Woolgirl Oz Sock Club - Poppy Fields

A devastating mishap at the dyer's studio delayed this Woolgirl Oz Club kit, but I was lucky enough to have my kit arrive last week.  Slightly late was apparently a fortunate stroke of luck since other people are still waiting for theirs.

************ Spoilers from this point on! ************

The kit contents:

I was really happy to see a box style bag with a zipper!  It's a tight fit for the full 400 yard skein of sport weight yarn, but it's so much more useful than the smaller, open style bags with no closures.  This project bag is going to see a lot of use.

There's also a matching "shopper clutch" (according to the included item list) that holds a notepad and pen with additional pockets and a button with elastic loop to hold it closed.  It doesn't really fit in the box bag, but it will fit easily in my usual knitting bag and should make it easier to keep track of notes and keep them tidy.

I actually very much appreciate the larger items and don't miss the little theme trinkets this time.  The only small addition in this kit was a poppy on a small clip, which could be a cute hair accessory.

And then there's the bright and cheery Miss Babs yarn with stitch marker:

Love the color and the stitch marker is as cute as always.

The pattern is toe up and described as a "Choose Your Own Adventure" with options for working the leaves and poppies when and where you want them.  It seemed interesting and obviously appropriate for the theme and I cast on right away.  But so far my experience has been more of a choose your own frustration.  I think I'm going to have to rip out my first toe and the few pattern rows that I've worked and completely start over, but more on that another day.

Just a few more kits before 2010 is over and my kit subscription ends, so I'm doing my best to keep up.

What, this hat?

Cuteness!

Many thanks to her daddy for sending cute pictures of her modeling her new hat!

Short-lived Mystery Project

Last week I had a mystery project in progress, but since it only took a couple of nights of knitting to complete, it didn't really stay a mystery for long.

Pattern: Ruffled Baby Hat by Russell Lehrer
Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Baby Bunny - Goldie with Redrail trim
Needles: US 7 - 4.5 mm, US 9 - 5.5 mm, US 10 - 6.0 mm
Completed: July 29, 2010

Sariebeth's husband mentioned that their little one needed a hat that was cooler for summer and knit of something other than wool.  I happened to have some appropriate yarn in my stash and a quick Ravelry search turned up the pattern, so I was off and knitting.  

This particular yarn is so amazingly soft that I didn’t bother trying to block it and I hoped it wouldn't make the hat too floppy to be useful.  I've had issues with guessing at baby head sizes in the past, so I was also hoping it would actually fit.  I'm told that it did fit her and that they thought it was adorable.  Yay!

Although I nicknamed it Sunshine Hat in Ravelry, it's rained every day since I gave it to them, so maybe it should be named Rain Dancer Hat instead!  (Our area really needed rain, though, so definitely no complaints from me.)

And now I'm back to trying to wrap up some larger projects.  Hopefully I'll have more to share about at least one of those soon, too.

Whirlpool Socks

These socks are for another Knit-Along, but they're also a gift for someone. That makes it a little more disappointing that I had trouble sizing these the way I wanted.

They fit my feet, which isn't exactly what I wanted since they're intended for someone with shorter feet than me.  They are a tad short for me, but not quite as short as I intended.  And while I fixed the initial gauge problem, they're not quite as snug as I planned either.  They're not baggy, but my Edwardian Boating Socks stretch quite a bit with wear so I'm hoping these don't become too baggy when worn.

Pattern: Charybdis by Fiona Lucas
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Lightweight - Rare Gems Mill End
Needles: US 1 - 2.25 mm
Completed: July 27, 2010

Having said all that, I am still really pleased with how they came out.  The colors seem very fitting for a mythical whirlpool and they blended nicely without any crazy pooling (Ha! Maybe pooling would have been even more appropriate for a whirlpool!).  I just may need to replace them with something more the right size if they don't work out as a gift.  But given the amount of sock yarn I have at the moment, that's not exactly a problem anyway!

Blocking Party

I finally worked up the ambition to tackle some blocking to combat my problems with finishing projects and now I have a lovely scarf to show for it.

Heart to Heart Beaded Scarf

Pattern:  Heart to Heart Beaded Scarf by Sivia Harding
Yarn: Mama Llama Cashmere 2ply - The Blues
Needles: US 3 - 3.25 mm
Completed:  May 8, 2010

Yes, it took me almost 3 months to get around to blocking it.  But to be fair, this was my first lace project and the thought of pinning out all of those little points individually made it seem a little overwhelming.  Since it's just a simple curved scarf and I wasn't too picky about making sure the points were all perfect, though, it didn't take as much time as I would have thought.

And I avoided soaking this one. It didn't seem right to subject the delicate cashmere and beads to a pool of water, so I just misted it with a spray bottle to wet it for pinning.  All in all, I'm really pleased with how my first beaded lace project turned out and it's deliciously delicate and soft.  I have no idea how or when I'll wear it, but it's beautiful.

The blocking party included other guests, too - a certain Bittersweet Cowl and pieces for the Brea bag - but the blocking isn't quite the last step for them.  Still, I'm getting some projects that have been nearly finished for a long time closer to crossing the finish line.