Frazzled Knits

Another tiny chicken

I gave the first tiny chicken away for Christmas and missed her so much I decided I needed one for myself. So I knit another, same as the first except I used black beads for eyes this time (instead of embroidering them on).

Exact same yarns as last time: mystery sock yarn in white and yellow for body and feet, and Istex Einband for the comb. I put a loop of black upholstery thread through the top so I could hang the chicken up on the tree.

I used 2 mm metal double points for the wings, comb, and feet. For the body I found the 2.5mm wooden square needles to work best.

Teeny Tiny Fried Eggs!

Every year right before Christmas I somehow get hooked on knitting tiny objects. After finishing the tiniest chicken, I decided to surprise DH with these little fried eggs from the same book:

• Pattern: Tiny Fried Eggs from Teeny-tiny Mochimochi by Anna Hrachovec
• Yarn: Scraps of sock yarn from Auntie Ilse's stash
• Needles: 2.5mm square wooden double points (equivalent to 2.25mm round dpns)
• Modifications: I think I may have forgotten a plain round on the left yolk, but that was unintentional. I sewed on tiny bead eyes instead of embroidering them on. I found it easier to stuff the yolks from underneath, after drawing the stitches closed on top.

 

The Tiniest Chicken

I knit this little chicken from the Teeny-Tiny Mochimochi book by Anna Hrachovec and it is so adorable I can hardly stand it.

I used scraps of mystery sock yarn for the white and yellow, and some Icelandic Einband for the red and black. I stuff it with a tiny bit of polyester fibrefill. The whole thing weighs just one gram!

This one is earmarked as a gift, so I think I'm going to have to make another to keep. It's just too cute!

Net Zero Knitting Month

I had to rip out more than half the body on my Holly sweater last night.

I'd messed up the eyelets, waaaaaaay back, and somehow never noticed. In more than one place, too. The time it would take to ladder down the stitches and figure out how to line them up properly, combined with their accompanying mirrored decreases, was more than my brain could handle. So I just ripped it all out.

Le sigh. The ball of yarn is the amount that I frogged. It was a lot.

I've rewritten the body shaping instructions and made a little chart with the stitch counts that I can refer to (FREQUENTLY) as I reknit. And I will try to only work on this when I can give it a bit of attention. So disheartening to rip out a month's work. AUGH.

WIP: Holly Sweater

In August I started on the Holly sweater from Ankestrick.

The yarn was brought all the way from the Briggs and Little mill in New Brunswick by my good friend canadianneedles. She took an absolutely epic road trip across the country and my yarn got to travel along with her!

I had to take a break from the sweater while I knit a few gifts, but I am ready to get back to it now. The yoke is finished and I'm starting on the body and have just used up the first skein of yarn. It seemed a convenient place to try the sweater on:

If anyone has any tips for taking attractive selfies of half finished top down sweaters, I'd love to hear them. Ha ha.

The sweater is fitting really nicely. I will continue on without any changes.

There is just one little potential problem with this sweater. The sport yarn is a singles yarn. It is not plied so its energy is not completely balanced. It may want to torque around once it's knit up, which will be a problem with the eyelets that run down the sweater. But I love the yarn so much, and it's so ideal in every other way, I decided to experiment with it. We shall see what happens!

Holly sweater in Briggs and Little Sport, colour Evergreen

 

 

Mittens for DH

My husband's old mitts have big holes in them and he's been asking for a new pair. I knit those mitts twelve years ago! Out of Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride. They've lasted amazingly well, mainly because he usually wears gloves. Ha! But yeah, it was time for a new pair. So a few months ago I started a cuff of one, but then other projects got in the way and I set it aside. Given the season, I figured it was time to finish the job.

I chose Briggs and Little Tuffy for these mitts. I'm really hoping the nylon content will make them last even longer than the last pair. I decided to do a plain Indian Thumb mitt, based on my usual made-up pattern but custom fit to his hands. I had him try them on many times during the knitting, and I took notes, so now I have a custom pattern just for his hands!

Yarn: Briggs and Little Tuffy, 1 skein (used 96 grams)

Needles: 3.5 mm double pointed needles

Pattern:

Cast on 42 sts.
Knit 1x2 rib (K2 P1) for 25 rounds (3”).
Knit 5 rounds plain stockinette.

Right mitt:
Mark the first 15 sts with a stitch marker. These will be the thumb stitches.
Start increasing stitches back into the palm by knitting past the marker and then kfb.
Increase this way on every round until there are 42 sts outside the thumb markers (57 sts total).
Knit 5 rounds plain until thumb gusset is long enough.

Next round: remove 15 thumb stitches and put then on a stitch holder. Cast on 2 stitches over the gap. 44 stitches total.

Knit plain until mitten reaches the top of the pinkie finger (26 rounds).
Start decreases: K9 K2tog around
Next round: Knit all stitches
Continue decreasing in this manner, every second round, until 20 stitches remain. Then decrease EVERY round until 8 stitches remain. Tie off top of mitten.

Left mitt:
Mark the last 15 sts with a stitch marker. These will be the thumb stitches.
Start increasing stitches back into the palm by knitting to one stitch before the marker and kfb in that stitch.
Increase this way on every round until there are 42 sts outside the thumb markers (57 sts total).
Knit 5 rounds plain until thumb gusset is long enough.

Next round: remove 15 thumb stitches and put then on a stitch holder. Cast on 2 stitches over the gap. 44 stitches total.

Knit plain until mitten reaches the top of the pinkie finger (26 rounds).
Start decreases: K2tog K9 around
Next round: Knit all stitches
Continue decreasing in this manner, every second round, until 20 stitches remain. Then decrease EVERY round until 8 stitches remain. Tie off top of mitten.

Thumb:
Put 15 held stitches on to double pointed needles. Pick up six stitches over thumb gap (21 sts). Attach yarn and knit first round, decreasing two of the picked up stitches out on first round (19 sts total).
Knit 13 rounds, then decrease one stitch (18 sts).
Knit one round plain.
Decreases:
Round 1: K4, K2tog 3 times (15 sts)
Round 2: Knit all stitches
Round 3: K3, K2tog 3 times (12 sts)
Round 4: K2, K2tog 3 times (9 sts)
Round 5: K1, K2tog 3 times (6 sts)

Cut yarn and draw through the remaining stitches. Weave in all ends. Hand to grateful husband. Hope they last twelve more years!