WIP It Wednesday

On December 5, 2018December 5, 2018 By FogKnitsIn Nephew, Shawl, Sweater, WIP3 Comments

I’m back in the swing of things with my knitting, which means a classic case of Cast on-itis has manifested.

It’s not enough to finish just finish my nephew’s super cute christmas sweater. No, I couldn’t just enjoy my beautiful seams. I had to start another sweater. Of course, that sweater can’t be knit in a dark movie theater so I had to cast on a movie theater project. I’m still working on my latest shawl too!

It’s all going well! Baby’s first ugly Christmas sweater is almost done. It’s acrylic and I’m thinking of ‘killing’ it. Not something I’ve ever done intentionally but I think it’ll take this sweater from stiff to drapey. That should up the cozy factor! I’m planning to wash and dry it in the machine. Then, hit it with the steam iron.

I’ll keep you posted! Hopefully it’ll be ready for a big FO Friday reveal! You aren’t gonna want to miss this one!

Sweater Weather

On October 11, 2018 By FogKnitsIn Nephew, Sweater, WIP3 Comments

Once I got beyond the sleeve divide, yesterday, it was smooth sailing. I made it through the body of my nephew sweater no problem. When I got the bottom, I added another feature, designed to aid in long term wearability.

A split hem. Hopefully this will allow little man to wear it longer. I’m also going to extend the sleeves, so they can be rolled up and then unrolled as he grows. Hopefully he’ll get to wear this one into the new year. Fingers crossed!

Of course, it’s time to knit all the sweaters! Sweater weather is the best. I’ve got a holiday sweater in mind and he’s definitely going to need a grandpa sweater for the winter. Maybe something with elbow patches. I love a good elbow patch.

For Throwback Thursday, I submit this photo of my favorite elbow patch sweater (taken 20 years ago next week, on my 21st birthday)! You can’t see them, but rest assured, they were the perfect leather patches, soft and just the right color. I loved this sweater…a lot. I lost it at a blizzard party a few months after later. I didn’t knit it, but still, I was saddened by it’s loss. It was a great sweater.

Here’s another sweater with an interesting use of leather. I spied it while watching Kingpin, the second best bowling movie of all time. I’m undecided on whether it’s a great sweater but there is no doubt, it’s got an interesting construction.

It’s got the leather panels down the front. They evoke a certain time period, which is what they’re going for. This is supposed to be a scene from the 70’s. That’s not the interesting construction though. Those cable bands are what caught my eye. I think, they’re an appliqué, sewn on after the fact. The band looks rather stiff. The sweater shows folds from movement but the band is solid.

The close shot really confirms it for me. You can see the base sweater and the cable band are distinct from each other. The usual tension you’d see at the cable row is non-existent. You get a clear look at the band too. It’s not even really cable knit. It’s two pieces twisted together and then sewn on.

That is an interesting design choice. Why would they do that? Would a hand knitter do that? No, I don’t think a hand knitter would. I think it must be a decision based on industrial production. I can’t imagine it’s a feature of design. I’m going to assume it’s a feature of convenience. What else could it be?

The longer I look at this one, the closer I get to declaring it a great sweater. It certainly makes me think I should be checking goodwill for sweaters more often. This would be a great vintage find! Perhaps I’ve found my afternoon adventure…

FO Friday – Newborn Vertebrae

On September 20, 2018September 21, 2018 By FogKnitsIn FO Friday, Nephew, Sweater4 Comments

My little nephew has been on the outside now for two months! Of course, that is a milestone marked with a new sweater!

I thought I was making a cute and tiny sweater. I was nervous that he’d outgrow it before I got it sent off. I’m pleased to report, he received it and he’s got some room to grow! Yay! Not as tiny as I thought!

Sorry, no pics to share since he’s not my kid to plaster all over the internet but, my sister did send me a pretty funny picture of him crying while wearing the sweater. I’m definitely keeping it, so I can remind him, in the future, how much he loved the sweaters his auntie made him.

The sweater is a free pattern, Newborn Vertebrae by Kelly van Niekirk. It’s a pattern where one size is free, the smallest in this case. The remainder of the sizes, you pay for. Despite making the smallest size, I was able to get a sweater closer to the six month size! For once, having a loose gauge paid off! The yarn is KnitPicks, Felici in color Hawaiian Shirt. So cute!

It was a simple knit. Aside from gauge, I didn’t change a thing. It’s the perfect little baby sweater…frontless, so it doesn’t get spit up on. Also, facilitates skin-to-skin contact. That might be my favorite part. This isn’t just some cute thing that I wanted to do…it’s got an important developmental function! It’s necessary, even! Yay Knitting!

Up next, something tweedy for the little man. Perfect for fall…

I’m definitely about to binge start 6 projects! It’s gonna be so good!

Memory Lane Monday

On September 17, 2018 By FogKnitsIn Misc, Sweater8 Comments

A few weeks back, I officially gave up my long abandoned Flickr account. I checked everything I could, none of the pics on the account were important to me. I went through, deleting them one at a time to chec, before I did the full account de-activation. I had to click a whole bunch of ‘yes, this is what I really want’ and ‘yes, I understand that means losing the content connected to this account’ dialog boxes. I knew what I was doing.

…or so I thought. Turns out, somewhere, that I was not finding, I stored a whole lot of Ravelry pics. All my early knitting, the pre-Ravelry stuff. Last night, I discovered vast sections of my notebook with ‘photo no longer available’ icons displayed. UGH! Technology! What a hassle. All those photos that were being slurped from Flickr are gone!

I knew I could recover a lot of the pictures though. Once upon a time, I had actual photos of what I’d knit. You know…pictures printed on paper! I promptly started scouring my old emails for jpg attachments and of course, I got out the box of old photos.

It’s been a great stroll down memory lane, looking at all those things I knit years ago and thinking about all the people they were gifted too. Each one has a unique story, I’m glad I had the forethought to archive them when I did.

All these hats! I loved that squirrel — I used him several times. Waldo & Wanda baby hats, when friends didn’t know the sex of their first born. He turned out to be a Waldo and he was so cute in his little hat.

Celtic knots & swirls from a book of celtic charts I bought in Ireland. I don’t have pictures of that vacation anymore. They were lost to another digital snafu years ago but I’ve still got the book of celtic designs. I want to revisit all of these hats!

Of course, as I searched, I also found some things that have not stood the test of time. A hideous blue fringed poncho?? NO. Some ponchos, maybe. This poncho? NO. No idea where it is and I’m okay with that.

A pale blue hat with so much thick n thin weird ruffly shit going on, that you can’t even tell it’s got a stupid blue flower on it? UGH. no. Again, no love lost because I don’t know where it is.

The good news is…we can learn from our earlier mistakes. Like that cute attempt at a Pac-Man hat. I was trying to ‘unvent’ intarsia in the round. It’s horrible and puckered. I could do much better today. I’ve said since day 1, I wanted to re-do that hat. I can definitely do much better today! So many projects worthy of a second attempt.

And then, there’s this…a project I still have close at hand but never put on Ravelry at all.

A weird, boxy, boucle cotton tank top. The second garment I ever knit for myself, probably about 2004. I didn’t like it at the time but putting it on today, it’s comfy and it looks ok. It’s mostly two squares sewn together, that’s why I picked it. There’s a tiny bit of neck shaping, only a couple rows. I’m still wearing now. I’m gonna attempt a revival with it.

Not sure why I never put it on Ravelry but it’s there now. It’s a significant milestone…my 1000th Ravelry notebook page! My inner archivist is a little disappointed they don’t all have pictures anymore but at least I’ve picked up a few projects that fell through the cracks previously! What would I do without Ravelry?!? A Ravelry data loss is the stuff nightmares are made of.

1000 projects cataloged! It’s a milestone worthy of a legacy garment like this one. Needless to say, my first sweater was so bad there are no known pictures of it in existence and even the garment itself was destroyed, never to be seen again.

Now, I think I’ll celebrate by casting something on…

No Finish Friday

On September 14, 2018September 14, 2018 By FogKnitsIn Socks, Sweater, WIP12 Comments

Didn’t manage to finish anything but at least, I made progress. Nephew sweater now has two sleeves! Only the front bands are left. That’s not too much. I’m aiming to have it in the mail Monday. I can make that happen.

Then it’ll be time for Vogue Knitting Live homework. I’m taking Franklin Habits Zipper & Steek class. Both techniques I’m comfortable doing but I’m always happy to add polish. That’s always my goal with classes, little finishing tips that elevate a garment. I suspect Franklin is great for that stuff. He seems like an attention to detail guy. I’m looking forward to everything he has to say. My expectations are high. I have a feeling Franklin is an exceeds expectations kinda guy!

With that in mind, let’s talk about sock details! I’m not a sock knitter so when our yearly knitting group swap rolls around, socks are the obvious answer. This year I got another pair of fun rainbow socks.

The interesting detail here is the Fleegle Heel. It’s a short row heel, touted for leaving no holes. It results in a little triangle shape at the back of the heel, where a heel flap would normally be rectangular.

The first thing I noticed when I opened the package was how long these socks were. No one wants to criticize a gift before it’s out of the box but they were clearly too long for my feet. I said something like ‘huh, is my foot really this big?’ To which the response was, ‘um, yes. you said it yourself’ Ok, let’s give it a try. To my surprise (and relief), they fit perfect.

I don’t know how to describe the most comfortable sock in the world. Until I put these socks on, I didn’t realize other socks were even lacking. This is the most comfortable heel I’ve ever worn. I’ve never felt like a heel flap was uncomfortable but somehow this heel shape, contours my foot perfectly. I could tell instantly. It’s amazing.

So, all you sock knitters out there, I highly recommend trying out the Fleegle Heel. I’m a convert! If I ever tackle another pair of socks, I’ll give it a go!

Happy Friday! Have a great weekend!

All the WIPS Wednesday

On September 12, 2018September 12, 2018 By FogKnitsIn Sweater, WIP5 Comments

Remember this sweater? I started it waaaay back in June. At the time, I wondered, ‘which can I do faster…get a job or knit a sweater?’ It’s now September and I’ve done neither, so the debate rages on…

I found out, last night, I did not get the job and, that’s okay. It wasn’t a great fit. It was a really good practice interview though. I’ll be dialed in when the next one comes. Plus, now there’s still time to knit a sweater! It probably won’t be mine but this little nephew sweater is rapidly coming to a conclusion…

The pattern is Newborn Vertebrae, with KnitPicks ‘Hawaiian Shirt’ Felici self striping yarn. It’s the cutest darn thing! I’ll be finishing it ASAP! Turns out babies grow quick and I want him to get plenty of wear out of this sweater. I got this picture of the newborn size socks I made him…

Time for new socks too! So much knitting, so little time between growth spurts! Of course, there’s non-baby knitting too…

Nothing motivates me like nearly losing my free time to work. After all the recent interruptions, it’s been especially nice this week getting yarn into my hands again. I think, my annoyance at the Wonder Woman wrap has subsided and I’ve decided to press forward on it.

I’m starting to remember what set me off in the first place. It’s a garter stitch pattern, which one typically assumes to be all knit stitches. Well, You know what they say about assumptions. Turns out, in order to maintain the stripes properly, a portion of this pattern is the oft-forgotten all purl garter stitch. m*$@F*$^er. I was so pissed when I got there. There was a lot of cursing that day. To say I did it begrudgingly was an understatement. And there’s no way around it, in order to construct the iconic stacked WW, it has to be done. It was immediately following that section, the project went into the timeout corner.

I mean, c’mon…all purl garter stitch??? Who does that? Clearly not me. UGH. I’m never in the mood for all purl garter stitch. NO. Never. I’ve finished working that portion of the pattern. It’s done so hopefully, I’ll get over it mentally, too. :) Maybe it won’t be as disastrous as I thought last week. The yarn is an amazing 50 silk/50 merino blend and the colors perfect together, even if they aren’t classic Wonder Woman. Or I could just put it back in the timeout corner! I want to finish my Dragon Fade Match & Move. I’m getting really close now!

FO Friday…Here I come!!

It was fun while it lasted.

On August 30, 2018August 30, 2018 By FogKnitsIn cross stitch, Sweater, WIP9 Comments

Procrastiknitting in full force! I worked on the dragon tail fade yesterday (it still looks the same though.) Then, I started a new nephew sweater.

It’s a Newborn Vertebrae, in KnitPicks Felici. It’s the cutest little sweater and for once, my loosey goosey gauge is going to benefit me. The Vertebrae series of patterns spans from newborn size all the way up to adult. It’s a really cute ‘frontless’ cardigan with raglan shaping.

The newborn size is actually too small for my nephew. It’s a 0-3 month sort of size but my little buddy, at six weeks old is easily fitting into a 3 month onesie. My plan is to knit the newborn size (aka the free size of the pattern) and hope my loose gauge gives something closer to a 6-9 month sweater. It should be perfect for the cooling fall weather.

I think it’s going to work out. Gauge should be 7 sts/in, I’m about 6 sts/in, giving me a slightly larger FO. It’s almost like I planned it!

Procrastiknitting is in full force! I worked on the dragon tail fade yesterday too (it still looks the same though.) Might as well procrastiblog a bit more too! Here’s my latest cross stitch project…

MoviePass has really put the FUN in funemployment. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s a subscription service that offers one basic movie ticket, per day for the low monthly fee of $9.95. No Imax or 3D, which was perfect because I don’t like those enhancements.

I joined at the beginning of the year and promptly started seeing movies. It was awesome. I saw almost every Oscar nominated film…I’m talking all the down ballot movies too. I only missed Blade Runner and Roman J. Esq. It was certainly the most interested I’ve ever been in the Oscars.

Over time though, MoviePass has eroded it’s service. Turns out their business model sucks. Today, that same $9.95 buys you 3 movie tickets per month, you can only see a movie once and only movies that they happen to be offering on any given day (aka the shittiest movies out).

After getting significant enjoyment out of my MoviePass, I was finally fed up with their horrible treatment of customers so I quit. Now that my MoviePass time has come to an end, I miss the good old days already. It was only a few months ago but it was a great reminder of how much I like going to the theater.

I saw Oscar nominated films. I saw big budget action flicks. I saw a boatload of documentaries. I even got to see a special anniversary showing of the Dark Crystal and a director Q&A of the documetary ‘The King’. Of course, I also saw some shit. MoviePass was financial permission to enjoy seeing shit though.

The company is still in business but by all accounts they won’t last long. So I had to memorialize my fond MoviePass memories in cross stitch. I haven’t decided exactly how to finish the bottom. Perhaps simply “it was fun while it lasted.”

While I decide, here’s a run down of what I saw. As far as I’m concerned, Call Me By Your Name was robbed at the Oscars. It’s an absolutely gorgeous movie about a sweet and touching love story. If you have the chance, I highly recommend seeing it. And now, here’s the full list…

The Best of the Bunch: Call Me By Your Name (4x), I, Tonya (3x), Thor: Ragnarok, Dark Crystal, Isle of Dogs (2x), RBG, Sorry to Bother You, 3 Identical Strangers

The Really Good Ones: Lady Bird, Darkest Hour, The Post, Get Out, Coco, Jumanji, Faces Places, Love, Simon, The Party, A Quiet Place, Deadpool 2, Filmworker, Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist, Hearts Beat Loud, Eating Animals, Incredibles 2, Whitney, The Cakemaker, 8th Grade, Love, Cecil, Blindspotting, Miseducation of Cameron Post, Blackklansman, Skate Kitchen, Puzzle, The Meg

The Just Ok: Downsizing, 3 Billboards in Ebbing, Mo, Proud Mary, Dunkirk, Winchester, Molly’s Game, Black Panther, Thoroughbreds, Game Night, Final Portrait, Kings, Lives Well Lived, Bad Samaritan, Avengers, Ready Player One, Always at the Carlyle, House of Tomorrow, Solo, Hotel Artemis, Ocean’s 8, American Animals, Jurassic Park, The King, Won’t You Be My Neighbor, The Misandrists, Ant-man and the Wasp, Hotel Transylvania, Generation Wealth, McQueen, Dark Money, Leave No Trace, Support the Girls, Happytime Murders

Why Did I Bother With These: Greatest Showman, Pitch Perfect 3, Shape of Water, Annihilation, Wrinkle in Time, Tomb Raider, Death of Stalin, Journey’s End, Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami, Overboard, Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean Michel-Basquiat, Mountain, Heredity, Gauguin, Mamma Mia 2, Mission Impossible Fallout, Nico, 1988, Mile 22

I Left Early: Super Trooper 2 (turns out this was NOT Super Bad 2, d’oh), Life of the Party (actually had to google to remember what this one was, at least I was able to block it from my mind!), Action Point

The Absolute Worst: Phantom Thread

I hated Phantom Thread, it’s terribleness is unrivaled. UGH. I can’t believe this was someone’s vision?!? If I can save even one person from wasting two hours on that shit, it was worth for me to sit through it.

And so, now that I’ve procrastiblogged. I really have no excuse. I should go do some job interview prep! UGH!