Three of these are patterns that will be released some time in the next couple of weeks.  Stay tuned!

He was just finished just arrived today.  He’ll only be here another day or so visiting before he moves on to his new friend’s house.  In the meantime, he’s having lots of fun hanging out with his buddy, Fwed.

Tony’s a ham and a camera hog!  I had to give [...]]]> Meet Cousin Tony.

He was just finished just arrived today.  He’ll only be here another day or so visiting before he moves on to his new friend’s house.  In the meantime, he’s having lots of fun hanging out with his buddy, Fwed.

Tony’s a ham and a camera hog!  I had to give him a stern talking to before he stopped his antics and allowed me to take a decent pic of the two of them.

You can still see a little smirk there, can’t ya?  TONY!!!!!!!!

Sock Monkey

• Source: Yvonne Knits
• Size: one size fits all
• Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece (I LOVE this yarn for kids’ stuff)
• Color: MC (Truffle) – 151 yds, CC1 (Antique Lace) – 33 yds, CC2 (Barn Red) – 11 yds; about 185 yds total.
• Needles: US 3, 32″ circular
• Gauge: not really important
• Cost: Cost for yarn: $5.73, buttons: 50c, stuffing: ~50c.  Total cost: $6.73
• Started: October 3, 2009
• Finished: October 11, 2009
• Mods: none, except for working ITR instead of flat

PS:  Look what’s in the works!  The adult version of Mi Escuelita is about halfway done.  What do you think of these buttons?

I must say that this is the garment with THE most work that I have ever knit. This coat surpassed even my seamless EZ cardigan!

The knitting of it was fun with the crazy construction of the coat. But that crazy construction also meant [...]]]> Warning: This post is EXTREMELY pic heavy. )

I must say that this is the garment with THE most work that I have ever knit. This coat surpassed even my seamless EZ cardigan!

The knitting of it was fun with the crazy construction of the coat. But that crazy construction also meant that seaming it was alot of work! Add to that the fact that I wanted it lined. Yea, I didn’t do the lining but if I WOULD HAVE it would’ve been even more work!

I chose a nice, silk rayon designer lining in bright colors for my coat.  It adds warmth and helps the coat keeps its shape.

My best friend, Moises, is a tailor (lucky for me!).  He did the cutting and sewing for the lining.  He cut each piece of lining out before I seamed the coat together to ensure that the pieces were all the same (and plus, it was just easier!).  He folded the back in half and laid it on the fold of the fabric to cut that piece.  Since the fronts were the same, he used only one front and cut two pieces (one for each side).  The sleeves each had a different angle, not your standard set-in sleeve here, nope!  So he cut those individually.  Very importantly, he cut all the pieces at least 1″ larger all the way around to give him a seam allowance plus a margin of error in case the coat grew when blocked.  It did grow, but not too much.

He seamed all of the pieces of lining together while I took the coat home, soaked, blocked and seamed it up.  I brought the coat back to him and he attached the lining.

To give the lining some looseness and at the same time, keep it in place, he attached 4″ x 0.5″ stripes of fabric at 8 key points along the shoulders and underarms from the lining to the coat (sorry, I didn’t get a pic of these!).  The lining came out FANTASTIC!  Thanks, Moe!  Love you, bro!

By vote, all of you chose my big, brown square buttons which I think were a great choice.  Thank you, reader(s)!  )

I am extremely pleased with my new coat and if you catch me at Rhinebeck in two weeks, you’ll get to see it in person!

Clasica Coat

• Source: Interweave Knits, Fall 2009
  
• Size: 50″
  
• Yarn: Cascade Eco Wool, 4.16 skeins, 1988.5 yards
• Color: Black #8095 (altho it’s more of a chocolate brown)
  
• Needles: US Size 8 and 9
  
• Gauge: as pattern
  
• Cost: yarn – $55.96, buttons – 3 * $2.80 ea. = $8.40, lining – 2.5 yds at $8 per yd = $20; GRAND TOTAL = $84.36
  
• Started: August 14, 2009
• Finished: September 27, 2009
• Mods: I added an inch to each sleeve and the lining.
  

I decided to go with the yarn used in the pattern because it’s a good quality, a good blend, and hey, the price is right.  [...]]]> As soon as I saw this tam in the new Twist Collective, I knew I wanted to make it as a gift for my super-generous boss, Lauren.

I decided to go with the yarn used in the pattern because it’s a good quality, a good blend, and hey, the price is right.  Although the yarn is a tad splitty, it was nice to work with.  The finished hat is super soft.

My only concern with this hat is that it came out kind of small before blocking.  As far as I know, I got gauge.    I had to stretch it to force it over a plate to block and now it fits my daughter Esmie.  The pattern states adult one size fits most; circumference at brim 18″; diameter across wheel 9.5″ after blocking.  When I make adult hats I usually use 20-21″ circumference around brim.

Since my boss is not huge like me, I’m sure it will fit her just fine.  It fits me like a skully when I put it on.  HA!

The pattern is very straight-forward and easy to follow.  The hat was a very quick and easy knit.  Yea, you are all saying, “she always says that,” but really, it is!  )

Cinquefoil

• Source: Twist Collective, Fall 2009
• Size: One-size fits most (?)
• Yarn: Elann Peruvian Baby Cashmere
• Colors: Parchment (MC) (.82 skeins, 90 yds); Cashmere Blue (.46 skeins, 50 yds); Tapestry Blue (.22 skeins, 24 yds)
• Needles: US 2 and US 3 16″ Hiya Hiya Interchangeables
• Gauge: as pattern
• Cost: approx. 1.5 skeins of yarn used * $13.13
• Started: August 30, 2009
• Finished: September 1, 2009
• Mods: none
  

These are the Calvin and Ripple Socks, named after Cristi’s two famous cats by the same names.

The design is modeled after the fact [...]]]> A  few weeks ago, Cristi was looking for volunteers to test-knit her new sock pattern.  I offered to do so and I’m glad I did.

These are the Calvin and Ripple Socks, named after Cristi’s two famous cats by the same names.

The design is modeled after the fact that Cristi’s cats are identical from the back, but from the front, they are totally different.  In her pattern, one sock has a slanted slip stitch pattern on the instep and the other has a ripple pattern.  The back of the leg in both socks is knit in mistake rib.  You can choose to do a patterned or a plain toe.  I went with patterned.  I think it’s sooo pretty!  Here’s a toe pic just for you, C.

Speaking of toes, I love how Cristi calculates the toe for the top-down sock (Ripple).  It’s going to come in quite handy for other patterns as well.  I didn’t do her pattern exactly as I didn’t do the ripple on the Ripple sock.  I went with mistake rib over the instep as well as the back of the leg because my yarn was so variegated and dark that it was hard for me to follow the knits and purls.

The yarn itself was nice to work with and the color is very rich.  This is the Neighborhood Fiber Co. Studio Sock I purchased at MDSW this year.  It took me some tweaking in my picture editor to get these pix to as close a color to the original as possible.

By the way, one of the socks is knit toe-up and the other is top-down.  Can you tell which is which?

Of course not, because Cristi managed to design a perfect replica of Cat Bordhi’s toe-up riverbed pattern in top-down form.  You did well, my friend!!  They are identical!

So for the price of one, you essentially get TWO sock patterns.  And, you can, of course, mix n’ match them however you please.  Knit two Calvins, or two Ripples, or one of each like I did.  Either way, this is a very fun sock pattern to knit.  And, no, I’m not saying that because I’m biased. 

Calvin and Ripple Socks

• Source: Cristi Brockway
• Size: Small, to fit my youngest daughter, Little Rosi, who wears a size kids’ 3 shoe
• Yarn: Neighborhood Yarn Co. Studio Sock (201 yds used)
• Color: Girard Street
• Needles: US 1.5 32″ circular (socks knit using ML)
• Cost: $10.58
• Started: July 2, 2009
• Finished: July 23, 2009
• Mods: I didn’t do the ripple stitch on the Ripple sock but, besides that, pattern knit as written.