FO Friday: I FINISHED ALL THE THINGS!

Happy Friday! Okay, my blog post title isn't exactly accurate....but it feels like I've finished a bunch of items lately, which isn't a total lie because some of them were long-running WIPs. So, FINISH ALL THE THINGS!

Let's see what I've got this week! I suppose I should start with what was completed first...

Pacific Waves Hat (link to Project Page)

Pattern: Pacific Waves Hat, still unpublished by me because it's still not ready

Time Frame: started March 31, 2016; finished April 2, 2016

Yarn: leftover Knit Picks Swish DK in Orange

Needles: US #5 (3.75 mm) & US #8 (5 mm) Signature DPNs

Size: I used the numbers for the newborn size but because it's DK, it came out premie sized....

Modification(s): It's my pattern so I'm still figuring out a few things. The numbers I've got are for worsted weight so I'm working out how it translates to DK weight and, in this case, the numbers for the worsted weight knit in DK yarn give me a size smaller. I'm not positive if it's true across the board...I'm working on a 0-6 month size in DK weight to see if it'll come out newborn sized, and so far, it appears that is what will happen.

Thoughts: I have no idea what I'm going to do with this wee little hat. Seriously, this hat is tiny. I suspect that it's going to wind up going to the hospital for the NICU. Or, perhaps, for a toy we have around here...but really, probably the hospital. It was made specifically to test the pattern in another size and I screwed up by using a DK weight and I just rolled with it. Soooo, there's that. It's tiny, though.


Anyway, moving along....

Vanilla Latte Socks (link to Project Page)

Pattern: Vanilla Latte Socks by Virginia Rose-Jeanes

Time Frame: started November 19, 2015; finished April 6, 2016

Yarn: Paton's Kroy Socks Ragg Shades in Blue Striped Ragg

Needles: US #1 (2.25 mm) - two long circulars

Size: Medium

Modification(s): I had a few modifications...I did Jeny's Stretchy CO over two needles, the cuff ribbing was done in 2x2 with all the knit stitches done through the back loop (tbl), and then things got weird for a bit. I stole two stitches from the end of the last repeat and moved them to the beginning of the new round for the heel flap, which I did my usual Modified Eye of Partridge heel flap over 34 stitches...except I did my rows backwards (they were facing correctly but I started on a "s1, k1" instead of the "k1, s1" but, whatever. The idea was that I would keep the garter strip down the heel flap and eliminate unbalanced socks.

So, my numbers were different for the heel turn so I did my usual Rounder Heel, which is fine. And because I stole those stitches for the heel flap, the foot of my sock wouldn't be unbalanced. What I mean is that if I had knit the sock per the instructions, I would have had four garter strips down the foot and on one of the sides, I would have had gusset decreases right next to it (if I even did my gusset decreases there - which I didn't) and it wouldn't have been centered, which would have driven me nuts. I'm one of those people that doesn't do asymmetrical in my socks. Things have to be centered or evenly distributed....and these wouldn't have been. But by moving everything just two stitches over, suddenly things were centered. And it worked. And it didn't drive me nuts.

Thoughts: I love these socks and I might actually make another pair. They're perfect for travel/kid knitting because they've got just enough interest to keep things going but they're the kind of project you can just work on while watching TV...which doesn't mean I didn't have to go back and fix a few mistakes here and there but, for the most part, these were my "I'm at swimming lessons/soccer/friends' house" knitting. That may be part of why they were finished so quickly in comparison to some of my other socks (nope, not side-eying my Dragon's Egg Socks OR the next ones I'm going to show you...).

And lastly..........

Snape's Stockings (link to Project Page)

Pattern: Snape's Stockings by Erica Lueder

Time Frame: started August 20, 2014; finished April 11, 2016

Yarn: Happy Fuzzy Yarn Merino Tencel Fingering in Steel & Pearls

Needles: US #1 (2.25 mm) - two long circulars

Size: One size (72 sts)

Modification(s): The pattern calls for 20 rounds of ribbing; I did 15 rounds. I did my usual Modified Eye of Partridge heel flap starting on the WS (because of how this pattern was written, it made more sense to do it this way). The heel turn I left alone as it worked out pretty well. I did my double gusset heel decreases (with k2tog & ssk on the edges instead of the other way around). I started evening up the toe decreases on round 24 of the pattern (because my instep had more stitches than my heel). I think those were my only modifications. Well, I ignored the toe decrease instructions and did my usual toe decreases, but that's fine.

Thoughts: This is a good, solid pattern....but these socks did end up being a little big. I don't know if that's a function of the weight loss or if they were just going to be that big. They have some stretch to them so I suspect it's the socks themselves. If I were to make them again, I'd probably go down to a US #0 (2 mm) needle, or maybe even a US #00 (1.75 mm) as there really isn't a way to modify the pattern otherwise. Sooooo, there's that. I think I'd also opt for a solid or semi-solid yarn. The pattern gets lost in the stripes....not that I'm not going to wear these because I totally will. Just things to ponder....



Anyway, I hope you're having a lovely Friday :) I should be back on Sunday with my Year of Projects update!

Today's post brought to you by Satan (it's my 666th post on this blog!)