Sunnyside Cardigan & Cabled Toque

(In case you are wondering todays finished object post describes two finished objects)

Pattern: cabled Sunnyside Cardigarn by Tanis Lavallée and a variation on Basic Toque by Ann Budd

Made for: Mandi and Brian’s newly arrived baby boy

Size: 3-6 months for the sweater and 0-6 months for the toque

Yarn: Tanis Fibre Arts Blue Label Fingering Weight in Lemongrass

Needles: 3mm circulars and dpns

Gauge: 30sts/4inches

Started: July 30/11(sweater)           November 6/11(toque)

Finished: August 13/11(sweater)     November 8/11(toque)

Modifications: For the sweater I continued cable down side “seams” as it just seemed natural to do so. For the toque I added in a cable and fudged the number of stitches cast on.

This was made and gifted before the baby and therefore before the sex of the baby was known. This was gifted in November and yes I know I am only now posting about it. What can I say I am very behind (and on more finished objects than just this) but I can report that  Xavier is very cute! I would also like to state that I love the lady bug buttons!

a not so quiet long weekend

Not that that’s a bad thing. Saturday we ran some errands, one of them being a run to the Purple Purl. I wanted to pick up Ysolda’s new book that just came in and pick up some needles. Sean needed to pick some yarn for his mother’s holiday gift. I went through and selected some patterns that would work with the yarn he selected and he chose the one he thought his mother would like, a Anne Hanson pattern, because he liked the look and he said something along the lines of well you like her stuff and it always turns out nice. He also picked up some sock yarn for his next pair of socks when I finish his current ones on the needles (he now has to buy his own sock yarn as he has very good taste and always selects the top pickings from my stash that I want to use for me).On Sunday we had swapped desk spaces and we went to Ikea to pick me up a new desk as the table I was using was never really suited to be a desk and I was just making due. I assembled it while someone napped and started working on the spare bedroom. It is finally looking like a room instead of storage space! I will try to remember to post a picture once the room is a bit more organized.

Today I made crepes with strawberries, whipped cream and maple syrup as well as some oatmeal cookies with dried cherries and dark chocolate nuggets. I don’t have any plans for the rest of today and I think I will spend it knitting and sorting through what needs to be done in the spare room.

I started work on a baby sweater for my friend Mandi who is expecting her first munchkin to appear in the end of December. They aren’t going to find out what sex they are having so I have to make sure whatever I make looks good for either a boy or girl. I’ve decided to try Tanis’s Sunnyside Baby Cardigan with the cables. So far it is working up lovely but I am not particularly fond of the way Tanis writes up her patterns. I find for the raglan increases she has way too many markers placed into it and then she tends to ignore some of the markers and make mention of others which can be quite confusing while increasing. Needless to say I have paired down on the number of markers I am using.

The hitchhiker scarf now officially lives with my Aunt Lynn who loves it (I got a very email from her describing what she liked about it and all the different ways she can wear it).

a nice long weekend

This weekend I started on a stuffed rabbit toy for an expecting coworker. So far the progress is very good as it went from this:To this in a day and a bit:

This weekend we picked up a parrot tower for Piper. There are hooks to hang toys from and a rope to run up and down. It can also easily be reorganized or add different perches if we desire. Now if we can just convince Piper it is not going to eat her.

I’ve also spent this nice long weekend swatching for a sweater I want to design. I ran into the yarn at the Purple Purl where I was taking two classes Size & Fit and Math for Knitters with Kate Atherly. It told me what it wanted to become instantly and now we are working on making that happen.

There was also a lot of food this weekend but I was too busy eating and chasing 4 year old twins to snap any pictures.

Lastly, a shout-out to my parents: Happy Anniversary.

Shale Baby Blanket

Pattern: Shale Baby Blanket by Jared Flood

Made for: Karyn’s baby girl (due date is late this month I think)

Yarn: 4 skeins of  Tanis Fibre Arts Green Label Aran Weight in Sand

Needles: 4.5mm circulars

Gauge: close to indicated but didn’t really care; it is a blanket after all.

Started: January 3/2011                 Finished: Feburary 21/2011

Modifications: don’t think I did quite as many repeats as the pattern recommended before running out of yarn

This was an easy to knit up project for a baby even if it is a little bigger project than I would normally knit for one of my expecting coworkers. I really wanted to knit this pattern and my coworker wanted a baby blanket as it would still have uses as a couch blanket once the baby (or babies have out-grown it). It was pure luck that what I wanted to knit was what she fell in love with and fits her tastes perfectly.

She is planning on having more than one child so I thought a neutral colour would be a smart choice and the Sand colourway by Tanis is nice and neutral but still has some interest from the shifting neutral colours and a hint here and there of pink and blue.

It grew considerable upon blocking and this yarn was very easy to handle wet and easily blocked out the way I wanted it to. The feather and fan pattern is one of my favourite simple lace patterns.
Part of me doesn’t want to give this blanket up but the other part of me is happy it is going somewhere where it will be used.

all over the place

There have been several projects on the go that have yet to be mentioned on this blog so I thought I would give an update on what is going on in my little knitting world. I have been knitting the lining for my fiddlehead mittens which I have shown a picture of in the last post. It has been a bit slow going due to all the other distracting knitting but this coldish, snowy weather may bump it up in priority.

I received some lovely gift certificates to the Purple Purl and treated myself to a few lovelies. The first was a Tanis green label fingering yarn kit for the Infinity scarf  in greens. I have cast on and have made decent progress on it as it is mostly mindless knitting and the colour changes make for great motivation.The other lovely I bought is Tanis green label aran yarn and enough of it to make myself a sweater.

Once I had completed the Sprossling I started on another Anne Hanson sweater called Henley with a Twist with that lovely Sundara sock yarn I had purchased earlier. I have completed the two sleeves and the back, so the only thing to finish is the front (and once it is finished a third Anne Hanson sweater will be cast on). 

The last project I am going to mention today is a the Shale Baby Blanket by BrooklynTweed for a coworker who is expecting a girl in March. If I stick to completing one pattern repeat a day I should have no problems finishing this by the end of February. 

A cardigan for Merry

The Specs:

Pattern – A Cardigan for Merry adapted by Anny Purls

Size – 1 year

Yarn- Indigo Moon superwash Merino Sockweight in cedar.

Needles – 3mm 16″ addi circulars

Gauge – didn’t bother with it so I think this will fit a 1.5 year old just fine.

Modifications – none though I was seriously thinking about making this in one piece.

This has been sitting in my knitting basket almost done except for the sewing on of the button loops for quite some time. One of my coworkers has a daughter Ella who is the perfect size for it right now, so I passed it onto her. It is going to be our Unit’s baby sweater and will be passed along to the next person who has a baby.

A Random Wednesday Evening

1. This weekend a certain someone’s sweater was blocked to help make it easier for me to get around to sewing on the buttons and making the I-cord to secure onto the buttons to keep the sweater closed. It’s turned out very well but a wee bit bigger than the one year old size originally intended.

2. I finally have pictures of Sean wearing is 2009 birthday present. The first thing I have ever knit him. We was wearing them this weekend and was willing to model.

3. There has been a lot of progress on the lace scarf. See for yourself.

4. Congratulations to the Montreal Canadians who not only beat the Capitals when no one said they could but who have now moved on to battle for the Eastern Conference title and a shot at the Stanley cup by beating the supposedly great Penguins. Excellent game boys; you did us proud!

too little, too big

Bean’s sweater has been assembled and the stitches have been picked up for the hood. Basket Casey was the first model for the sweater on Saturday but she is a little too small and Cuddles, the second model, is a little too big as you can see.

I’ve also cast on for the back of Sean’s sweater. Here is a little peak at the swatch I made to help me figure out how many stitches I need to cast on. It has bee tweaked only slightly for the actual version on my needles. I’m glad I’m starting now if I need to be done by Christmas.

drizzle

It has been a day of drizzle and sometimes flat out rain but mostly drizzle. The little reminders that bring you back to home for a few minutes in your head.

The long weekend was a good one with lots of sunshine and warmth. Sunday we had an Easter brunch to go to and I was responsible for dessert. I made the Gateau Basque out of Anne Stewart’s Canada (same book that had the butter tart recipe) with the sauteed apple filling. Sadly I didn’t take a picture of it at the time but since the recipe makes for more than one I made up another one today and did remember to take a picture of the finished product.

Monday I decided to bake some sourdough bread with caramelized onions and aged cheddar. I had some for dinner that night in sandwich form and for lunch yesterday.

I cut up some strawberries this evening and am marinating them in red wine and a bit of sugar. They should be very tasty!

I am still plugging away at Bean’s sweater. I have finished the second sleeve and in the process of assembling all the pieces together so I can pick up around the neck and knit the hood.

On Saturday Sean and I headed down to the Purple Purl to pick out some yarn for his Christmas sweater. He’s decided he wants cables and picked out a lovely green yarn. I’ve assembled a bunch of different stitch patterns together and now I just need to block it so I can get the measurements I need to start plugging in the numbers for the sweater.

I also need to go stash diving to find a suitable yarn for my Dad’s Christmas socks this year and then I need to decide on a stitch motif. I might hold off on that until I get some accurate measurements of his legs to help ensure the socks will stay up or I could just do cables or some other stiff-ish pattern like I did for last years.

WIP’s and baking

There are several items currently sitting on my needles but I think we will go over the ones that are actually seeing some knit time. Most of my time has been devoted to Bean’s a Cardigan for Merry. He won’t be able to wear it for a while, but it would be nice to have it crossed off the list. The yarn is Indigo Moon and is superwash so it should be a super easy piece to care for.

I have also been working on a pair of socks for myself since it has been over a year since I’ve done so. I like the little lace pattern I’ve picked and the one sock should be finished in under an hour of knitting and then it’s on to the dreaded second sock. Sean would really like this pair to be done soon because I told him I wouldn’t knit him another pair until I finished a pair socks for myself. He’s already picked out the yarn and the pattern he would like for his next pair.

Last but not least is my featherweight cardigan that should make for a nice late spring/summer sweater to pull on when there is a slight chill in the air. It’s a straight forward affair and makes for good social knitting. My friend Mel told me about this pattern since she made it for herself and quite enjoys wearing it.

I also made my first butter tarts ever and they turned out delicious. I didn’t have any corn syrup but I did have maple syrup and the maple flavour comes out beautifully. I made 4 largish ones and then a bunch of little ones.