Roy the Bat

 

I’ve been playing with The Crochet again!  This is Roy the Bat!  I ran across this pattern on Ravelry a few weeks ago and thought he was just adorable, and of course Caleb needed him.  The pattern calls for dark brown yarn, but I used black yarn so he could be extra spooky (which was less fun than it could have been since you have to crochet amigurumi super tight).  He works up pretty quickly and then you just sew him together (which is easy) and you have a little bat!

Oh, and when I linked to the pattern above, I noticed that the designer has put all her Halloween patterns on sale for less than $1.50 each until November 1 (tomorrow).  Just thought I’d mention that, in case anyone else is suddenly overcome with needing a bat!  I think several of these could be adorable hanging upside down from a chandelier.

Have a great weekend and a Happy Halloween!

Hitchhiking in a Kingdom of Isolation

Every fall The Loopy Ewe does an anniversary kit.  (I think they do one every fall, they do one most falls, maybe.)  Anyway, they did one this year and it had a skein of Dream in Color Smooshy With Cashmere in a Loopy exclusive color way and a little knitting notions kit.  According to Sheri (Grand Pooh-Baaah of The Loopy Ewe Herself), this year’s color way was inspired by the movie Frozen.  Specifically, Elsa’s coronation dress (the one she’s wearing right before everyone finds out her big secret and she runs into the woods, singing).  It’s called Let it Go (the color way, but that’s also the name of the song she’s singing as she runs away too, but you knew that).  Now, not only do I enjoy Frozen (I love just about all of the Disney princess movies*, except Snow White, I just find her irritating, but that’s another blog post), but I also enjoy singing the songs.  You cannot imagine how much Caleb loves it when I burst into Frozen songs randomly throughout the day, and I’m sure the fact that I’m a terrible singer just adds to his enjoyment!  Teenage boys love that kind of stuff.

Anyway, when I saw the color way (and by the way, the photo above isn’t great at all - it’s way too blue), I knew I had to have it, and I knew I would use it to make a Hitchhiker.  I gave my first Hitchhiker to my Mother in Law and she loved it, but I wanted one of my own.  I’ve just barely started this, and I’m only two “teeth” in, but here’s how it looks so far.

*Just in case there are any sticklers out there, technically Anna and Elsa are not Disney Princesses, even though they are princesses (and Elsa becomes a queen) from a Disney movie.  In order to be a Disney Princess, there’s a special ceremony at Disney World.  There are eleven Disney Princesses: Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), Belle (Beauty and the Beast), Ariel (The Little Mermaid), Jasmine (Aladdin), Pocahontas, Mulan, Tiana (Princess and the Frog), Rapunzel (Tangled), and Merida (Brave).  Anna and Elsa are supposed to become official Disney Princesses this fall, with Anna being the 12th and Elsa being the 13th.  Oh, and I was able to make that list without looking any of them up - that college education is really paying off!

Finished Socks!

 

I finished my little footie socks!  I love this pattern because it’s so fast (and it makes something useful too, that’s also important).  These are knit in some Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in Cherry that I had leftover from a pair of fingerless mitts.  The leftovers from the socks went into the bag for my Meditative Stash Buster (I should seriously get back on that!), so nothing went to waste!

Just in case you were wondering, I’m really loving exclamation points today!  I’m sure it’s not serious.  Or contagious.  Probably.

Anyway, they’re all finished now!  I didn’t put them in Ravelry because they were so fast to knit.

Loopy Academy Mittens!

 

I started my mittens for Loopy Academy this past weekend.  These are the Urban Necessity Gloves (there’s a link to the pattern about halfway down that page), which are actually flip top mittens.  I’m knitting them in Three Irish Girls Glenhaven Cashmerino Worsted in Aileen.  I plan on using them for running because on the really cold mornings I need to cover my fingers at least for the first part of the run, so I’ve been putting mittens over my fingerless gloves.  Once I’m warmed up and going, I usually take off the mittens, but then I have to carry them.  This way, I can just pop the tops off the mittens and keep running.  Since the yarn is super wash, I can toss them in to wash when they need it.  (That’s an important feature for running gear!)

The Other Half of the Story

I showed you Mickael's and Caleb's Halloween costumes Monday, but now you get to see mine!  What goes with sharks?  A mermaid of course!

Fifi isn't quite wearing it right because she doesn't have arms.  The fish net that's around the waist is supposed to go over the shoulders, but it wasn't staying up on Fifi.  I do think it's pretty cute around the skirt though too, so I'll probably play with it both ways and decide on the day.  Also, Fifi doesn't have mermaid hair or mermaid makeup (because Fifi doesn't have a head and all) which helps with the whole mermaid look.

Here's a close up shot of the top.  I decorated it under the presumption that mermaids would accessorize with shells and pearls as well as objects found in shipwrecks and by the seashore where humans are.  Ariel from The Little Mermaid collected everything she could get from the surface world.

What kind of shoes do mermaids wear?  Since we learned in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (Max loves that movie) that when a mermaid dries out, her tail flipper turns into legs and feet, this was pretty easy.  I started with a pair of Crocs sandals and added shells, pearls, and crystals until they were mermaid appropriate.  I've got to try them on today now that the glue is dry and make sure nothing pops off when I walk.  (Yes, I finished the gluing last night.)

Oh, and if you ever need tons of sparkly crystals and half round pearls and tiny shells, Amazon has them for really good prices.  And just in case anyone is wondering, I used Beacon Gem-Tac to glue all of the stuff to the costume and shoes.  It dries clear, and according to the label on the back, it permanently "bonds embellishments to many surfaces including fabric, wood, glass, plastic and more."

Have a great weekend!  I'm relieved to have our Halloween costumes ready!

Footie Socks

 

Over the weekend I started knitting another pair of footie socks.  The yarn is Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in Cherry that was leftover from a pair of mitts I did a while back.  When I started my Meditative Stash Buster, I grabbed all of my fingering weight leftovers, but then separated everything that weighed 50 grams or more because that’s enough for a pair of footie socks.  Once I’ve finished this pair of socks, the leftovers will be added back to the rest of the fingering leftovers for the Meditative Stash Buster.  I guess it’s the Circle of Life for sock yarn.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering I haven’t put this project on Ravelry because they knit up so fast.  I might make a project page when I finish, but I might not, it depends what kind of mood I’m in.

Shark Attack!

A long time ago, before we had the house rebricked, I showed you a tulle circle skirt with crystals on it.  I’m not going to show you the top portion of that outfit today, but I’m going to show you what Mickael and Caleb will be wearing while I’m wearing the skirt (and the top you haven’t seen yet).

Mickael and Caleb are going to be sharks (and yes, we’re going to a Halloween party)!  Neither one of them really gets into Halloween, so when we were picking our costumes, I knew they needed something simple.  Then I remembered seeing this tutorial a year ago and thought it would be perfect.  They won’t have matching sweat pants, but can wear the hoodies with shorts or jeans depending on how cool it is Halloween night.  These were so much fun to make!  I used fleece (like polar fleece, not sweatshirt fleece) for the teeth and eyes instead of felt and I didn’t stuff the dorsal fins like she did in the tutorial because I wanted them to fold over flat if Mickael and Caleb sit down.  I ended up basting batting to the plastic canvas and then covered that in the fin fabric (which was a matching t-shirt).  The whole thing went together pretty quickly and was actually a lot easier than I thought it might be.

Of course now, we’re going to need a bigger boat!

A Finished Pair of Socks

 

All finished!  It feels good to have a finished pair of socks, and the weather is just now getting cool enough to wear them.  These are Hermione’s Everyday Socks with a cuff (K3 rnds, K2, P2 for 6 rnds) and a Fish Lips Kiss heel.  I used Hedgehog Fibres Sock in Whisper (I really like this color) and knit them on US 1’s (2.25 mm).  While I enjoy knitting intricate and fancy socks sometimes, I really love the kind of sock pattern that I can work without really thinking about it.  These socks definitely fall into that category.

According to the comments for yesterday’s post, it looks like I’ll be starting the mittens this weekend.  There was a question about where to find the pattern though.  If you look on the Ravelry page for Urban Necessity gloves,  below the general information and above the paragraph are two links to the pattern (they go to the same place, so click either one).  One of the links has the little pdf symbol if that helps.  Hope that helps!

Have a great weekend and I’ll see you Monday!

Choices

I’ve recently finished my Standing Stones Cowl, I’ve finished the knitting on my Ombre Ravello (we will not discuss the ends yet), and I’m almost finished with my second Hermione’s Everyday Sock.  This means it’s time to start a new project!  I need a small project and I want it to be one of my two remaining Loopy Academy projects.  I thought I’d let you guys choose which one!

This is my yarn for the last two projects.  On the left is Three Irish Girls Glenhaven Cashmerino Worsted in Aileen.  It will be knit into Urban Necessity convertible mittens (Sheri has OK’d convertible mittens for the mitten project).  On the right is Fable Fibers Biography DK in Ruby.  It will be a Rikke hat.  So these are my last two projects for Freshman Year, Semester 1.  Leave a comment and tell me which one you’d like to see first!

Caring Means Sharing

 

Clearly Max hasn’t gotten that memo because this was yesterday afternoon at our house.  Yes, the bed is technically Logan’s but Max isn’t one to worry about details.  Thankfully, Logan is much better at sharing and doesn’t mind that his bed smells like kitty too much.

In knitting news, I finished the knitting portion of my Ombre Ravello!  Now I have a few ends to weave in.  (The photo shows it wrong side out, so you can really get a feel for the number of ends I’ll be dealing with over the next few days.)  I usually weave in the ends on each section as I go, but this time I was so concerned about having enough yarn, I just kept on knitting.  Now it’s time clean things up.

Sleepy Kitty

 

The past few days have had lower temps around here.  Fall is here, and while I’m not getting out the heavy coats or even the mittens, it’s cool enough to need a light jacket sometimes when you go outside.  It’s not cool enough to turn on the heat and Max has noticed the cool weather, even though he doesn’t go outside.  Yesterday, he curled up on my lap and fell sound asleep!  He’s not one for extended lap cuddles.  He will sit for a bit and then he’s off on kitty adventures.  If he’s sleepy, he’ll curl up next to me, not on my lap, so this was pretty major.  He just plopped down and curled up and wasn’t even bothered by the sock I was knitting.  I like this weather!

Oh, and the second sock is moving right along too.

The Home Stretch

I have gotten a few more inches worked on my Ombre Ravello and I’ve just started my last ball of white yarn.  I have less than four inches left and I will be able to do it with this last ball!  I’m going to make it with the yarn I have.  This makes me super happy considering that when I planned this sweater, I intended to have a gray lower body and that was the yarn I had purchased.  When I decided to make it just white and the ombre purples, I knew I’d be happier with the finished sweater, but I didn’t know for sure if I had enough yarn.  I can now relax as I finish the knitting, knowing I’ve got the yarn.  There’s one other thing I have plenty of with this sweater - yarn ends.  Eventually, I’ll have to get those woven in.

Loopy Academy, Freshman Year, Semester One, Cowl

 

Here it is!  All finished and blocked.  It sits higher on me than it does on Fifi because I have arms, but it’s so soft and drapy now that it’s all finished.  This is the Standing Stones Cowl, knit in Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere in Rock the Olive.  I used a little less than two skeins to knit it.

I’m off to upload it to The Loopy Ewe.  I hope it gets cool enough to wear this soon!

Have a great weekend!

Finished!

I’ve finished my first project for Loopy Academy, Freshman Year, Semester One:  the cowl!  It still needs to be blocked and have the yarn ends trimmed, but the knitting is all finished.  The blocking will open up the lace patterns better and will make the lower section less ruffly.  Here is a link to my project page, if you’re curious.  Oh, and the lower part that’s darker?  That’s the second skein (yes, I should know better by now).  Fortunately, the difference is much more subtle in real life, it just photographs as much darker than the top.

I still have to make the hat and the mittens to finish this first semester’s projects, but those should both work up pretty quickly.  I have the yarn for them already, so once I wind it, I’ll be ready to go.  I’m leaning towards starting the hat next, but I might wait until I finish my second sock and then start the mittens.  (For some reason, having two projects with two parts each seems excessive to me.  No idea why.)

Halfway There

 

I finished my first sock and have started the second one.  Actually, I have only made it past the edging and ribbing on the second one, but I’m ready to start the leg patterning.  Barely started is still started, right?

OK, so last night, I thought of something and I decided I would ask the blog.  This morning I have no clue what the question is.  I know this is not the most helpful information, or even the most interesting, but I had a really a good question.  Now I don’t.  If I think of it later, I’ll try to get it written down and ask tomorrow.

Forward Momentum!

 

I did get the second sleeve finished over the weekend (and didn’t run out of the ombre yarns)!  As I was setting up the body to finish the knitting there, I decided to pop the sweater on Fifi and see how it was looking.  This also gave me a chance to double check that the neckline would lie flat after the crochet edge.

As you can see, once it’s on a body (or a mannequin) it lies flat!  Score one for the Pink Lemon!

The only thing I have to do to finish this project is to finish knitting the body.  I have more than 1-1/2 skeins left of the white and I’m 99% sure that’s enough, so I’m not freaking out about yarn any more.  Oh, and I also have to weave in eleventy billion yarn ends.  That should keep me busy until Christmas!

Ravello

I’ve finished the first sleeve and started the second!  I went with a narrow ribbing for the cuff.

I also finished the neckline.  On my first two Ravellos I did a ribbed neckline, but I wanted something different for this one, something narrower.  For this Ravello, I worked a round of single crochet around the neckline and it cut the rolling WAY down.  I know it still looks a little roll-y right now, but I think once it’s blocked and being worn the roll will stop.  Unfortunately, with the cable holding the body stitches, I can’t pop it onto Fifi and double check yet, so I’ve left the ends from the crochet and I won’t weave them in until I know for sure it’s going to work.

I hope you all have a great weekend!  I’m going to try to get this second sleeve finished.

More Foot!

 

I’ve got a big chunk of the foot of my first sock finished.  (The first sock of this pair that is, not my first sock ever.)  There’s not much to say about this, honestly, but I was feeling a little mush brained last night and this was all I could handle knitting wise.  Also, I’m kind of wondering how it got to be October so soon!  Seriously, wasn’t it just August?

Max welcomed October with a nap.  I figure that’s how he’ll handle most of the month! He may be on to something.

More Stripes!

 

I added another four stripes to my first sleeve last night and it’s at the 3/4 length sleeve point.  I decided that with this many stripes, it would look best to go ahead and add the cuff now instead of having a small white section to make it a full length sleeve.  I stopped knitting last night because I wanted to figure out what kind of edging to use on the cuff, but after sleeping on it I think I have a plan.  I’m also figuring out what I want to do at the neckline.  There are a lot of choices to make on this sweater!