Catching Up

I realized as I was finishing up my last post on my latest pair(s?) of socks, I had unfinished business. Knitting I had completed but not blogged about. We can't have that, now can we? So, here are 3 projects that, with my other post this evening, should catch me up to the present.

1.) I don't think I ever posted a picture of my finished antler hat:

There it is. 

Ended up just slightly too long for me, but with a turned up brim we're all set. 

2.) Next up, a set of baby hats I made for Cousin C and B's Baby Reptar, as she's known online. When I was knitting, Cousin C was still pregnant and stalwartly not finding out the baby's gender. Being gigantic nerds, I knew I wanted to knit something nerdy for their baby but everything is so very, very gendered right now, especially for babies. It's irritating. Anyway, I hedged my bets. 

I knit this one in case it was a girl:

Space Princess!

I'm actually pretty proud of this one. I redesigned the buns on the side because I decided I didn't like the English braid variation that I seemed to find everywhere, including this one that was the basis of my pattern. English braiding, by the way, is the 3-strand plait braiding you see little girls wearing. Think classic Anne of Green Gables braids. Leia's buns are much more like flat rosette buns, just twisted hair wrapped into flat bun shapes. Doing that with yarn or hair is super hard to keep flat, so in the interest of better screen accuracy but also my sanity, I did rope braid buns instead. 

That's quite a lot of rope braiding. 

The finished bun, ready to be sewn on. 

Probably just a style choice, but it gives Baby Reptar's gender-appropriate hat a little more flair. 

In case Reptar was a boy, I made this option:

The simple-est ear hat pattern I could find.

Pretty sure it's this pattern, but I'm not 100% on it. Knit in chunky yarn it was super fast and the biggest conflict was trying to find the right green. 

And last but not least, I have a lot of non-gender-binary friends so out of my respect for them and to support Baby Reptar in her earliest life to choose her own way, I made a non-gendered option:

Not the prettiest entry in the series, but it was still fun.

A modified version of this R2D2 pattern, without the 3D elements, I think I got the gauge wrong, given how stretched out it ended up. I understand the point of the duplicate stitching to fill in details (you can see it in the gray lower chunk on the R, the black dot, and the gray stripes at the top), but it was irritating to complete and for bigger sections I really don't like how the look turned out. So next time I'll know to just knit it in Fair Isle/intarsia form instead. I think it'll look cleaner. 

3.) Along with the socks as my carry-along project, I finally cast on for Coworker M's Baby O. He was born in May and I decided knitwear in May would not be as appreciated as later. Added to the fact that most new parents I've talked to are overwhelmed by newborn sizing and don't get as much 6 months and older clothing, I decided to knit for Baby O's first winter. I posted this picture of my original concept swatch:

This was going to be the Fair Isle edging. 

I wanted to use up my warm brown yarn from the "Space Princess" hat seen in the last set. I bought the light yarn in the middle because I thought it would look tan next to the brown. I liked the Fair Isle pattern, I still like the brown, but the light yarn ended up looking too gray next to the brown, so I ended up scrapping that plan. 

Looking through my stash, I found the light gray yarn from the R2D2 hat and a dusty blue intended to be a Baby Sophisticate for another cousin who had their first baby last year but ended up not deserving a hand-knit gift (I do reserve the right to not bestow my hard work on those I don't respect or who lose my regard. My time, my skill, my love, my right). I checked with Coworker M, a hardcore Michigan State fan, that blue would be okay, and picked a new pattern. Readers, it's turning out so much better than I could ever have expected!

The completed back.

Seriously, could those colors be any better?

I'm in love. I think the colors are great, I like the stripey pattern that keeps things interesting, and it's a pretty simple knit. It's my current taking-over-the-side-table sit-down project. 

I keep expecting my Tall Hubby to complain, but he hasn't yet.

I think that's it. I think that's caught up with all my current knitting. 

More Socks! Finally!

I was surprisingly diligent with knitting the last few months. Granted, it's been summer and wool is not the best in the sweaty humid heat we've had going on this summer.
After sitting in a continuing education class for 3.5 days (dear...God...), I got a full-sock-and-a-half completed! Much to the amusement of my nearby classmates, I might add. They were amazed by the whole process and by my progress. I argued that I was out of town, didn't know anybody in the area, and dislike drinking alone, so I went home from class, read on the porch of some restaurant for an hour or so, followed by returning to my hotel and knitting in front of reruns of "Top Gear" or "Sherlock" on Netflix. Not great for my social life, but good for knitting progress! They started saying things like "I expect that heel to be done by morning!" or "You're going to be done with the whole sock tomorrow, right?" Charming.

They did turn out mostly nice. I loved the sunset-colored rainbow.

Plain knitting socks are really a gift when it comes to long boring classes or meetings. As long as I was past the ribbing, toe, or heel bits, I didn't even have to look at my hands. It kept me focused and interested and awake, AND I was productively making something besides another blot of knowledge in my brain. Great times.

Toe turned out well. 

Anyway, I lost the ball band somewhere in my luggage, but Google tells me it's Berroco Sox Padarn, superwash wool and nylon. The pattern is Basic Self-Striping Socks by Amy Klimt off of Ravelry. Top down, with an afterthought heel.

Afterthought heel. 

 Not going to lie, I mostly really liked the afterthought heel. I liked the way it preserved the self-striping pattern of the yarn, and I like that with other yarns you could do contrasting heels and toes easily. There was one part of this that I did not like at all:

See the problem?

It's not exactly subtle. 

 As my mother-in-law hurried to assure me, I can always darn holes closed, but I don' wanna. I am a big fan of minimal finishing up, so an extra step after weaving in ends is not appreciated. But this was clearly not a big enough problem to keep me from casting on another pair.

They are fast.

I lost the ball band for this one as well and can't find the yarn anywhere. 

It's my current in-purse carry-along project.