Nutkins and Chilly Podsters

Now that I'm back in the swing of knitting, it seems like I suddenly have so much to do.  I've got a bunch of projects that need to get done at some point, though nothing is knitting on a deadline, so that's fantastic.  I guess I could count one thing as "gift knitting," but seeing as the recipient already has two knitted gifts already, I don't think it'll be horrible if I don't get the third and fourth promised projects finished in time.

However, the first thing that needs to be talked about are a the Zombie ViXen fingerless gloves I started, oh, forever ago.  This is the first project I've put in long term hibernation for stupid reasons for a long time.  These are being modeled by Bear, because no one else's hands were available.

So why did these things get put on hold for a while?  It's really silly.  I didn't want to go back and do the thumbs.  When Chesh tried on my gloves he decided everything fit, but the thumbs were on the tight side.  We batted around some ideas, but I decided it was just too much effort and I would worry about it later.  This is generally my philosophy on knitting.

So when I saw these sitting in the stack of things to do, with a groan, I pulled them out and realized if I didn't get them done, I never would.  So I got them done.  I sized the needles up to a US 2, hoping that would solve the size problem, then I picked up all the stitches on the waste yarn.  The larger needles were kind of a bad idea.  The stitches didn't want to get picked up onto larger needles.  I probably should have picked them up on the smaller needles, then knit onto them with the larger ones, but hindsight and all of that.  In the end they got finished and fit perfectly, so who am I to complain?  One gift down and done, only a couple more to go.

Next on the list are my ill-fated Nutkin socks.  Let me tell you, these are not my favorite socks in the world.  The toe is a really lose fabric so I'm tempted to rip out the toe and start all over again.  Truth be told, that's a lot of work, and I think you saw above my philosophy on work. In spite of the straight cast on and the straight stitches, the sock still wants to twist on my leg.  That's going to annoy me.  Still, I've cast on the second sock.  We'll see how they work out.  Worst case scenario I can always pull off the toes on both of them and redo them in a smaller gauge.  Best case scenario, I just don't care and leave it.  Then again, I've noticed even superwash yarns seem to fluff up and get a little more snug after a few washings.  Maybe that will be the case here and I'll be glad I didn't fix it.

I've got to say, I don't think it's entirely the fault of the pattern.  This yarn is such a fine yarn that it's really loose on the larger needles.  I could have kept it on smaller needles and added more width to each pattern, but I thought this would be better.  Then again, the loose weave may be really nice if I can get some sock liners to wear under them to keep my feet warm.  We'll see how they work out when I'm finally wearing them.  At the very least, I've found a yarn I don't like working with as much for socks.  I think the heavier sock yarns suit me better, which is good to know for the future.

And finally, it's time to talk about the Chilly Podsters.  These were chosen because they're the only free pattern for convertible mittens that has both mitten caps for the fingers and for the thumb.  This means it's easier to do things like pull out money, write, or get a card from a wallet without having to take gloves off.  It's a practical thing.  The original request was made when the recipient was still a smoker, but now that he no longer is, they're still practical and useful.  This will be the first set of mittens I've ever made in any fashion.

Thus far I've managed the cast on and to get all the way through the ribbing.  It's been easy going to this point.  I know it's going to get more complicated when it's time to break down for the fingers for the glove portion.  It'll be easy enough to do the mitten portion, I should think.  It looks like it's pretty much little hats that go over your fingers.  That should be pretty simple.  I'd like to think this will be another quick project to knit up and not another that I'll decide to hibernate because the individual fingers are so much work.

I'm pretty excited for this project.  It's the first of it's kind that I'm doing.  I was finding myself getting bored with knitting because it seemed like there were no fantastic challenges left for me, aside from tackling a sweater.  I still mean to do that, but it's going to take some time to get to it.  I've got a good stash to work one up, but I just haven't had the ambition.  I think I need to start doing some searches for patterns I like and just go for it already.  I should probably get myself a new tape measure so I can bust out some measurements to get an accurate fit.  I'll get there.  It's just going to take some time.

Another Set of Snuggle Paws Down!

Having another commission come in was really good this month.  I knocked out another pair of snuggle paw warmers in almost no time.  That's the great thing about a pattern I know by heart, it takes almost nothing to whip out a pair.

These snuggle paws were done in a yarn I wouldn't have typically picked.  I don't tend to go with variegated yarns for my projects.  I tend to find they're too loud for most gloves.  It makes them very loud and kind of drowns out the beautiful pattern, but it wasn't my call, so these are the gloves we ended up with.

The color pooling definitely had an interesting effect on the gloves.  I expected to see something pretty much striped throughout.  Instead the colors pooled, making it appear almost as though I did some kind of color work instead of just letting the yarn do it's thing.

Even the little heart (something that's becoming a signature bit) turned showed off the interesting way the yarn played.  It's not as serious of a striping as the gloves, but crochet often gives a very different effect.  It works up in thicker sections, using the yarn up differently.  I think it's got a lovely effect in crochet.  It's a really interesting yarn.  I've got an extra ball, so I'm thinking I might look into crocheting something up, both because I like the way it plays, but also because I really like the idea of learning to crochet better!

Getting Back into the Swing of Things

So, I've been a bad knitting blogger.  I haven't been updating my knitting projects.  NaNoWriMo has really kept me busy.  There are a whole list of projects I'm working on or have finished that need to be updated.

For example, the Sailor's Rib Cowl was started, I don't know, sometime in November.  It's knit out of Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool, the request of the recipient.  It's an incredibly simple rib pattern.  I was able to work on it while watching television with no issues.  The effect is lovely too.  Best of all, it looks warm.

Now, personally I wouldn't want to wear it.  That wool is far to itchy for me, but the recipient likes it, and that's what matters.  I actually liked working on this project too.  It whipped up pretty quickly and was thankfully over before it got to the point of being tedious.

As for the recipient, he can't wear it until Christmas.  It's the only Christmas gift I'm making this year, at least to be delivered on Christmas.  He's also going to be getting a hat and gloves, but I'm not too stressed about getting those done in time.  I'm done with holiday knitting, I think.  I don't need another reason to stress out coming into the holidays.  There's plenty of reasons to stress out already.  This is just one more thing I can check off my list of finished projects.

The next project was a bit of an improvisation.  I decided after making a beret for Bear, then the cowl, Bear wanted a cowl too.  I decided to use the extra ball of yarn to make one matching the hat.  It took me a few tries to get the sizing right, but it finally came together.  It's a bit big for Bear, but at least there's room to grow.  It should fit all the way into adulthood, provided it doesn't get lost before then.  I'm kind of betting in it getting lost, but I'm trying to be hopeful.

Let me tell you, Bear loved this cowl.  The only down side was being unable to do any kind of fitting.  I constantly got "Mama, can I wear it?"  I kept having to say no.  Thankfully, it did get finished, so that's something positive.  Now it's a favorite article, even if it's not yet cold enough.

Best of all, this little cowl now makes a matching set.  There will be no doubt who it belongs to because of the matching hat and cowl.  They're only acrylic, so they won't be warm, but they'll definitely be fine underneath the hood of a jacket.  It's just an extra little layer of insulation.

And I finally dragged out the Nutkin socks again!  I kind of rage quit on them after having to take them out a couple times and size them up.  I felt like it meant I had fat legs.  I think it really just means that I knit excessively tight, because I know I have small feet.  I may always need to size my socks up on needles.  I think I'm going to have to check the gauge.  Then again, I know I have a high instep, so that might be my problem.

Aside from the new technique on the cuff, this pair also had a couple of other new techniques.  For example, it used a new way to do a short row heel.  There's also a short row toe on this one.  It's all polished off with a three needle bind off, which I'd heard of but never tried.  Now that I've done it, I actually really like it.  I also like how the short row toe leaves plenty of wiggle room for my toes.  It's definitely got a nicer look in my mind than a traditional toe would on this sock.  It makes for a nice, strong boundary line between the pattern and the toe.  This gives it a nice, sharp look.  It's also unlike any of the other socks I've ever knit.  I'm not sure how I feel about it for a sock, but we'll see how it wears.  Hopefully it'll be as nice as it looks.

Finally, I have a commission!  I've got to knit up another pair of Snuggle Paw Warmers for Sable to give as a gift.  They've got this funky pooling thing going on.  It's not my style, but Sable loves them, so that makes me happy.  It just means I've got to get flying on these things if I want them to be done early enough.  That's the one thing I both love and hate about commissions.  In some ways it's fantastic because it lights a fire under my tail.  In other ways, I hate the time crunch.  I'm a procrastinator for sure!

This one is definitely coming out funky.  The yarn looks really neat, but it does kind of make the pattern disappear.  The good news is the pattern itself is more functional for the fit rather than something decorative (though it certainly is decorative too!  The color pooling on this one seems to be falling on the cables, which really makes them pop, and the ribbing disappears.  I'm not sure I could have managed that if I tried!  We'll see how it all falls out on the second glove.  It shouldn't take me long to get those flying off the needles.  I'm almost halfway done with the first one already!