Finally getting time to do more of what I love...

Don't get me wrong, I love school. I love what it will do for me once I graduate, but I'm ready for it to be over. No hope of that any time soon thought since I have one more year for my BFA and then another 2 years for my Masters. I just started looking at all the options for a Masters in Fiber Arts and my pickings are pretty slim. 6 schools so far and one is already pretty much out of the running since it has bombarded me with 5 emails in less than a day. Requesting information and having your email account assault are two entirely different things.

But now on to more fun topics. I have a couple FOs to share.

First up is Dan's Christmas sweater, Durrow.

The yarn is my hand-spun, the roving was from The Painted Tiger, very nice lady and she makes some fabulous colors! This sweater practically gave me fits because I had to re-knit the yoke 4 times to get it right. First the saddle style yoke wasn't working for me so I ripped it and went raglan, then the neck was too wide, then it wasn't high enough, finally I got it as close as it was gonna get to right because I ran down to the last 2 yards of yarn. Still the sweater works and Dan loves the color.

Next up is a baby sweater that my Mom asked me to make for a friend of hers. The pattern is Tadpole and is very cute. On the same day my mom asked me to make it Barb handed me a bag of sock yarn in the perfect colors. I took it to Austria with me and finished the sweater on the drive between Vienna and Salzburg. I whipped up a little matching hat, which will hopefully be big enough, in the same stitch pattern. I hope the recipient gets lots of use out of it. A picture with the hat can be seen on my Ravelry notebook

Then there is a lovely pair of socks, these were going to be for Dan, but he decided they were too colorful for him. I spun the yarn out of 4oz of merino from Dancing Leaf Farm. The Colorway is carnival and it was my first attempt to get a self stripping yarn. I divided the roving in half length wise and got a pretty great result.

My 1st cousin once removed is currently pregnant and at that particular age (early 20's) where that glaringly neon pink is very popular. I found a cone of fingering weight yarn in Barb's stash and quickly churned out this pattern. The color is not accurate, but you get the idea. It's a really cute pattern, but I do advise casting off a couple stitches under the arm when joining the sleeves. I made a matching set of booties to complete the set. The baby shower is next month so all I need to do is wash them and box them up and they'll be ready to go. My Mom and I are going together and I have a feeling she'll ask me to make a sweater for her to give too.

So with this slue of baby sweaters you think I wouldn't want to see another one, but no, there are 2 more babies coming into the family in August. Dan's cousin's fiance is pregnant with twins and since we don't know the sex of the wee one's yet I picked up some gender neutral colors and am going to be designing a pair of sweaters for them. I have some great plans and hopefully I'll submit this pattern for publication so I'll have to keep the rest under wraps for now.

So....

Yeah, I've neglected my photo project. Things have been very hectic here since the start of the new school year and having to go back to working a regular job. I have a few designs in the works that will hopefully be up in the near future. So stayed tuned...if anyone even reads this, that is.

Christmas in August

Many years ago when I first started knitting I made my God-daughter a huge Christmas stocking which she loves and is still in use. I recently was requested by her mom to make another stocking for her son Alex. So for his second birthday I completed this lovely piece from my own pattern. I think my embroidery details leave something to be desired, but whatever.

Quick pattern for anyone who would like to make it. Previous sock knitting knowledge is helpful.
Needles: size 4 16" circular and double pointed needles
Yarn: I used a recycled yarn from a sweater, but any sport-dk weight yarn will do

Cast on 70 stitches, place marker, join in the round being careful not to twist.
Knit 10.5 inches

Heel:worked over 35 sts back and forth (standard short row heel)
Change to contrasting heel color, knit 34sts, slip 1, wrap, turn
Slip 1, purl 33sts, wrap, turn
Slip 1, knit 32sts, wrap, turn
Continue in this manner until you have 11 un-worked sts in the center and 12 wrapped sts on each side.
Knit 12sts, pick up wrap on first wrapped st and knit it together with the st, wrap, turn.
Purl 13sts, pick up wrap on first wrapped st and knit it together with the st, wrap, turn.
Knit 14sts, pick up both wraps ans knit it together with the st, wrap, turn.
Purl 15sts, pick up both wraps ans knit it together with the st, wrap, turn.
Continue in this manner until all wrapped sts have been worked. Place marker at end of heel, this is your new round marker.
Continue in the round with main body color for 5.5 inches
Toe:
Knit one round of contrast color placing second marker at 35 sts from begining marker.
Knit 1, ssk, knit to 3 sts before next marker, k2tog, knit2, ssk, knit to 3 sts before next marker, k2tog, knit 1.
Knit one round
Repeat these 2 rows 4 more times.
Then decrease every row until 9sts remain on each side of toe.
Graft the remaining toe stitches.

Hanging loop:
Cast on 3sts using double pointed needles, work 4 inches of i-cord and bind off. Leave long tail for attaching to stocking.

Cuff option 1: Measure stocking circumference.
Cast on 25sts with contrasting color, work in stockinette st until the length matches the circumference of your stocking. Knit a few extra rows, bind off and sew ends together. Sew to the top of the stocking. Attach i-cord loop. Embroider your own design or have it custom monogrammed.
Cuff option 2: Pick up 70 sts from cast on edge and knit garter or stockinette in the round to desired length, bind off. Attach i-cord loop. Embroider your own design or have it custom monogrammed.
Enjoy!

Catch up!

So a crazy busy weekend has led to the begining of a fairly busy week. Not crazy busy, just a steady flow of things to do. I'm most looking forward to Friday which is my orientation day at Arcadia. I'll finally get to find out my schedule so I can feel confident in looking for another part time job to wrap around my crazy schedule.

Now back to the fun and pretty bits.
This goes with the all over suck that was Friday and the general anger that came with it.

Saturday was much better. Erica and Josh's wedding was beautiful and fun.

And inspired by pictures taken on Saturday is piece number 4

Still three days behind, but I'll catch up tomorrow. Right now it's late and time for bed.

Day two and two new pieces

Today was an interesting day, got to meet some of Dan's foreign family, his cousin Diego was flying back to Italy today and had a layover in Philadelphia. This could have gone horribly wrong (and me and airports usually do)since there was no predetermined meeting place, but we managed to meet, have a nice lunch, and get them back to the airport in time for their flight. Took a few photos on the way too and from to use in today's project and ended up with two options which I like very much. In fact I couldn't decide which was better so I'm posting both. Perhaps you'll tell me which you prefer?

Back again with a new idea...

So in an effort not to neglect the blog anymore and simultaneously stimulate my creativity on a regular basis I’ve decided to embark on 365 days of digital art. Everyday I will do a small digital piece either based on photos I already have or ones I have taken that day. Along with the small digital pieces I’ll hopefully be adding new paintings, I’m going to try and do two a week, but we’ll see how my school/work schedule lets me manage this. If I average one painting a week by the end of the year it will be a good start.

A long time ago I let myself be driven away from the path of art because it wasn’t a viable career, yet in this day and age not much IS a viable career so I am going back to what I love and am going to do it till the day I die.

That is truly a liberating statement! Especially since I've spent most of my life working at jobs I couldn't stand.

So without further ado, here is my first piece in the 365 series titled
Roma

Appalachian Socks

Here's a lovely little sock pattern for you all to try. It has been test knit, but please let me know if you find any problems.Here is the Ravelry link. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/appalachian-socks
Enjoy! More designs coming soon!

Appalachian socks

Finished size- women 9
Yarn- approximately 220 yds worsted weight yarn
Needles- Size 5 dpns or size needed to obtain gauge
Notions- St marker, tapestry needle
Gauge- 21 sts and 28 rows=4” in St st
Terms: pm-place marker
M1-with right needle pick up strand between working sts and place on left needle, knit through the back loop to make a twisted increase.
Yo-yarn over
Skp-slip st knitwise, k1, plass slipped st over
Tbl- through the back loop

Middle Eastern Wrap Cast On-16sts
Round 1:With 2 needles held parallel and end of yarn between needles in left hand wrap yarn clockwise around needles from left to right for half the number of sts to be cast on. ie 16sts=8 wraps.
Round 2: Holding needles in your left hand use a third needle to knit 8 sts across 1st needle. Turn work and knit across 8sts on second needle.
Round 3: With empty needle *pick up 2 sts between working needles, k8* repeat once. 20sts total Divide sts evenly onto 4 needles.
Round 4: knit all needles
Round 5: k1, pm on needle 1 only(marks the beginning of the round ), m1, k to the last st on needle 2, m1, k1. Repeat increases across needles 3 and 4.
Repeat rounds 4 & 5 until there are 11sts on each needle. Toe should be 2 inches at this point, add additional repeats of round 4 to reach this measurement.


Foot pattern Needles 1&2 instep, needles 3&4 sole
Round 1: *k1, yo, skp, k2, p1, k2, k2tog, yo, k1* repeat on needle 2 Needle 3 & 4 knit
Round 2-4-6: Needle 1 &2 k5, p1, k10, p1, k5 Needle 3&4 knit
Round 3: *k2, yo, skp, k1, p1, k1, k2tog, yo, k2* repeat on needle 2 Needle 3 & 4 knit
Round 5: *k3, yo, skp, p1, k2tog, yo, k3*repeat on needle 2. Needle 3 & 4 knit.
Repeat as many times as necessary, 6 for a size 9

Short row heel
Worked on 22 sts on needles 3 and 4.
Row 1(ws) slip 1 purlwise with yarn in front, p19, wrap, turn
Row 2:(rs) k18, wrap, turn
Row 3: p17, wrap, turn
Row 4: k16, wrap, turn

Continue to decrease in this fashion until you reach row 12
Row 12: k8, wrap, turn
Begin increasing
Row 13: p9, wrap, turn
Row 14: k10, wrap, turn
Row 15: p11, wrap, turn
Continue increasing in this fashion until you have knit 23 rows and all sts have been knit.

Leg
Note-repeat pattern across all 4 needles
Round 1: *k1, yo, skp, k2, p1, k2, k2tog, yo, k1* repeat
Round 2-4-6: *k5, p1, k5*repeat
Round 3: *k2, yo, skp, k1, p1, k1, k2tog, yo, k2* repeat
Round 5: *k3, yo, skp, p1, k2tog, yo, k3*repeat


Cuff 1
Round 1:K2tog, p1, *k1,p1* repeat 4 times, then repeat entire direction across each needle..
Round 2: *p1, k1 * repeat
Round 3: *k1, p1* repeat
Repeat rounds 2 & 3 until cuff is 1” long.
Bind off loosely

Cuff 2
Round 1: *k2, p2*repeat
Round 2: *k2, p2*repeat
Repeat rounds 1 & 2 till cuff measures 1”
Bind off loosely.