Not Much Knitting

The weather here in Ontario has finally gotten beautiful and warm.  I'm spending so much time outside with my kids. With the warmer weather comes deck weather and BBQ time.  Our deck is in such bad shape that we've been working on giving it a mini-makeover  . . .because we can't afford to replace it. We've been in our house 6 years and the balcony is about 12 years old and the lower deck over 20 years old.

Here's what it looked like before: 

Faded, ripped cushions that get dripping wet with the slightest bit of rain.

Phase 1: Replace rotting stairs with narrower set and put in a railing section and make new cushion covers

New Steps and Railing

New, clean cushion covers that are water resistant!

I think I need to sit out there right now!

Now I have a nice place to sit and knit out my yard.  The next phase of the deck makeover is to put a baby gate up and fix the entryway into the house and the BBQ area.  Followed by a complete paint job to minimize the chances of slivers. 

I'm working slowly on Regatta Tee.  I've finished the front and \I'm working on the back but I won't be finished by the end of the knit-along.

Sock Design

Can you wear shoes without socks?  I don't mean sandals.  I mean shoes and cute little shoes like ballet flats.  I see people wear shoes all the time and it doesn't look like they are wearing socks in them. 

I've tried that and I can't do it.  I have bought those toe/heel socks that can go inside your shoe but they don't really work for me.  I started thinking maybe I could knit a pair of socks to go inside my shoes, just enough that I feel like I'm wearing socks but you can't see them.  I started thinking about how to make socks like that. Top-down? nope, that won't work. Toe-up . . . still can't see how it will work.  Then I got my copy of the summer Interweave Magazine and in it is Sole-up socks! What? 

The patterns in the magazine are for regular socks but I think if I just knit the bottom portion . . . from the sole up I might just end up with some little liner socks for my shoes.  I'm going to give it a try.  Wish me luck.

#tttkal - Tops, tanks and tees knit along

I've immediately joined another knit along.  The Tops, Tanks and Tees knit along hosted by Very Shannon.

I already had this in my queue to knit and it also uses up another stash yarn.  All of a sudden I don't feel like knitting another sweater or socks as we've just started to have warmer weather here in Canada.

The pattern I picked is the Regatta Tee from Interweave Knits, Summer 2013

So far I've got this much done on the back.  My kind of knit.  Easy knitting for the most part but enough of a pattern to the knitting that makes it interesting.  The colour changes are very motivating since it is about an inch between each brown stripe so it feels progress is going so fast.  Then at the top I get to knit a beautiful lace pattern!

But  I am not finding as much time to knit as I normally do since we've been doing some DIY projects around the house and garden.  I'll put up some pictures of those soon.

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Shallows Cowl and Knit Along

I joined a knit along at Leighside Knits . I love how thoughtful each of Leigh's posts whether she's writing about knitting or anything else.

Leigh asked each knitter involved several questions, about knitting and very thought provoking questions.  You can read my answers and those of the other knitters here


Pattern: Shallows Cowl  by Bonnie Sennott
Yarn: unknown white yarn, maybe acrylic/wool blend?
Needles: 3.75 mm

The suggested patterns for the yarn-along were by Bonnie Sennott.  I took a look through the patterns and loved the Shallows Cowl.

It was a quick and easy knit.  I like the lace pattern followed by patches of stockinette.  It will be perfect for a little bit more warmth on these spring days or with a dress in the summer.

Thanks Leigh for hosting such a thoughtful knit along.

Grey Long-Sleeve Cardigan

Pattern: Carrie Cropped Flare Sleeve Cardigan
Yarn: Americo Original Copito Medeo
Needles: size 11, 8 mm

I had bought this Copito Medeo yarn to make this vest.  I have one in green and enjoy wearing it.  But for some reason I didn't end up wanting to make one again so I went searching for a pattern without very much yarn and a chunky yarn and found the Carrie Cropped Flaire Sleeve Cardigan. So I modified this pattern quite a bit.
The original pattern is a cropped cardigan with flared sleeves and lace insets.  I've made the sleeves with the lace inset but adjusted the stitch count so there isn't a flare to the sleeve.

I knit the pattern as written to the bottom edge but instead of stopping at a crop cardigan length I continued until I had a full length sweater.  The first time I finished it it was too short and too wide. I've had to rip out the bottom out. I knit the bottom again, without increasing as much.  I added a button band edge and large buttons.  I put the button band in 3 times before I has happy with it. 

This is me wearing it for the first time and being happy with it.

Toddler Hoodie - Finished

Another FO!  This cardigan fits my daughter perfectly.  Nice and snug, the arms the right length.

Pattern: Toddler Raglan Hoodie by Megan Goodacre  (free)
Yarn: Knit Picks Swish Worsted
Needles: 4.5 mm

I had enough yarn leftover from my Grey Star Cardigan that I had to knit something for my daughter. Mommy and C in our coordinating sweaters. Not quite matching . . .   I do love each of the sweaters . . . might not wear them on the same days.  What do you think?  Too much?

May WIP's

What do I have on my needles right now?

 1.  Fairisle Toddler Raglan Hoodie

Pattern: Toddler Raglan Hoodie
Yarn: Swish Worsted by Knit Picks
Needles: 4.5 mm

So close to being finished.  I'm almost done the first sleeve and just need to finish the second one. Finished by the weekend then my little girl can have a sweater with matching colours to my Grey Star Cardigan I just finished.

 

2. Shallows Cowl

Pattern: Shallows Cowl  by Bonnie Sennott
Yarn: unknown white yarn, maybe acrylic/wool blend?
Needles: 3.75 mm

I joined a yarn along at Leighside Knits with a focus on patterns by Bonnie Sennott.  I took a look through the patterns and loved the Shallows Cowl.  I've decided I'm a cowl girl, not a scarf girl.  I like the lace pattern followed by patches of stockinette. I think this will allow me to make quick work of it . . and another yarn gone out of my stash! I love how thoughtful each of Leigh's posts whether she's writing about knitting or anything else.

3. Toddler Bolero

Pattern: Sirdar Jumping Jellybeans Bolero 1215
Yarn: Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo
Needles: 3.75

A nice light, summery shrug for my daughter.

 

To Be Cast On

1. Purple Socks

Pattern: Tuscany Socks From the book Toe-up Two-at-a-time Socks by Melissa Morgan-Oakes
Yarn: Tough Love Sock by Sweet Georgia Yarn

I bought this yarn at the Creativ Festival in Toronto last week.  My needles arrived today from Knit Picks so I'm ready to start swatching. I was pleasently surprised to find out that Sweet Georgia yarns is a Canadian fiber company.

2. I Heart Purple

Pattern: I Heart Cardigan
By Tanis Lavallee
Yarn: Tanis Fiber Arts Green Label Aran Weight

No pictures because I'm waiting for the yarn to arrive. I've been wanting some TFA yarn as soon as I discovered Tanis' blog and online yarn store. Her colours are amazing and I love that she's a Canadian yarn artist.

Finished but needs adjusting

 

Grey Long-Sleeve Cardigan

Pattern: Carrie Cropped Flare Sleeve Cardigan
Yarn: Americo Original Copito Medeo
Needles: size 11, 8 mm
Original pattern is a cropped cardigan with flared sleeves.  I've made the sleeves with the lace inset but adjusted the stitch count so there isn't a flare to the sleeve. I'm having issues with my buttonbands (the bane of my knitting world sometimes). I've set it aside for when I'm less frustrated to attempt fixing again.

 

Sort of Hibernating Projects

 

Sunset Purse

Pattern: Tosh Purse 
Unknown sock yarn that has been in my stash so long I lost the label.
Needles: size 2.5 mm

One side knit on circulars all at one time

I'm making slow progress on my purse.  I'm not very interested in finishing it right now but if I need a small to-go project this one is sitting there just ready to take with me.

Blue Hoodie

Pattern: Olive Branch Hoodie
Yarn: cotton yarn
Needles: 4.5 mm

I have no timeline for finishing this sweater.  It is a really easy knit that I can pick up at any time if any of my other projects are at a difficult phase and need something to do.  This will probably be a WIP for several months as well.

That's it right now.  I have several others I would like to start but knitting time has been diminishing recently. The weather has been slightly nicer so we've been outside more.  I've also been tackling some DIY projects around the house.  I'll share some of those soon . . .even though they don't have anything to do with knitting.

What do you have on your needles. Let me know in the comments.