NOTHING on My Needles! *gasp*

Currently I have NOTHING on my needles! *gulp*

On Ravelry, I am saying that the pillow is only 95% done. But it is cast off. So not on my needles! I just haven't actually sewn it to fabric & stuffed it yet. I *have* to finish that this weekend. I need to get it mailed off to her.

Rushing Rivulets Socks in Undertow Bamboo Yarn

Cast on:

Saturday, Dec. 1st

Finished:

Monday, December 31st

Pattern:

Stitch Pattern -

Rushing Rivulet

by Cat Bordhi

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/rushing-rivulet-riverbed-architecture

Basic Sock Recipe -

Basic Sock Pattern from The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns

by Ann Budd

http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/1931499047/

Yarn:

Sarah's Yarns 100% Bamboo

http://www.sarahsyarns.com/SY100PctBamboo.html

Used about 100 grams (I dyed 150 grams and have about 54 gms left)

That should be around 285 yards (260.6m)

Needles:

Knitpicks Option & Harmony US 1 1/2 / 2.5 mm circulars

Done 2 socks on 2 circs

I am really thrilled with the Xmas socks I did for my sister-in-law Jennifer. I suspect she will like them. Though I am kinda nervous about them. My sister-in-law Tee sent me Jennifer's measurements for the socks she made for her. So I think they will fit.

I stopped the toe about a 1/2" shorter than Jennifer's foot. So they are 7 1/2" in length when Tee told me Jennifer's feet are 8". I thought about redoing it. But I tried them on my feet which are 9 1/4" long and much wider. I *could* wear them. I can pull them on my feet and they have enough give that they would fit. So I am not terribly worried that they won't fit.

I am hoping Jennifer likes them. *crosses fingers*

I did cut out some white cardboard to put inside to show off where the holes were in the pattern. I don't know if that shows off well in the photos.

Definitely click on the image for more detail. I have a much large size on flickr.

2nd Attempted at the Tomten Sweater

There are a few more pics as well:

http://www.flickr.com/search/?s=int&w=11372712@N04&q=tomten&m=text

Cast on:

Cast On: Monday, Dec. 10th

Finished:

Around Dec. 20-23. Wish I had marked it at the time.

Pattern:

Modular Tomten Jacket from Knitting Without Tears

by Elizabeth Zimmermann

http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0684135051/

Yarn:

TLC Heathers in Teal (though more blue) with Barn Red accents

http://www.coatsandclark.com/Products/Knitting/Medium+Yarns/TLC+Heathers.htm

Used about 1 1/2 of the blue & less than half skein of red

Needles:

Knitpicks Option US 9 / 5.5 mm circular from set

I can't believe I forgot to post these pics. I really meant to while I was on vacation but I forgot. I really don't get online much when I am home. I had to push myself to post about the Trouble with Tomtens. *laugh* It was the mobius sweater! Thanks Tee for helping!!

I also had a bunch of trouble with the zipper. I got one zipper in the city. Great. Double zipper so that it could be zipped at top and bottom. Cut to size. All good.

I tried to adhere it with crazy glue and nearly screwed up the entire sweater!! *sigh* I got it off, had to soak it with nail polish remover to try and get the glue off. Then I washed the sweater to get rid of the terrible smell. The good news is that it is machine wash & dry. *grin*

So I went out to get another zipper. Found one at Wal-Mart after searching several places. Turns out that it was the kind that was sewn closed on the bottom. So why did it say universal zipper?! *pout*

Three was the charm. Got another zipper at a Joanne's. Though the closest Joanne's was a good ways from home. And I was fighting crud. Paul offered to go get it for me, but I knew that wasn't fair to him. So we also got a bit more shopping done before Xmas while we were out. So that was the up side.

Bat Pillow

Cast on:

Not sure honestly. *scratches head* Think around the 17th or 18th, maybe later.

Cast Off:

Around Dec. 29-30. Wish I had marked it at the time.

Can't say finished til I make it into a pillow. Need to add it to fabric & stuff the pillow.

Pattern:

Chart created using KnitPro website -

http://www.microrevolt.org/knitPro/

Image taken from -

http://www.wonder-shirts.com/images/bat_moon.jpg

Basically the pattern was created by tweaking those.

Yarn:

Bernat Softee Chunky in black & white

http://www.bernat.com/product.php?LGC=softeechunky

Nearly all the black and about half the white were used.

Needles:

Knitpicks Option US 9 / 5.5 mm circular from set

The image is an Edward Gorey drawing. I took it and tweaked it a lot to make it solid areas of black & white. Originally, I had some areas to highlight the wings, but I found it wasn't helping with the image. So I changed the bat to solid black. I think it worked out better that way, but honestly, I am not sure.

I want to post the chart here. I meant to bring it into work but I keep forgetting. The KnitPro website outputs to a pdf. However, it had various greys in the image as it doesn't seem able to clearly tell that there were only two colors in the original. So I went over the chart with white out & a black marker to make sure it was good.

I also added lines for each 10 stitches and put stitch markers to make it easier to count off the stitches. I found that helped me to have less of a headache with counting.

The piece is a mix of intarsia and fair isle knitting. I carried the yarn where it was less than 7 stitches, but I did intarsia when it was a larger area. Overall, I think it came out okay. There is definitely a bit at the edges of the moon where it looks raised because I pulled a bit too much. But honestly, it works. It looks almost intentional as it rises up a little.

I would not do a graphic chart with such a thick yarn again. The stitches are too large. But I wanted to get this done for Xmas. I knew it would be kinda late, but not too late if I did it in a bulky yarn.

Problem is that even going down a needle size, the stitches are not tight enough. I should have gone down at least 1 or 2 more to get it tighter. So I will line it with fabric on both the front and back. I had intended on knitting the back as well. But given the front has to be fabric lined, I am not going to bother with knitting the back panel. Lazy I know. *grin*

I hope Karen will enjoy it honestly. I never really know what to get her. She is kinda challenging to buy for in that I can find her a lot of things she would like, but not a lot that will grab her. So I figured she might enjoy this as she likes bats. (Most people know she likes elephants and it has gotten to the point where she has too many.)

Overall, I like the bat. Kinda tempted to do a smaller one for me sometime.