FO: Fandangle

I finished this project waaaaay back around Christmas and due to my lack of pompom-making expertise it sat in my mostly-finished-but-not-quite stack of knitting projects. With the help of a friend who lent me her pompom maker I finally put the finishing touch on my Fandangle hat. 

I'm finally coming around to pompoms on hats. This one is GIANT.

Apparently this project got me going on a colorwork kick since pretty much all the projects I have OTN have some kind of stranding or striping. It's not a bad place to be, though.

 

I'm very excited to have used new-ish stash from Knit Fit! in November and some older stash of reclaimed angora/wool yarn that sat around for several years. It's a dreamy combination and toasty warm to boot. 

Pattern: Fandangle by Andi Satterlund

Yarn: Spincycle Dyed in the Wool in Devilish Grin and reclaimed angora/wool.

Needles: US #5 (3.75 mm) Clover Circular Needles

Mods: None! I knit the medium size and followed the pattern with zero mods.

WIP: Kites

Creative energy is flowing pretty strongly at Chez Birnel right now. I'm making sewing plans for the year, working on exciting new things, and knitting along on one of my favorite types of projects - colorwork. 

I cast on for this project on New Year's Eve as a way to start as I mean to go on. What that really means is I want to work on things I really love and enjoy doing rather than forcing myself to finish projects I'm half in love with or because I "need" to use the yarn, pattern, etc. 

This is a free pattern named Kites by Teleri and it uses three colors of fingering weight yarn. I'm using two shades of Rauma Finullgarn (navy and gray) and one shade of Brooklyn Tweed Loft in Hayloft. This pattern isn't fooling around; it's easy to follow and the motif is straightforward but you're still working with three colors of yarn. The tangle factor is a bit of an issue but that could be circumvented by breaking either the blue or yellow color instead of carrying them up. But hey, I wanted fewer ends to weave in so I'm going the tangle city route. The first fingerless mitt flew off my needles but the second one is slow going since I'm not on vacation anymore. 

FO: Little Zig Zag

I'm committed to using up a certain yarn this year. Yarn that I purchased in 2007. Yarn that never seems to go away no matter how often I knit with it. Focusing on this yarn is a little painful just because it's been around for soooo long. 

 

This is my first completed item from Project Palette Stashdown - a little zig zag hat. 

Pattern: Little Zig Zag - improvised from my own noggin

Yarn: Knit Picks Palette - approx. 130 yards

Needles:  US #1 and US #3 Clover 16" circular and dpns

 

How'd I do it? Cast on with one color and change to another color for the 1x1 ribbing. Throw in some zig zaggy stripes so your kidlet's head looks like an Easter egg and do some decreases to finish it off. Oh yeah, this is stranded colorwork so you have to know that, too. Easy peasy and this one is a bit snug so I have plans for a second larger size (and maybe a freebie pattern release, too).

FO: Yellow Submarine Cowl

 I knit this cowl for my sister for Christmas and it is winging it's way to Ethiopia as I write this. She is a lover of all things Beatles so I thought this would be the perfect lightweight accessory for her to carry with her as she tromps around the countryside with her giant of a boyfriend.

Pattern: Yellow Submarine Cowl by yellowcosmo

Yarn: MC is Tosh Merino Light in Baltic, CC is Hazel Knits Artisan Sock in Stick o' Butter

Needles: US #2 Hiya Hiya Sharp Interchangeables (2.75 mm)

Mods: None. This is the small version of the cowl and it is pretty snug. If I were to knit this again (I might, actually) I would go up a needle size to make it slightly wider or knit the longer size cowl. Tosh Merino Light and HK Artisan Sock aren't quite the same weight so my tension is a little wonky in spots but overall I'm very happy with my color combination so that trumps the tension issue. I know this project is a total win since several people at my knitting group tried to take it home with them!

PS - There's also a hat version of this available if you're not the cowl-knitting type.

FO: Fireweeds

 There went a couple of weeks! I had midterms and my family is suffering through several rounds of colds which I've thankfully been able to ward off through copious amounts of vitamins and as much sleep as I can get. I did manage to finish my Fireweed socks by the October 31st deadline and I think they turned out great! The socks were the September/October KAL for the Hazelknits Artisans Group on Ravelry and it just so happens that I won the prize - a $50 store credit toward Hazel Knits at the online shop. I used it toward the December yarn club shipment since I couldn't make a color decision.

Pattern: Fireweeds by RoseHiver

Yarn: Hazel Knits Artisan Sock in Posy (pink) and Nickel (gray)

Needles: US #1 (2.25 mm) Hiya Hiya Sharps 

Mods: None. This is my first pair of colorwork socks and they're so warm and toasty that I'll have to knit myself another pair this winter. RoseHiver's patterns are free on Ravelry so I highly recommend checking those out since they range from colorwork socks like Fireweeds to nicely textured single color socks.

Vespergyle Mittens

Take that corrugated ribbing! You don't got nothing on me! I started these mittens way back in July and finally pulled them out again to finish them up. Corrugated ribbing is my mortal enemy so it's not really surprising that I was about 2/3 of the way through it when I called it quits - sometimes you just have to say ENOUGH and chuck a project in time out for a while. It only took a few days get things all smoothed out and ready to wear. They still need a good blocking but in the meantime they're actually getting worn.



Pattern: Vespergyle Mittens (free!)
Yarn: KnitPicks Palette in gray & sky blue
Needles: US #1 1/2 bamboo
Mods: I knit these on a larger needle than stated in the pattern and did a shorter decrease section with a more squared-off tip.