WIP Wednesday: Doomsday Mitts

First and foremost:

a very Happy 8th Birthday to my niece, Sophie!

And now back to the regularly scheduled post:

One of the projects I’m working on right now is a dk weight fingerless mittens, that I’ve dubbed the Zombie Doomsday Mitts. The pattern, Rose Tyler Wrist Warmers (Ravelry link), were inspired by a pair of fingerless gloves worn by the Doctor’s Companion in the episode Doomsday. I’m working on them as a knit a long (KAL) for the Walking Dead fan group I belong to on Ravelry. Put those things together and Zombie Doomsday seemed a great name for them.


The mitts have a beautiful cable pattern that creates several large diamonds, filled in with seed stitch down the middle. The diamonds are flanked by a single cable on either side. I’m making them out of Silky Merino yarn from Malabrigo in a greenish-yellow color.

Knitting these as a KAL project has helped immensely, I’m pretty sure that they would have ended up frogged by now if not for the support of the group. I don’t know why exactly these have been so troublesome, I’ve done projects that were considerably more complicated before, but for some reason I have ran into problem after problem with them. Extra stitches have appeared on my needles, cables have been mistwisted, I started the pattern on the wrong row. The most current problem I have encountered has been large holes at the thumb gusset increases. I changed to the very nearly Invisible increase from the TechKnitting Blog, which seems to have solved the problem.

Now that I’ve gotten the hang of the pattern, things seem to be going a bit more smoothly. I’ve completely finished one mitt and have just finished the thumb gusset increases on the second.

 

Posted with Blogsy

WIP Wednesday: Bigger on the Inside

By now it is no secret, I love my iPad. For day to day use, it has replaced my laptop (though I still need the laptop for a couple of things, including printing). When I first got my iPad, I purchased a couple of accessories to ensure that it was protected (especially after the nasty screen-cracking-even-when-in-a-case incident with my Kindle…I’m still pissed about that). I bought one of those bendy magnetic covers that also props it up in a couple of different positions and a back rubber shell. I went all out and got the back piece that is designed to absorb shock when dropped (something I’m very likely to do) and holds the iPad on the hood of a car when driving 45 mph (something I’m not really likely to do, but good to know just the same). I figured that eventually, I would also get a sleeve for it, something I could pull over the two covers for that added layer of protection, especially when tossing it into a bag. But I wanted to take my time and be sure I found the prefect sleeve for my iPad.


Because I’m me, my first thought was to knit a sleeve, an idea I took and ran with. While browsing Ravelry, it hit me, a TARDIS themed cover would be absolutely perfect.

For those of you not in the know, TARDIS stands for time and relative dimension in space, and is the time machine/spaceship of a certain time traveling alien known as The Doctor. And if you are still unsure what I’m talking about, watch Dr. Who. Anyways, the TARDIS, because of a problem with the Chameleon Circuit (seriously, just watch the show) looks like a blue police box, the kind that were common in England once upon a time. And the TARDIS is bigger on the inside.

Now, my iPad is not very big, but inside it contains games, videos, documents, apps, music, photos, knitting patterns, and the entire internet. Clearly, it too is bigger on the inside. a TARDIS sleeve would be the perfect companion to my iPad.

I found a pattern through Ravelry, and made a few modifications to make it work for me. I’m making it out of Comfy yarn from Knit Picks. I’m up to the windows on it now, which is pretty good, considering I cast on Saturday and had to rip it out once.

Posted with Blogsy

The View from the Podium

Look at this:

That is a completed February Lady Sweater, it is done. And by done, I mean done, except for the buttons. Ends have been woven in, and it has been washed and blocked and I have already picked out and purchased the buttons, so I’m calling it done.

And, I finished with a week to spare as part of the Ravelympics. That gave me plenty of time to devote to my second Ravelympic project. For project number two, I decided to make a pair of fingerless gloves. The pattern is called Zombie Vixen, which under any circumstances be almost enough reason for me to make them, but they are also super cute. This project is intended to be a gift, but I like the pattern so much, I think I’m going to have to make a pair for myself. Plus, I always need more fingerless gloves, I love fingerless gloves. The gloves went quickly, and I was able to finish those Friday night and wove in the ends Saturday morning.

However, success at the Ravelympic projects has come at the cost of progress on other projects, namely socks. My Michigan Lakeshore socks are idling at a standstill. I was almost to the heel of the second one when I discovered a problem that forced me to rip back to the cuff. Seeing as how those socks are my mom’s birthday present, and my mom’s birthday was July 27, I might want to get those done some day.

I’m not going to worry about those things now, instead, I’m just going to bask in my Ravelympic success.

I'm on the podium for several events:

WIP Wrestling

One Skein Sprint

Cable Steeplechase

And, Mitten Medly

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Fibery Exhibitionism

I’ve been knitting for almost ten years now, and my skills have developed considerably from the time I started. Like any artist, I’m proud of my accomplishments and try to take advantage of opportunities to showcase my work. Usually this comes in one of two forms, either posting pictures on various social media outlets (primarily Ravelry, Twitter, and Facebook) or dragging the knitted goods around with me and showing them to anyone who looks even remotely interested. This year, I took advantage of another method of showing off my work, I entered several pieces into the county fair.


I come from (and still live in) rural Wisconsin and I can remember while growing up, the county fair was an extremely big deal. It has lost some of its luster now, but still includes a variety of events, including a needle work contest. Every year, I think about entering items into it, but usually not until after the entry deadline has passed.

This year, I managed to be on top of things and got the entry form in on time (and by on time I mean the day before it was due). I decided to enter pieces in five categories (knitters are limited to one item per category). I entered my Invisibility Wrap, my Llama Chullo hat, my Spatterdash fingerless gloves, my Carry-All Tote and my Cubist socks shawl. That seemed to offer a fair cross-section of my knitting abilities.

By the time I dug out the pieces, washed and reblocked the ones that needed it, I was pleased with my entries. I felt there were a couple of pieces that had a chance of winning a ribbon. I dropped off the pieces at the fairgrounds and went back Friday after the judging had been completed.

I was surprised to find that out of five pieces, I had won five ribbons. Yup, every piece had one something. My Llama hat and my Carry-All tote both took firsts, with the Llama hat also winning a Special Merit Award. The socks, Invisibility wrap, and Spatterdash mitts all took seconds.

Entering the pieces in the fair wasn’t about winning ribbons, and with my prizes adding up to a grand total of about $9, it certainly wasn’t about the prize money. However, I would like to think that it wasn’t just about ego, either. For me, a big part of knitting is the tradition. Knitters today are doing basically the same thing that they’ve been doing for generations. We might be doing them for different reasons (because we want to rather than we need to), we might have newer tools, and a wider variety of materials available; but the process is still the same. Generations of knitters have been making socks, mittens, hats, purses, and other things. And generations of knitters have been entering their best work into county fairs and other exhibitions for the feeling of pride that comes from knowing that you have a skill and you are good at the skill.

And, a lot of it is ego.

 

Posted with Blogsy