Yarnydale

Cable Knit Overload

2009-03-31T18:00:00.000-07:00

This baby blanket pattern will turn any first-time cable knitter into an expert cable knitter. Ask me how I know. Yes, I'm still working on it. It's a big project for me. My goal is to finish it by mid-June which means I should be knitting daily instead of sporadically. My progress so far:Oh, halfway through knitting a strip in color #3 I realized that it didn't match well with color #2. It

Cable Baby Blanket Knitting Progress

2009-01-07T22:06:00.000-08:00

The first panel of the baby blanket is finished, completed without ever using a lifeline. I did have to keep myself calm and not panic while trying to fix a few mistakes that were made. I'm happy that my mistake fixing skills have now improved.Here's the completed panel along with the second panel in progress. I just noticed that the angle of the lighting in the photo makes it appear that the

Baby Blanket Progress

2008-12-05T23:15:00.000-08:00

I'm still plugging away on the cabled baby blanket. It's coming along nicely. I caught a few mistakes quickly after they happened. Whew. I'm starting to have the pattern memorized; that will help me go a little faster. My stepdaughter's baby is due in only eight days now. I definitely should have started this project months ago!

Knitting Cables: I Can Do It!

2008-12-01T10:56:00.000-08:00

I've finally ventured into cable knitting. Here is the start of the first panel on the baby blanket I'm knitting for my stepgranddaughter. The cables are fun to make. I'm also happy for the excuse to be working with pink yarn again.I'm wondering if I should be putting in a lifeline. I'm not sure how hard it would be for me to fix a mistake with this pattern. At the moment I remain knitting

Hat Knit Flat on Two Needles

2008-11-25T16:25:00.000-08:00

My son wanted me to knit him a green hat, so here it is completed in just the right size for him, unlike the other one he modeled for me that was for an adult. Like last time, I knit 1/3 less ribbing than the pattern instructed. I finished it yesterday, and he was so excited about it that he had to wear it to bed. If nobody else ever likes anything I make, it'll be okay; I will remember how

Felting Wool Projects

2008-11-09T22:46:00.001-08:00

The felting process I used:1. Use the hot water and small load settings on your washer.2. Put your project in a pillowcase (for slippers, put each one in separate pillowcases) and place it in the washer when the water is done filling.3. Run the agitation cycle, stopping it to check your project every 5 minutes (set a timer so you don't forget) until the project looks close to being the right

Knitting Slippers Norwegian Style

2008-10-31T12:20:00.001-07:00

Here are my completed Norwegian house slippers. I used a thicker sized yarn than what the pattern called for, so I did a combination of a little guesswork and math for making pattern and needle size adjustments.They do fit comfortably, but the ankle flaps don't look as tall as what's shown in the pattern. If I were to make them again, I'd try knitting them bigger and use a longer felting time.

Knitted Slippers Puzzle

2008-09-25T16:34:00.000-07:00

I found a pattern for felted slippers that looked fun to make. This is the first slipper so far. Now I have to sew seams in a way that is a bit like a puzzle, making folds and matching certain square edges to other square edges. The diagram is a bit confusing to me but, hopefully, I will end up with a slipper.Thanks to everyone who participated in the poll on my previous post; I enjoyed seeing

Yarn Poll - Help Me Decide

2008-07-19T16:15:00.000-07:00

I Seem to Like Knitting Hats

2008-07-13T20:55:00.000-07:00

Another hat is finished. This one is for my mom's birthday, and it's like the previous hat, except this time I used some of the leftover yarn from my son's slippers. I also knitted less ribbing before starting the crown than on the first one, so only 2.5 ounces of yarn were used for the whole hat.I'm still trying to decide on which baby blanket pattern to use for my new step-granddaughter's

Knitted Cat Dishcloth

2008-05-10T14:06:00.000-07:00

This is my first dishcloth, and I had a lot of fun knitting a picture with the knit and purl stitches. I guess I didn't have the dishcloth straightened out properly for the picture. It looks a little crooked. Oops. I'll be giving this to my mom for Mother's Day.

Completed Knitting of Hat

2008-02-15T19:28:00.001-08:00

For a while I thought maybe the hat would turn out too small, but it came out fine. The only thing I'd do differently with this pattern next time would be to knit less rows of ribbing. The hat is shown here with ribbing folded over twice because there was so much of it. But it does make for extra warm and toasty ears.Just before I completed the crown of the hat, I noticed a mistake in a

Knitted Hat

2008-02-06T13:16:00.000-08:00

My family doesn't see how this piece, knitted flat, is going to end up being a hat, but I assure them it will. It was pretty chilly the other day when the family and I took a little jaunt on a bike trail. It would have been nice if each of us had had one of these hats!

Knitted Slippers

2008-01-11T13:05:00.000-08:00

I knitted these slippers for my youngest boy, and he was so excited about them. I let him choose a color from my yarn supply and, as you can see, royal blue was his choice. He loves them!This was my first experience with bamboo knitting needles. I liked them much better than the too-slippery (for me) metal needles, although wooden knitting needles are still my favorite.

A New Reason to Knit Socks

2008-01-06T15:56:00.000-08:00

I was quite surprised and disappointed to discover that stores don't seem to sell pretty socks anymore. I wanted to buy some women's socks for Christmas gifts this year, but the main type I saw in WalMart, Target, and Ross was plain, cuffless, and boring white. There were a very few gray, black, and Christmas-themed pairs in the mix. I then looked at both J.C. Penney and Kohl's online and saw

Finished Knitting the Socks

2007-12-30T12:59:00.000-08:00

I finally got around to finishing the socks. I'm very happy with how they turned out. The pattern has very clear instructions, and I'll probably be using it again, making one of the other cuff variations.Now I've started knitting slippers. The worsted weight yarn and large needles I'm using feel strange after using the small DPNs.

Sloppy SSK Decreases

2007-12-08T16:15:00.000-08:00

Why doesn't the left-slanting knit decrease (SSK stitch) look as nice as the right-slanting knit decrease (K2tog stitch)? The instep decreases look better on one side of each sock than they do on the other side.Since asking myself that question and unsuccessfully trying to make the SSK stitches look neater, I have learned I did nothing wrong. The SSK stitches are just naturally a bit sloppy

Be Careful When Using Variegated Yarn

2007-11-29T18:10:00.000-08:00

I discovered that variegated yarn skeins, even among those with the same dye lot, may have a huge difference between them that could ruin the look of your project. I noticed the problem last year while crocheting my stepgranddaughter a blanket using this Red Heart Baby Econo Seashore yarn to match her ocean-themed bedroom.The project started out fine but, when I added the second skein, I noticed

Knitting My Dancing with the Stars Socks

2007-10-23T17:30:00.000-07:00

There hasn't been a whole lot of progress on my socks. I'm about ready to start knitting the heel of the second sock, which I hope will get done more quickly than the first one. It seems I mostly work on them when I'm watching Dancing with the Stars so I've dubbed them my Dancing with the Stars socks.

Could You Knit Here?

2007-10-13T19:36:00.000-07:00

We took the kids for an afternoon at the coast recently. As you can see by the photo, it was a perfect day. Though I didn't bring my knitting project with me, I thought this would be a lovely spot to relax under an umbrella and knit. Maybe next time I'll bring it.

Wooden Knitting Needles

2007-10-10T17:23:00.000-07:00

I learned to knit in a summer school class when I was a kid. My mother didn't knit, but she had an old pair of wooden needles lying around that she gave me to use. I learned only how to cast on and knit rows of garter stitch, but I had a lot of fun with it.Later on I tried knitting with metal needles. The frustration of having stitches always falling off the slippery, metal needles at times

Thread Crochet Bookmark

2007-10-06T13:35:00.000-07:00

This is a bookmark I crocheted awhile back. It actually came out much too big so I modified the pattern and, the next time I made the bookmark, I did less beginning chain stitches and less rows.

My Lone Knitted Sock

2007-10-03T19:00:00.000-07:00

As you can see, I've got the second sock started. A mistake was made already, but I figured out how to fix it this time, unlike my first sock which I ended up ripping out and starting over a couple of times. Doesn't the finished sock look lonely? Hopefully, the second one will zip along much faster. I really think I didn't work on the first sock consistently because I was always worried that

Finished Knitting First Sock

2007-09-26T19:58:00.000-07:00

Got my first sock finished last night while watching Dancing With the Stars, and it fits perfectly. I was so thrilled. Now I'm really motivated to get the second one knitted up!

The World's Slowest Knitter

2007-09-22T18:34:00.000-07:00

That's me. I still haven't finished the socks I started back in January. I hope to have them finished soon (finally). Since the colder weather has approached again, I'd like to feel those wool socks on my feet!