super secret!

 

the manly blanket

Normally my top-secret Christmas gifts are knitted ... this year marks the re-emergence of the crochet hook! It's been ages since I crocheted anything, and I honestly forget what little skills I'd learned. But every year I've admired different crochet projects and promised myself I'd re-learn. What kicked my butt into motion this year was the ubiquitous "mermaid tail" blanket you've probably seen floating around the web (or its frequently seen alternate version, the shark!). I just couldn't resist making one for my daughter (for anyone who grew up watching Ariel in The Little Mermaid the idea of a mermaid blanket is pretty irresistible!) The pattern I'm using is a simple one--no crazy dragonscale crochet for me--it's called "bulky and quick mermaid tail blanket." I'm using three strands of worsted weight acrylic held together, so it's going FAST. And I love it! I pre-approved the idea of the blanket with my daughter, but am only working on this while she's at school so I can give it to her at Christmas. My other project is another blanket, but this one is in Mississippi State University colors for my husband. Just call this my year of blankets!

mermaid tail blanket, in progress

Today I'm linking up with Tammy's Stitch-Along Wednesday, Ginny for Yarn Along, and Nicole for Keep Calm Craft On.

Love Your Library, vol. 28

The top-down seamless raglan I'm knitting up for my daughter almost has a finished sleeve! I should be able to finish this by the end of the month ... I think I can, I think I can.

more stashbustin'

My third garter squish blanket for the year is FINISHED, and it couldn't be at a better time now that we've had a sudden spell of gray, overcast and rainy weather here in Mississippi. It actually feels a little bit like the beginning of winter and I actually want to put on a sweatshirt for once!

This beast ate up 4,375 yards from my stash (specific yarns on my Ravelry project page). Wowser. I did purchase the grays and blacks for this one, so technically only half that number was "stashbusted" but I'm still celebrating! Especially since the orange yarn had sat in my stash with intentions of becoming a blanket for at least two years now. Just like the last one, I used size 13 needles and cast on 150ish stitches. It makes a generous twin-sized blanket even with using a size smaller needles than Stephen West's pattern calls for.

 

Now I'm on to the next of my "must knit now" list--a sweater in uniform-compliant colors for my daughter to wear to school. Like I said, the weather's just starting to turn here in Mississippi. Good thing top-down raglan kid sweaters knit up fast! In falling with my, "time to get back to my Love Your Library challenge" mind-frame, I pulled out my Ann Budd book of top-down sweater patterns for this project. This is the child's basic raglan pattern, but this time I'm following the v-neck and cardigan instructions. I'll probably add some extra length to try to squeeze two cold-weather seasons out of this sweater. We'll see ...

Today I'm linking up with Tammy's Stitch-Along Wednesday, Ginny for Yarn Along, and Nicole for Keep Calm Craft On.

Love Your Library, vol. 27

The minions are growing! And in the meantime, I busted out a hat to add to my gift-giving pile. This is another pattern I loved so much I'm making it again--Pioneer Peak. I made my first one back in February, and after weighing it realized I had barely enough scraps of Malabrigo Mecha leftover to make a second one. And now I did! I love how fast this pattern is--easily a knit it in one night of television watching pattern.

Pattern: pioneer peak (link to my Rav project page)
Needles: size 8 for ribbing, size 10 for body of hat
Yarn: leftover scraps of malabrigo mecha (colorway: whale's road), used approx. 90 yards
Mods: skipped a few of the resting purl rounds in the decrease section since I was playing yarn chicken at the end!

So far this year I've had more luck repeatedly knitting patterns I have in my library more than anything else it seems. Oh well--at least I'm getting my money's worth, right?

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waddling into the holidays

I'm in denial that this is the end of the first week of November. I mean, come on--it was Halloween yesterday, right? Sigh. Part of me loves seeing all the Christmas items start to appear, and the other part of me is in full-on panic since this means time is short for those holiday knitting gift lists. I like to participate in a handful of holiday swaps with my online knitting friends, and knit this adorable penguin ornament for one of my lucky friends. I'll definitely be making a second one for our tree! It knit up within two days, but could easily be done in one day if you had uninterrupted time. The pattern is a freebie (yay!) published on the Knit Picks website. This pattern is great for using up leftover scraps, I estimate it used less than 50 yards altogether! And the only real seaming you do is sewing the wings, nose, and tummy on (the rest is knit in the round) and sewing the feet together. But it's quick and relatively painless, even for a seaming-avoider like me.

Project: Penguin ornament (link to my Ravelry project page)
Needles: size 4s
Yarn: Assorted acrylic on hand (Caron Simply Soft in black, Mary Maxim Starlette in red, mystery white cotton, Knit Picks Swish Worsted in carrot)
Mods: None!

soooo close

So I put this bad boy down last month since it was all about hats that month. Which just about killed me, since I could just taste the end of this project! But that's okay. The kids needed hats, and that was an awesome guild charity project. But I can't lie, I'm just about jumping up and down to be thisclose to finishing my third monstrous garter squish blanket of the year (I know!?!?! Insanity!). One skein of Lion Brand Homespun is left--that and weaving in ends. Woooooooo!

Today I'm linking up with Tammy's Stitch-Along Wednesday, Ginny for Yarn Along, and Nicole for Keep Calm Craft On.

Love Your Library, vol. 26

Time to get back on my Love Your Library challenge wagon!!  This month is going to be all about Christmas knitting. Can you guess what my first project is??? Hint: I've knit two of these before ... it's yellow and mischievous ... yup, it's another minion! Two minions, in fact. You're seeing the very top of the crown of the head in progress right now. What's to come? Another hat, and maybe a Rebecca Danger dinosaur stuffy for one of my kiddos.

How's your challenge going?

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