Not Just Knitting
It's been a while since I've posted finished stuff, so here goes.
These are my Uptown Boot Socks. The pattern is from Interweave Knits' "Favorite Socks", and the yarn is Patons Kroy Socks in Blazing Blue. I worked them from the toe up with short-row heels, and I reversed the cables on the second sock because I am very found of symmetry.
I found some beads on ebay that look like coffee beans, so I made some stitch markers for my knitting. And while I had the beads out, I made a few more sets of markers (most of which are sock-sized since that's mostly what I knit)...
...as well as some earrings for my manager. She saw a necklace I made for myself out of the little stopper beads at the ends of guitar strings and, since she plays guitar too, she loved them. Earrings are pretty much the only jewelry she wears at work, so I thought she'd like these. And she did. In fact, she's worn them everyday since I gave them to her.
Back to knitting: I made some Crusoe Socks with my ShiBui Sock in #41301 (pastels). I exchanged the garter stitch cuff for ribbing and the heel flaps for short-row heels. Plus, I knit them from the toes up. The stranded pattern makes them a little less stretchy, so they're kinda tight going over my ankles, but once they're on, they're fine. But the stranded pattern also obscures any striping/flashing/pooling of the colorway, so I forgave it its inelasticity.
I surprised my husband with a Bender Bending Rodriguez toy for his desk at work. He had seen the pattern online a while back and requested one, but had forgotten about it. I wanted to knit it instead of crochet and also make it a little smaller than the original, so I made up my own pattern. I added a little beer bottle and cigar. The yarn is just Caron Simply Soft in Grey Heather and some black, white, red and brown scraps. Feel free to bite his not-so-shiny, not-so-metal ass.
Then I sewed something I've had in my head for about a year probably. Matt had these yellow sheets before we met. They're a cotton knit (like t-shirt fabric), but they're twin-sized so we had no use for them. The fitted sheet was kinda faded, so I just used the top sheet and pillowcase. I simply cut the sheet in half, turned one half perpendicular, cut a hole in the middle and attached a waistband (a strip cut from the pillowcase with some wide elastic sandwiched in between). It's incredibly simple and twirly and comfy. In fact, I'm wearing it right now.
More knitting: The Hurry Up Spring Armwarmers from "Stitch 'n Bitch Nation" made with Manetto Hill Yarnery Kaleidoscope in 5868 (orange/yellow/green), a yarn I found for cheap at the local Tuesday Morning, Inc. I made them a little shorter than the pattern, just left out 12 rows of the chart, because I didn't have quite enough yarn. I also just bound off the thumb gusset stitches, instead of going back and adding ribbing, because I hate having extra ends to weave in. Also, I was almost done with the second one when I realized I had forgotten to reverse the chart. So I pulled out needle 2 and unravelled just those stitches down to the cuff ribbing. Then I reknit the chart, reversed this time, and finished second mitt. It was a bit of a pain, but worth it for the symmetry, of course.
And here's another pair of socks from "Favorite Socks", the Waving Lace Socks, knit with Brown Sheep Wildfoote in Purple Splendor. Again, these were toe-up with short-row heels, and I started the lace pattern half-way through the chart on the second sock for symmetry. I also swapped out the scalloped-edge for a ribbed cuff and made them shorter because I like shorter socks.
partially x-posted to 20sknitters