Friday, October 30, 2009

Small But Mighty

A couple of stocking stuffers for the girls:

One for Jess:

And one for Chels: I know, they LOOK the same but there are slight differences in the colors. Now we won't have any fights over who's is "cuter". Yep, this Mom thinks ahead! Just a simple Beanie made a bit oversized for comfort.

Pattern: Noro Silk Beanie
Needle Size: 7
Colorway: 285 (I think, I'll have to check on that one day).
I used a bit over 1 skein each because it seemed a bit too short for my taste as written. My girls have a lot of hair, plus, I like more coverage down around the ears. I hope they like them, Christmas will be pretty "skinny" around here this year, so a little handmade love will bring a smile. Noro Silk Garden feels kind of "icky" to me while knitting it up, but it does feel softer in the finished product. Weird. I know.

My nephew recently asked for a helmet liner for when he's out running early for his ROTC. I ordered the Cascade 220 Superwash and away I went.

The Big Guy scared me when he was wearing it around the house, it's kind of spooky with Halloween right around the corner and him being sneaky and all....Anyway, I changed up my decreases around the face this time and it's soooo much better. None of that weird bunching and puckering that a lot of people get on the sides. I did mine more "staggared" per rounds, and it rounded it out better.

Helmet Liner
Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash in Black
Size 6 & 8 circs.
One skein! Whew! That was close, I was seriously sweating it out, hoping I could finish without having to order more yarn. I was soooo happy that worked out. Unbelieveably, I totally blanked out on which way to cast on addtional stitches around the face this time. You'd never guess I'd made this before! I ended up trying all three ways and liked the e-cast on the best in the end even though "they say" you shouldn't use it for more than a "few" stitches. I ripped so much I thought I'd have to replace that section of yarn, but it looked so cool when it was done!

My other little project:

Bella Mitts,

(confession: not big Twilight Fans - by the middle of the first movie we were yelling for him to just eat her already! But these mitts are SO COOL!)
Needle size: 8's
Yarn: Knit Picks Swish Bulky (in purple): which I doubt I'd use again. To me, "Superwash" means I can machine wash, gentle cycle and dry on low (just like KP's instructions). Not these. I was already making two pairs, one for me and one for Mom (for our Fibromyalgia, these feel GOOD when on), so messing up the first pair in the wash wasn't the end of the world but it sure ticked me off. The second pair will have to be "hand washed" and layed flat to dry (could've just bought regular wool!). Anyway, they're done and it's a really cool pattern to knit. It's fast, fun, and if you do use this yarn you can make a pair with 1 1/2 skeins.

So those are my "small but mighty" projects lately. Small feels good. Makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something even though I move at a snails pace. Happy Knitting.

5 comments:

Amy's Stocking Stuffers said...

Those hats for the girls are gorgeous! I love the colors and the silky looking texture of the yarn! (I hope you don't mind me commenting here -- I stumbled on this while searching blogs for stocking stuffers!)

Bubblesknits said...

Wow...thanks for the heads up on the Swish. I've thought about ordering that a couple times for some things that I knew would need to go in the wash. I would have been ticked, too.

Love the hats. :-) Very nice colors.

Dawn said...

I've had those Bella mittens in my queue forever! Love them! Love the colors of the hats too! Wow, you've been a knitting machine! I just keep starting new projects!:) I've had a scarf in my person forever that it probably has cobwebs on it! Getting ready for another craft fair so been crocheting those cloth things so much! Happy Halloween!

NatRed2 said...

Having one of each gender always helped whe it came to gift giving for me. Except that their birthdays are one day apart...that was always an issue but no fights over whose was cuter...LOL
I've used swish b4 and not had a problem in the wash. Strange, maybe it had to do with it being bulky?? Anyway they are too cute, I love little projects! I am lucky in that my delicate cycle lets me wash all and any without felting disasters..I have had plenty of those in the past.

Anna said...

Awesome! I love the mitts especially.

We'll be having a lean Christmas, too, so I better break out the needles.