March Kal

For the 2011, I finished up these socks I done for my son-in-law. His birthday was a few days ago. two skeins of Wool-Ease went into these socks. I also had a teddy bear and baby sweater done this month and posted a few weeks ago. At the time I was hoping to have these socks finished.

please welcome

...tish and debbie anne to the carefree kal blog!

and tm!

Prime Time - March

Sock Madness 5 hit hard and I've been knitting myself silly. Round 1 - Supporter's Socks in Regia Trend & Color. 344 yards

Round 2 - Nornir in KnitFit Calypso. 336 yards

And my CPY package deal: I made a second pair of mitts using Adrienne's Jasmine Lace Fingerless Mitts pattern, this time in Sausalito. For me, these knit up tighter than with Mini Mochi so I added about 8 rows to the pattern ending just before the cable and closing up the YOs with ktbls.

For additional yardage I knit two washcloths out of CPY Cotton Chenille.

182 yards for the mitts, 122 yards in chenille = 304 yards. I knit the diagonal cloth until I'd used up 1/2 the needed yardage then began the decreases! That's cutting it close.

garter fun

First item is an elephant that used 34g of yarn for knitting = 156yds. Used Serenity sock yarn. Started back on January 16th. Pattern in an online copy of Australian newspaper found through rav.  Got sidetracked with all kinds of stuff but finally finished it March 31st. I made this for my 9yr old daugher who loves elephants. Her verdict is love at first sight :)  My elephant project on Ravelry.

Second item is a pair of fingerless mittens for my 11yr old daughter. This was a big hit with her, AND her classmates.  Used 32g of knitpicks essential sock yarn = 147yds. Pattern my own, just garter st rectangle with thumb gusset made sideways, slip stitch crochet closed. mittens on rav  Total yards for finished objects in March 156 + 147 = 303yds.  My 2011 projects so far, rav link to things I started in 2011 and hope to finish in 2011.

March PrimeTime

Hi All! I finished several projects in March and wanted to share these:
First up - my Missouri, Waterfall Lace Socks in CPY Merino 5 Ultra Blues. I made them long enough to use up all but 15 yards of 3 balls - so about 315 yards. They are so comfy.


Second - I finished a pair of Tadpole socks for my sister in Chicago who is recovering from hip surgery. Worked these in Fleece Artist Nyoni - about 320 yards.




Third - a pair of Straight Up Socks for myself in Knitters Brewing Company Sockaholic Sweet. I love toe up socks because I can then use up all of the yarn - about 390 yards


Fourth - a gaiter for my brother in law in Patons Classic Wool and Manos Maxima - 163 yards


Fifth - I most excited to have finished Tea Leaves Cardigan by Melissa LeBarre, using up over 1200 yards of KP Elegance from stash.

Of course, I then rewarded myself with a non-sanctioned yarn purchase from Jimmy Beans for the Coquille Shawl. ;-)

Joyette by Bellsisters Designs

I'm loving this pattern with lots of leaves. It is MUCH easier than it looks and going quickly. The pattern calls for DK wt yarn (or fingering which means a lot more rows to knit). I'm glad I chose the fingering which is what I had in my stash because this is like a good book that you enjoy so much you don't want it to end, yet can't stop reading. I'm using pigeonroof siren two sock yarn which is lovely and makes a great fabric. I plan to make another one in DK wt. The pic here shows 2 rows short of the medium size so you can see I have a lot more rows in the fingering weight to go. "No worries, mate" as they say here. I'm truly enjoying this project.

kwtp "Pick Your Wrap"

Pattern is from our own Debi! Lovely scarf and/or shawl. I'll be doing the scarf version using mini mochi. It is April 1st here (actually late afternoon as I submit this) and I will begin it tomorrow when it is the 1st for the rest of you. :) I'm also doing the Coquille shawl and working on another shawl which will be a future prime time entry. Guess I'm back on my shawl kick again. :)

March FO's

My March project, surprise, more socks. . .pattern: honey socks. . in lornas laces "sunshine". They were gifted away to someone who likes shorter socks and after weighing the remaining yarn I think they were a little short on yardage so I add in a quick waffle knit dishcloth. . .

March project

So here is my project for March - my first complete pair of adult socks, yaaay I've broken the curse! I've done two socks in the past, but both are singles. I recall giving away the yarn for sock #2 of one pair, so it will never be complete, but the other still has hope (although I have long since forgotten what pattern I used..).

This is Laura's pattern (a free one from the CPY website) called "Silk Road Journeys". Took two balls of Mini Mochi with a bit from both balls left over. I don't have a scale, but I would think that I've made the 300yd quota given how little remains.

All in all this pattern was a lot of fun to do. My ruffle is larger than the original as I didn't have the right size needles - but I like it. Some of the stitch counts were a bit off, and I also did a grafted toe and made the cuff a bit longer, but otherwise it's as the pattern was written.

One disappointing thing to note: both balls were knit from centre out, but they are reversed in colour order which of course I didn't realize until the end, and there's no way I'm frogging and reknitting! so, they're a unique pair of socks - so be it.

On to the next pair!

March KAL projects

March was a light month. I am not sure I am happy I started this KAL as I really want to work on a couple things that would take over one month, but will try and tough it out. I am just feeling very limited and don't want too many things going at once.

Two pairs or Mrs. Beeton's were my projects- about 425 yard total

March FO!

Here's my new pick-me-up scarf design.This narrow scarf pattern depicts a profusion of flowers from Mother Earth that are perfect for a Spring scarf - or anytime you need a bring a little spring into your wardrobe. It's called Maaema (pronounced May-emma) for the Estonian goddess symbolizing Mother Earth.

I used 400yds of Lost City Silk and a size 4US needle. I spent about two weeks working on it of an evening. It's a sweet simple scarf and I'm thinking of doing a second in Panda Silk #3004 a spiffy bright orange colorway - which I conveniently have in my stash!

Bunny Hop Cabled Cardigan

My March project was this Cabled Cardigan. It's a free CPY pattern that calls for Bunny Hop yarn, but this is the year I am "stashing down" so I made it in Elann's Sonata that I already had.
When I started it, I really wasn't sure I would have enough yarn, so I didn't make it quite as long as I would have liked and I made the sleeve quite a bit shorter. At first I didn't think I would even have enough for the front and neck edge so I just did a crocheted border, but I ripped it out and tried doing the ribbing. I had just enough. Seriously, there was only a tiny bit of yarn left.

are you sitting down?

i don't want to shock any of you but....i finished a PAIR of socks!!!! seriously! and they match!

supporter's socks from sock madness 5, round 1
panda superwash in dark knight
start date: 3/4/11
finish date: 3/10/11 (6 days! yup!)

and to shock you further....

why, yes! it's a second PAIR of socks!

nornir from sock madness 5, round 2
start: 3/21/11
finish: 3/26/11 (that's 5 days!)

hellooooooooo! you all can get up off the floor now!!! passing smelling salts all around.

Happy 150th Birthday, Italy

Here's my March edition of the KAL completed. It is the Cuff-to-Cuff Pullover by Jen Hagen. My son wanted a sweater in Italian flag colors because Italy celebrated it's 150th birthday this month, two days after he celebrated his 9th. I didn't finish it in time for either celebration, but we had agreed on that beforehand. I'm very pleased with the results and, even better, so is he! This is a very nice pattern, although I enlarged the size 10 slightly and it fits him like a glove.

Left Sleeve

Unfortunately we haven't had a sunny day in which to photograph it outside. Luckily the weather's still barely cool enough for him to wear it...not sure it'll fit next year! About the colors...I know they're not exactly right, but I work with what's available. Also he's wearing it backwards in this photo because the neckline seemed to be oriented the wrong way. Actually it works just fine either way and he's wearing it the other way around today.

Prime Time KAL March 2011

This is my project for March. I made it for my daughter because it just looked like a teenager project. It is the Caron Braided Cowl. I used a larger needle and made each strip longer since we tend to have larger heads than most.

Since I made strips from three different skeins I had to try my math abilities out to see how much yarn I used. Let me know if I have this right. I divided the yards by the ounces to see how many yards per ounce (52.5). Then I weighed each strip and added the ounces together to get 6 1/2 oz.
So 52.5 x 6.5= 341.25 yards.

My youngest daughter modeled it because the one I made it for is camera shy. I like the colors. I was so into my knitting that I forgot to take a picture of the purple strip. I knit with blinders on.

Prime Time Carefree Kal - March #2 Tracy Van Wormer

Simple Hats. I made 3 out of worsted, changing up the colors, and the patterned band around the hat. Based on the Simple Hat pattern down loaded from Ravelry by Gail Davidson. The first one was in Impeccable -- neopolitan. The second I used Vanna's Choice in Oatmeal, and the third was Vanna's choice in a green that I had left over. Each hat ended up weighing appro 2 oz -- or 120 - 130 yds each-- total 380 yds. More info is on Ravelry:

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/meadviewmarket/simple-patterned-hat

WIP PHOTOS: