yarnphoria

[yarnphoria]

Animal Crossing Pioneer Pt. 2

Way back in 2002, somehow, my husband Jimmy found out about a new game called Animal Crossing that was having a sort of beta test. He knew I loved The Sims and thought I would enjoy this game. He signed us up, and we got chosen to be part of the Animal Crossing Pioneer program! We got a free copy of the game, 2 memory cards, and 2 calendars. I’ve kept this stuff all these years! 

#animal crossing #animal crossing gamecube

[yarnphoria]

Animal Crossing Pioneer Pt. 1

Way back in 2002, somehow, my husband Jimmy found out about a new game called Animal Crossing that was having a sort of beta test. He knew I loved The Sims and thought I would enjoy this game. He signed us up, and we got chosen to be part of the Animal Crossing Pioneer program! We got a free copy of the game, 2 memory cards, and 2 calendars. I’ve kept this stuff all these years! 

#animal crossing animal crossing gamecube

[yarnphoria]

Neon Knitting

I joined the Vacillate knitalong. I’m using this awesome neon yarn. It’s Knitpicks Stroll Brights in the colors Pucker and Vibrant Violet. 

It’s really easy and fun. Here it is after 1 repeat. I’m alternating the purple and the pink. So the next repeat will be pink. 

The pink at the bottom is a provisional cast on. I might graft the ends together to turn it into a cowl. Haven't decided yet.

#knitting #knitpicks #yarn #neon #vacillate

[yarnphoria]

Rock Island Shawl

I’ve really been in a lace knitting mood. Rock Island is one of my favorite shawls ever. I knit one back in 2011, and I knew I would make another one eventually.

I used Knitpicks Gloss Lace in the Lilac color with size 4 (3.50mm) needles. 

I wouldn’t recommend this pattern to beginners. There is lace knitting on both sides and the chart symbols can be confusing. 

The lace edging is knit first in a long skinny strip. When it was done it was almost as tall as me! Then you pick up stitches along one side and decrease up the middle to make the triangle shape. 

It’s not THAT hard but you really do have to pay attention to where your center stitch is. I messed it up the first time and this time as well! 

Since I had 2 skeins of yarn, I added extra repeats to the edge (77 total) and an additional repeat of the lace panel in the body. 

Blocking took forever! I had to pin out every one of those zig-zag loops on the edge. After blocking it is 61″ x 34″. 

I love this yarn and this pattern so much! I will probably knit it again at some point.

#knitting #lace #shawl #laceknitting #knitpicks

[yarnphoria]

Squid Squad

Last week I crocheted like a madwoman! I came across this Splatoon Squid pattern and just had to make one. And then I made another one.

The blue one is Paton's Satin Solids in the Loyal Royal color. The pink one is Caron Simply Soft Party in the color Fuchsia Sparkle.  

The small tentacles are crocheted first and then the big ones. 

The pattern has a clever technique for joining all the parts together. It was pretty simple and not as fiddly as I was anticipating.  

After that you work the rest of the body in one piece. 

The finishing touch is glueing on the eyes made out of black and white felt and coordinating felt for the tentacle spots. 

Blue squid has gone to live with fizzymint, but Pink squid is staying with me!

#crochet #splatoon #squid #amigurimi

[yarnphoria]

High Seas

High Seas Shawl by Kieran Foley. He has some amazing patterns. I knit the Seascape Shawl by him years ago and loved it. 

I used Knitpicks Gloss Lace in the Marina colorway and a size 3, 3.25mm needle. 

Blocking it was a bit of a challenge because it is a parallelogram. 

This pattern is much easier to knit than it looks. I did 10 repeats of the charts and by about the 6th one I was tired of it. The end result was worth it, though.  

#knitting #lace #shawl

[yarnphoria]

Loopy Spinning

I haven’t done much spinning this year. I need to do some more because I have some gorgeous fiber waiting. 

 I chose this Loop Bullseye Bump because they are fun and easy to spin. This one is called Black Light. I love the shorter color repeats alternated with black.

It was spun on my Hansen Minispinner using my lovely Akerworks bobbins. It's neat seeing the yarn through the bobbin!

I got 390 yards of n-ply. I might make a hat with it. 

#knitting #spinning #handspun #akerworks #minispinner

[yarnphoria]

In January/February I knit this shawl called 100 Diamonds. I made it a bit bigger, though, so it’s actually 110 Diamonds. The yarn is Madelinetosh Lace in the Denim colorway.

There’s beads between the diamonds for a little sparkle. These were leftover from my Evenstar Shawl.

#knitting #lace #shawl #madelinetosh

[yarnphoria]

It's been awhile. I've knitted a few pretty things since December. A hat with Madelinetosh Home bulky hat in my favorite color, SPECTRUM! And some fingerless mitts in this amazing color to match. The pattern is Susie Roger's Reading Mitts.

#knitting #mitts #cat #kisa #hat #madelinetosh

[yarnphoria]

A Long-Awaited Knit

I've wanted to knit the Hanami Stole since the pattern was released in 2007. I figured this skein on Madelinetosh Lace in the color Coquette would be perfect for it. I even had some leftover beads in a complimentary color. I learned a new technique, too, the long-tail beaded cast on. I found the pattern fairly easy to knit. It probably would have been much more of a challenge if I had knit it back in 2007. I had only been knitting for 3 years at that point. I added one repeat to the basketweave section. I added an extra repeat of Cherry Blossom chart B, and only did 3.5 repeats of chart G. I had just enough beads left to add to the garter section before the ruffle. It measures 80" by 20" after blocking. I'm glad I finally got around to making it!

#knitting #lace #shawl

[yarnphoria]

Qiviut Mitts

We went to Alaska on cruise in August. It was absolutely beautiful, and we had a great time. I bought a ball of yarn as a souvenir while we were in Ketchikan. It is a 50% Qiviut, 50% Silk blend. It is the softest thing ever! Definitely worth the price! I knit a pair of fingerless mitts with it. The pattern is Poor Poet's Mitts from the Wendy Knits Lace book. The weird bit in the middle part of the ribbing is because I picked up stitches from the cast on to add length to the mitt. I didn't want to rip the whole thing out. It doesn't show up as much when I'm wearing it. I love them! They are soft and warm and light.

#knitting #mitts #yarn #qiviut

[yarnphoria]

My 1st Handspun and Handknit Socks

When I learned how to spin 4 years ago, I wanted to be able spin yarn and then knit socks with that yarn. I tried once before but it turned out to be way too thin for socks. This time I was successful. This fiber is 75% Superwash Wool and 25% nylon from Leading Men Fiber Arts. The color is called Prom Queen, and it is super hot pink. I did a lot of research on how to make good yarn for socks. I even spun up a little sample skein to make sure I was on track. I decided on an Oppposing Ply 3-ply yarn. I divided my fiber in thirds and spun 2 singles with Z twist (clockwise), 1 single with S twist (counter-clockwise), and then plied the 3 together S (counter-clockwise). That's almost 5 ounces of plied yarn on the Akerworks bobbin, and there's so much room left! I didn't take pictures of the finished skein, but the yarn was very firmly plied, and the opposing ply gave it a little bounce. I used my usual Size 0 (2mm) needles. This yarn is a tiny bit thicker than the commercial yarn I've used, so I knit the socks on 60 stitches instead of my usual 64. The socks fit great! I love the hot pink color. I hope the yarn wears well.

#knitting #socks #handspun #yarn #spinning

[yarnphoria]

Leftovers Cowl

I absolutely loved making this project! It's the Leftovers Cowl by Wendy Johnson. I dug out all of my purple, teal, and gray leftover yarn and numbered them. I ended up with 14 purples, 5 grays, and 9 teals. I made a color layout for the entire cowl. I reduced the width of the cowl by provisionally casting on 122 stitches. I used size 3, 3.25mm needles. I tried not to use the same 2 colors in any section and to make sure there was good contrast between each color. There are a couple spots that use the same colors but reversed and where the contrast isn't great. Overall, though, I think the colors turned out very nice. i did 3 repeats of the pattern chart, and then it was time to kitchener all those stitches together. I've only done it a few times and that was at most 15 stitches. Luckily, it was pretty easy and didn't take nearly as long as I feared. The seam is almost impossible to find even knowing where it is! I worked only on this project from July 30 - Aug 19. It was seamed, blocked, and dried in time for me to wear it on my cruise to Alaska! That is Mendenhall Glacier behind me. Final size is about 8" wide by 30 inches long.

#knitting #cowl #fairisle #colorwork

[yarnphoria]

Hitofude Cardigan

This cardigan has been pretty popular on Ravelry lately. I can see why! It was really easy to knit even though it had an unusual construction. The pattern was clearly written, you just have to trust the instructions. It took me a week and a half to make. I made it exactly as written. If I made it again, though, I would want to make the back less wide. Maybe do a couple of repeats without increasing the lace pattern. I do have a 7 more balls of this yarn in purple. I used the new yarn from Knitpicks called LIndy Chain which is 70% percent linen and 30% cotton. All the other sweaters I've made have been wool, so it's nice to have something I can wear that isn't so warm.

#knitting #cardigan #knitpicks

[yarnphoria]

Mind the Gap Stripes

Done! I used the Fish Lips Kiss Heel again. I found a tip by the designer to use the outside strand of yarn to knit the heel. This way you can keep the stripes on the main part of the sock in order. It worked out really well.

#knitting #socks

[yarnphoria]

All Stripes, All the Time

Yarn: Mind the Gap Pattern: Vanilla Bean Striped socks Needles: 2.00mm, 2 circs This yarn is inspired by the London Tube map colors! I love it.

#knitting #socks

[yarnphoria]

Ice Palace Socks

Yarn: Fibernymph Bounce Color: Ice Palace Pattern: Wendy’s Fingering Weight Toe-Up Socks Heel: Fish Lips Kiss Heel Needles: 2.00mm, 2 circulars I did try the new Fish Lips Kiss Heel (I really really hate this name). It was easy to knit and seems to fit well. I'm going to be using it on my next pair of socks.

#knitting #socks