Thursday 30 April 2015

a neon sweater...

Well, for now I'm all dishclothed out. I've quite a few done as stocking stuffer gifts for Christmas 2015 (with still more to do, but I've got time) and birthday dishcloths done too, which is one less stress. I've put my huge stash of dishcloth cotton aside for now, and working on something wooly!

Recently, Knit Picks had a "free shipping to Canada" sale, so I stocked up on some very funky coloured Swish Worsted Brights (and a few skeins of Swish Worsted in solid colours too) to make some sweaters for kiddo. He's a tall 2.5 year old, so I'm making mainly size 4 sweaters, which will hopefully last for at least 2 winters.

The first one I've cast on is this one:

The pattern is Mörgæsir/Penguins - a sweater that's originally knit in aran weight yarn, but I'm amending it a bit to fit my worsted tension. The colours you see here are sour apple (green), razzleberry (blue) and highlighter yellow (yellow). The penguins will likely be worked in the solid black and white Swish. 

I absolutely love these neon colours! Once I'm done this sweater, I'm likely going to cast on "Fimma" Lopapeysa, which I'm going to have to also adjust from aran to worsted tension.

Saturday 18 April 2015

you scrub me right 'round baby, right 'round!

One of the easiest (and quickest!) projects to make are spiral scrubbies - and they're also a delightful way to use up small bits and scraps of yarn! If you don't know how to crochet, or need practice improving your hooking skills, this project is the most ideal. It's all just a few rows of single crochet, then sewn together to make a funky swirly shape!

Pre-sewn:


Post-sewing:

I crocheted a loop at the top of each scrubbie long enough to hang off the tap to dry. These were each such a quick project, I was able to complete all four within one day!

These were requested by a coworker of my husband's - I made him dishcloths on request before, but he specifically wanted scrubbies. He did request two, and that was how many I planned to make initially - but I had all these scraps variegated cotton yarn (and a shoebox full of partial cotton skeins!) that I decided to use up all the variegated yarn mixed with solid yarn, and came up with four. An excellent stash buster!

Wednesday 15 April 2015

Let There Be Bacon!

My bacon pigs are finally all done! I finished the 'O' and the 'N' today, and as it stands, they're currently being blocked.



Each square measures 7" square, using 4mm needles. I knit them with slightly tighter needles (meaning, as opposed to 4.5mm's) because I think that patterned dishcloths usually turn out a bit better that way, and I'm glad I did. This size is perfect!

eta: I also always advocate keeping your cotton yarn ball bands for a reason - for exactly this reason:
One ball band from a skein of Lily Sugar 'n Cream fits perfectly around my 5 dishcloths, keeping them snuggly together without squeezing it or distorting the dishcloths at all. That way the recipient knows fiber content, care instructions (which are all written on the ball band) and the dishcloths all stay together until they're gifted without getting any lost!

At Thanksgiving, my side of the family does Secret Santa, where we draw names for who we're buying for at Christmas - at that point I gift each couple in my side of the family a set of 3 or 4 dishcloths, and my inlaws get their respective sets at Christmas. This particular set of 5 dishcloths saves me from gifting dishcloths for my brother and SiL this year, since they'll be gifted to my brother on his birthday in September. (I think that 5 dishcloths should last them a year at least, considering how sturdy they are!)

Saturday 11 April 2015

over the hump

"C" is done! Three out of the five bacon pigs are done, woo hoo!

Each page in the pattern has two letters - A and B on the first page, C and D on the second, etc. I prefer knitting two at a time when I can, so for this project, it's easier to knit A and B at the same time, and O and N at the same time because they're respectively on the same page, which is why C was knit all on its own. O and N have been cast on last night.

When knitting anything, I tend to google the subject of my knitting a lot. I don't know why, other than to just absorb possibly useless facts about whatever. Like, before making these dishcloths, I had no idea there was such a thing as bacon vodka, or that there was a drink called the Elvis Presley, which is a mix of bacon vodka and hazelnut and banana liquors and cream. In fact, there's quite an impressive list of bacon vodka drinks, which the dishcloths may come in handy in cleaning up after making them, if necessary.

I'm not sure what to make of that, but it has peaked my curiosity.

Thursday 9 April 2015

bacony bacon

My brother's birthday is in September (coincidentally, a few days after International Bacon Day) so I decided, as part of his gift, to make him a set of alphabet pigs in the letters 'B', 'A', 'C', 'O' and 'N'. I'm hoping to complete all five this month. 

Last night, I finished the first two letters:
That little munchkin hand you see is my 2.5 year old son grabbing the 'A' right at the last minute as I took the picture!

I've already cast on the 'C', can't wait to get it done!