This is not a hat for me

This is a hat I made for my friend at school. Fortunately he has a larger head than I do. I tested this hat on my husband's giant (cute) head and it was a little too small, so it should be perfect for my friend. I told my friend I would make him a hat in August and finished it just in time for our first 80+ day of summer. Oh well, it won't go bad before winter. I held two strands of yarn together to make the hat. I really like the way it makes a random color pattern.


Pattern: Last Minute Knit Gifts
Yarn: Wool of the Andes from Knit Picks
Needles: US 8 for rib US 9 for rest

I dream of swifts...

Wha-Bam!! Over 800 yards of lace weight yarn wound by hand. (one of three skeins) This lovely yarn if from handpaintedyarn.com and is very lovely. I have to admit I was looking for something more monochromatic when I ordered it. However the online pictures made it look even more uni-blue than my photos do. It is actually a mix of blue, green and aqua. I plan to make an circular shawl from it if my garter stitch monster ever gets finished.
Here is a cat for scale.
Here is a cat for cuteness.
In case you don't know what a swift is, or would like to buy me one, you can find one here.

Project of Doom!

I recently purchased the Knitters Almanac and became infatuated with the pi shawl. However, I've never even used lace weight yarn. So I got the great idea that I would use the little bit I had in my closed to do a practice project. So I cast on for a bottom up garter stitch shawl on size 3 needles. It didn't seem so bad at the start, but now I can see that this shawl is going to take forever, be boring, and not really teach me anything. I've also seen a similar one on size nine needles that looks fine. Unfortunately, I really like it. The colors are beautiful, it has a nice drape, and I think it will be warm and light when finished. So I will slog on! But I might start the pi shawl too....

Photo taken moments before Ruby attempted to eat shawl.

Shedir

Pattern: Shedir
Yarn: Knit Picks merino style in dusk (1.25 balls)
Needles: Knit Picks US 3

I think that this is definitely the most beautiful thing I have ever knit! I love the way the tiny little cables weave in and out of each other, and the crown shaping is brilliant! I only knit four cable repeats instead of five and it is still pretty big. It is definitely too big for me, but I think it will fit my dad. If he wants it, I think it will make a lovely birthday present. As long as he promises not to machine wash it! Not only is this the most beautiful thing I've ever knit, it is also the most complicated. If I didn't have 100 other things already on my "to knit" list I would knit myself one of these babies right now!


Hat, you rock! And I think I rock just a little bit because I made you!

Warm Fuzzy Tummy

My new most favorite vest ever! EVER! I loved knitting this and working with the wonderfully soft beautifully colored misti alpaca yarn. I loved it so much I didn't want to finish. It took me a full week to weave in the ends and admit that I was officially done. I'm glad I finished though, because I wore it around this weekend and had a wonderfully warm and fuzzy tummy! Now that I'm finally finished though I'm excited about getting a new project on the needles (or maybe an old one off the needles...).


Pattern: Knitty Leftovers Vest
Yarn: Misti Alpaca Baby Chunky
Needles: Denise Interchangeable US 10
Fun: Lots

You can never have too many scarves

I am actually knitting, just not doing a very good job of posting. What you see here is a bias rib knit scarf made from patons classic wool is rosewood. I'm very happy with the way it turned out. I wanted a stitch pattern that showed off the color changes, I felt that anything garter stitch would be out. I like how the rib knit makes it look like stocking knit fabric without the rolling and the bias makes everything all slanty. Plus it was nice to have an easy brainless project to knit during midterms!


For a late birthday gift I told my brother I would knit him anything he wanted. He, unexpectedly, chose these. The pattern is from Last Minute Knit Gifts, and the yarn is knitpicks wool of the andes. They were really fun and fast to knit, makes me think I might need a pair too! Art seemed to really like them and wore them around the house the whole time I was visiting (yay!) I don't know about his habit of wearing one at a time though...

Also finished my first sock ever! But I promised myself I would finish the other one before I post. Just a little motivation to get it done before next winter!

I heart my hat!

So, after a terrible sweater monster debacle I'm back on my knitting feet and producing finished objects worthy of being seen. (The sweater monster is currently in a trash bag, locked in a closet to prevent it from influincing future knitting)
This is a double knit hat I made for my mom. She wanted a really warm hat and I think this will fit the bill. It's two layers of wool of the andes bulky. It didn't turn out quite like I would have liked. The inside stitches (that I purled) are a little looser than the outside ones. I'm still pretty proud of it though. It was a fun new technique to learn.


This is a dish towel I knit for my wonderful Grandma Phoebe. It is made with 100% cotton knit picks crayon. It's super soft! I want a blanket made out if it, I just don't want to make it myself.

Finally, the coolest hat I have EVER made! I liked it around as a boring blue hat, but I LOVE it as an embeleshed hat! This was my first time trying to embroider and it worked out much better than I thought it would. It wasn't as hard as I was expecting. I'm looking forward to using this technique again.

New Knitting

I have lots of fun new knits to share!

First off, Feather and fan shrug for brother in law's wedding. It was really supposed to be a stole, but I ran out of time. I was seaming in the pew before the wedding started. I really like how it turned out, but I think I would prefer a stole. Maybe after a little break I'll hop back on that horse.

Pattern: Feather and fan three repeats
Yarn: Knit Picks main line wool and cotton in dusky lavender
Needles: US 11

Next up is a hat I made for my wonderful friend Rebecca. I absolutely love the color and hope she does too. The entire time I was making this all I could think about was how great a ribbed turtle neck in this yarn would look (on me specifically). I loved the pattern, but had a little trouble with the grafting (it was my first try).

Pattern: Coronet from Knitty
Yarn: Brown Sheep Bulky in Chianti
Needles: US 10.5


Baby hats for my cousins baby! First ever baby project. Boy are these things small! I made one a little bigger so hopefully at least one will fit. I tried grafting again, and this time I actually got it to work!

Yarn: Knit Picks Swish superwash
Needles: US 7


Last but hopefully not least, a scarf for my friend Marissa. I wanted to make her a pretty scarf to wear in sunny San Diego. It's not as soft and drapey as I would have liked but hopefully it will soften up in time. I guess this just means I will have to make Marissa another scarf sometime!

Pattern: Vogue Stitchionary 1 #172 alternating diagonals
Yarn: Sugar n Cream in Jeans
Needles: US 7

????

Most questionable cucumber/tomato pairing in history.

I finished my first foray into faire isle and loved it! All the hat needs is to be washed, blocked and worn with pride. Now the question is, what next? I really want to try this vertical stripes/cabling thing I saw on a vest. I think I'll try it in hat form first though.

My first ever swatch for my first ever sock. (sorry it's blurry) I've been putting off this project because the socks are for my husbands big feet. However, he's been walking by me recently mumbling about cold feet, so the time has come. If I ever finish these socks for me will be a breeze.

Finally, my most dreaded project. A bottom up raglan sweater. Now don't get me wrong, I like the pattern. A nice easy relaxed sweater for my first raglan attempt with cute slits on the side. What I really don't like is the yarn. I just don't think I can handle thin thick yarn. I love knitting and watching the neat little rows of v's line up into neat little columns. I just don't get that organizational high with this yarn.
Look! No neat rows or columns! I've learned my lesson. Thin thick yarn may work for other people, but I think I'll stick to nice even circumference for the time being. It doesn't help than my mom bought me wonderful misti alpaca yarn that I am forbidden to use before this sweater is done...

Wearing my sweater with pride!

Finally I finished my wrap sweater! It streched a little during the blocking process but I still love it! Maybe next time I wash it I'll try to block it smaller. All in all, first set in sleve attempt...SUCCESS! My first sweater for me and I've already worn it three times!

Two hats that I just knit up. No pattern, just started knitting. So these are sort of the first designs of my own. Though I don't think you can call them designs since I didn't put any planning into the process. I still really like them though. Cable with the bow is for me. Wavy hat matches a certain scarf for a certain sister-in-law.

Mystery project and first faire isle attempt. me likey!

My brother wearing a hat I made for him. Good luck in Kazakhstan bro!

Finished object afterglow

I've been very busy recently. I've finished THREE scarves in the last week. Here are the first two.
#1
pattern: dropped stitch bias scarf
yarn: knit picks andean silk in sangria
needles: US 6

#2
pattern: Men's cashmere scarf from last minute knit gifts
yarn: misti alpaca 100% baby alpaca 1 skein
needles: US 11

I really like the LMKG book. Lovely pictures and real ordinary people for models. Someday I'm going to make the hourglass sweater. And maybe a rabbit, they're awfully cute. Plus I've already planned out a cabled version of the gift bag. If only I could knit as fast as I could think of things to knit!

#3
pattern: madison scarf
yarn: knit picks andean silk navy
needles: US 10.5

My first ever attempt at something lacy. I really liked making it. I think I would like to make a real lace project with lace weight yarn, but can't decide what to make. the only think I can think of that I might actually use would be a scarf. I'm a little scarfed out right now though. Shawls are lovely, but I have to be honest with myself. I would never wear one. I hardly ever wear anything other than jeans and I'm not artsy or fashionable enough to pull off a shawl with those.


I'm almost done with my first ever seamed sweater. I've put one inset arm in and it looks ok...I'm almost tempted to remove the entire sleeve and redo all the seams. Almost. Maybe if I can get the other arm to look better I'll redo the first. Maybe blocking will fix it! Maybe it's my first sweater for myself and I'll love it no matter what it looks like!

zoom zoom!

Not a whole lot of knitting recently. My dad and brother were out here, and we went to the moto gp races at Laguna Seca. It was so hot (over 100 and over 140 on the track) that I turned bright red and got dizzy a couple of times, but still managed to have fun. Anyone who get on one of those bikes in those leathers looks hot, but when they go 100mph they look down right sexy!

Race winner Nicky Hayden

Blue Lump

The goal is for this:

To turn into this:


This is the other project I have going right now. Hopefully this one will end up fitting me. So far I have the back and two fronts done. I had one of the sleves almost finished before I measured it and realized that the pattern was not written for climbers. Apparently I have larger forearms than the pattern thinks a small person should have. So, I ripped out the sleeve and started over. I'm still really excited about the project and if I can get the sleeve cap to fit into the sleeve I think it will look great. I'm a little nervous having never attempted a set in sleeve before, but also excited to be tackling what I considered a big challenge.

Current Knitting

Right now I'm doing a lot of scarves becase they are good practice and make great gifts. Because my grad school (especially the kind you have to pay for) doesn't really help the ol' pocket book, everyone gets knitted gifts this year. Anyone have any suggestions for gifts for guys? (little easy ones) When I asked my dad what he wanted he said, "a sweater, like those Dale of Norway ones" He gets coal this year.

Pattern: none - bias scarf w/ dropped stitches
Yarn: knitpicks andean silk
Needles: us 6
I'm very happy with how this is turning out. I finished most of it in the airport waiting for a delayed flight. It's very satisfying to knit because I feel like I've really accomplished something when I get to drop a stitch.

Pattern: Madison Scarf
Yarn: knitpicks andean silk
Needles: US 10.5
This is my first experince with anything resembling lace knitting. Next step is a short decorative lace scarf in tiny yarn. I haven't used anything smaller than a size six needle, so it might take a while to get up my courage.

ps - feline concensus is that this yarn is tasty

In the beginning

After much debate, I have finally decided to start a blog. Why you ask? Here's why;

1. Knitting has been one of the most important factors (besides my husband) in keeping my sanity during my recent career change
2. I love reading other people's knitting blogs and thought I might add my own thoughts to the mix
3. Why not?

So how does one start a blog? An introduction seems to be in order. Hi! I'm Aimee. I live in Berkeley and have recently overthrown all career plans and decided to become a physical therapist. I have two cats and one husband. I started teaching myself to knit around December of last year. Since I have the summer off (except for my awesome job at Marmot Mountain works) I have decided to become, minimally, an advanced intermediate knitter by the time school starts!

Now on to the knitting! Here's what I've accomplished so far;

little felted bag
My first ever hat turned out hat shaped and close to the right size. I couldn't be happier!
My second hat. Husband said it was too small. I think this is due more to husband's head size than hat's size.

My first cable experience. It was suprisingly much easier than I expected. I now have the strange urge to add cables to everything.
Scarves and first ever blocking experience. I have to admit, I was quite terrified when I first put all that wooly goodness into a sinkful of water.
Right twist scarf, my pride and joy. Finished, blocked and in brilliant purple!

Knitty wavy scarf. For sister-in-law. Navy blue.
My absolute greatest accomplishment thus far. A sweater! A real full sized, arms and everything sweater. It fits my mom perfectly (ignore the fact that I was trying to make it for me) . My mom even said she would wear it out in public! Oh happy day! I am now intermediate knitter!