FO Friday

Purple Iris 2012.05.25

FO

I have a few Finished Objects to share with you this week.

FO 1
I was working on an afghan square using Broomstick Lace for the Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup Group  (HPKCHC) on Ravelry.  This was for the "Flying" class.  One choice of prompts for May was to crochet something using broomstick lace as a way to get to know your  broomstick.  I had heard of broomstick lace, but never tried it.  The group requires squares of at least 8 inches, so, I made four 6 in squares, and then joined them into one 12 in square that can be incorporated into one of the afghans I am already making.  I decided to use red, white, and blue yarn, and make it for my son, J's, University of Arizona Afghan.  The broomstick part was relatively easy, but I had a bit of trouble keeping the framing stitches, well, square.  Hopefully, it will block into a square.

FO 2
I finished the fish hat that will be a wedding gift for my nephew, A, in June.  I had already finished the gift for his bride to be, the pair of Better Than French Vanilla Socks that I made with the Liz Marino Gift Club, earlier this year.

I had originally thought to make them matching socks, and I am making another pair of socks with this pattern, but not for my nephew.  I decided that I would make him something completely different.

A hat that looks like a dead fish.

It seems a perfect wedding gift for a 30 something year old man.

FO 3
I also finished the MOCK (mystery sock) that I was knitting with the SKA (sock knitters anonymous) and SolidSocks Groups.

The challenge for the Potions Class in HPKCHC was a riddle:

What you see before you is this;
When one does not know what it is, then it is something;
but when one knows what it is, then it is nothing.

The answer to this riddle is "a riddle."  But, I thought that "Mystery" would also be a possible answer, so I have submitted my mystery socks to the group, hoping that I will get credit for them.  As far as I can tell, you only need to do one class every month, but in order to be "sorted" into a house, you need to accrue points, and you get points by completing assignments.  So, if there is a way to get points for something I am making already, I plan to submit and see how it goes.

. 
FO 4

My final finished object for this week is my laundry.

I folded all of the clean clothes on the love seat!  Only unmatched socks are left:

No Where in the World is f1bercat, today.  I spend the whole morning trying to organize our trip to California for my nephew's wedding.

Stay safe and well.

Yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet 4 FO's at a time.

2012.05.25 Foxglove

Eastside Knitters Guild Attacked by Knitted Monsters

Rebecca Danger 2012.05.21

Eastside Knitters Guild

Rebecca Danger of the DangerCrafts shop on Etsy and the wonderful Big Book of Knitted Monsters visited The Eastside Knitters Guild tonight at Crossroads Mall.  She brought lots of fun samples of her monster patterns, books, and kits.

Rebecca started out designing, sewing and selling artisan purses and bags, and only switched to knitting patterns relatively recently.  The most amazing thing about her  is how self taught she is.  She is just so creative and ready to take changes and try things.  If she wants a pattern to do something and doesn't now how, she just makes it up.  I love how whimsical and endearing her "monsters" are.





In addition to finding the monster, dinosaur, and other patterns in her books, you can buy patterns individually at her Etsy Store.



WIP's  

I have finished the 3rd clue on the Mock (mystery sock) for Sock Knitters Anonymous and my "summer" colored sock for SolidSocks for May.  This clue started with the heel turn and included the gussets.



I just love this color.  I am using Cascade Heritage Sock in Turquoise.

The heels were pretty standard, but the gusset has a twisted rib, continuing the twisted rib pattern that made up the legs.  I really love the look.  The 4th and last clue will be released tomorrow morning.  I can't wait.

I also finished the third Spa Washcloth from my Liz Marino Gift Knits Club.  These are so much fun to knit and such a great gift idea.  I have decided to make them for my 3 sisters and 4 sisters in law for Christmas gifts.

Right after I bound off, I cast on another spa washcloth with some of the organic yarn I bought on the 2012 Puget Sound Yarn Tour.  3 down, 18 to go.










Where in the World is f1bercat?

When I left off my bike tour, I was at 183.63 miles and on the side of the road in Oregon.  I managed to knit another 5.1 miles and made it to Knit Divas!  188.73 miles knitted so far.


View Larger Map

To tell the truth, I am not sure this LYS is still in business.  They have a website, and a Ravelry Group, but it all looks a bit inactive.  The economy is so tough.  I am glad I participated in the 2012 Puget Sound LYS Tour.  It is so important to support our small businesses, especially our local ones.  I hope that Knit Divas is still alive.  It is such a great name for a shop.

Here is my progress so far:


View Larger Map


And here is where I am on the big map:


View Larger Map

I still have a way to go.

Stay safe and well.

Yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet one spa washcloth at a time

one of Rebecca Danger's Monsters

The one where I waited too late to post then did this lame post because I wanted to post something...

2012.05.13

Warning, at the bottom there are spoiler photos of the SKA May Mystery Sock by Rose Hiver.  So, if you are planning on joining in on the Mock, and don't want to see what it looks like, do not scroll down.  That being said...

I wanted to write a post showing the extremely cool spa wash cloths I am making.  These are a part of the Liz Marino Gift Club,  I am on the 3rd wash cloth and about half way finished with it.

The yarn is 100% organic cotton and organically dyed.  I love the colors.  The patterns are super easy of course.  Liz came up with a few pretty, simple yet rough?  nubby?  how to describe?  well the patterns are meant to make the washcloths slough off the dead skin, etc, when you wash your face.

This is a fun type of what I think the Knitmore Girls would call potato chip knitting.  It's fun and fast and hard to put down.  When I finish the last of the three that came with the club, I am definitely casting on another set of 3.  I have decided that I want to give these to my 3 sisters, and 4 sisters-in-law next Christmas, along with some really nice face wash.

It's a practical, yet decadent gift.

The other thing I have made super progress on is the Mock challenge for May for SKA (Sock Knitters Anonymous) group on Ravelry, the Chiendent Socks by Rose Hiver.  Rose Hiver is a member of SKA, and I have long enjoyed her designs.  She does not do these wild, impractical socks that look amazing but don't stay up.  Yet, her socks are always very pretty. 

I am making my socks in Turquoise Cascade Heritage Sock.  I have finished Clue 2 which included the legs and heel flaps.  So to refresh your memories,

Clue 1 was the cuffs:

Clue 2 kept the lace that goes down the center of the front and back, but changed the sides from lace to a seed stitch.

As you can see the heel flaps are pretty standard, but using ktbl instead of just k, makes that very pretty ridge a bit more distinctive.

I brought my socks to a neighborhood party on Saturday at our park, and received tons of complements, though most were for the color of the yarn.  I am trying to start a knitting group in my neighborhood, so am knitting in public whenever possible.  I want to have an adult group, and a kids' group.  More on these ideas later.

Clue 3 will be posted tomorrow, and I will get to work on the heels, and gusset, I presume.  Stay tuned for more ....

That's about all.  I do have a where in the world is f1bercat to post, but once again, I put the writing off until I was just too late to do the mapping, etc, necessary.

This week Thursday - Sunday is the Puget Sound Local Yarn Crawl.  I will be visiting 21 yarn shops in 4 days.  I will bring my camera and try to take notes, but since I will be doing all of the driving, I think it will be a lot of photos and not many notes.  It should give me (and therefore you, f1beristas) a taste of what we have to offer in the Puget Sound area.

Good night for now.

Stay safe and well.
Yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet lots of socks and washcloths at a time

Pay it Forward with Crafting!

2012.05.04

(Warning!  Spoiler Alert!  If you are doing the SKA Mock for May by Rose Hiver, and don't want to see it in advance, there is a photo of the cuffs at the bottom of this post)

1.  Pay it Forward

Yet another thing to give me a reason to craft - as if I needed one! I saw this post at Kara's blog {lbk creations} , and knew I had to participate, and I think I am her first commenter, so I hope I get to be one of her three! I've copied this from her:

If you’re interested in participating here’s the info:

I will send a surprise gift to the first three commenters on this post. The gift will be handmade by me. It will be sent sometime in the next 365 days. A year seems like a long time, but that’s what makes it a surprise gift. We all love getting surprises in the mail, right?

1. In your comment, tell me your favorite color or colors.
2. To sign up and receive a gift, you must play along, too. Pay it Forward on your blog, by promising to make a surprise for the first three people who comment on your blog post.
3. You must have a blog.
4. After commenting here, you must re-post this or something similar to your blog in 48 hours. If not, I choose the next person who comments.

Please leave me a way to get in touch with you - an email, Facebook, or Ravelry ID. Something. I will send to anywhere, so don't hesitate to join in!

2. New Follower

Hello to my newest follower, Barbara!  So happy to have you officially following.

3. Finished Objects

Yes!  I have actually finished my Liz Marino Gift Knits Club Snuggly Socks (Better than French Vanilla - or for short, French Vanilla Socks).

Over last weekend, I cast off these socks and my Squash Blossom Lyra's Socks.

I HAVE to finish the fish hat I am making for my nephew, A, for his wedding.

I HAVE to finish the placemats for my sister K's, housewarming gift.

I HAVE to finish the Coco the Cat (and her clothes) I am making for my niece, and god daughter, M's birthday.











I HAVE to finish the RED HOT SWEATER for Tony!  (no photo as I have not been working on that)!

I love these so much, .

 I immediately cast on another pair

and, another pair of socks for SKA/SolidSocks May challenge.

 At one point, as I was counting the cast on stitches (why can't I count to 36?), I actually thought that I need some one to be my Interventionist and say to me, DON'T DO IT!  But, well, I really want these socks.  The SKA/SolidSocks ones are a Mock (mystery sock) by Rose Hiver (Love her designs) in Cascade Heritage Socks Turquoise, and are for ME.  The French Vanilla Socks are in some Cascade Heritage Hand Painted sock yarn that I bought last year at Churchmouse Yarn and Teas.  They will be for my son, J.

Addicted to socks.

4. Top Photo

As the blossoms are just about finished on my Fuji Cherry for the year, I will be switching my top photo to my Chinese Poppies and Black Bart Irises.  I am not sure if I will alternate the two plants, or exactly how I will show their progress from bud to flower.  Probably I will do the poppies first, as they are just about ready to bloom, and the Black Barts are a bit behind.  I need to find something to show the scale of these flowers.  I'm thinking...

but here they both are today:

Chinese Poppy

Black Bart Iris

 Stay safe and well.

Yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet sock after sock after sock after sock