Tedious Teddy

This little guy is so small.... You can't imagine how much time it took to complete. I'm not even sure I like him. Oh well, he is here now, so I guess he deserves some love and care. ;)

Pattern: Bill & Ben Twin Bears by Craftbits.

Yarn: Fonty, Super Tweed, left over from my Not So Pink Sweater, and a few yards of Hoslt Garn 100% Uld (plum), left over from my Drew Drops Shawl.

Needles: Addi Turbo Circulars, 3.5 mm, 80 cm for Magic Loop.

About the Pattern: Pfeww….This one took a long time to complete! Assembly was not easy. More instructions would be a plus. Making the face was the most difficult. My teddy doesn’t look very nice. :(

My teddy is supposed to have a twin, but I think I won't be able to knit another one. Luckily, I don't have enough yarn left!

Mods: Worked in the round to avoid maximum seaming. There was still a lot to do after knitting was completed. The neck was ugly, so I knitted a scarf to hide it. CO 5, worked in garter stitch, slipping all first stitches knitwise.

This was a good experience though, and makes me admire more (if possible) Fuzzy Mitten's gorgeous toys collection. Knitting beautiful toys requires a real savoir-faire!

Février/February: Valentine Socks

These socks figure a leaf pattern but depending on how you look at them, you'll some tiny hearts. That's why, they are Valentine Socks!

Pattern: Polly Jean by MJ Kim.

Yarn: Cascade Heritage, Lipstick Pink (5647) 0.71 skein.

Needles: Addi Turbo Circulars, 2.75mm, 80cm.

About the Pattern: The pattern calls for 2.5mm needles (I got gauge) but after knitting a few pattern repeats, it was obviously too small. Apart from this false start, the pattern is very nice to knit. I really enjoyed each stitch, particularly when just before starting the toe decreases, I realized that I had missed 2 stitches at the ankle of one sock and had brought the mistake all along....  :( It wasn't very noticeable, but I deciced to frog back until the heel flap and reknit. 

Even with this unfortunate experience, the whole project took only 5 days to complete. Those are my fastest socks ever! Just be sure to look closely at the chart (there are unusual symbols for very usual techniques). I particularly love the twisted stitches and baby cables pannel all along the leg to the toe as it makes a very neat result. I will probably knit this pattern again! These ones were offered to my mum because she loves lacy socks more than me.

Mods: 6 full repeats of pattern before working the heel. 12 1/2 repeats total before working toe decreases.

I loved the original heel, but the final result was looser than my usual heel flap, so I modified it, keeping the idea of the lovely baby cables:

All slipped stitches are slipped knitwise with yarn in back. 

[   ] shows the cable stitches.

R1: sl1, K, sl1, [P1, LT, P1], * sl1, K * until 8 before end, sl1, [P1, RT, P1], sl1, K, sl1.

R2: P3, [K1, P2, K1], P until 7 before end, [K1, P2, K1], P3.

R3: sl1, K, sl1, [P1, K2, P1], * sl1, K * until 8 before end, sl1 [P1, K2, P1], sl1, K, sl1.

Work again R2 ; R3 ; R2.

Repeat the same process * R1, R2, R3, R2, R3, R2 * for 32 rows or until desired lenght.

Happy Valentine's Day to you!

Not So Pink Sweater

With these low temperatures, I needed a warm sweater.... Tweed is my eternal love.... First time V-neck....

Pattern: Pink by Wendy Bernard, from Custom Knits

Yarn: Fonty Super Tweed, (Ardoise 05) a little less than 8 balls. Gift from Barbara at Le Comptoir, Paris.

Needles: Addi Turbo Circulars 5 mm & 4 mm, 80 cm.

About the yarn: This is a lovely french tweed. 95% merino, 5% mohair. It's a little bit itchy (probably because of the mohair. The tweed effect is perfect. red, fuschia pink, blue and yellow.

About the Pattern: I enjoyed knitting this pattern very much. The result is a very simple sweater that has nothing special but I still love it, because it’s so warm, cozy and wearable.

Mods: Made the V neck Kfb shaping at one stitch from edge. Longer body, 4 rows garter stitch edging with Elastic BO. Full lenght sleeves ending with slighlty bell shaped cuff in garter stitch: (if anyone is interested)

With smaller needles:
R1: * P2tog, P *
R2: K
R3: P
R4: K
Elastic BO with larger needles.

Wish you a lovely week-end! Stay warm...