Canon Powershot Sock

B has just purchased a new Canon Powershot Elph 100 HS. It is orange. She loves it. Of course, as the daughter of a knitter, she immediately thought that a knitted case made more sense than buying a case. That, and she spent almost all her money on the camera...



...with my permission, she went stash diving and came up with this:



and this:



Using Judy's Magic Toe-up Cast on I cast on 40 sts using the orange yarn and my 2.0mm bamboo DPNs.

Using a third DPN, I knit 4 rows of orange. Then I picked up 3 sts on one side of the little 4 row by 20 st rectangle, knit 10 sts. Grabbed a fourth DPN, knit 10 sts, picked up 3 more sts on the other side of the little rectangle and knit in the round. I knit 6 rounds of orange and 3 rounds of green until the sock fit Mr. Powershot nicely.

I cast off 22 sts (being careful to make sure the remaining sts were in a location that made sense for a flap). I knit 15 more rows in stst, slipping the first st of each row. (In hindsight, I shouldn't have slipped these sts, nor the ones in the next section, as it made applied I-cord more difficult to work.) Then I decreased one st at the beginning of each row until it came to a point.

Using the green yarn, I worked a 3 st applied I-cord edging, included a little loop for the button.



All in all, B was thrilled with the result.

A New Sweater

I've been knitting along on an Inaugural Sweater for B. She chose the yarn several weeks ago. She hates wool, and she's not much one for handwashing and drying anyways, so we opted for an acrylic yarn. I don't typically like using acrylic, but hopefully this will work out okay.

this is the pic from the pattern

We have a few places to choose yarn: 1/2 an isle at Walmart, ditto at Zellers, a local yarn shop and Michaels. Since color is always a deciding factor for her, we decided that Michaels would be our stop since they have a few different worsted weight acrylics all in a row. B narrowed it down to Vanna's Choice, Loops and Threads Impeccable and Patons Decor. Despite some iffy reviews on Ravelry of Michaels store brand Loops and Threads yarn, we decided to go with it anyways as it felt soft, looked evenly spun and of ultimate importance: had the right color!



I've knit about 6 inches of this top down raglan sweater and the yarn is behaving well so far. I haven't noticed any pilling and none of the dreaded squeaking that often accompanies acrylic yarns. The Inaugural Sweater pattern is available as a Rav download for $5.50 and easy to follow so far. The designer recommends Malagbrigo worsted on a 3.5mm - 4mm needle, but I didn't have a 3.5 mm circular so I'm using a 3.25 mm circular and am getting gauge. I typically knit very loose, so I wasn't worried. I usually knit with 3.25 mm needles and worsted weight yarn when I design toys, so I wasn't expecting this would feel weird.

Feels good to have some needles in my hands again! Expect a number of progress shots of an amorphous blue blob over the next few weeks!

Fun with Polymer Clay

I have been knitting this week, but after having been sick, and having had sick kids, I had so much laundry and housekeeping to catch up on, I didn't have time to draft a post. Tomorrow I will show the knitting, I promise...



B and I have been busy looking for necklaces for some upcoming events that she needs to dress up for, but haven't found anything she likes. We spent hours browsing on Etsy and found many lovely things, but didn't think they ship in time.



Off to our stash of Sculpey! We made some very cool pendants that she is very excited to wear! We sanded them smooth with 150 grit then 600 grit sandpaper and finished them with a high gloss acrylic glaze.



Such Fun!

Just a Few Ends

I've finished the knitting on the Shetland Shorty. Definately a quick knit, especially with the slightly heavier yarn I subbed in. All my calculations appear to have worked, it fits B very well.



I almost made it too long, but I kept trying it on her as I worked, and stopped when it seemed right! I love that this little shrug is seamless! Two shoulder seams done in a three-needle bind off don't really count as seams to me, since I don't have to get out a yarn needle to make them. Now there are just 17 ends to weave in and she'll be able to wear her new little summer shrug!

Summer Knitting

Quite some time ago I found a killer sale on some taupe Paton's Grace (~75% off) at Michael's and since B hates wool, I thought I'd pick some up to make her a little shrug. She's decided on the Shetland Shorty from Summer '08 Knitty. This has presented a few difficulties as the pattern calls for fingering weight and Grace is not. But after some swatching, punching of calculator buttons and scribbling and erasing with a pencil, I think it's working.



Here's the progress so far - almost to the armpits. She's loving it and it appears to be fitting despite my needing to rework all the measurement for the heavier weight yarn. This color works with so much of her summer clothes too, so she's thrilled.