Part of the last two yards I used to sew the buttons onto the sweater so that I could have the look that I wanted.

The buttons came from a great Etsy shop and were perfect with the yarn.

This pattern has the excellent qualities of being a quick knit and very, very cute.

The Polar Bear Grows

Wendy Eider Chunky makes a very nice fur for a stuffed animal.   The yarn is not bad to knit with and has only one flaw......when one knits with it, one cannot see the stitches.

The Body of the Polar Bear

I did find not being able to see the stitches a bit of a problem, but the furry result is oh so worth it.

When I bought this yarn, I picked it up in several colors.   Toys from the Toybox patterns referred to this particular yarn and I wanted to see how it would work out.   Knitting up the rest of what is living in the stash will be a pleasure.

I do question the wisdom of giving a small boy and off-white toy.   A Polar Bear the toy must be though....so the joy Henry will likely get from this is worth the knitting getting grubby.

New Projects......and One Finished....

The Finished Cardigan

Rory's floral cardigan is finished.  I do love Bernat Floral Jacquards and wish that I had more of this and of the rose colorway.   I have a little more of the rose and may be able to eke out a small cardigan from it.   By the time I figure out where I have put it for safety, Rory will have grown out of it.

Part of the challenge of this sweater was to make sure that the patterns worked well across the body of the sweater as parts were stopped and started.  I am fairly pleased with the results though wish the sleeves were a little different.  It

Close up of the front...

would not be possible without doing so much finagling that I would likely toss the sweater rather than deal with it.

The Sweater Wizard pattern was a little odd but I persevered.  Friday night, I attached the buttons and put the sweater through the washer and dryer.   As I have said before, I am never truly happy with a project after I finish it.  This one is nice though.  

I did choose a size that Rory won't be able to wear for a bit.   The In Threes sweater that Jan has made for Jackie's new baby looked so cute that I have just started one for Rory.   I am using a rosy pinky red Plymouth Encore. 

I think I have just the buttons for this.    They came, some time, ago from one of my favorite Etsy shops.  GloriaPatreSpinNKnit not only has really nice buttons, but fabulous stitch markers and some other notions as well.    The buttons I recall are floral and would look really nice against this color.   My button stash is small but not well organized.   I am trying to use those up also.

Owen's Car Button Sweater left in the mail today.   I will say that the sweater went through the

washer and dryer beautifully.    I had some reservations about the yarn before it was laundered.  The yarn did soften up nicely.

This pattern also came from Sweater Wizard.   As I was sewing the sweater together, the sizing seemed very odd to me.  I am hoping the sweater fits Owen and that he gets some wear out of it.

Just to keep things interesting, I have started on a Polar Bear for Henry.  Henry is a little older, so I am using Wendy Eider Chunky for the bear's fur as he is past the gumming stage.   I do have reservations about an off white bear for a small boy but he loves polar bears....how can I NOT make him one?

Sara's throw is coming along.  If I work on it between things, it will be done in plenty of time.  I hope.

Startitis...

Spring must be the time in which a person's thoughts turn to starting new projects.   I have several on the needles now and am not allowing myself to start another one (a polar bear) until at least ONE project is done.

At the moment there are two active sock projects, a throw, and a baby cardigan that is actually going to fit a 2 year old.  

The throw is a good contemplative project to which not much attention has to be paid so it gets picked up and put down depending on how many paths my mind is winding at once.   As it has a June deadline, my mind should be focusing more on the throw....

One of the pairs of socks is a lovely rose color.  It is warm and happy.  The second pair of socks is vibrant and lovely and the colorway sang to me from the computer screen.  I had to have it and begin it as soon as the skein came in the mail.   This pair of socks is my traveling project right now.  The pattern emerging is addictive and one of those that I knit quickly down one more needle as the bus is coming to see what will happen.  This is the same as a mystery novel that is a little predictable but exciting anyway.

One of the other projects is a cardigan for Rory.   I did not find a pattern I wanted to use so I ran swatch numbers through Sweater Wizard.   The finished size will fit Rory when she is 2 rather than now.  I am okay with that as I do not want to rip it out.

The yarn is no longer available and came from the center of the stash.  I have several colorways but really, really wanted to use this colorway as the blues, greens, and oranges looked so cheerful.

The yarn in the skein....

The sweater is coming along nicely.   I chose to do the cardigan top-down to make it easier for the color bands to work out nicely.

This way this yarn is dyed to make little floralish patterns is one of the best uses of math ever.  When I used the rose colorway, I was enchanted.   I bought what I could find as the yarn was already out of production when I first tried it.

This should be an easy project.  It is one, though, for which very careful manipulating of the colorway to start the sleeves and the body is necessary.

Close-up of what the yarn looks like knit to the correct gauge.

 Gauge is always important...but with these yarns it is crucial in order to get the pattern that the yarn is dyed to make.

While the strips will be different widths in the sleeves, the body, and the yoke it should look nice.  I am thinking...pearl buttons?