WIP Party: My Haleakala Socks

WIP Part Project #5: My Haleakala Socks

These are my first socks ever! Well, sort of. I originally cast on for these so that when my first Cookie A Sock Club shipment arrived, I would have knit at least one pair of socks. But then the first package arrived and I just launched into knitting those socks instead. I got about 3/4 of a sock completed before I set them down last January. Since then, I've knit several pairs of socks, but never picked these back up, in part because I actually misplaced the project for several months...

The pattern is pretty intuitive and easy to memorize. The cable panel only runs down the front of the sock, which I like aesthetically and comfort-wise (I worry that bulky cables will be uncomfortable around my Achilles tendon and ankle), but all of that 2x2 ribbing got a little bit dull. I do like patterns that are repetitive, but that was quite a bit of k2,p2*.

See? Stripes!

Overall, I'm happy with how these turned out. My biggest complaint is that the yarn striped. When I purchased the yarn, I thought that it would be a greeny-black, but the way the yarn was painted it ended up creating black and green stripes. I think this hides the cable pattern and black and green stripes is not something that I would have selected intentionally.

I also tried out a new method for finishing up the toe and I am quite pleased with the results! I'll be posting on that on Monday, February 17th. Stay tuned :)

Now I just have my purple sweater and the blanket for the living room left from the WIP Party!

WIP Party: My Pirouette Socks

WIP Party Project #4: My Pirouette Socks

Frogged. Totally and completely ripped out.

Before

After

The more I thought about this project, the less I wanted to work on it. The yarn kept splitting and the pattern required more attention to shift the stitches around the foot and ankle than I wanted to give to a frustrating yarn. I might try this pattern again with  a different  yarn, but I am not sure if I will ever use this yarn. On top of it being splitty to begin with, it did not frog very tidily. It is pretty kinked and looks like it will be even more challenging to work with than it was originally.

There are just too many other things I am excited about knitting and too many other yarns that will be pleasant to work with to continue this pair of socks.

WIP Party: My Ernie Socks

WIP Party Project #3: My Ernie Socks

These are from the 2013 Cookie A Sock Club! Every other month, sock designer Cookie A mails you two sock patterns, a skein of lovely sock yarn to make one of the patterns, and two cookie recipes. I received this pattern in the first shipment around February. I knit up the first pair of socks in the skein I received and got a significant amount done on this pair in the second pattern, but then the next Cookie A package arrived in the mail... Originally, I wanted to knit at least one pair of socks per shipment before the next package arrived so I put these down and started the next pair. And never picked them back up. (And the other pair of socks is still on my needles...)

But I've picked them up again and now they're done!

This was a fun, quick pattern. I think the stitches got a little lost in the dark, variegated yarn, so if I make these again, I'll probably do them in a solid or semi-solid yarn that is a brighter color.

WIP Party: The Bird Mittens for My Grandma

WIP Party Project #2: The Bird Mittens for My Grandma

Just like the vest for Jack, these gloves were given to my grandmother Christmas 2012. I got really close to finishing them, but after missing that deadline, felt frustrated and discouraged.

I am pleased to announce that they are now completely finished and delivered! The knitting is done, they've been blocked, and the ends are woven in.

 

WIP Party: The Sweater Vest for Grandpa Jack

WIP Party Project #1: The Sweater Vest for Grandpa Jack

My friend Elizabeth recently informed me that I had been working on this project since before we'd met. Since I technically gave this vest to my grandpa last Christmas (with every intention of finishing it in January 2013) and this is my oldest WIP, I figured this was a good place to start.

I think part of the reason why I didn't get this all the way done is I was so frustrated that I'd missed Christmas. I didn't make the deadline so it was like it had been extended indefinitely. The other part was picking up the stitches for the v-neck.

A nearly completed vest... without the v-neck.

I'm not very confident when it comes to picking up a lot of stitches around the edge. I get very wrapped up in prepping for even distribution and it makes the project much more daunting than it really is. That added to decreasing the point of the v-neck caused for a big ol' WIP-delay. I've never made a collar or a knit mitered corner before and was reluctant to get started.

http://newstitchaday.com/how-to-knit-the-eyelet-mitered-corner-stitch/

 

This WIP Party was just the kick in the pants I needed to just finish it. Without further ado, I present to you, The Sweater Vest for Grandpa Jack, starring: Jack!

WIP Party!

Maybe you're the perfect knitter who finishes everything they starts and even weaves in the ends as soon as you're done knitting.

Maybe you don't have any works-in-progress (WIP) that have been "in progress" (read: sitting in your knitting basket for at least three months without being touched) for ages with little to no actual progress being made.

If you are, then bully for you.

I am NOT one of those knitters. I try to be. It's cost-effective -- if you've ever bought new needles for a new project because the size you needed was holding a WIP, then you know what I'm talking about, space-efficient, and you actually get stuff done. I just get too excited about new projects or something comes up. Is anyone else panicking about Christmas knitting?

So I've decided. Enough is enough. I am going to complete or frog* every WIP currently on my needles before starting something new. At the start of this WIP Party, I had 7 projects on my needles. From oldest to newest:

The Sweater Vest for Grandpa Jack:

Cast on July, 2010. Frogged November 18, 2011.

Cast on August, 2012.

The Blanket for Curtis/Living Room:

Cast on March 23, 2011.

The Bird Mittens for My Grandma:

Cast on November 11, 2012

My Haleakala Socks:

Cast on January, 2013.

These have actually been lost (found just today!) since about April, 2013.

My Ernie Socks:

Cast on March 12, 2013.

Cast on March 12, 2013.

My Pirouette Socks:

Cast on April 14, 2013. I think these are heading for the frogger...

My Pretty Sweater in Purple:

Cast on September, 2013.

Cast on September, 2013.

So, here I go! Anyone care to join me in my WIP Party? Feel free to post links to your WIPs (and their completion!) in the comments below.

*What's frogging? Frogging is when you take a project off your needles, unravel it, and either start over or use the yarn for something else. You rip all that hard work out (and sometimes your heart goes right along with it). It's called "frogging" because you "rip it, rip it, rip it" and that sounds like "ribbit, ribbit, ribbit". And because "frogging" is cuter than "tearing out your soul one row at a time".

Cabled Trellis Headband - The Newest Work in Progress

Made using 100% Peruvian wool.
Want your own? Check my Etsy shop or email me at knittinsmitten@gmail.com

As you can see in the photo, this headband is still a work in progress; it's still on the needles! I'm just too excited about it to wait any longer. The pattern -- written by me! look for a PDF available soon -- features travelling cables. Normal cables, less adventurous ones that just stay at home, run vertically and twist every so often. Travelling cables, on the other hand, 'move' every single row. That's why I was able to create this trellis design; every row the brown yarn moved one or two stitches to the right or to the left.

Because of the cables, this headband isn't as stretchy, so I've had to do some alterations on my standard headband pattern to make sure it fits an average sized head. I've got it figured out and it will be available for sale in my Etsy shop soon!

I've been reading Thornyhold by Mary Stewart and her beautiful descriptions of Geillis's boarding school and the house she inherits inspired me. I really want to put a cute knitted pink rose on this (so much floral imagery in the book!)... but I worry that it will be too busy. What I'm going to do is knit the flower and takes pictures of the headband with and without it and have the flower be optional.

Wellness update: I know have hayfever on top of "Whitman College Crud". Best week ever. Bleh.