I've been a bad blogger - FOs

Can't believe I've not posted. But I've been busy.

Item 1: White tomato.
I finished (all except for weaving in) of my white tomato. It's made w/ Plymouth 100% cotton. I dropped the needle size to US6 to obtain gauge (see below--they recommend a US8!?). And did my fingers get sore. Ouch.

Here's the specs of the yarn:

• 100% mercerized cotton medium weight yarn.
• Machine wash. Imported.
• 3.5 oz/100 grams/140 yard/128m hank. 18 stitches=4" (10cm)/size 8 (5mm) needles. The bummer part? There was a knot in every single hank! And when you're knitting in the round, where do you hide the joins? I did it on the side. What a pain. It was such a pain that I actually emailed PYC.

(the picture is wonky because it's sitting on our couch and I was leaning a weird angle.)

But it's finished. I made a size medium. I also had to rip out the neckline because it turned out floppy. The modification I made was that I was supposed to decrease between the markers and I actually also decreased 2 ribs on each side.

Oh, and of course, AFTER I finished it, I checked other tomatoes, only to find that maybe I should have made it in a cotton blend instead of 100% cotton. For the reason that every extra bump on your body apparently leaves its mark on the sweater. Darn. Oh, and it's very heavy. 100% cotton! what was I thinking.

specs:
yarn:6 hanks of Plymouth Fantasy Naturale Yarn in white
needle: US6
time:2.5 weeks? maybe?


Item 2: Zimmerman's Baby February sweater
This was done using 2 skeins of worsted weight Encore. I don't know about you, but knitting Encore after struggling with this cotton...it felt like butta! Well, I wasn't going to start my lace project (cashmere) yet...that would result in me never knitting w/ cotton again.

Anyway, again, much larger sweater since I used worsted instead of baby weight.
specs:

yarn: Encore 2 skeins red
needle: US6
time: May 20-May 27, 2007

mods: I followed the 'pithy' directions (and read alot of Zimmermaniac blog). I knitted the yoke as per spec, didn't like it, ripped it, redid it, ripped again, and well, ripped again when I realized you're supposed to be putting button holes in at the same time. I did decide that buttons don't have to come all the way down the front, and I liked the buttons only on the garter stitch yoke look. So, I ripped again and figured out how to put button holes into the yoke (not as easy as it seems since I didn't want them to hit right on top of the increases).

The sleeves are too long. I made one sleeve, then the other, and realized that they're too long. Will roll sleeve instead (and tack down w/ yarn). Hey, it's not like a's going to be wearing the sweater too soon. It will likely fit a 3 year old?

For her well-baby checkup, we found out that she's now a whopping 10% in weight. And she's at 20% in height, so no worries. Maybe she'll wear it when she's 5.

Item 3: An O.
Oh, I've been experimenting. I wanted to make a hoop out of yarn. So I went to check out the doknit (google the spelling, please) and had an epiphany. Well, of course.

I wanted a ring, not a donut, so I doubled up some acrylic (did I mention that the cotton so trashed me that all yarns not cotton was feeling fabulous?!) and knit this (yes, that cheerio in the middle is for size reference):

Specs:
needle: US6 dpns
yarn: acrylic yarn worsted weight doubled (surprisingly, maybe 1/2 skein)
time: a couple of hours? Most of the time was spent sewing it shut.

Mods: I increased the initial number of stitches. It uhm, turned out a bit larger than expected. When finished and stuffed, I had to double-check that A's head was larger than the hole so that it doesn't become some sort of hanging hazard (her head IS bigger, thank you). I also wanted it to be fatter, so that's what I did. When it was on the needles, the hoop looked normal size, but when stuffed and sewn, well, it's a tad large.

Item 4: a doknit
I figured I had to do it. But when following the directions, realized that yet again, I needed to modify. I used smaller needles, and decreased the cast on stitches. I also decided to do a normal cast-on instead of the fancier ones because when you sew it together, you can't see it.
When z&a's dad saw the finished doknit, he said, 'nice. what is it?'
When z saw it, he said 'cool. you made a donut'. (my very bright boy)

specs:
needles: US4 dpn
yarn: brown and tan acrylic yarn a smidgeon of each
time: the House season finale

Where's the picture? I gave it to A to play with and it's gone MIA.