FO Friday (with photos!)

Happy Friday! In the fibery world, thanks to Tami, it means it's FO Friday.

Today, I have three FOs to discuss, though I can only show you photos of two of them (and not because I didn't take photos of the third one!).

Anyway, let's get to it!

Sweet Girl's Hippo (project page)

Pattern: Hippo by Susan B. Anderson
Time Frame: started May 10, 2012; finished October 26, 2012
Yarn: Breathless by Shalimar Yarn in Concord Grape and Passion Fruit
Needles: US #5 (3.75 mm) DPNs, specifically my Signature DPNs
Size: Size specified in pattern
Modifications: I didn't make any purposeful modifications to the pattern but I do know that I picked up my M1s incorrectly and had a couple holes on the face where I had to go back in and stitch up properly (which you can kind of see in the above photo). Also, instead of just dumping the poly pellets into the body, I put them into a knee high nylon and tied that off (so they wouldn't fall out by prying baby fingers - mainly Sweet Girl's baby sister).
General Notes: The only thing I wish I had done was left longer tails for stitching body parts together. I had to cut some extra yarn a couple times to stitch appendages to the main body. I also wish I had made the eyes and nostrils before I stuffed and closed up the head. I also wish I had done a reverse Kitchener Stitch in the contrast color...then I wouldn't have had to put on the mouth at all. Oh well.

Currently, this item is waiting to be wrapped and packed for cross-country shipping. I'm hoping that it doesn't get destroyed because I'm not sure I know how to fix it.

Hippo booty!

Hermione's Everyday Socks (project page)

Pattern: Hermione's Everyday Socks by Erica Lueder
Time Frame: started March 6, 2012; finished November 20, 2012
Yarn: MCN Fingering by Sun Valley Fibers in Emerald
Needles: US #1(2.25 mm) - done on two 40" circulars
Size: Um....one size.
Modifications: I only did two major modifications to this pattern. I did 12 pattern repeats instead of the 18 called for in the pattern (before the heel flap). I also did a Double Gusset Heel for the decreases. This also led to having 30 stitches on the bottom needle because it fit a little better...which changed how I did my toe decreases just a little. Nothing major. Then there was the accidental modification on the toe of my second sock. After misreading the directions for the Kitchener Stitch (which has happened a couple times), I tried to rip back...that didn't work too well so I fudged it and Kitchenered (correctly, this time) with 14 stitches instead of 12. Nothing seems to be unraveling so I'm going to assume I caught all the live stitches. Also, I didn't pick up the same number of stitches for the gusset on the second sock so my heel gusset decrease isn't the same.
General Notes: I hated the 20 rows of ribbing at the beginning. I think that if (when, most likely) I make these again, I'll only do 10 rows of ribbing and go for the 18 repeats. I think I could have gotten another 6 repeats on each sock.

First sock - you can kind of see where the decreases are on the heel

Second sock - you can see the decreases on this one a little better

The bottom of the heel - you can kind of see the diamond shape that shows up

And lastly, the one I cannot show you photos of (yet).  You can find teaser photos on my project page.

Pattern: Joseph Sweater by Nikki Van De Car (not yet available)
Time Frame: started October 23, 2012; finished November 13, 2012
Yarn: Tasmania by Artfibers
Needles: US #6 (4 mm) 40" circular
Size: 4T
Modifications: None - it was a test knit
General Notes: The pattern is well-written but there were some nuances that needed to be fixed. It's for British publication so everything is in metric and there were some abbreviations that needed to be clarified (like cast on and cast off). Once the math issues and abbreviation problems were fixed, it was easy peasy. I made the sweater as written (only altering decreases because I'm all about symmetry in knitting lately), hoping that Little Man would have a cute sweater to wear in a couple years. I even bothered to check my gauge (and my unblocked gauge was damn near perfect - 21.2 stitches/10 cm)! The final measurements (after blocking) were: 64 cm around (~25.25”), 28 cm from neck to waistband (~11”), 36 cm (~14.12”) from neck to arm cuff, 15 cm (~6”) around arm near elbow. According to The Yarn Council's Child/Youth sizing charts, this sweater would fit somewhere between 4T and 6...but the unfortunate truth is that this sweater is too small for Little Man and he's only in 2T. So, sadly, I'm going to have to pass it on to someone smaller (Sassy Girl, in this case). The only part of this sweater that fit Little Man well was the arm length...but he's still only in 2T so would the arms be the correct length in two years? Probably not. I should also mention that Little Man is average height and weight for his age. He's not abnormally round in the middle or tall or anything like that. I honestly don't think there's anything wrong with the sweater, the pattern, or Little Man. It's a lovely pattern but if I'm going to make it again (and I probably will), I think I'm going to opt for worsted weight, larger needles, and relying on my own measurements of Little Man (or whoever is getting the sweater).


Anyway, that's all I have for you.


In random events, I've had to upgrade my blog a bit because, apparently I'm out of storage for my photos (1GB is not enough, apparently). Rather than move my blog to somewhere else (again), I just decided to upgrade to the 5GB storage and see how that goes.

For more FO Friday fun, visit Tami's blog (linky at the top).