MG: ace

these socks were finished a few weeks back during a string of hot summer days. still, hubby wore them to work--happy colors hiding under the cuffs of his work trousers--the very next day after their completion. he is a good handmade giftee like that. they are named after a hotel we loved in Seattle, where the blue yarn was purchased.

ace socks
yarn: Araucania Ranco, color 105 (orangish); Claudia Hand Painted fingering in deep blue. needle: 2.5mm addi lace circular, 32". size: 76 stitches around for a hubby with 25cm ankles.

notes: toe-ups with shortrow toes and heelflaps. provisional cast-on 38sts. 12 YO sets to shortrow down to 14sts; "longrow" back up. pickup provisional stitches to start knitting in the round (76sts). stocking stitch for 44rounds until sock reached bony bump on top of foot, changing colors as whim struck.

gussets:: 15 pairs of matched M1 increases on sides of foot; increases done every other row.

heel:: on sole stitches only (excluding gusset), shortrow until sock reaches length of foot (10 YO/wrap sets; down to 18sts). then work all sole stitches back and forth for heelflap, decreasing the shortrow YOs into the sole stitches as they are encountered. shape with a pair of matched decreases along the center of every right-side row; as well as working in one additional gusset stitch + leaving behind a wrap/YO to close gaps on each edge. this maintains overall stitch count in the heelflap.

leg:: once all gusset stitches are worked in (back to 76sts), start knitting in the round again. 30 stocking stitch rounds. 40 rounds of 2x2 ribbing. EZ sewn bind-off.

a white kitty likes them too...

...nice enough to sit on

MG: 5-leaf zeebee

five-corner star atop one's head

zeebee
pattern: schmeebot Thuy's zeebee yarn: Araucania Ranco, 75% wool/25% nylon, 376yds/100gr, about 18wpi needle: 3.0mm (US2) addi natura circular dimensions: 18cm long, 55cm circumference for 62cm head (7cm negative ease) mods: five shortrow sections instead of four.

love this pattern; want to knit some more. nifty construction--made for customization. a bit shy in length but should still work well as intended under a bicycling helmet. had some trouble figuring out garter graft, but this woolly wormhead tutorial taught me the what-is-what, how, and wherefores of grafting in pattern.

a smidgen short?

MG: eponymous

didn't know where to put my arm

eponymous (guess i was feeling cheeky when i started this sweater): pattern-based on Elizabeth Zimmermann's seamless raglan. knitted to my measurements; negative ease around the bust; postive ease around the upper arms. body knitted from the bottom up in the round, then cardiganized with a steek. sleeves knitted top down from provisional cast-ons at the yoke. yarn-four skeins (100 grams) of Araucania Nature Wool in color #03 (100% wool). thank you, Kitty Kitty! :) needles-4.25mm clover circular (US6) for stocking stitch in the body; 3.75 addi natura circular (US5) for ribbing in the body; 3.9mm clover mini circulars for upper sleeves; 4.5mm clover mini circular for lower sleeves; 2.25mm clover DPNs (US1)for ribbing on cuffs.

trying to show you the decorative de/increases

MeowGirl: hatty hatty hats

happy first day of February. Secret Pal 4 commences today, and i know Kitty Kitty is feverish with excitement. enjoy spoiling each other!

thank you, Tux-Gal, for leaving me that comment asking about the baby hat. i needed the nudge; other than being a slothy slowpoke, i had seaming anxiety. the idea that someone out there was waiting to see my FO made me giddy, and i hurried to completion last night. here my little yellow cotton baby hat:

summary statistics: Ironstone Warehouse Flake Cotton, color 1171 (buttery yellow), label gauge is 6sts per 1", 136 stitches in 2x2 ribbing, and seamed (3-needle bind off, actually 2 needles and a crochet hook) into a 4 corner cross at the top like this:

while i'm on the move, i'll share WIP photos of my other hats. first, a link for hubby's watchcap (if you are married to MeowGirl, please exercise won't-power and do NOT click): here. this hat has been frogged a couple of times, but it's finally back on track... i think.

i haven't yet put kitty ears on my Kittyville as i'm still convinced it looks too snug on my head. yes, i'm easily waylaid by imperfections. Kitty Kitty gifted me with enough Manos for a second attempt, so i will knit a larger one to compare before any kitty ears are considered. this will take a while, so here is what i have so far:

that was the serious-so-you-can-see-the-hat-properly pose. here is the can-i-go-play-in-my-hat-now pose:

i modified the shape of the earflaps just a bit:

ok, wish me luck with the remaining 2 hats... meow

meow: snake scarf

hello! i'm back with knitting to share!

i wanted to make something for my hubby, so he picked out the snake scarf from Knitting Pretty for himself. i splurged on Bouton D'Or Tao yarn (80% wool, 20% kid mohair) in lave and ecume (blue and pale gray), and here is what emerged:

i'm quite pleased with him; he is full of harmless snake-cuteness. the yarn is yummy--soft, lustruous, and lofty. that along with the tubular coil of the stockinette stitch makes for a warm and cuddly scarf. his iridescent blue button eyes give him quite a bit of personality (i have a weakness for button eyes, actually, for buttons in general). look at his friendly face:

my current WIP is another scarf, but more on that later... meow.