tiennie knits

3rd blogiversary!

Vacation, fun in the sun, wedding plans for my sister, facebook, reading, scrabble and now twitter, has almost made me forget my blogiversary!  Oh my gosh twitter is such a time suck on my iPhone.  Do you twitter?  If you do, please let me know your twitter name so I can follow you.  I don't tweet that much but it's fun to read other people's tweets!  Anyways, it's my 3rd blogiversary today and I wanted to give you some gifts for sticking with me through my sporadic blogging this year.  I've picked out three fantastic books:

Sock Innovation by Cookie A. - for you sock lovers

Knitting in the Sun by Kristi Porter - perfect for knitting in the summertime

Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross - for those of you into sewing like me

Let's have some fun, shall we?  If you would like any of these, please leave a comment specifying which book you'd like, your favorite color, and a not-so-secret secret - but keep it a clean one, K?  Wouldn't want my blog getting racy.  I'll randomly pick 3 winners and maybe an unrandom winner for some yarn if your comment really cracks me up.   

Thanks so much for always being kind to me!  You all are awesome!

summer!

Hooray!  The kids are finally out of school for the summer!  I really have no excuses for not blogging, except:

• Facebook
• Facebook Scrabble
• Hanging out with my family
• Reading
• Facebook Scrabble on my iPhone
• Avoiding finishing knitting projects
• More reading
• Getting ready for summer
• Getting my arse kicked on Facebook Scrabble

Well, you get the picture.  Actually I haven't a clue where my knitting mojo went.  I had 2 finished projects and have had them done for weeks and weeks but haven't wanted to battle the weather/reluctant models/getting out the camera...  But the sun is shining and I thought I'd better get to it.

So here's my 2 projects - clapotis (how do you pluralize that?):

Yep, 2 of them:

Totally inappropriate for summer but oh well.  The regular size one:

The mini one:

The were both knitted on US #8 needles:

The yarn was Blue Moon Fiber Arts Luscious Single Silk in Jengu:

I used 1 1/4 skeins for the big clapotis including 3 extra repeats.

Since I had so much yarn left, I made another and used 3/4 skein for the 2nd mini clapotis. 

I increased until I got to 59 sts, instead of 107 sts, but I did knit the extra 3 repeats to make it just as long as the big clapotis.

Now, I don't know what to be knitting.  It feels really strange for me. So while waiting for inspiration to strike, I've been knitting Barn Raising Squares for a future blanket.  Any recommendations on what to work on?  Hope you're all enjoying your summer or winter, whichever you are heading into!  Now back to more Scrabble for me!

Now you can stop asking me when I'm going to blog, Mom!

play

I haven't been here in a while because we've been playing.  Enjoying the last of ski season and enjoying the beach.  I'm grateful to live in a place that we can do both in the same day!  Enjoying spring and enjoying being with my family.

It hasn't been all play though.  We've moved our offices to a new location and donated a lot of things that we won't need anymore.  We've also been painting, cleaning and donating at home too.  Clearing out and giving away toys and clothes that the kids have outgrown to make way for an updated play space:

Walls painted, curtain rods and valances hung, movies shelved, couch and rug and pillows added, and toys organized:

Legos, playmobile and train toys stowed under the play tables:

Hallway painted and pictures rehung and feeling like wow!  Have the toys ever been put away so neatly?

All this playing has left little time for knitting but I do have some finished projects to show you - just as soon as the rain lets up for me to take some photos.  Until then, I hope you all have been at play too!

winter whites

I've been on a winter white obsession lately, and after my last post, I had 1 1/2 skeins of leftover yarn from the braided neckpiece and didn't know what to do with it.  I get anxious if every little bit of yarn isn't used up.  Am I the only one to make myself crazy like this?  Doing a search in Ravelry, I found a project for the leftover Plymouth Yarn Baby Alpaca Grande:

This is the Sideways Grande Cloche from Boutique Knits:

I wasn't really sure about the construction but it all seem to work out in the end, and I think it looks pretty cute on my daughter, even though she says it's a weird hat.  Pshaw!  Good thing my other daughter was all too willing to claim the hat for herself.  The pattern calls for US #10, US #9, US #8 and US #7 needles:

The sun may have been shining when we did the photoshoot but it was freezing and my poor girl was trying to be patient with the modeling:

She warmed up a bit after I gave her a scarf to model:

Matt had some Classic Elite Inca Alpaca in grey and white that he wasn't using so I stole it from him (again!)  I used it to make this non-Noro, Noro Striped Scarf:

This is Jared's Noro Scarf pattern but I casted on 45 sts with US #6 needles.  It was an easy project and I would definitely knit this again, once I get my hands on some Noro!:

Doesn't she look much warmer now?  The weather warmed up so much today, just in time for my kids' Spring Break.  Hooray!!!  Here's wishing for the last of the Winter chill and more of the Spring sunshine!

winter scarves

Even though it's now officially Spring, the weather around here is still stuck in winter so I have a couple of last-minute winter items to present.  I wish they were modeled shots but since it's been pouring here, I can't make my daughter model in the rain for me.  Indoor shots, using an old faux suede jacket of mine, will have to do!  This is the Lamar Scarf by Gale:

This reversible chunky braided scarf was so enjoyable to knit:

I knitted this on US #11 using Plymouth Yarn Baby Alpaca Grande Tweed that I stole from Matt's stash:

This was yarn that he picked out when we were in Boston last summer.  It was just sitting there unused, so it was begging to be stolen from him!:

This yarn is so squishy and warm.  3 skeins makes a great length for this scarf:

The next scarf is the Braided Neckpiece found in Loop-d-loop by Teva Durham:

I also picked up yarn in Boston.  In fact it's almost the same yarn that Matt picked.  I chose this yarn, with my friend Sholeen, specifically to knit this project.  Take a look at how beautiful Sholeen's version turned out:

I followed the pattern exactly and only ended up using 1 1/2 skeins of the 3 skeins of yarn that I purchased.  I love how chunky Sholeen's turned out so I'm kicking myself for not following her modifications:

I knitted these on  US #11 needles using Plymouth Yarn Baby Alpaca Grande.  So now I have to figure out what to make with the remaining yarn:

I think I need to do a little more blocking on the braided part so that it'll lay a bit flatter.  This yarn is so unbelievable soft though!:

In my last post I mentioned how much I like Shelfari (my member name is Tiennie) for keeping track of my books.  Well Jenny pointed out another site to me - Goodreads (my member name is Tiennie) that also keeps tracks of books.  It was easy to export my Shelfari list and import it into Goodreads so now I have 2 sites that I have been playing around on.  If you love reading, check them out!

february baby sweater

What more can I say about this sweater that thousands haven't already said?:

It is such a sweet little baby sweater to knit that I can see why grown-ups want a lovely version for themselves:

Attempting an Elizabeth Zimmermann project, makes me feel like a real Knitter.  Since she only gives "recipes", it always takes some calculations to figure out the pattern:

I knitted these on US #6 needles using Cascade 220 Superwash in white.  It's not the softest of yarns but it's superwash - because no parents of newborns want to deal with fussy handwash clothing.:

This is also a fantastic and fast project.  My neighbor recently had a little girl so I had an excuse to make this sweater.  My only modification was to add buttons to the yoke only, instead of down the entire sweater.:

I wish I had known how to knit when my kiddos were babies.  I guess I'll just have to wait for my siblings to have babies so I can have more reasons to make adorable baby knits.:

 

I only have one sweater in this post because I have been spending all my time on a new website that I have been loving - Shelfari!  It's like Ravelry but for book readers.  I signed up last summer for an account but promptly forgot about it until our book club leader had us join so we can post on the books we've read.  So I've rejoined and have been having fun remembering all the great books that I've read over the years.  If you have an account there, friend me so that we can enjoy our reads together!

family knits

Happy March everyone!  Can you believe it's March already?  We actually got more snowfall here, in the Seattle area, a few days ago which is unusual but fun for us skiers.  My sister, Brandi, who lives in Idaho, can get snow into April sometimes.  She emailed me a photo of a pair of mittens, that she found on the internet, and asked me if I could please knit them for her.  I think she believed that I could just recreate them for her.  Eek!:

Lucky for her, I knew there already was a pattern for them and I knew exactly what that lovely pattern was  - Bird In Hand by the wonderful Kate Gilbert.  They were enjoyable to work on and weren't too difficult for me.  These are all being modeled by my sweet girl.:

I knitted them using Cascade 220 Superwash in Red and White on US #2.5 Needles.  I don't think it's any secret how much I love this yarn and how versatile I think it is.  I usually use US#7 needles, but I have gone up to a US#9 and I would have never guessed that I could go down to a US #2.5 needles with this yarn.  How pretty are the palms of these mittens too?:

How fun is it to find little birdies on the thumb?:

So I'm happy to have knitted these and have popped them in the mail to Brandi.  I sure hope they fit her long, lean and beautiful hands!
 
Since I always like having an easy, no-brainer pattern on the needles, I decided to knit my brother, Vince, a Ribby Hat, that my daughter also modeled for me.:

These were knitted on US #7 needles, using Cascade 220 in brown, that I had leftover from Matt's Cobblestone sweater:

After modeling this hat for me, Hailey has requested that I knit her one too.  I don't mind the multiple knitting so you'll be seeing more of these easy peasy hats from me:

Here's another hat that I finished a few weeks ago.  Around Christmas time, my sister-in-law and Vince's wife, Janeiro, asked if I could knit her a grey hat with a big ol' pompom on it.  I didn't think it would be hard to knit the hat but I've never made a pompom before:

This is the Ribby Hat, (again!) using Cascade 220 in Silver knitted on US #7 needles.  This adult hat was modeled by my other sweet little girl (which is why the hat looks so large on her.):

I figured out how to make that big ol' pompom using the Clover pom pom makers and now it's been non-stop pompom making around here!  I would have taken pictures of them but my boys have been using them to tag each other.  They are so fun to make and are an awesome way to use up those scrap yarns:

My photos and projects can always be found on my Flickr photostream or on my Ravelry page.  Thanks for all the love on Matt's sweater from the last post everyone!

that sweater!

My first year of knitting, I completed 20 sweaters.  I thought that I would only knit sweaters because really, what fun is there in knitting socks, hats, shawls, blah, blah, blah...?  Hahahahaha... silly me.  So much to my surprise, I haven't completed a sweater in a year.  An entire year!:

This was suppose to be my NaKniSweMo project but November came and went.  I think I was nuts to think I could complete an entire man's sweater, on US #3 and #4 needles, with loads of stranding work, in one month.  I added more work to the sweater too by increasing the length by a couple inches.:

For the most part, it was really enjoyable to knit.  This is the Dale of Norway Sapporo  2007 Ski Sweater - Drop Shoulder Pullover With Zipper. The yarn, Dalegarn Falk, is lovely to work with, and is suppose to be machine washable.  By the way, that pink blob in the picture below is my daughter, playing in the snow with my son, before we went skiing:

Seriously, almost all of the knitting was completed way back in Nov/Dec but I kept putting off the finishing touches, ahem, steeking.:

Matt really does like it.  It's just hard to smile when you're squinting in the sun and in all the white of the snow.  So yay!  He gets to have the sweater before the ski season is over.:

For those who asked, here are my WIP photos.  Sorry for the slightly different colors to them - different times of day, different lighting, different settings on my camera.

Blocking the sweater:

 

Creating a steek line with extra yarn:

Zigzagging with the sewing machine two stitches away on each side of steek line:

Zigzag done and sweater is ready to be cut:

Deep breath and cut!:

Whew!  Finished!:

Repeat on other armhole, repeat on front placket, sew in zipper, pick up stitches for ribbed collar:

Install drawcord to bottom of sweater:

Oh, and make a cap with leftover yarn.  The Sappora Ski Cap.:

But never wear the two together - a bit too matchy matchy:

That was easy.  Ha!  What was I moaning and groaning about?!  As always photos and info can be found on Flickr and Ravelry. 

Thanks so much everyone for leaving me nice comments.  I really do want to respond to each one of them but typepad now has this really annoying feature that allows you to create a typepad profile.  Well darn it!  That profile doesn't always tell me who you are, and what your e-mail is, so I'm really sorry if I haven't gotten back to you.  Please leave comments with your e-mail if you have any questions for me.  Thanks!

olivia hat

I still haven't gotten away from trying to use up my scraps.  My oldest daughter has really great friends that like to come over and hang out with her.  One of them was looking through my scraps and demanded begged for me to make her a hat, to wear under her helmet, while snowboarding:

This is what I'm calling the Olivia Hat - named for the recipient:

It was knitted on US #7 needles and using more Cascade 220 scraps:

It was so easy that I've written up the pattern for you to download if you'd like it.

Download Olivia Hat

My youngest daughter also has great friends but has a best friend that she is really close to.  They often spend the whole weekend together and are two peas in a pod.  They wanted me to make them matching hats ('cause you know I can't knit just one!):

I used the basic pattern from the Scrappy Flap Hat, but only used Cascade 220 in White for the hat:

Then I picked 4 colors from my 220 scrap collection to embroider daisies on them:

The flowers are a little wonky but they don't seem to care:

This is the same yarn, same needles, same colors, same size as Shelby's:

Here is Shelby and Ella together:

Yep, two peas in a pod:

 

Coming up next?  I steeked that sweater!  I did!  I did!  Now, I have to seam the sleeves, knit up the collar, sew in a zipper, take pictures...

scrap happy patterns

Lately all I want to knit are simple projects.  It could be because I'm trying to avoid that big one - the one that involves the steeking.  Poor Matt, we've been skiing for 4 weeks now and he still doesn't have the ski sweater I promised him.  Sucks for him that I'm majoring in avoidance right now!  Oh well.  The best simple projects that I like to knit are hats.  Love them!  I can knock one out in a day and use up all my scraps while I'm at it. I have all these odds and ends of Cascade 220 that are great for hats and  neckwarmers. Here's a hat that I'm calling Scrappy Flap Hat.  You can download the pattern here or on the sidebar:

Download Scrappy Flap Hat

All of these projects are knitted with US #7 needles and Cascade 220.  In my last post, I made a white 2x2 rib hat and a dark grey 2x2 rib hat.  This is the 3rd 2x2 ribbed hat that I knitted:

Some of you were asking about the decreases on the crown and how to do them:

I figured out the crown decreases by lots of trial and error so I've written the pattern for all of you that asked.  Download the pattern here or on the sidebar:

Download Ribby Hat

Here's another version of the hat that I knit with the very last leftovers of the 220 in these colors.  I did this one without the extra rows for the turned up hem:

This neckwarmer started out being a hat but ended up being a neckwarmer when it became apparent that I wouldn't have enough of the dark grey to make a complete hat with it:

There were a lot of requests for the pattern for my neckwarmers so I wrote that one up too.  I'm almost embarrassed to claim it as a pattern, since it was so easy, but here you go!:

Download Ribby Neckwarmer

Here's the results of my efforts to use up the last of these colors in the 220:

My final project for this post is yet another hat.  A friend asked me to knit her daughter an earflap hat in dark blue and light blue so I whipped up this Norwegian Star Earflap Hat.  It's fun to get easy request knits like these:

As always, you can find more pics on my Ravelry page and my Flickr stream.  Come join in the avoidance of the steeking stash busting with me!

Also, thanks to Elizabeth for pointing out the mention of me, in the latest Knit.1 magazine, by Larissa  Brown.  I had no idea.  Thanks so much Larissa!  Makes me feel like a rock star!  Would y'all like my autograph?