It's been far, far, far too long since I've participated in a FO Friday posting (seriously, I checked; my last FO Friday post was just before this past Christmas). So, you're going to get multiples today, because I'm so very far behind :) Let's see what happens.
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| Rasta Ski Cap (link to Project Page) |
Time Frame: started 25 November 2017; finished 24 December 2017
Yarn: Knit Picks Brava Worsted in black, canary, grass, and red
Needles: US #6 (4 mm) & US #8 (5 mm)
Size: Adult male
Modifications: None, as there wasn't a pattern.
Thoughts: I have a lot of feels and thoughts about this hat. This hat was made for a dying man, who did pass away in January 2018, just a couple weeks after receiving this hat. His name was Arno and his son, Thom, is a very good friend of ours, he was our realtor when we bought our house in 2012, and he asked if I would make his father a Rasta-colored hat and matching scarf. It was gifted upon finishing it, Christmas Eve, to a wonderful Jewish man. Yes, I see the irony in all of that.
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| Rasta Scarf (link to Project Page) |
Time Frame: started 19 January 2018; finished 10 February 2018
Yarn: Knit Picks Brava Worsted in the same colors as the hat above, except the black. I used Loops & Threads Impeccable Solids for the black (I was running low on the Brava Worsted).
Needles: US #9 (5.5 mm)
Size: Small adult size
Modifications: None.
Thoughts: Again, I have a lot of feels about this scarf. Arno passed away just a week before I had started it but I still made it. Eventually, it's going to be left, along with the hat, where his son spreads his ashes...which will probably be on Arno's favorite ski hill in California. Maybe Switzerland. He hasn't decided yet. I only met Arno a handful of times, all of them within the last two years. He and his wife were both born and raised in neutral Switzerland, lived there during WWII, and moved to the United States sometime in the 1950s, I believe. I might be wrong about that. Thom is their only child. And Thom has no children of his own. A couple of years ago, Arno was complaining about some issues, as one does, and it turned out he had stomach cancer. Arno was more upset about the chemo messing up his ski season and his future biking schedule. The man was 80-some years old and was still swimming laps every day, biking several times a week, and during ski season, he was up on the tops of mountains. After he received the hat, he had something happen that required back surgery and he just never did well after the surgery, the cancer came back more aggressively, and he eventually passed in mid-January. He never got to wear his scarf, which is why it's modeled by Little Man.
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| Adare (link to Project Page) |
Time Frame: started 30 December 2017; finished 5 January 2018
Yarn: Malabrigo Rios, handdyed by me
Needles: US #4 (3.5 mm) & US #6 (4 mm)
Size: To fit me.
Modifications: I opted to stop a pattern repeat short (so I did 6 instead of 7).
Thoughts: This pattern was a quick knit, well thought out, and I probably could have gone one more pattern repeat for a slightly slouchier look but I opted not to, which worked just fine for me. I wore this hat several times this past winter. Thankfully there's just enough lace to keep it interesting but it's not an "all over" pattern. The yarn was a little too busy for it but I still love it. I might have to make another one.
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| Luck o' the Irish Cowl (link to Project Page) |
Time Frame: started 31 December 2017; finished 14 January 2018
Yarn: Caledon Hills Worsted Wool in Mallard, about 3/4 skein.
Needles: US #8 (5.5 mm)
Size: Pattern specifications
Modifications: I worked five rounds of garter stitch at the beginning and end (I think the pattern called for three) and I made sure to use a stretchy bind-off.
Thoughts: I'm not going to lie: I do not love this cowl. It's a great pattern but I think my yarn choice was a poor one as it's a very stiff cowl and not at all drapey like the pattern page shows. It's also itchy., even after a soak in conditioner It also reaffirms that I like looser cowls or infinity cowls that you wrap double around your neck. The pattern itself is not the issue. It was an intuitive, quick knit (regardless that it took me two weeks to knit), but I made some poor choices with the yarn.
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| Rastarmulke (v2) (link to Project Page) |
Time Frame: started 10 February 2018; finished 10 February 2018
Yarn: Knit Picks Brava Worsted in black, canary, red, and grass, just like above.
Needles: US #6 (4 mm)
Size: Uh...adult?
Modifications: Since there's no pattern, there aren't any mods, right? And I didn't change anything between the first version and the second version.
Thoughts: I hardly remember making this and it was gifted right away. So, there's that.
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| Garter Stitch Baby Blanket (link to Project Page) |
Pattern: None but it's basically a giant version of Grandma's Favorite Dishcloth.
Time Frame: started 6 July 2017; finished 3 April 2018
Yarn: Marisol Hap'i in #1106
Needles: US #9 (5.5 mm)
Size: Baby sized
Modifications: None.
Thoughts: This blanket gave me fits. I had four balls of yarn and I decided I'd increase until the endish of the second ball, then decrease with the last two balls. It should have worked out just fine....except it didn't. That means that the balls of yarn were not evenly weighted and either one (or both) of the first two balls were overweight or one (or both) of the second two balls was underweight (or both). Because I didn't weigh each skein individually, I don't know the culprit. Regardless, this blanket sat on time-out while I tried to find another skein of this yarn, which was proving to be damn near impossible. It wasn't discontinued but somewhere along the way, the color changed so I had to be careful, and shops that said they carried it.......didn't. I finally found someone on Ravelry with the same dyelot and got a skein that way. The blanket was finished and it's still needing another wash in the washer before I ship it off to it's recipient's mama (since the recipient is still 3 months away). I should get around to that soon.
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| Tiny Narwhals (link to one of the Project Pages) |
Time Frame: started 5 April 2018; finished 6 April 2018 (both)
Yarn: Cascade Heritage Solids, I believe...
Needles: US #1 (2.25 mm)
Size: Whatever size it came out...
Modifications: None
Thoughts: These came as a kit that I picked up at ImagiKnit in San Francisco in November 2017. They are fiddly but the end result is adorable. I have a couple more kits in my stash from the same designer. I'm not going to lie: both of these were restarted at least twice because I just couldn't make the small number of stitches work on my needles. But I got it. All was well.
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| Hat for Little Man (link to Project Page) |
Time Frame: started 19 April 2018; finished 27 May 2018
Yarn: Berroco Pure Merino in Electric Blue and Anzula For Better or Worsted in Hippo
Needles: US #4 (3.5 mm) and US #6 (4 mm)
Size: Whatever size it came out to fit Little Man
Modifications: None since there isn't really a pattern...
Thoughts: I could have made this hat just a little shorter but that's fine. He'll grow. This hat sat on time out for quite awhile while I procured another skein of this discontinued yarn. I got the yarn in a swap and I tried stretching it with the addition of the colored stripes but I still ran out. Luckily, I found someone on Ravelry that was willing to sell me a skein and I was able to finish the hat. The bonus about the hat is that I can borrow it if I want to since it also fits me pretty well.
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| Smooth Operator Socks (link to Project Page) |
Pattern: Smooth Operator Socks by Susan B. Anderson
Time Frame: started 13 October 2016; finished 12 June 2018
Yarn: Loops & Threads Woolike in Cool Gray and ONline Supersocke 100 in Blues
Needles: US #1 (2.25 mm)
Size: Well.......we'll talk about that in a mo'
Modifications: I added some extra decreases on the bottom of the foot, much like I would for the double gusset heel decrease, because this doesn't take that into account otherwise.
Thoughts: I started out making these socks for me....and while they do fit me, they were commandeered by Little Man. I may never truly see them again. I'm okay with that because they just don't quite fit me correctly. I don't know if that's just the nature of afterthought heels or if there's some modification I can make in order for them to fit better. I might have to tinker with it a bit. In the meantime, they fit Little Man and he's stolen them for his own. They are a little too long in the foot but he'll grow.
In addition to all the knitting, there was also some spinning....
The photo is terrible and I've not been feeling assed enough to take a photo of the yarn in the skein form. It does look better than this.
I feel like I've recounted this story several times over the last few weeks but the bottom line is that I wound up with about 190 yds of worsted weight Falkland Merino from River's Edge Fiber Arts. And it's not as bad as it could have been but this is something that I'll have to use myself because of all the breaks and knots in the skein (which I put there).
Anyway, I hope you've had a happy Friday :)
I really like that hat you made for your friend's dad. The black sets off those strong and thick color stripes.
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