Finished, Just One Day Late

The hydrangea in our front yard is in full bloom.

I didn't let myself work on my sock design.  I made myself work on, and finish, yes!, the toys I am making for my niece's birthday next month.

I made her a small knitted purse,

it is the Tweed Stitch Bag from Coupeville Yarns.  I got the free pattern and bought the yarns (Mauch Chunky in Grape by Kraemer Yarns, and Covington in Maroon by Cascade Yarns) during the 2012 Puget Sound LYS Tour last May.

The first toy is the mouse I made earlier this year (all of these toys are from the book Amigurumi by Lan-Anh Bui and Josephine Wan).

I have finished the 2 other toys that I plan to put inside the purse, as a birthday surprise.

The first is a tiger.

The second is the Ballet Bunny.

They are not perfect, but they are all perfectly cute.

Happy Birthday, K.

Yours,
Auntie f1bercat
shaping the planet with lots of little toys

Need to Post Fast and Get to Bed

Once again no FO's for my Friday.  But not for the usual reason.  (The usual reason is either that I am a slow knitter, or that I got busy with other things, and didn't knit.)

Since I finished my July socks so quickly, I've been working on mainly 2 things.  The Echo Flower Shawl for my mom, and a birthday gift for my niece, K, who will be 6 in August.

I am on the middle of the 12th of 13 repeats for the main body of the shawl (yay!).  I finally feel like I am developing a rhythm with the pattern.   Of course, I might have developed this rhythm a bit sooner, if I had been more monogamous with the shawl knitting.

I made a purse already for K from a free pattern I got (and the yarn to go with the pattern) on the Puget Sound LYS Tour in May.

I am knitting her a Belinda Jane Doll, but probably with different hair (she is blonde), and definitely different clothes, but I think that will be for Christmas.  The first Belinda Doll I made was for K's little sister, and I don't want the birthday gifts to be the same.

So she will get the purse, but I want to put 3 amigurumis in it for her.

I plan to give her my best mouse.

And, by best mouse, I mean the little cute one on the left.  The one that doesn't look mutant.

I still need to make 2 more little toys.

I worked on a Ballet Bunny, from the book Amigurumi by Bui and Wan.  I bought some Dream Baby DK by Plymouth Yarn in various colors.

 I hooked the pieces of the Ballet Bunny.

But I have not stuffed it, sewn the face, nor sewn the bunny together.

What I did instead all day, was play with a sock pattern I am designing myself.  I just couldn't make myself put the sock down and finish something.  I am really excited because it is my first pattern really from scratch.  I have altered other patterns, but never started with a blank slate.

Definitely more to come on the sock.  And I hope to post some really finished toys to put into the purse.

I did make myself hit theY, but rather than work on my Better Than French Vanilla Socks (which are almost ready for the heel flaps),

I worked on the new design while riding.

Where in the World is f1bercat?

Since I did not post yesterday, but did ride, I am adding yesterday and today together milewise.  This gives me about 13 miles for the 2 days. I have now knitted 318.93 miles.


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I am more than halfway through Oregon.

Stay safe and well.

Yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet with pieces of bunny  and almost, sort of, an echo flower shawl

Because I don't have enough to do...

2012.04.16

I've joined another group on Ravelry.    It's the Harry Potter Knitting & Crochet House Cup (HPKCHC) . I am still figuring this group out, but I am sure it will add tons of stress to my life with knitting/crochet projects that I must do!

As far as I can tell, we get "sorted" into houses, though you can stay in the "lobby" unsorted and still participate with no pressure.  The houses compete for the cup, and I'm not even sure how that works, though it might be points based on the projects you finish.

Anyway, the school is technically on vacation this month, and we are "traveling" around the world.  The first stop was Finland.  One of the "professors" gave a little travelogue in the thread with information and photos of Finland (gorgeous), and cooking recipes/crochet and knitting patterns you can attempt.

So, I made a Troll!

It is a Moomin Troll. by Samantha Evans, who is Samegirl on Ravelry.  It is a bit pigeon-toed, and doesn't really stand up.  Ok, it doesn't stand at all.  I might take the legs off, and resew them so he is sitting down. 

I cleaned out my queue (another of the challenges for this month).  I changed everything to "favorites" and just put in a few things that I am really planning on making next.

The next challenge is to organize my stash.  EEEEEEK!  that is a huge project for me because I have tons of random yarn from when I was a Camp Fire Leader all in a big mess in my office.  I hope to get that done next weekend.  Now that I have written it here. it must happen.

Where in the World is f1bercat?

Still with a hacking cough, sitting on the couch.  When I do get back to the bike, I am going to have to start over at 30 min.  Oh, well.

Stay well, wash your hands.  Watch out for trolls.

f1bercat
shaping the planet one Moomin at a time

Still Sick, But I have a MOUSE to share

2012.04.10

No Bike Ride again today.  Tomorrow, I plan to hobble slowly around the block if it is not raining.  I almost feel like I could make it to the Y and slowly pedal for 15 - 30 minutes or so, but really, if I were exercising there, and someone like me came in with a hacking cough, I would be pretty afraid I would get the flu.  My poor husband, the Doc, is sitting in his chair right now, coughing and (maybe it's my imagination) looking pointedly in my direction.  I hope he doesn't get the violent chills and body aches that I had on  Easter night.

I did make another try at a real mouse, not an R.O.U.S.  I just couldn't get the mouse small enough, no matter how tightly I crocheted it.  I checked the back of the book, and it seems these authors are using the English crochet terminology, not the American terminology.  So, what they call a dc (double crochet) is for me a SINGLE CROCHET!

I used a different beige yarn, but it was the same weight at the first 2 tries.  So, the first try has Double Crochets and a different size hook.  I'm not sure what I used, but it is probably a US size F or a 3.75mm.  The second try I dropped down to a US size C 2.75 mm hook, used the same yarn, and Double Crochets.  In the last one I used the small hook, the 2.75 mm the same size yarn, and Single Crochets.

I have this funny mouse family.  Ok, the eyes are too big.  I'm still working out the bugs!













Getting to bed early again tonight.  Please take care, wash your hands a lot.  Stay well.

Yours,

f1bercat
shaping the planet one mouse family at a time

The One Where I Watch NCIS

2012.03.20 Fuji Cherry

Hello!  f1beristas!

Short blog today.  There is a new NCIS (a television show in the USA, for those of you who live elsewhere) on.  The Doc is thrilled, and wants me to watch it with him.

WIP:

I could go on and on about errors, and fixing them while riding an exercise bike, and how what should be fairly auto-pilot knitting, became serious driving a stick shift in rush hour traffic on the 5 freeway in Seattle.  But, I am going to talk about mice instead.

I remade my amigurumi attempt at a mouse... you might remember the ROUS I made a few weeks ago?  I dropped down hook size to a 2.75 mm and killed my shoulder hooking as absolutely tightly as possible.  And well, here is the result:

The mouse is supposed to be 3 in. excluding the tail.  I think it is about 5 in. I am not using the recommended yarn which is Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran.  Instead I am using some Deborah Norville yarn that was on sale.  Doesn't she crochet?  This yarn is soft, but super splitty.  I am not sure how it is a "crochet" yarn. 

Anyway, I am going to bring it to Eastside Stitchers tomorrow night, and let one of our amigurumi experts give me some advice.

I will learn how to hook these!

Where in the World is f1bercat?

Today, although I was having a bit of trouble figuring out the rib and welt pattern on the sweater from hell..., I mean the Red Hot Sweater for Tony, I only knit for about 37 minutes, or 6.81 miles.  Which brings my total miles to 75.88. I am not sure what I will do when I hit 100.  Some type of party, for sure.

So where am I?

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Wow, I am stuck on the same road!  The Joint Base is huge.  I will probably be stuck riding along side it tomorrow, also.  Unless I stay on that bike, longer.  Ha, fat chance.

And here is the big map, just for consistency.

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So, have a good night, everyone.

f1bercat

shaping the planet, one NCIS at a time