Floral themed socks

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Lindsey Guajardo

One of the themes for Sock Knitters Anonymous’s January challenge was floral-or-fauna-themed socks. I had a very cute pattern in my library as well as some floral-themed yarn in my stash that was perfect. Pink and sparkly – two of my favorite things.

The pattern is Hearts and Flowers Socks by Wendy Johnson and the yarn is Knit Picks new sparkly sock yarn Glimmer in the colorway Carnation. I really like the Glimmer. It’s similar to Stroll, which seems to wear pretty well in my limited experience thus far.

This is the first pair I’ve done a picot cuff on and it’s absolutely perfect for the hearts and flowers theme.

There was also a mystery sock knit-along this month called Bláthnat (Little Flower). I was in the mood for sparkles so I used another new-to-me yarn this month, Red Heart’s Stardust in Green. Stardust seems like a nice, sturdy yarn. The socks hold their shape well, and the color is very pretty (although I have the hardest time photographing greens). However, the yarn has a nasty smell. Maybe that’ll go away after a good wash.

The pattern was released in four parts. There was a lot of beautiful lacework in these socks.

Clue one had the cuff.

Clue two was the leg.

Clue three had the heel and instep. The first picture is from the completed sock, but illustrates the heel pattern.

And the last clue had the foot and toe.

This month I also finished a pair of socks I started in November. I really didn’t like the pattern so it was hard to sit down and work. But they did turn out pretty nicely.

The pattern is actually a mash-up of Lucky Socks by Debbie Stoller and Baseball Socks by Meredith Wills. I really wish I had just done the whole thing using Meredith’s pattern. Debbie’s pattern had a seam right across the front for no apparent reason and then a series of color changes across the top of the foot. To top it off I wasn’t using sock yarn so I don’t think they’ll last very long. I just hope they make it til baseball season so my husband can wear them while watching at least one game!

I’m at the point now where I’ve run out of room in my sock drawer for my hand-made socks. I need to come up with a new plan because I don’t want to stop knitting socks.

A year of amigurumi projects

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Lindsey Guajardo

Late last month I finished my year-long amigurumi-a-month project with a snuggly snowman for January.

I crocheted a little hat for him, too, but never got around to taking a picture. It’s the same hat pattern used on the March leprechaun.

When I started the project I thought for sure I wouldn’t need to buy any yarn to do it. I was pretty close, too! I ended up having to buy more just for this guy’s hat. It gave me an excuse to try a brand-new yarn by Knit Picks – an acrylic called Brava. The price for a huge skein (100 grams) is only $2.99 so I bought a rainbow’s worth to try it out.

It’s very soft and worked well for amigurumi. It can’t hold a candle to Berroco Comfort, but with a price that low it’s probably going to be my new go-to yarn for amigurumi.

So here it is – one year of amigurumi! A very fun project.

It’s impossible for me to pick a favorite. They’re all my favorite.

Christmas gifts

Posted on December 31, 2011 by Lindsey Guajardo

I wrote a post on January 1, 2011 and now here’s the post for December 31. It doesn’t feel like it was already a year ago that I wrote that post about my Viking socks and bunny amigurumi.

I hadn’t planned on knitting or crocheting any gifts this year, but as it turned out I made a whole bunch. The biggest one was a shawl I knitted for my mother. Seraphine is a really fun pattern to knit, and the resulting shawl is huge. The cables along the back panel are so pretty.

My sister-in-law is in a Hello Kitty groove right now so I crochet a fun cap for her. The basic ear-flap hat pattern is neat. It’s a very quick project and easy to customize. I’ll probably make it again sometime.

I got creative and transformed it into Hello Kitty.

Then I made a big batch of small gifts. We had an impromptu Women Gone Wild outing last fall where we went shopping at all the craft stores in downtown Buffalo. A lot of the shops were selling hand-knitted headbands, and my favorite ladies thought they were pretty cute. So I made nine of them for Christmas gifts (plus one more commissioned by a co-worker) – one each for Mom, Carly, Rita, Paty, Stina, Cheryl, Faith, Becky and Sara. My favorite Wild Women!

The pattern I based it off of is this one, but I made the back different. Mine has a wider, tapered closure rather than a small strap.

I made them with some soft, cozy wool I had in my stash. They keep your ears wonderfully warm.

They were so much fun to make and even more fun to give!

I got some fun gifts this year for my favorite hobbies. My husband got me a sock knitting book. I’m really looking forward to digging into this one.

My aunt Paty gave me a bag of yarn, and my parents got me a beautiful cabinet to store my yarn in.

I saw the cabinet during the same shopping trip when we saw the headbands. I was totally smitten – I had no idea my mom would go back and get it for me! It’s absolutely perfect for my crafting tools. I also got some fun cooking things – cute measuring cups, a new Santoku knife, some silicone bakeware, a pretty green glass serving tray, and a chest freezer from my in-laws.

What a wonderful Christmas!