Russian Knitting

I spent the month of December in Russia and got a fair amount of knitting done, mostly on the way there and back, as well as on a train ride.

Here is what I got done total. That is 25 hexipuffs and two knee socks for an eight year old. :) The hexipuffs were not stuffed yet because I couldn't imagine trying to take polyfill with me to Russia! I just ran the excess through the top of each puff and had these cute little flat Hexi - non puffs.

These are the ones I did just on my trip home. It was a 32 hour trip total, but I didn't spend the whole time knitting. :) 13 total, not too bad.

This was the one casualty. I bought wooden needles for the socks just in case, since I've heard tales of the TSA getting upset about metal needles. This one broke on the way home. :( It did wait until after I finished the sock though! What a trooper.

Here is one of the knee socks. Sorry for the picture quality. My camera is still MIA and all I have is my phone. :(

This is an attempt to show the rune I put on the sock. I put one on each side of the calf and it is the transliteration of 'P', which is the initial of the boy who will be wearing them. I am still working on the ones for his sisters, which will have their own rune. :) I keep getting distracted. The rune is supposed to look like this: |\/

|

|/\

These are my fingerless convertible mittens, right and left, open and closed. Next time, I need to remember to start the mitten bit lower on the hand. It has a tendency to come off of my fingers in the front, which I don't like. They are phenomenal though in keeping out the cold with really thin gloves beneath them. They are good by themselves too, except for the whole coming off the fingers. They made a big difference in Russia.


This is a pattern that is for Harry Potter themed squares designed by Marie Wright on Ravelry. She has 12 total. I decided I wanted to do a blanket though and with just the 12 squares, it will be a decent baby blanket, but I wanted a big person blanket. I have designed a square to go between those squares, which increases coverage to about 60"X60". The black square is the one I designed. Any non black squares I will post in the future are Marie's designs. I'm excited about it. :)

I used Knit Picks, Shine Worsted, (Dandelion for the yellow one and Black for the black one) on #6 needles. They turned out about 10x9.5"

Can you see what I was trying to do there? It is HP like they use for the movies. I think it looks better in the picture than real life actually.

This is a scarf I made for a friend that she pulled out and let me photograph. I completely forgot about it! It is a variegated yarn and the patterning turned out really well. I don't remember the name of the yarn at all.

An interesting thing happened in Russia. I got to teach several new techniques to a Russian friend of my partner. She spoke very little English, and certainly not knitting related English, and I speak even less Russian. My partner had to translate, which was interesting, considering she also does not have a Russian knitting vocabulary! It worked though and we figured it out. She picked it all up really quickly, which was nice, though sometimes she would whine so much until she figured it out. Yuck. Can I put that on my resume?? :)

That's all for now. I'll post the other square for the blanket later and hopefully the socks for my niece soon. I've got some other ideas bouncing around in my head, just not much money. :)

Hexipuff Update: I am at 74 hexipuffs now. Going for 300+.

The scarf made from my first hand spun is done. It turned out well, though I went through 8 oz and ended up with only about 55" of scarf, much less than I had anticipated. Of course, I really started getting the hang of the best way to spin this wool at the very end of what I had. Oh well, there is more of another wool, so I'll have plenty of time to keep spinning. :)

Here is a sock called the Button Up sock (from Think Outside the Sox). I just love this book. It only took me about 10 days to finish (which is good for me), but as I was putting on the buttons, I realized that I reversed the cuff on the right sock so the wrong side of the cuff is on the right side of the foot and vice versa. Doh! Looks like I will be frogging that and redoing the foot part of the sock. At least it is only the foot and only one sock. I'm still not looking forward to redoing it.

I'm currently working on some fingerless mittens with a convertible mitten top. I think they will be comfy and warm. :) Then I'll be making some wool socks for my niece and nephew. After that, possibly a scarf for a friend. Then, of course, there is the ever present knitting of the hexipuffs!

I'll be traveling to Russia in December and am trying to think of what to bring with me that will be easy to travel with and small. At this point, I'm thinking I will end up taking the hexipuffs. I figured out how much yarn each one takes and I have some wee needles that I can pull together. It would all be pretty compact and I don't have to stuff them necessarily until I return to the States.

My creativity has taken a nose dive the past few weeks. I actually wandered around two yarn stores this weekend and didn't get excited about anything much. Then, I was watching a TV show and saw a hat that I would like to knit. :) Just have to find the right yarn. I'd like to be more creative in my knitting that scarves, hats, and socks, but I'm also unwaveringly practical. :) BORING!! At least everyone seems to enjoy what I make them. :)

That's all for today. I shall leave you all with a picture of the kiteh "helping" me knit.

Sunshine....on a cloudy day

Ok, got a picture of the bit of sunshine. :) I have enough for another too, so I'm gonna make one for my friend for Solstice. I used Bernat Boa Nouveau in Tweety Bird. It is a fun eyelash yarn that is bright and wonderful.

I used the Crabby McCrabbypants to make some hexipuffs, and following Alisha's new name for the colorway, I'm calling them Cranky McPantsy puffs. :) My cat, Famile, was kind enough to model them. (ok, she was confused as heck, but she stayed still, which was a bonus!)

New WIP and completed projects

So, I've got several WIPs (one that is gonna take a long time.) And now, in not particular order.

This is the beginning of the scarf that I am making for my partner's host in Russia. I'm spinning as I go. It will be very exciting! I'm about a fourth of the way through, but I'm going to take a picture later and post it.

Lovely skullcap made from JaWoll. It is a bit too small. Oh well.

JaWoll socks. I made up the lacy design myself. It is really simple and is supposed to be reminiscent of flowers. It only kinda is. :)

Toe socks made of Mochi yarn by Crystal Palace in Intense Rainbow. They are nice, but a bit big. I washed them carefully for the first time, but I may actually let them felt slightly to get a better fit. We'll see how that goes.
These are for the Beekeeper's Quilt which is super cute and will use up a great deal of my extra sock yarn. :) I'm over a dozen hexagons into it now, but it needs over 300 for the size I want, so this one will take a very long time. The hexagons are stuffed and puffy. I bet it will be a really comfy quilt!

This is a wine glass cozy that I made for my mom. She likes a cube of ice in her white wine and it always drips onto the base of the glass, then off of the base. It was a request and I got to design it. It was fun.

There is also a sunny scarf being crafted out of eyelash yarn. I'll get a picture of that later as well. It reminds me of summer, and in the Pacific NW in the winter, this is a good thing. :)

I've got plans for socks coming up. We'll see how quickly I get things done.

Sheldon is a PIRATE!

Sheldon as a pirate is done!!

Alisha and I are trying to figure out if we should name him Blarfintourtise (after Blarfingaar from the SNL skit that Betty White did, which is spelled phonetically here) or Green Beard.

Here he is!





I got some more sock yarn to makes some Holiday presents. I hope everyone likes it.

I spin me right round...

Whee! I got to go the the Flock and Fiber Festival in Canby, OR. I had wanted to take a class of Fair Isle knitting and one on drop spinning, but, through chance, ended up not doing either. I did end up getting a start up spinning kit with a drop spindle and some free lessons from the local guild! They also provided me with a bunch of resources too! I'm a quick learner when it comes to hand crafts, so I am thinking that I might have ended up bored out of my mind partway into 3 hour class. :) I also then got to use the class money (less than actually) to get some lovely wool to learn on, and another, gorgeous spindle. I'm looking forward to playing!

Here is the new spindle. It is lovely.



Here is the "starter" kit. :) Simple, but lovely.


This wool caught my eye and I just had to grab it. There is a lot of it, so it may end up making a bunch of things. :)


This one I wanted for Alisha. The pictures don't do it any justice, it is so rich and beautiful. The first shows some of the depth of the other colors, and the second shows how dark it really is.




I'll be sure to post pictures of the yarn I make, unless it is really really awful, then maybe I'll wait a bit. :)

Ok, cute cute cute picture of the Buzzy Bee was posted. I do have permission from Mama to post it here. :)



A bit small, but you can see his gorgeous face all wrapped up in the bee goodness I created for him. :)