Twin Pants with pretty embroidery!

I've been busy knitting.... Here are my latest creations. Soon they will be on their way to England to grace the home of two lovely twin girls. (It's a good thing that they are a bit taller than my twin girls or there's no chance these ever would have left my house!)

They are both knit from hand-dyed Targhee wool. The variegated is Rose Garden from Hillary at www.dashingdachs.com. The Blush and Burgundy pants were hand-dyed by me.

Rose Garden Pants
Full Front:

Full Back:

Waist Details:


Cuffs:

Leg Motif:


Blush and Burgundy Pants
Full View:

Waist Detail:

Leg Detail:

Cuffs:

Kat's Dark Earthy Rainbow Soaker

Here it is! It's going out to you this afternoon!

Bungalow Buns Soaker Pattern Pictures

For those of you who have been wondering what the fit is like on a babe. Here are some pictures. They're a little hazy because my digital camera doesn't have a flash. I prefer the artsy explaination that they are "soft focus" & I meant it that way! lol!

All are made from different versions of my soaker pattern from www.bungalowbuns.com.

Here is a side opening soaker on Emma:
It's made from frosting dyed fisherman's.




Here is a front opening, ribbed soaker on Grace:

Here is the soaker itself. It's stretched out a bit because it hasn't been washed in a few wearings. Made from Hillary dyed Peace Fleece.


Perfection Pants on Emma:
Made from heavy 3 ply merino wool, dyed by Hillary. These are a size large and still a bit big on the girls. They still fit into mediums, but the rise is a bit short, so we've moved up a size.

Kirsten's Dragonfly Finished!

With the "magic trail":

Michele's winning Perfection Pants! Michele won these during the Fiber Arts Avengers Auctions last round. They are knit from heavy 3 ply merino dyed in a special Knit for the Cure Colorway by Hillary of www.dashingdachs.com. They have cables extending from waistline to hem on each hip, a contrasting merino waistband and a small pink ribbon embroidered on the back.

I hope you like them Michele!
Front:


Back:


Side:

Kirsten's Dragonfly

Ok, here is our second go at the embroidery.

The pictures show the dragonfly being more yellow/green than he actually is. He is pretty overdyed merino to match the greens in the soaker. The match IRL is very pretty.

Now I'm contemplating adding a little "magic trail" of stitches after him, so you can see where he's been flying. Let me know if you prefer him as is, or would like a little trail.

Kirsten's Vibrant Earthy Rainbow Soaker

The colors look faded compared to what they truly are because I took the pictures inside. However, you can still see how it came together, and the embroidery! Let me know how you'd like me to do the leg cuffs and I'll finish it up.

Front:

Back:

Embroidery:

Lisa's Embroidery

Well, I spent two days embroidering stars and then ripping them out. I didn't account for the softness of the merino fabric. I thought I was going nuts - so I tried it on a soaker made from a different wool with much better results. So instead of my orginal design, I changed gears a bit and came up with a small embroidery that matched the merino fabric much better. Here are the pictures, I hope you like how it turned out!


Close Up:


The whole front:
(sorry it looks lumpy here - I took this while holding a crabby 1 year old)

Lisa's Parisian Purple Soaker

It's very cute and super itty bitty for a new little one.

ok, here are the pictures I promised. The cables don't show up as well in person as they do in real life, but they're still pretty. I put a little, crocheted edging around the leg openings - it's not as bulky as a rolled leg edge, but will help contain messes.

For all of you non-Lisa's out there, this a newborn sized soaker out of worsted weight merino from HandPaintedYarn.com. Cables run down each hip, and soon it will have a little embroidery!

Front:


Back:


Cable Close Up:

Yep, I knit even though I don't blog

I think I may have an excuse for not blogging as I ought to. Please see the following items of information and count them as one big excuse:

These two are according to my estimated date of conception:




And these two are figured by the first day of last period (not helpful when you conceive on day 21 of a cycle:




We're out of our first trimester already and I'm feeling much more perky. I was voluntarily awake until after 10pm last night!

Of course the current projects are all diaper related. Yes, be that as it may I still need to fund the yarn buying habit. So currently on the needles is a soaker out of 3 ply merino in the TRENDY colorway (Knit for the Cure Yarn)It's very yummy. Going to make a thicker soaker, but very soft and stretchy. I've got to contact Hillary and have her dye up the remaining blank skeins that I have.

Also on the needles is a beautiful newborn soaker for Biscuit (my new niece set to arrive in June). She needs a whole wardrobe of wool, so I really need to get moving on that front. Her current soaker is Earthy Rainbow handpainted by Hillary of Dashing Dachs, on Peace Fleece worsted weight wool. Gotta love Peace Fleece - it's like it was made for soakers.

Very soon, I will be Perfection Pants Licensed . Even though I have my own pants pattern, I love this gusset so much that I had to switch over. I will probably continue with both for the time being and after Surprise arrives, switch full time to the Perfection Pants. I hope my customers love the diamond gusset as much as I do. My sample and signed contract are on their way back to me. After they arrive, I'll be official!

Production City...

Here are a few things that I've been working on and finished. A cute line up of a pair of fancy capris, some bright shorts and lovely merino soaker with ruffled cuffs. (These are for Katya!) I promise the ruffles are acutally done, but this picture is a few days old....



Here are the fancy capris, knit up in Valya:



I also have a soaker in Pond and a pair of embroidered capris from Handpainted Yarns merino done. They're waiting to be sent on their way to their new home!



Ruffled Cuff Perfection Soaker from KnitPicks Merino:
Happy Birthday, Katya!

Deco Cuff Pants Tutorial

It's not really a tutorial, just a list of tips that I discovered when doing the cuffs for Rowan's Pants (see the enticing pictures below).

• Look for edging patterns that are "strong". Decorative cuffs are going to take a bit of abuse. Lots of eyelets or open stitches are a recipe for snagging. A pattern that starts and ends with a couple of stockinette or garter stitch are best. If your pattern doesn't call for it, add it and do a test swatch. Some patterns look just fine with the addition.
• Your pattern should have a small repeat. Ideally you want to repeat that pattern at least 5-6 times around. The increase for a pattern with a large stitch repeat might also cause your cuff to flare more than you intend.
• I originally intended to make Rowan's cuffs flare more at the bottom than what they did. My increase was 6 stitches - about 1.5" and it really didn't flare, but it still looks nice. To get a true flare, I would need to increase to at least two pattern repeats (approx.)
• Use M1 increases that don't leave holes. Count the number of stitches you have on your needles. Divide the number of stitches on your needles by the pattern repeate (# of stitches). If this isn't an even number, round up and multiple your stitch repeat by the rounded number. Subtract the current number of stitches from your needed number of stitches and increase evenly around.

Abandoned Projects....

Ok, the socks are not entirely abandoned. They're just aging at the moment. Apparently, they get better with ade, just like wine... So, I have one done wool sock - no mate. One partially finished purple Magic Stripes cotton one.

Now what am I doing? Business, ladies. Work for pay or trade. I've got some gorgeous, handpainted merino wool pants about 2/3 of the way done. Just one more leg to finish. They're for Rowan. Her mom, Elizabeth is embellishing us a Craftsmen style soaker for trade. More wool for the girls.

Here are the pics:

Full Leg:

Cuff only:


I have a huge box of yarn in to Hillary. I know that one 8oz hank of Blue Faced Leicester will be done in Lava and Waves. Two hanks of Peace Fleece will be done in Rose Garden and one grey hand will be done in Pond. Still pondering about the other ones. Lookie at all my pretty colorways here: http://bungalowbuns.com/store/piclink.asp?pageID=Colorways

I also have a poll going at Wooly Wonder Forums, where you can vote for your favorite colors. The ones with the most votes will be stocked in the store. Vote here:http://woolywonder.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4066
There's also a second poll here:http://woolywonder.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4067&postdays=0&postorder=asc&vote=viewresult because it wouldn't allow as many choices as I had colorways.

That's what I've been up to. Isn't it fun?

Socks, socks, socks

I'm knitting socks. I've gotten one finished, but then I got another kind of sock yarn by mail, and instead of making a matching sock to the first one I knit, I started on the second. They don't match. The first is a great small farm, Corriedale wool - dk weight and the second is the purple Magic Stripes colorway, cotton. What's wrong with me???? Why couldn't I commit to finishing the first pair?

Anyway, the wool will be super cool once I have the second sock done and both dyed. They are going to be dip dyed, in graduated hues. I haven't decided what color or whether it should go dark to light (starting at the toes) or vice versa.

Here are pics of the first sock in progress:


Here's a picture of the funky holes along one side of the heel, caused by the double wrapping....I'm going to try the much maligned "turn" to try to get around this.....

Colleen - Your Pergola Pants are almost finished - finally! I'm sorry they took so long. All the color changes really slowed my progress beyond what I anticipated.

If they look huge, that's ok. There's about 2.5" extra in the waistband and the cuffs will be about 3.5" extra inches. Both will be folded and tacked, then next year you cut the tacking stitches and have pants that fit!

Welcome to me!

This is my new knitting blog. I didn't want to clutter my other blog (reserved for the grandparent's baby viewing pleasure), so here is a new one, dedicated to all things knitty. A great place to come check out what I may be knitting for you!

Current Projects:

Pergola Pants for Colleen:
Nearly done. Gotta finish up the cuffs and weaving in the ends. Since they're done all in stripes there are a lot of ends. I've woven in about 1/2 of them so far. This is also a brand new pattern that I will be publishing designed for mamas who want two seasons of wear from the pants.

Wool Socks:
A project just for me. I didn't even dye the yarn. I will dip dye in graduated colors when I'm through with both. I hope the blog will keep me on task.

Heart Jester Hat:
For www.knittedsandfitteds.com upcoming ebay basket. It is Valentine's day themed. An all red hat featuring two rows of embossed hearts (designs are stitched into the fabric), culminating in three icord knot ends. Very cute, I must say. My own pattern.

Pictures later...maybe