Finished Objects

Just a little catch up on my finished projects, and a little more fair talk at the end.

Most recently finished: Andrew's toe-up gusset socks.


Yarn: Regia Cotton
Needles: size 1
Pattern: my own

I bought this yarn when 3 Kittens had their outlet this summer. I bought one 50 gram ball for a dollar. I split the yarn into two even balls and Andrew told me he wanted his socks very long. I told him I would start from the toe and make them as long as I could. I intended to do a short row heel, but the sock was too tight. So, I ripped it back and looked for toe-up gusset information. I didn't find anything (although I didn't look that hard) so I decided to just make up my own. Since I had just finished the straps for the sleeves of Andrew's gansey I thought I would knit the gussets, do some short rows for the back of the heel, and then knit back and forth on the middle stitches picking up gusset stitches as I went. It worked really well and Andrew is happy to have new socks.

Andrew's Gansey


Yarn: Bemidji Homespun in Oxford Grey
Needles: Size 3
Pattern: my own using percentages from Knitting the Old Way

I love how this sweater turned out. It fits Andrew well and everything went together pretty easily. I started this Memorial Day weekend and it got finished up pretty quickly. I knit circularly to the armpits, used a gusset under the arms, knit the fronts and backs flat, used saddle straps to join the front and back with the arms knit the arms circularly. The sweater is a bit itchy now, but I soaked the two extra skeins I have in some deep conditioner and they are much softer, so I will do that when I get it back from the fair. This is the first sweater I have made without a pattern and I just like knowing that I can do it.

Just a couple construction pictures

Nick Socks:

(I realized I didn't take a picture of these and didn't want to go upstairs and look for them - I will try to take a picture tomorrow)

Leftover Step yarn from my toe up socks knit toe up with a short row garter stitch toe and heel and 2x2 ribbing on the cuff, 2x2 ribbing on the instep and 1x1 ribbing on the sole. Nick can't get these off and doesn't seem to want to try like he does with all his other socks. I did wear my Step socks a while back when we had some cooler weather and I have to say that they did feel really good on my feet even though I didn't think the yarn was all that exciting to knit with.

Soakers:


I knit two soakers. The green soaker has been on the blog before. I bought more yarn and finished it up since Nick really did need another one. I don't usually like cuffs on the legs since they add more bulk. I did want something that had a bit more coverage though. So, I knit a few stitches of garter stitch on the edges of the leg holes and made the crotch a bit wider. The garter stitch makes the opening more stretchy so the soaker still fits in the thighs while having a wider crotch. The other one was for a friend's baby shower before she moved to New Mexico. She has gotten most of the newborn and small cloth diapers that Nicholas has grown out of, but I wanted her to have some new stuff too. I knit the soaker out of blueberry Knitpicks Wool of the Andes (left over from Andrew's Snowflake sweater) and made a same sized diaper out of fabric that had the same color in it. I also sewed up a couple small laminate covers for her. I didn't actually get a picture of any of that though. I was just trying to get them done.



I finally moved my sewing machine table, sewing machine and serger downstairs into the dining room. It fits pretty nicely in the corner and while I didn't really want it in there, at least I can get some sewing done this way. I sewed a bunch of Medium Diapers for Nicholas as well as finally sewing together the comforter cover for Andrew's top bunk. I still have a bit of sewing left for Andrew's room, more diapers to make and then time to start thinking about Halloween costumes. One other quick sewing project I did was to remake a t-shirt. We had a family reunion and each got a regular t-shirt. Mine was a medium and was huge on me. Since the only time I wear t-shirts like that is to bed, and I didn't want to feel like I was in my pajamas all day, I decided to cut it down and remake it. I grabbed a t-shirt that I like and cut out the same basic shapes and sewed it back together. It didn't turn out too bad considering I started it at midnight the night before the reunion. I probably won't wear it again since it was 50% poly and was making my skin crawl (I just can't seem to be comfortable in most polyester shirts).



Two last fair thing before I'm done. I forgot to mention the butterfly house in yesterday's post. Shelly has mentioned the past two years that she has taken her girls to the butterfly house. I decided to try it with Andrew this year and he was just thrilled with the whole thing. He was very calm and gentle the whole time and kept getting butterflies and bring them over to the food so they could eat. He would have stayed all day if he could have. We did bring home a container with 5 cocoons. One of the butterflies emerged today and we set it free. Andrew liked watching it flying off. I have pictures of the butterfly house, but they are on my phone and I need Tim to use his work computer to get them off.

The other fair thing... I was looking on the Ravelry groups a couple days ago and found a thread about the state fair. One person mentioned the Ramsey County fair and mention that she wouldn't have entered the county fair since it wasn't competitive, but did since she thought her nephew would like the ribbon since the sweater she entered was for him. I know the county fairs aren't as competitive as the state fair . I don't think that we shouldn't enter them if we think our knitting is good enough for the state fair though. The county fairs are a tradition, and I know the Ramsey County fair isn't very large, but if people don't participate in them through visiting the fair, entering items, etc., they will go away eventually. I would rather support the tradition of the county fairs and possibly inspire someone else to knit something even better next year (or possibly learn how to knit if they are someone just looking to see what was entered this year) than assume that because I have won some ribbons at the state fair I shouldn't enter. I admit that I felt a bit sheepish when I realized that everything I entered won blue ribbons, but I truly appreciated the gift card I won and have pretty much spent all the other prize money at the yarn store so I figure it was also good for the local knitting economy. Right? Anyway, that is just my opinion. I like tradition and would like to challenge others to enter their county fairs to - or if you live near by enter the Ramsey County Fair and wow the judges and fairgoers with the number and quality of entries next year.