Knitty November

As per usual, I have a few FOs to catch the old blog up on. 😉 But I'll start us off with something a little different. My recent yarn haul from Knit Picks' Big Sale:

15 skeins of Biggo for a wedding blanket, a skein of Hawthorne Multi to make a fraternal twin for my lonely Garden Gate sock (link leads to Ravelry, please exercise caution!), and then I got a free stitch marker with my order, and I picked out the succulent one. I don't typically use dangling stitch markers, but it was cute and free, so why not.

My sister and I ordered more from the Big Sale, but it's part of our Christmas gift from our grandparents so we can't open it. Mine is 9 skeins of Felici, plus the free Felici they're giving with a $75 purchase. One skein is mine and the other is my sister's. They're here. In my house. And I want to squish them and drool over the stripe-y colors.

I'm planning on a Sock Arms sweater (link leads to Ravelry, please exercise caution!) with the Raspberry Beret I ordered though I have to pick out the main color still. And then I'm going to make my sister something out of the Hamburger. I picked out two other colors, but I don't have plans for them yet. But that's what Christmas yarn is for, right?

I also ordered from Knit Picks' summer (spring?) yarn and book sale, using my tax refund like the adult I am. (I'm kidding, I used the rest of it for a LEGO set.) I bought Palette for my sister's Fightin' Words mitts, some Snuggle Puff to try, a couple skeins of Billow, a Jane Austen project bag, Gudrun Johnson's Knit With Me book, and a needle promo kit. Which I totally forgot I had and need to try still.

There was also the mohair and extras I bought from Tanis Fiber Arts in the spring.

I started a striped top in the summer with the mohair (bottom skein) and the Blue Label (top skein), but it's on hold at the moment. I don't have plans for the middle skein beyond Aqua! Speckles! Important plans, clearly.

A picture of the top-in-progress...

I'm just making it up as I go along, which is kinda risky since mohair is known for being hard to frog, but we'll see. I would've doubled the mohair with the fingering but I only have one skein of each. I'm knitting top down and I finished the neckline after joining for the sleeves and I plan to tackle the armhole edgings when I pick it up again. It'll be a while though, I'm sure.

Now for the FOs! First of all, some classic baby socks! Man, I love making baby socks. These were for the baby of some friends of mine. I got to know them both while they were dating, went to their wedding, and now they have a kid! I feel so old. He is freaking adorable though.

The yarn was a self striping one with pink and purple as well, but I cut those out since they knew he'd be a boy. I'm not sure I care about it, but I didn't think they'd want pink socks. :)

I also made some socks out of yarn one of my siblings spun for me. I like wearing them over other socks like slippers. Still haven't woven in the ends. Haha

I started a hat in April that I almost finished, but it was too tight so I ripped it out and it took me a while to get back to it. I finished it recently, just in time for the cold weather. I'm definitely into the anchor motif so I loved designing, knitting, and now love wearing it!

After years of promising my sister I'd make her Fightin' Words mitts (link leads to Ravelry, please exercise caution!) I finally kept my word.

(Modeled by our little brother who picked them up randomly and let me snap a few shots.)

And last of all, my current WIP, a Cobblestone Throw (link leads to Ravelry, please exercise caution!) as a wedding gift for one of my close friends. She picked the pattern and the general color, but I'm loving the more mindless knitting and the color is not one I'd choose myself, but it's lovely. 3+ out of 15 skeins in...

Still Kickin'

In one of my last posts I talked about the sweater I was knitting for my little brother. I finished just a little while later, but I recently got some new pictures of it. He wore it almost nonstop for a week or two in March.

I also finished my Ravellenics sweater in time. In time means I was knitting and seaming into the wee hours of the night and I did wear it to church several hours later before the inside of the pockets were dry, but the gold medal was worth it! :D

My next project was many months later, in the summer. Some friends of mine were having a baby (how am I old enough to say that?) and I wanted to knit socks for him.

Baby socks are one of my favorite projects. They're so quick and so, so cute!!

Then I knit some socks of my own in some beautiful TFA yarn. And one of my favorite sock patterns, Skew. (Link leads to Ravelry, please exercise caution!)

Sometime during the summer I was itching to knit, but I got overwhelmed thinking about choosing a project and swatching and all that. So I pulled out some of my squishiest yarn and cast on for some 1x1 rib. It grew into a scarf of a sort, but it was pretty skinny and I wasn't sure I wanted to keep it. Earlier this winter I frogged it and knit a wider garter stitch scarf instead, but not with a project in mind really.

I actually knit most of it while watching Confessions of a Shopaholic where "The Girl in the Green Scarf" plays an important role, and I seriously didn't make the connection that I was knitting my own green scarf until after the movie was over. Such irony. I'm not sure if I'll keep it. I might frog it later so I can make a bigger project with the yarn I have leftover.

I also knit a hat in this yarn. My grandma asked me around Thanksgiving if I could knit her a hat for Christmas. I whipped this up just a day or two later, but saved it for Christmas of course.

That honeycomb stitch is so delectable!!

Speaking of Christmas, I also made this alpaca scarf for my best friend.

And in terms of presents for myself, I got some Felici. During Christmas break, my brother spun me yarn out of some fiber I won a few years ago. And last winter I bought some Guardians of the Galaxy-inspired sock yarn with leftover Christmas money.

A few weeks ago I started my socks and I finished them the other day!