Wow! An actual sweater!

Can you imagine?  I've finally finished a sweater for DD in the FN (Frozen Northland).  Took me long enough.  Actually I finished it a few weeks ago, tried it on (what fits DD will fit me, except in length) and the sleeves were way too tight.  I have no idea why I did this, but they went back to the frog pond and I made them wider.  Since I pick up my sleeves from the armhole and work them down, this isn't a major rehaul.  I just had to make sure that the underarm stitches, which are live, are not dropped in the frogging.  What took much longer was that the Little Guy had a sock crisis, and I had to churn out a bunch of socks.  So....here's a lace sweater. (if she doesn't like it, I'll take it)

The yarn is Palette (Knit Picks), which I love to work in.  Very soft yarn with no merino.  So it wears rather well.  Size 3 needles, worked in the round from bottom up.  Separated at the armhole, and worked back and forth until the shoulder. Front, of course, had neck opening worked. Joined the fronts and back, picked up the armhole stitches and worked down (twice, sigh).  Gave it a gentle wash on Fri, and here it is, ready to be mailed out.  Stitch pattern is from one of my lace books, but I tossed the copy, so I don't know where I found it.  But it's very simple and a nice break from the endless stockinette.

And then, just because I like making helix socks, one more pair for the Little Guy.  3 different yarns worked in a helical pattern.  Mindlessly easy, although you constantly have to untwist the yarns.

The big ball is a turquoise that I dyed some years ago.  I don't think that there is nylon in this yarn, so I didn't use it where there would be stress.  Bottom left is some leftover from who-knows-what, and the bottom right was used to make these socks from the last posting.

So here are the new socks with these 3 yarns.

Here are the two socks, the first worked only in that yarn, and the second with the 3 yarns.

Isn't that fun?  This is a great way to use up leftovers, although I now have leftovers of my leftovers.  It never ends.

Two more

The next 2 pairs of Little Kid socks. 

That's pretty much it!  I started another pair of Helical Socks for him, but I'm not rushing through it.  I need a break from non-stop plain vanilla sock knitting.

And another pair

Emergency call from the FN (Frozen Northland):  the little kid needs socks!  So I'm knitting as fast as I can.  Made this pair in 4 days.  I could go faster, but it would hurt my hands.

This is a ragg kind of yarn, and rather rugged in appearance. 

I started another pair last night and should finish in a few days.

There are other goodies on the needles:  a lace sweater for DD#2, and a faded yoke for me, but they all have to wait until the little kid gets his socks.

A pair of socks

The Little Guy (6 years old) needs socks.  He lives in the Frozen Northland, and it's cold and his little tootsies are not happy.  So that's what I'm doing these days.

One pair of Helical Socks for him.  The lovely stripes are done by using 3 leftoverballs of sock yarn, and rotating them as I knit.  The funny thing down the center happens when you switch yarns.  On the leg and foot, it looks just fine.  I suppose I could try to work that joining place differently, but who cares.  It works out just fine, and Helical Socks are fiddly enough and I just want to motor along.

Now I have to stop making them, and get on with the quick knitting:  just one sad ball of yarn/pair.  Alas.

Upward and onward to more socks.  Gotta keep his feet warm.

Kids knits

The latest sweaters (and a pair of socks) for the little kid, who will turn 6 at the end of the month. 

A close-up of the slip-stitch pattern:

This blue sweater was knitted in my usual fashion:  bottom up in the round, with the shoulders joined by knitting them off together.  Sleeves picked up from the armhole and worked down, also in the round.  I have to say that I much prefer working with stranded knitting than with slip stitches, but it is an interesting technique and the stripes have a texture to them that stranded knitting would not do.

This is a top-down yoke sweater, which may not fit him well.  We shall see.  The sleeves may be too long.  If it's too big, he'll grow and maybe use it later this season.  If it doesn't work at all, then his mom can donate to a charity. I love making yoke sweaters, but the fit confounds me (and I've made a lot of yoke sweaters).  Without him here to try on, it may not work at all.  Still, it was fun and I love stranded knitting.

And a pair of socks for him.  Again, I'm making them without trying on, so who knows if they will fit.

And finally, a sweater for me that I finished just before Thanksgiving. 

I've been on a cable binge, and this was the 3rd one I made.  Loved every minute of it.

Since July, I've made 7 sweaters, the ones not shown were not photographed.  I'm now taking a week or two off from them and knitting shawls.  Sweaters are very fast knits for me, but lace shawls take time and go slowly, and my hands need slow work.

Quilting?  What's that?  Do I remember how to sew? 

How I design a gansey sweater

This is a repeat of a post I made about 4 years ago.  If you knit and would like to try your hand at designing a gansey, this might help.

How I design a fisherman's sweater, AKA a gansey.

VOTE!

Go, vote!  Vote as if your life depends on it, because it does.  Think of the 11 innocent people shot in cold blood in a Pittsburgh synagogue.  Think of the 2 African-American people shot in a convenience store for the fun of it.  My life depends on who wins this election.  Yours might, too.

Understand that the terrorists who perpetrate these hate killings are neither Muslim nor folks, illegal or otherwise, from south of the border.  These terrorists are home-grown white men.

If you have not been effected by the killings of the last few weeks, your group might be next. 

Vote as if your life depends on it, because it does.