Friday Finishes!

It's rainy and cold here today, so let's look back at a couple finishes I had this month when it was hot and sunny.

I finished the Owlet for my son. It's chunky/bulky weight yarn, not great for asking a kid to model in the summer. But he loved it and was proud to show it off. He'll be gifted this sweater for Christmas, when it's more weather appropriate.

The back. I originally had yellow buttons set aside but I only had enough for 5 owls (there are 13 on his sweater). I wanted all the owls to have button eyes, so I found some other buttons in my stash and used yellow thread to attach them.

He's getting to be a great model.

Less sun in his face for this one. And you can see that his pants are on backwards. Something I didn't notice until I downloaded the pictures from the camera to the computer. Band-aid is from a fall down the stairs earlier this month.

Close-up of the owls.

And I finished my Hello, Hello shawl almost 2 weeks ago. Took pictures of it this week when the weather was crazy hot. I think my cheeks get redder and redder in these pictures. It was too hot to take pictures with a huge shawl wrapped around my neck. 

I think it's the biggest shawl I've ever knit. 

Wrapped around with the green yarn closest to my face.

And with the variegated. 

Another picture to show how big it is.

And if you made it this far, you get to see my finished Spero hat. 

It was a fun knit that ended up taking me forever due to moving, it really should have only taken me a weekend. And I really like the idea of a basic hat with an accent panel. Makes it special.

Have you had any finishes this month?

WIP Wednesday

It's seems I've mainly done WIP posts this month. I swear I have finished things but when Friday comes around the energy I use for blogging is long gone. Maybe I should start scheduling posts again? Think I was a better blogger when I did that. 

Anyway, here are my WIP's for this week. At the end is a spoiler of Jen's latest MKAL. 

I finished crocheting all the snowflakes for my Tree of Snowflakes. Ran out of yarn making the bigger flakes so I frogged the mini ones. Then crocheted new mini ones in plain white yarn. Hopefully having 5 mini snowflakes being different is better than having 2 big snowflakes different.

Now I need to weave in a bunch of ends, block them and attach them to the fabric. 

Prairie Hills shawl saw some attention this week. Yarn seems to pool every couple repeats which is okay. Won't be as noticeable once it's wrapped around my neck. Right?

Lifesavers cardigan got most of the attention this week. It has been great television knitting for Star Trek: Discovery and Alias Grace. Need to knit about 10 more rows and then I can separate the sleeves from the body.

And I signed up to do another test knit for Sarah of Imagined Landscapes. I won't be able to show you any progress pictures until the pattern is published but I can share the yarn I'm going to use. The pattern is part of her +1 Pop Collection. I'm using a bit of Cascade Heritage sock I had leftover from my Low Tide cardigan (which I finished two years ago but still haven't added finished pics to my ravelry page? But it's in a blog post here.). And some lovely yarn from Dragon Strings bought at my LYS, Stix and Stones. It's an OOAK on their Phoenix Wings base, in the Mirrored colourway. Website for Dragon Strings can be found here.

Spoiler for Jen's MKAL is next.

Making slow progress on clue 1. Need to knit two more pattern repeats. Clue 2 comes out Friday so you still have plenty of time to join and get caught up. As a patron of Jen's, I've already seen a little sneak peek of clue 2, and I think I'm going to change to blue for it. 

What have you been working on this week? My poor second sock is still waiting for me to knit it's heel so it wasn't included this week. Maybe next week? And I think I might have to challenge myself to another Socktober next month to finish up the second sock and get a couple pairs knit for Christmas. I'm way behind on that (as in I don't have any gift socks knit up yet!)

WIP Wednesday

It was my birthday this week, so I cast on two new knits for me. I did finish my Hello, Hello shawl on Sunday and it is blocking today. Finished photos Friday? Or maybe next Friday. 

Let's get to my new WIP's!

I bought this variegated yarn over a year ago (on clearance at WEBS - link to yarn with colours still in stock) and thought of doing a Flax light for me. However, it ended up being much brighter in person. I thought of making a sweater for a niece but decided to keep it for myself and make a Lifesavers cardigan (minus the stripes). I thought I could handle wearing this bright yarn if I was able to break it up with a shirt underneath. I matched the yarn and pattern months ago and it's been hard to wait to cast on.

So far, it's not really pooling. I hate to say I'll wait until I separate the sleeves from the body to decide if the yarn and pattern will really work together because that's a lot of knitting. But I'm enjoying the knitting so far.

And I cast on a second Prairie Hills shawl. I test knit this pattern last year. I love that shawl and am waiting for the weather to cool so I can wear it again. I bought the special Camp Loopy yarn this year (first time I did that) and am using it. Had a little pooling start. Hope that clears up during the next pattern repeat or I'll have to rethink the yarn and pattern combo. 

And I did a bit of cross-stitching this weekend. I have two small finishes that need to be ironed and framed, but here's a bookmark that I sent along to a friend as a thank-you for  being a beta-reader (like a test-knitter) of the novel I am currently editing. Bought a kit to make 8 bookmarks at Jo-Ann's earlier this year.  Comes with three different patterns, have to buy your own floss. I used stash floss and tried to match it as close as I could. Only took me a couple hours. Hope to make a few more for Christmas gifts this fall.

What have you been working on this week?

WIP Wednesday

In the past two weeks, I have finished two sweaters, a shawl and a hat. My WIP's are disappearing! I am finally noticing that my knitting pile beside the couch is getting smaller. To reward myself, I went through the stash today and organized it a bit. I hadn't touched it since we moved in almost 3 weeks ago. I threw project bags full of yarn onto a shelf and shoved one container of yarn under the bed and turned my attention to my WIP's. Now that I'm finishing things up, I think I'll be able to cast on a couple things next week (both for me, since my birthday's next week), and I'm pretty excited. 

Today, I took most of the yarn out of project bags and into ziploc bags with their respective patterns. Made more room on the shelf and made it look neater, too. And after having to pay duty on my first parcel from the U.S., I am very committed to using up my stash for the next two years while we are in Canada. And to buy from Canadian shops. ( We might never leave Canada again, but using up the stash during the next two years is a priority both financially and to give us a bit more space, since we are living in my parent's basement while my husband works in England).

You'll have to wait until Friday to see the sweater and hat I finished this week, but here's what else I've been working on.

I hope you can tell that I knit an inch or so of this shawl since last week. Have just over 60 rows left to knit. Can I get it done by Sunday night? That's my goal. Pattern is Hello, Hello shawl. I'm loving it but for some reason it is taking me forever to knit. Hopefully I'll have it finished and blocked by next Friday to share here on the blog.

Second sock is ready for me to do the heel. Would love to get these done by Sunday, as well.

And I found this WIP at the bottom of a bag. Only have 10 snowflakes left to crochet. Should be a quick finish. And I had set aside fabric for this but not sure if I have it in the house or if it is in a bin in the garage. Guess I should search for it. Pattern can be found here. Ugh. Just looked at my ravelry project page and I started this over a year ago! Shame on me for not having it done my now.

What have you been working on this week?

Friday Finish - Branches and Buds Pullover

On Wednesday's post, I included a sneak peek of my finished Branches and Buds pullover. It was my August Camp Loopy project and needed to be finished by midnight, August 31st. I'm glad to say I made it, knitting the second sleeve in less than 24 hours!

Here's the sneak peek again. I'm still blown away that I did colour work. And that it lies flat! Now I keep looking at sweaters with colour work. Fun, fun, fun.

My husband got out of bed on the 31st to take this picture of me to post on the Loopy Ewe site. I finished just after 11pm on the 31st. Ends weren't woven in yet and it definitely wasn't blocked.

Post-blocking pictures. Yarn relaxed and softened. Feels great. Yarn is Rosy Green Wool, Cheeky Merino Joy in the Cream and Coffee Bean colourways. Cream was a limited edition and no longer available at The Loopy Ewe, but other colours are, here. 

I haven't added any buds to my sweater yet as I haven't been able to decide how many to put on, if any. I have some olive green (leftover from my Fogliame cardigan) set aside for buds. I kind of want to do a lot or none at all.  Might do a few and see how I like them.

So happy I didn't give up and finished it. I love it!

And yes, I plan to use my mom's lovely garden for finished pics. Until the snow comes.

Did you have any finishes this week?

WIP Wednesday

It's been three weeks but my WIP's haven't changed much. I did finish one, and I'll share it here on Friday. And I started one, but it's a secret and I can't share it. 

The past three weeks have been very busy. My husband accepted a job in Sheffield, England, starting November 1st. However, it's too expensive for all of us to go (there are 5 of us), so he will be going alone. The kids and I are living with my parents (husband is here until the beginning of November). The job is only for 18 months but it's going to be a challenge. We're happy to be living back in Canada again and our kids are attending Canadian schools for the first time - my little guy will be going to Junior Kindergarten, all day, every day, starting next week. I'm going to miss him. 

My knitting has taken a bit of a backseat due to packing and moving. We are now settled into our new space and I'm motivated to finish some WIP's so I can start something new on my birthday later this month. Some of the WIP's below haven't been touched in weeks but thought I'd share everything I'm trying to finish in the next two weeks.

My Hello, Hello shawl just has garter rows left but I haven't knit a stitch of this since... July? I'm not sure. Need to finish it because I really want to wear it this fall.

On the weekend, I finally cast on the second sock. Makes great knitting when the tennis matches at the U.S. Open are too good to look down at a pattern.

Spero hat was ignored for a few weeks but I'm ten rows away from decreasing for the crown. Then it will be time to mail it to Jen for her Hat-A-long.

And the Owlet sweater for my son has grown since the last post. It has sleeves! Picture was taken after knitting the first row of the Owlet pattern. I'm almost done that section now.

And I already have buttons for the Owl eyes!

My knitting view this morning.

And a sneak peek at my finish. More pictures on Friday.

And my secret knitting is a sample for Jen Lucas. You'll see it next year in her book but all I can show you today is my son enjoying the box the yarn and pattern arrived in.

What have you been up to?