pattern: warmest mittens, from the book knitting pretty. the pattern is also available for free, (ravelry link)
yarn: handspun patchwork yarn from folktale fibers, a little less than 1 skein.
needles: 4mm for ribbing, 4.5mm for the rest of mittens.
started: june 5, 2008
finished: june 7, 2008
modifications: a few. the pattern is written for dpns, but i knit them both at the same time on one 40" circular using magic loop. i've never knit 2 of anything at once before, and let me tell you, it was instant love. i think watching them grow simultaneously turned into a little obsession for me. i ended up with a completed pair in no time at all.
i knit these on larger than recommended needles because i'm a very tight knitter, and the fit is just right. i think i eliminated around 5 rows from the main portion if the mitten because i thought they might be long for me.

i really love how this yarn knit up into mismatched stripes. i'll be making more mittens in this yarn for sure.

next week, i'll be making my debut as a bridesmaid, for the first time ever. i know, right? my sweet brother is marrying a great gal (and knitter!). let's hope i can clean up real nice for them.

eta: for those who asked, the boots are made by camper, my favorite shoe brand ever. unfortunately, these are from a few seasons ago. the only place i was able to find them was here, and for quite a bit more than i paid "on sale".

thanks so much for all the lovely comments on my last entry. you really know how to make a sweater feel loved! but really, all those positive words came at a time when i was feeling a little low and uninspired, and they gave me a virtual kick in my knitting ass.

so, what i've been up to since then is writing patterns. really. one, which i can't show you just yet, will be showing up in classic elite's web-letter in just over a month. if you're interested, you can subscribe to it here.

i've also been working on a pattern for my garter-yoked cardigan. since i'm kind of a seat-of-your-pants knitter, i usually cast on with an idea, but really no plan. if i don't take decent notes, i'm really struggling to figure out when and where i did what. this time, i'm re-knitting the sweater, but i'm attempting to write the pattern first, so i can also be test-knitting it as i go. the yarn i'm using is some beautiful beaverslide mctaggart tweed in a lovely pink, called "cutthroat trout".

i've also been carrying around this sock in my tote bag for what seems like forever. it's the child's first sock in shell pattern from knitting vintage socks. the yarn is some gorgeous merino sock from mamablue. i think this "mermaid" colorway is a great match for the shell pattern, but man, am i burnt out on socks. i'm only really knitting this one when i'm needing a break from my other projects.

the stitch pattern is one that is really easy to remember, so when i was asked to knit a spring hat for my great aunt, i decided to use it. i really love how it came out, although it's much too small for me, it's just perfect for her.

i'm making 2 other hats like this now. one is just a larger one, seen above, to fit me. the other is slouchier and has a slightly different stitch pattern. i'm having to do a lot of ripping and re-knitting on that one at the moment, but i'm sure it'll be finished pretty soon.

tomorrow i'm heading to mass sheep and wool for a little while. it's my first time going, so i'm not sure what to expect. unfortunately, i messed up my knee this week and i'm really not supposed to be skipping through fields and such, but i'm making an exception.

the details
pattern: none. i was heavily inspired by this baby sweater that i knit in march. i didn't use the pattern at all, but i loved the garter yoke so much that i knew i had to make something similar for myself.
yarn: rowan scottish tweed aran in "lewis grey", 4.5 skeins
needles: one us8 5mm 40" circular for everything, even magic-looping the sleeves
time to knit: march 21- april 29, with some socks and a shawl in there somewhere
more info: i knit this top-down, working 3 increase rows within the garter yoke. after that, i switched to raglan increases for the stockinette portion. i knit the button band as i went, adding buttonholes every 8 rows eta: i meant every 16 rows. sorry!. i tried it on throughout the whole process, adding waist shaping, and after that, a few extra increases for a "booty allowance". heh. the sleeves were knit using magic loop, without any shaping.

i really wanted yellow or red buttons, but after sewing on a few different ones, the orange won out. they're just cheap plastic buttons from a fabric store, but i really like them.

i am so happy with this sweater. i'm planning on squeaking out a few wears this spring by using it instead of a jacket on cold mornings. cross your fingers for some cool days for me, will ya?

the yarn, sock hop, really is as great as everyone claims. i wish i had more, but i refused to let myself buy some at the last sale. i hadn't finished this pair yet, and all my money was going to my mechanic anyway. where's my medal?

these socks were knit over 58 stitches on a us1 circular, toe-up (my favorite), with a figure 8 cast-on and short-row heel . i thought plain old stockinette was the way to go. the yarn is so pretty, it doesn't really need a pattern. i could have probably gone close to knee-high with these, but i thought i'd wear them more if i stuck with my standard height. i'm especially happy with the colors. this colorway, called "i feel free", is a combination of my favorite blues and greens. these have officially become my new favorite socks.

happy monday, folks!

a few days ago, our first niece was born, and that's pretty much all the girlfriend and i can talk about at the moment. yay auntiehood!

i've been inexplicably tired this week, like, totally useless, shouldn't bother leaving the house tired, and i have no idea why. needless to say, there hasn't been all that much knitting around here.

i did manage to squeak out a little shawl though. i knit it through some work meetings and lunch breaks and despite the tiredness, forced myself to knit at least 1 pattern repeat a night.

pattern: flower basket shawl by evelyn clark
yarn: elsebeth lavold silky wool, color 15 (yellow). 1.5 skeins
needles: 4.5 mm

like most of evelyn clark's patterns, the lace pattern was easy to knit, but looks really pretty. i only did 7 repeats to the main chart, because i was planning on wearing this as a scarf. the silky wool is nice, but i'm not totally in love with it, and i can't pinpoint why. i'm usually totally in love with everything. i do love the color though, a really perfect yellow.

in the interest of keeping it "real" at chez knittingschooldropout, a very tired-looking, shawl-in-action shot:

ugh, there's no hiding it.

what's next?
after some serious napping, i'm casting on for the mate to my beloved norwegian snail mitten.

that'll be my bring-everywhere-knit-during-everything project. i also have a new sweater on the needles. more about that one later...

today is my 33rd birthday, and by sheer luck, my new sweater is finally dry.

last month, i decided to knit myself a simple sweater. it seems that those plain pullovers get the most use in my wardrobe, so why not make one in a beautiful yarn.

although it was an easy knit, the miles of stockinette got old pretty quick.

anyway, it's done now, and i love it.

the facts:
pattern: nope. this is a plain top-down raglan. i tried it on constantly to figure out where to put the waist shaping, figure out the decreasing on the arms, etc.
yarn: the fibre company's savannah dk in persimmon. i originally purchased 6 skeins, but started running out 3/4 of the way into both sleeves, so i had to buy a 7th. i only used a bit of it though. this yarn is beautiful. the combination of wool, linen, cotton and soysilk give it a very organic feel. the subtle variations in color are really pretty.
needles:us5 knitpicks options circulars. they kept unscrewing the whole time. it was a little annoying.

i'm so happy with this one. it's simple and light, and i just love the color. as always, it was great to knit it top-down. i love trying it on as i go and getting the perfect fit. yessss. the color also fits in perfectly with project spectrum's fire theme!

thanks for all the lovely comments about my baby sweater. it definitely stood out in the sea of pastels at the baby shower, but it was well received. i kind of want to make one for me.

every single thing i've started in the last week or two has caused me major knitting distress.i don't really know any babies in real life, so i have no point of reference. i knit a hat, it looks too big. i knit another, it seems sooo small. is it just me, or does every baby cardigan seem to have a ridiculously small neck opening? i want to warm this baby with a sweater, not cut off her circulation. needless to say, there has been much ripping out of baby sweaters. the next one i make should be ok, because i do tend to learn from my mistakes.

there is one sweater that i'm totally thrilled with. i do worry though, that my taste, is not necessarily the same as everyone else's. i fear the horrified looks of on-lookers at the upcoming baby shower.

pattern: february baby sweater from the knitter's almanac, which, in my opinion, is the best 8 bucks you could ever spend on something knitting-related.
yarn: roughly 230 yards of handspun superwash wool from this etsy shop
needles:4.5mm/us7 32" circular
knitting time: just over 1 day
mods: i omitted the lace, because it wouldn't have worked with this yarn. i knit the sleeves in the round, using magic loop, because i wanted to. i didn't do any decreases at the bottom.

because of my previously mentioned paranoia about small neck openings, i stretched the neck a bit and pinned it during blocking to widen it slightly. when i knit this one again, i'll just use the backwards loop cast on, which creates a looser cast on edge, and thus a wider neck. this time i used my standard long tail cast on.

well there you go. a stinkin' cute little baby sweater. i am still freaking out that they'll hate it.

i have been working away on my 2 sweaters in progress, but not without distraction. i've landed on sleeve island with my orangey pullover, the perfect time to cast on for some hats.

each one of these took little more than a day to knit, and i'm thrilled with how they've turned out. holy instant gratification!

first off, the girlfriend's february 13th hat, which is basically just a wooly apology for being a total valentine's day hater.
i originally intended to knit her the utopia cable hat in some charcoal cascade 220 , but i forgot the pattern at home shortly after starting the ribbing. i was forced to just come up with something else, or endure a meeting knit-less. she liked it and bought me vegetarian sushi, and all was right in the world.

next, i decided to wind up some malabrigo in the "paris night" colorway, and knit the utopia hat (ravelry) for myself. one day later, i had a perfect, warm hat. i highly recommend the pattern.

last, i chose to use up the leftover malabrigo for another hat. i had the blue from utopia, and about the same amount in olive, left over from a ganomy hat. i put them together and made this basic striped hat, with only a few inches to spare.

i'm happy to have a few more choices in head coverings this week, it's freezing here.

i really should get back to those sweaters now.

my current obsession:

a very simple pullover, in the very lovely fibre company savannah dk. this is just a basic top-down raglan. i added some short-rows to the back of the neck, and a two-button neck opening (mostly as an excuse to use some of my vintage button collection), but that's it.

i've been trying to venture out of my comfort zone when choosing yarn colors lately, and this is a good example. i'm very happy with my choice so far, we'll see if the color works when i'm actually wearing it. soon enough...

this one is going fast, i'm hoping to finish it up later this week.

i've been carefully weeding out my stash and queue in hopes of narrowing down my list of future projects. i've settled on 3 sweaters that i absolutely want to make this year:

first is bridie by anna bell. this one was recently made available in the book KnitKnit.

i've purchased some jaeger extra fine merino dk in a dark gray for this one and i'll be casting on as soon as my other 2 sweaters are off the needles.

second, the asymmetrical cardigan from Knitting Nature.

i was really happy with how the sizing adjustments worked out with my bubble pullover, from the same book, so i thought i'd make similar gauge adjustments with this one. i ordered some beaverslide in "dusty clover" for this one.

lastly, i've been wanting to make this pullover from lopi 21, but in a different yarn, different colors and with some major size adjustments. my first thought was to use berroco peruvia, it's soft, and i love the color choices, but i'm still not positive.

thank you for all the blog love sent in the form of "you make my day" awards. seriously, you all have made my year.

this one feels like cheating. combining big yarn, big needles and 2 hours of knitting , has given me a very warm hat. i love it and it was so ridiculously simple, i was actually able to write it down!

the yarn is twinkle soft chunky, a super bulky, soft wool. i used us15 (10mm) needles. the pattern is simply 1x1 rib, switched every 6 rows. i didn't include pom-pom making instructions in the pattern, because, even after several years as a knitter, i remain pom-challenged. luckily this yarn fluffs up nicely, and even my sad pom-pom looks kinda cute, i think.

ok, there you go. if you want it, you can download the pattern in pdf. format
HERE

OR

you can find it on ravelry, and download it from that page HERE

have a great sunday! -melissa

only 20 days late, the girlfriend's 35th birthday socks are finally on her feet.

the details:
pattern: none. these are plain, 64 stitch, toe up socks with a short-row heel. i had to ask her to try them on constantly, because her feet are 3 sizes bigger than mine, and i was worried they wouldn't fit.
needles:us1, 2.25mm knitpicks circular for magic loop.
yarn: noro kureyon sock color 184
thoughts: well, the girlfriend likes them, and they fit her big feet perfectly, so overall i'm happy with the result. the yarn was good to work with for the most part. i've read many complaints about the roughness of the noro sock, but that's one of my favorite things about it. i love rough wool yarns. love them.
the yarn had some very thin parts, and in retrospect, i think i would have been better off using us0 needles. the yarn did plump up and soften a bit after washing, so they still look good. there was only 1 knot in the 3/4 of the skein i used, but it caused the pink and blue to repeat again and this kind of annoyed me. in the end, laziness won (it usually does), and i left it.
they're nice socks, and i'm a little jealous of them, but i probably won't be knitting another pair. there are too many great sock yarns i've yet to knit with.

i have the rest of the week off from work because i finally had my annoying, impacted, wisdom tooth removed this morning. for the last few weeks the left side of my face has been swelling up, so i'm glad to be done with it. i was an ass from the moment i woke up this morning, mostly because i was petrified of the anesthesia, but it's all good now. poor girlfriend.
i spent the whole day on the couch, knitting, eating gelato, and napping (sometimes in the middle of these activities). tomorrow won't be much different, i'm guessing.

pattern:anais by norah gaughan
yarn: berroco comfort dk , less than 4 balls in dusk
needles: us3 addi turbos
size knit: 38", but knitting it on the smaller than recommended needles worked out perfectly for my 36" bust
the story: this is my second anais. my first now lives with my friend who wears it all the time and is not allergic to alpaca. after telling my alpaca allergy story in the lovely forums of ravelry, norah contacted me. she offered to send me some yet to be released, alpaca -free yarn to knit another.
the comfort dk is super soft and has great stitch definition, but the biggest bonus is that i can actually wear this to work, get it dirty, and MACHINE WASH it. never happens.

i'm so happy to have a finished knit that i love to start off the new year. now i can focus my attention on the half finished knits that taunt me from the coffee table.

my norwegian snail mittens from the knitter's book of yarn. this picture is a few days old, i'm almost done with the first mitten now.

the girlfriend's 35th birthday socks. just plain stockinette socks in the new noro kureyon sock yarn. i finished the first and am halfway through the second. her birthday was 9 days ago, but she knows me well, and she hasn't been holding her breath or anything. :)

i'm also knitting ysolda's garter mitts. they're a quick little project and just perfect for this handspun i've had in my stash.

i'm itching to start a new sweater. i just purchased knitknit, so bridie, is definitely in the queue.

have a great week!

1. ez norwegian mittens, 2. we call them pirates, 3. calorimetry, 4. scottish tweed raglan, 5. felted tweed hat, 6. leaf lace shawl, 7. fitted knits pink puff-sleeve cardigan, 8. entrelac scarf, 9. baltic socks completed, 10. arrowhead cardigan front, 11. cloud bolero 3, 12. cioci's hat v.1 front, 13. fmfiflat, 14. swallowtail shawl 5, 15. shetland triangle, 16. anais, 17. jyri finished, 18. elizabeth zimmermann's mitered mittens, 19. elfine's socks, 20. bubble pullover in the grass, 21. can you tell i'm crushed out on my sweater?, 22. brown flop side view, 23. cioci's hat 2, 24. ez maltese fisherman's hat 1, 25. the saddest pom-pom in the world, 26. almost black hat for the girlfriend, 27. stella's hat 2, 28. stella's hat top, 29. morning surf scarf, 30. neckwarmer, 31. slightly slouchy hat, 32. first noro sock, blocking, 33. single socks, 34. monkey #135. Not available36. Not available

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

my finished projects for 2007 ( yeah, yeah, i included 4 mate-less socks as finished objects). most have made an appearance here before, although there were a few scarves and hats that i neglected to post about. i'm pretty satisfied with my knitting this year, although i only managed to knit 2 long-sleeved sweaters.

thanks for all your interest and lovely comments regarding stella's hat, i'm working on one for my great aunt stella at this very moment, as she requested one on christmas. :)

i'll be staying in this weekend, as i've managed to catch the inevitable post-holiday cold. luckily, i have the la vie en rose dvd in my possession to entertain me.

wishing you a happy and healthy new year! thanks so much for reading along in 2007!

in august, i made my first attempt to recreate the hat that my now 94-year old great aunt has been making for 40 years. hers was knit flat and seamed, with a neat flat top. i knit my best approximation in the round out of some gorgeous malabrigo, but was never really happy with the top. well, the other day, i set out to make another, and this time i'm very happy. you'll have to yank it off my cold, dead, head if you want this one, or, you could always knit your own.

pattern: stella's hat (my own) Download PDF here or here's the ravelry link

yarn: nature wool chunky, 1 skein (i've also knit one out of malabrigo)

needles: 5mm, us8 16" circular and 5mm dpns

it's a simple pattern. you'll only need to know how to knit, purl, k2tog and work in the round.
i hope you like it. mwah!

since casting off, i've been casting on like mad for lots of small projects. i've had a couple crappy weeks, nothing bad, just feeling generally overwhelmed by small, usually benign things. so, i pushed aside all my current sweater projects and made some damn hats!

hat 1: bonnet for a 32 year old
yarn: maisy day handspun in "spitfire", purchased from hello yarn and one ball of debbie bliss cashmerino aran in brown.
needles: 5mm 16" circs
pattern: i knit the bottom (ear covering) portion from the maltese fisherman's hat pattern in elizabeth zimmermann's knitter's almanac, except i doubled all the numbers. after i cast on the additional stitches for the front, i just went along and knit the top as i would any plain hat, instead of following the pattern. i only had 112yds of this yarn, so i knit it a little shorter than i normally would and added a garter stitch border and ties. i also added the most pathetic excuse for a pom-pom ever. which, incidentally, is the only kind i can seem to make.
the verdict: it's cute. i love the handspun. it covers my ears. i am happy.

hat 2: brown flop
pattern : none, but here's where i tell you my secret for making a floppy hat like mine (please skip this part if you dont care :))
take your standard formula for a plain close fitting hat in the yarn of your choosing. knit 1x1 rib for 1 inch, after this point continue in rib, but start adding short rows to the front 60% of the hat. your ribbed band will become wider in the front than it is in the back. add as many short rows as you wish. my front ribbing was about twice as long in the front as it was in the back. after the front rib was the length i wanted, at the beginning of the next round i began knitting in stockinette, but increasing every other stitch like this: k1, k1f/b, repeat until end of round. there, now you have lots more stitches and you can knit some easy stockinette for hours. i added a few more short rows to the front of the stockinette portion too. once it starts to get long, you can try it on as you knit and decide when you want to start decreasing to close up the top.
yarn: louisa harding grace 50/50 silk wool, a little less than 2 balls.
needles: 4mm 16: inch circular
thoughts: grace is a beautiful yarn. i forgot to take in to consideration the fact that this hat will stretch out with wear. i would make it a tad smaller next time, until then, i'll re-block it after a few wears.

hat 3: another maltese fisherman's hat from elizabeth zimmermann's knitter's almanac
yarn: berroco peruvia in a heathered pink.
needles: 5mm circulars
details: i wear this one all the time. it's longer than the first one and the yarn is nice and soft. i bought more of the peruvia in a dark blue to add trim and ties, but i haven't done it yet. this hat covers the ears PERFECTLY. i walk around, all smug and warm, every windy day. i did the same thing with this hat, doubling the numbers, doing my own hat thing at the top, etc.

hats have always been my favorite thing to knit. a simple one can be knit up in a day and they're a perfect way to test out a yarn for it's durability, or to get the chance to try a yarn that you couldn't afford in a sweater amount. long live the hat!

oh, and can i share with you the awesome tags that i ordered from namemaker? they're kind of motivating me to knit those gifts i keep putting off.