Hecka Knits

2003-12-20T12:47:00.000-05:00

I'm really not very good about updating this blog. I guess that's just because I don't have much to report on. I actually have only one project I'm actively working on at the moment, the sweater I've been trying to finish for Jack. It's not going to be done for Christmas. I was sick with the flu last week so didn't get much done then, and work's been busy enough lately that I haven't been able to do much there. I never realized I was such a slow knitter before. How do other folks get so much stuff finished? Ah well, these are the mysteries of life, I suppose. :)

2003-11-15T11:08:00.000-05:00

Not too much to report on today. I'm trying to get done the sweater for Jack for Christmas. I'm almost done with the back, but it seems to be taking a little longer than I'd like. It's the turtleneck in last Christmas's Family Circle Easy Knits. I'll post a photo when I get a chance. I'm making it in Candide, by Reynolds, I believe? It's really nice, and I'm enjoying knitting with wool (something I can't afford to do too often), except that I have to keep picking bits of straw out of the yarn. Is this common for wool? I don't remember having to do this before.

The other nice thing is that I can knit at work. I'm an EMT, so when we're between calls, I can do whatever I want. I always bring something to work on with me to work, so lately I've been bringing the sweater. The only problems are that I have to bring something fairly portable, and something with a simple pattern, as I never know when I'll have to put it down or how long I'll have to work on it. But that's ok, at least I can bring it with me to work. :)

2003-11-08T15:02:00.000-05:00

Wow, I didn't realize I hadn't updated in over a month. Sorry bout that. I've been meaning to post pictures of the things I made for Jenn's baby shower, but my internet connection wasn't cooperating. The good news is, they're finally ready, and on top of that, I have a free pattern to share!

I created the patterns for most of the things I gave her, everything except the socks and the washcloths. First is the Cottontots raglan sweater and matching hat. It came out pretty good, I think. This was my first time making a raglan sweater, and I have to say, I really enjoyed it. I worked it in the round, so no seams, which I think is good for a baby's soft skin. Anyway, here it is:

I also made several washcloths and two pairs of Fixation socks like the ones I posted earlier. Somehow, even though I'm really sure I used the same size needles, one pair came out a little bigger than the other. I don't know how it happened, but it doesn't concern me too much because they're so stretchy and, well, her feet are going to get bigger either way.

Then there's the Jiffy Baby Jacket that I have on my website as a free pattern. I really like this the best. Zach, Jenn's boyfriend, was quite impressed that it had a zipper. I also made a coordinating hat and mittens with little cables and a ribbon woven through the hat. The hat was my mom's favorite.

The baby shower was a couple weeks ago, and Hannah was born last Monday, November 3rd! Maybe I'll be able to get pictures of her modeling here sweaters and things at some point. :)

2003-10-01T21:00:00.000-04:00

I hope someone out there can help me. I'm trying to find a pattern on the internet, but I'm having a hard time. It's a free pattern for baby booties, shaped like Mary Janes, and it's listed in a set of baby clothes - I think there's a sweater and pants too. I think the set was bluish somehow, and for some reason I think it's on a Canadian site. I bookmarked the site on my computer, but I haven't set it up since we moved, and I'm hoping to find the pattern pretty quickly. If this sounds familiar, please help! Thanks :)

2003-09-17T14:44:00.000-04:00

Wow, it's been a while. Sorry! I haven't really done too much knitting in the past couple of weeks; this seems to happen when I move. When I moved into school last year, I probably didn't knit at all until October, when I started intensely knitting one sock (whose mate I have yet to even start....). But in the past couple of days, I've made lots of progress on the blanket I'm making. So that's good. And I'm very excited that the new Knitty is out! Even though I still don't have DSL here, so it was painful trying to load all the images, but I got through them all!

I've realized that I have quite a lot of things that have to knitted for deadlines coming up. I have several small things that have to be done for sometime next month (can't say exactly what or when in case the person this involves somehow manages to stumble across my blog), then I have a blanket, adult sweater, a pair of socks, and possibly a baby item and/or some hats and scarves for Christmas. Last Christmas was the first Christmas where I had things I needed to complete, and it went horribly. I finished a pair of slipper socks for my mom (2 strands of Woolease on size 8 needles, not too time-consuming), but didn't manage to finish a blanket, one sock, and one mitten. So I'd like to ask you all how you approach this kind of situation. Do you finish big projects before small? Or the other way around? Or work on them all at the same time? What works? I have no idea what the best way to go is. Thanks!

2003-08-29T00:03:00.000-04:00

So, I don't have any knitting news to add, as I haven't been knitting much due to a) being busy with moving stuff and b) being frustrated at most of my projects currently. But I do have a couple pictures I can share.

This is the blanket I made for Hannah a few months ago, using the basic diagonal washcloth pattern and Homespun in Tudor. It came out really pretty and really soft, and Jenn liked it, so it's a success!

These are the baby fixation socks I made using using Steph's Newborn Baby Socks pattern. Great pattern, although there are a couple of mistakes. I made one sock using 2 circs and one using the magic loop method. Both methods are really pretty similar. Since I don't have any baby feet handy to try them on, I'm not sure how well they'll fit yet; I wasn't terribly concerned about size/gauge since a) I don't know how big Hannah's feet will be yet! b) fixation is really, really stretchy, and c) baby's feet must grow pretty quickly so they'll have to fit at some point, right?

2003-08-19T21:38:00.000-04:00

Arrrrggggggggghhhh. I forgot the increase frequency in the sleeves of the CottonTots baby sweater and ended up with one sleeve a full inch too long. I was so ready to join the sleeves and body and actually get to start the raglan decreases. The colorway is so pretty - it's called Very Berry, light peach/light lavendar/bright pink, so so girly. I saw it and had to buy it. You can see the color here, although it's a very small picture. It looks like Bernat's releasing CottonTots in a bunch of non-baby colors, which is so, so exciting. This is my new favorite yarn. It's so soft, the colors are so pretty - the only thing that worries me is that it seems to get kinda fuzzy just when I'm knitting it, so I'm not sure how it will hold up to lots of washings.

2003-08-13T16:31:00.000-04:00

I bought more yarn yesterday. Like I needed anymore to move to the new house. I bought 8 skeins of Homespun to make Jack's parents a nice throw for Christmas. I chose the color Plantation, a nice dark green shade that I think will look nice with their sofa. I'm just going to use the basic diagonal garter stitch washcloth/baby blanket "recipe." I call it a recipe because it doesn't seem compex or unique enough to me to call it a pattern. I love the diagonal garter stitch. I made a baby blanket for Hannah with it using Homespun in Tudor, my new favorite yarn for baby things. It's so nice, muted pastel shades variegated in a rainbow pattern - it looked so nice in the diagonal pattern. And I really think Homespun looks best in garter stitch, I love that it looks so much more complicated than it really is. Stockinette stitch in Homespun just looks off somehow.

2003-08-11T15:53:00.000-04:00

I think I lost a sleeve for the CottonTots sweater. Humph.

I forgot to mention yesterday that when I made the Fixation socks, I tried the Magic Loop method for the first time, and it's my new favorite circular knitting method. I despise double-pointed needles, hate them hate them hate them with a passion. This stems from 1) my size 0 and 1 wooden dpns breaking like toothpicks and 2) gouging a whole in my palm from a size 8 metal dpn. I liked the two circular needle method, but I ended up having to buy extra circs, and I hate the extra needle points getting tangled and whacking me in the leg. The Magic Loop method is so simple and easy, although I've already had the slight problem of cables not being flexible enough.

Jack likes the Fixation baby socks. Now he wants a pair. Argghhh, more things on my list........

2003-08-10T17:58:00.000-04:00

So, welcome to my knitting blog! I'm not sure how often I'll update, but I'll give it a try.

Here's what I'm up to:

- just finished a pair of newborn Fixation socks for my good friend Jenn's baby Hannah, due to be born early November
- partway done a CottonTots raglan pullover for Hannah
- just need to add a zipper to a Jiffy seed stitch jacket, also for Hannah (see a pattern here?)

I'm trying to get a bunch of stuff made for Hannah before she's born. It's the first opportunity I've had to knit baby things, and this is the closest I'll ever get to being an aunt, so I'm going nuts!

Plan for future things to knit:

- more baby things!
- probably throw pillows/blanket for the new house
- finish Jack's Cape Cod pullover before Christmas
- maybe a Chenille Thick & Quick throw blanket for Jack's parents for Christmas?
- I'd really, really like to knit myself a red Aran sweater for Christmas, but a) I think I'll run out of time, b) I've never knit an Aran sweater, or even a whole adult sized sweater, and c) I can't really afford the nice yarn I'd like to use (not even sure which yarn yet, just something wool or wool-blend and good quality)

Hopefully I'll be able to afford better yarn once I get a job.......