2010 Wrap Up: Looking Ahead to 2011

 One last little FO:
A baby blanket for a friend's newborn baby boy. I sewed in a cotton flannel lining. Probably took me as long to iron, cut, pin, and sew in the flannel backing as it did to knit the thing.

 

Pattern: Ducks in a Row

Yarn: Paton's DK mercerized cotton

Needles: 4.5 mm (US 7)

Notes: Such a zen, easy knit. I loved it, and it didn't take long at all. The little flaps of duck bills are (I'm told) fun for little fingers to play with. the stripey flannel backing is also really soft and cuddly, and the the whole thing is machine washable. I don't have a baby, but from what I understand, it involves a lot of laundry. 

2010 was a good year for my knitting, I think. My personal goal was to complete 26 projects, and I completed 28, with only one disappointing FO. Here's the photo mosaic, which is always fun:

2010 Also was the first year I wrote up a serious pattern, and was such an interesting experience. 2011 will bring a few more new patterns, but I approach the idea of designing with a lot of trepidation.... there are so many wonderful, talented designers out there; I totally don't feel even remotely qualified to be writing up patterns. But I'm learning as I go, and we'll see where it leads.

Let's get the 2011 knitting goals written down- I'd like to have another 28 FOs to claim at the end of it, and design 3 new knitting patterns (which I'll totally count as part of the 28 FOs!). Very soon the Stockholm Scarf pattern will be available in Swedish, thanks to Inger. 

December 23rd, I think I just may have made culinary history- I share the same birthday as my dad (December 23rd) and I wanted to do something special. He doesn't like sweets, baked goods, or even many vegetables (of course, I eat all sugary foods I can get my hands on, and then pretend it's okay because I've also never met a vegetable I didn't love. Somehow I feel that my deep love of kale undoes the damages of a frequently high-chocolate diet. Anyway, I digress...). But he does love ribs. So I made him a rib cake:

 

He loved it, but told me not to post pictures on the internet of him eating it. You know how it is- no one looks classy while eating ribs. And my mom made me an awesome German chocolate cake. I 

 was pretty thrilled:

See that plastic train on the cake? That's a family tradition, that candle train. It didn't fit on the ribs, though.

2010 was a great year, and I'm all set for the new possibilities and experiences of 2011.

FO: Secret Christmas Gift for Mom

My mom reads my blog (hi mom!) so I couldn't blog about this sweater at all without her seeing it and spoiling the surprise. Not that it was really a massive surprise, since it was the only thing she asked for- "knit me a sweater, please!" She's an easy-to-please knit recipient- she loves it all.

Pattern: Knit Lace Border Top

Needles: 4.5 mm (US 7)

Yarn: Elann superwash bamboo

Mods: Modified from flat to knitted in the round for the body, sleeves were still knitted flat.

Notes: Simple but lovely. All the unfussy classic look of a lovely sttockinette, with a pretty lace border to jazz it up. And look, it fits her perfectly! I was really worried about that.

These photos were taken December 25th, In between prep for the big turkey dinner. Doesn't she look great?! She's pretty fantastic in the mom department, too.

Modification Monday: Mittens

Original  Pattern: #18 Mittens

Knitter Extraordinaire: Caarin (Rav ID, adorable doggie blog)

Mods: Resized for a toddler's little hands, and modified the cuff to garter stitch. Project page with details can be found here.

What Makes This Awesome: Oh my goodness, the colours. I love how Caarin matched the mittens with the contrasting mitt and cuff for each one, and the little splash of red is perfect. She didn't use the standard ribbing for the cuff that we all know and love, and instead used garter stitch, which seems so simple, but wow- big impact. And I bet they are super warm- garter stitch is so nice and thick, just perfect for keeping little wrists warm. Love these!

FO: OfficeMitts

Pattern: Susie's Reading Mitts


Yarn: Luxury Collection Alpaca Peru

Needles: 4 mm dpns (US 6)

Mods: None.

Notes: These mitts were a fast knit, and are amazingly soft in the alpaca yarn. I know they look too big on me, and that is because they are- I've got scrawny little bird wrists, and I made a normal medium size for my co-worker, as they were a Christmas gift for her. I gave them to her yesterday before we went our separate ways for the holidays, and she loved them! They fit her perfectly, which I was glad to see. She is often cold in our office, and borrows my fingerless gloves so she can stay warm but still type. It was time for her to have a nice pair to call her own.

These are a wonderful quick knit- I knit one in a weekend, and the only thing that slowed me down was accidentally making the second one a different size, and not noticing until I had completely finished and woven in the ends. You know, the usual point in time when you realize you've made a terrible knitting mistake. I frogged it and re-knit in the correct size.

I tried to get Yarn in on the FO photo action, but she was having none of it. Spoil sport.

In non-knitting news, I think I've hit upon the shade of red that I like best for my hair (see above). I absolutely love it. But holy crabcakes, keeping up with roots is a lot of work. I foresee going back to my natural dark brown colour next year. I'm too lazy for that kind of upkeep.

Modification Monday: Eco Cardigan

Original Pattern: Catriona

Knitter Extraordinaire: Rachel (Ravelry ID)

Mods: Used the cabling detail from the lovely vest and converted it into a stunning long sleeved cardigan. Project page can be found here.

What Makes This Awesome:I love everything about this cardigan- the moss stitch sleeves, the deep double ribbing on the front, and the double button i-cord closure is just so brilliant. The set in sleeves look great, and there are so many really thoughtful details in this cardigan.  I've long admired the vest for it's luscious cables, but this cardigan really pushes all the right buttons for me- moss stitch, double ribbing AND cables?! I'm  in love.

FO: Nativity Donkey

As some of you may recall from last winter, I knitted a little camel for my father-in-law's church's nativity. It was challenging because I didn't have a pattern for a camel and hadn't seen a picture of the nativity in question, so I was really winging it. It turned out cute, but a bit small in comparison to the other nativity members. This year, a donkey was requested. And it was much easier since my in-laws pick up a copy of the knitted nativity collection by Alan Dart. He is already winging his way over to England (and could possibly even be there by now!), to join the camel and make new friends with all the other knitted nativity crew.

(The shot above you can see a bit of his i-cord tail)

Pattern: The Nativity Collection

Needles: 3.25 mm (US 3)

Materials: Craft yarn, fiberfill and pipe cleaners

Mods: improvised the mane and icord tail.

Notes: The legs and head all have pipe cleaners in them to make his pose-able and bendy. The result is a very stable donkey,  who stands up quite well.

G added some frost effects around the photo borders. Extra winter-y, since Toronto really hasn't got much snow to speak of (you can still see the grass through the snow!). Those other countries and cities that are being dumped on, please send your snow this way!

Modification Monday: Hooded Coat Extension Panel

Original Pattern: Skoodlet

Knitter Extraordinaire: Caitlin (Ravelry ID, Blog)

Mods: Altered the scarflet sections of the skoodlet to the center back panel, and added a kangaroo pocket to keep her hands warm while carrying her little one. Project pages with great details can be found here.

What Makes This Awesome: I don't even have a kid, but when I do, I'll be knitting one of these! What a great way to keep your little one warm during the chilly winters. I love how it buttons right onto her coat, and the pocket for her own hands is such a clever way to stay warm and give your baby a little extra snuggle. It's genius.

FO: Fiddlehead Mittens

It was SO interesting to read everyone's comments about their seamed/in the round preferences, and their reasons for doing so. Many of you hit upon personal preferences (and hey, that's why we knit, right? We could all go out and buy sweaters if we wanted to. Knitting is a choose-your-own-adventure!) Most preferred knitting in the round, or were perfectly fine with either/or. Here are some some highlights in the for and against:

For Seamed:

• "I really like to knit in the round, but I like to seam too. I don't want every top I make to have raglan sleeves and I want some variety. I sometimes get annoyed that so many people knit everything in the round. I shouldn't care if they're not my projects, but I also wonder at this aversion to seaming."
• "For me, a successful seam makes me feel like an accomplished seamstress (which I am not) and I like that feeling. Crazy?!"
• "I always knit everything flat, then seam + I think it's because I came from a sewing background, so it's easier for me to visualize things that way and make changes to a pattern."  
• "I know I'm the oddball here (and a type-A personality) but I prefer to seam my sweaters. I get great satisfaction out of perfect seams. I also like my clothes to look tailored and I like the way sweaters fit when they are seamed. I've knit one seamless sweater and it just never hangs right. Don't get me started about weaving in ends though - HATE it!"
• "I think I prefer making my sweaters in pieces - front, back, 2 sleeves - because I like the structure of seams."
• "I'm a big fan of knitting in pieces and seaming, which is probably not the norm these days. I will convert from knitting in the round to seamed if I can.
  There are many reasons for this:
  (1) If I make a mistake and have to rip, I rip back a lot less (just one back or one front piece instead of the whole body
  (2) I knit English style, and I like using long straight needles so that I can prop the right one on my inner elbow. My knits and purls are about the same speed that way.
  (3) I like to measure my garment as I go against existing garments as size templates, and flat pieces are much easier for comparison purposes.
  (4) I don't like to carry around the entire garment when I knit. Smaller pieces are more portable.
  (5) Seams do add a lot to structure and can prevent that biasing effect with large pieces.
  (6) I feel like I am making good progress as I complete each piece.
  (7) Simple straight seams with mattress stitch are very fast to do and I find them satisfying. But then, I like finishing work -- good finishing makes the garment."

For In the Round:

• "I don't mind seaming at all, but I do mind doing things more than once. Knitting in the round means that what's done is done, and I don't have to knit two (or three) almost identical bits."
• "Not everyone is a process knitting (blasphemy, I know) and seamless knitting makes getting that end product that much faster." 
• "I knit mostly in the round for sizing purposes. I'm outsized and curvy so anything that needs to be seamed means trying to fit medium backs to large fronts/sleeves or something." 
• "I think the main reason I prefer seamless knits is that I don't like finishing. I like my garment to be done very soon after I finish knitting, rather than another 20% of the work being the assembling. It's that rather than the act of seaming that I object to. Secondly, knitting in the round usually means less purling, which is always a plus."
• "for some reason whenever I see a pattern that calls for seaming, I think the designer is not a real knitter. I love my wool too much to waste it on seams."
• "I enjoy the illusion of efficiency that knitting in one piece give me. I do like to say that I'm too lazy to be inefficient! There's the skill that's involved in seaming, as well. While I can do it just fine (in most cases!) it's a skill I don't take all that much joy in."
• "The ability to knit in the round (or seamless) is one of the big differences between hand-knits and mass-produced knits and wovens, so that is a big plus.Also, I despise seaming, so I will make every excuse to knit seamlessly!"
• "I stopped making seamed garments and design only seamless ones at first because of the challenge but also for the intuitive nature of it. I love casting on with just a rough idea of what I want but as it grows it might become something totally different from my original idea. I couldn't do that with pieced knitting. For me it allows much more freedom."
• "You make really good points about the structure that seams provide. I knit almost exclusively in the round and I think I prefer it because of my paranoia about things not fitting properly, I like to try on as I go. I also knit almost exclusively from the top down and I like the freedom it gives to make adjustments to length and such."
• "I tend to work seamlessly because my seamed sweaters seem to linger half finished for ages because I can't seam and multitask like I can knit and multitask. Seamless knits also let me try things on as I go. Knitting in pieces means that I have to finish most of the sweater before I find out if it fits or not. Seaming can also spoil a project if it isn't done skillfully and I know a lot of knitters who find that frustrating."
• "because knitting a sweater in pieces doesn't feel like I'm knitting a sweater. It feels like I'm knitting a ranch house. :) A sweater in the round is motivating because you can see how it will look, how it will hang (not as easy, pre-seaming, for the former) and keeps you continually excited to have a real honest-to-goodness homemade sweater. Knitting it in pieces seems like more of a gamble. More abstract."

And those who feel that there is a time and place for both:

• "I think it depends on the pattern. If it is stockinette stitch, then I prefer to knit in the round. However, if there is a lace pattern or something complicated, then I prefer knitting flat pieces."
• "I appreciate the structure of seams and will do so when it makes sense, but I also dislike purling and enjoy how quickly I can knit in the round. Also, stranded work is extremely unpleasant to me when knitting flat."
• "I feel the same as you about seams- they are the framework of a good sweater! But the whole top-down try-it-on-as-you-go thing can be mighty reassuringing. The only construction I don't especially like is bottom-up in the round. Whenever I make one I constantly wonder why the designer didn't go top down, lol!"
• "I like knitting in the round too, primarily because I don't usually swatch, so I like to block and try on things as I go along. It does sometimes get heavy/bulky, so that is a disadvantage. For sleeves, I prefer to knit them flat because they're fiddly in the round."
• "I knit slowly, and my purling is that little bit slower, so I appreciate a pattern that spares me the excessive purling! That said, I rarely change a pieced pattern to knit in the round. A good-looking seam can be very satisfying!"
• "I knit everything in the round because I don't like how seams look on the inside... reminds me of machine knit things sewn together and feels less special in a way. I love weaving in ends and making them invisible and to me a seam takes away the "magic" of the inside of a garment. I love seamless top down and bottom up. I design/improvise a lot of *really* fitted dresses and so I also want to get through the dresses as quickly as possible with a tight flattering fit and room to experiment on my whims without worrying if it will fit later after finishing."
• "I do a lot of seaming with the toys I make, and the practice definitely makes a difference in the amount of time it takes, and the finished appearance. That and mattress stitch, which is awesome. I wonder if many of the people who avoid seaming do so because they lack a bit of practice, or maybe they don't know of all the nifty ways to join knitted pieces? I also do a lot of knitting in the round, so I keep those skills sharp too. So, I guess I tend to use whichever method works best for the project in hand, since I'm comfortable with both."
• "I feel much the same as you. I prefer seams in a garment, but I also prefer knitting in the round. On my Noyaux dress, I ended up knitting it in the round and adding seams for structure when it was finished. I think I may do this more often, in an attempt to obtain the best of both worlds."
• "I come down purely on the side of laziness. Some of my aversion to seaming probably also comes from a (largely false) conviction that I'm "bad" at sewing and I should stick to the knitting skill I feel confident about."

Whew!! you all had my head going all weekend long, mulling over all the good points that were made for seamed and in the round. Thank you all for taking the time to weigh in on this.

Now to the FO: Fiddlehead Mittens!

 The mittens have been done for at least a week or so, and I'm in love with them- I've worn them every single day. I did a single crochet chain to make a mitten string (losing one mitt terrifies me), and I also added a k1 p1 ribbed cuff. the cuff gives my wrists an extra bit of protection against cold winter winds from sneaking up my sleeve. I wish I had grabbed a photo of them without my hand stuffed in them (so you could see the cuff), but it was the second time we had to re-shoot the mitts due to poor lighting- So tough to get good outdoor light during these super short days!

Modification Monday: Wallpaper Jumper

Original Pattern: Wallpaper Hat

Knitter Extraordinaire: Annika (Rav ID, blog)

Mods: Used the wallpaper hat pattern for the body of the sweater, and Elizabeth Zimmermann percentage system for the yoke and created this lovely children's pullover.

What Makes This Awesome:  I love how she gave her creativity free rein and reinterpreted a hat pattern into a sweater by using EZ's top down method, and she didn't stop there- the stripes are such a playful and sweet addition. I love this kiddie sweater! It's pretty and fresh. Project page with details can be found here.

Some Thoughts on Seamed vs. In the Round

 First off, I should tell you that I've joined Pinterest, and have become completely obsessed. If you'd like to check out my boards, you can find me here.

I've been thinking about seamed vs. in the round lately. I'm working on a top secret sweater for my mother (Hi mom! Stop snooping!) that was written to be seamed, but I changed to be knit in the round. And even though I've done it dozens of times before, it got me thinking about the aversion to seams that is out there in the knitting world, and my personal reasons for avoiding seams.


I've got nothing against seamed or in the round knits. I often knit sweaters in the round, and I'll admit it's out of sheer laziness. I know perfectly well that the garment often looks more professional and avoids the dreaded bagging around the waist (and riding up to become a much shorter sweater) if it had the structure and support of seams. I think of seams as a good bra: a well done seam can support the knit and make the wearer look leaner and the knit look more polished. Whether or not this is a goal for your knits is definitely a personal choice. What I can't quite figure out is why, feeling the way I do about seams, I often choose to knit in the round. Is it laziness? Doing it because it's easier doesn't seem like a good enough reason to me. The best I can come up with is that the idea of having a sweater in several pieces make me wonder if I'll misplace a portion of it (front left side of cardigan, where did you?! etc.). But those feel like pretty flimsy reasons. Whenever I knit toys, there are tonnes of small parts and as much seaming as there is knitting, so... I'm not buying my own excuses. 

What are your thoughts? Why do you prefer in the round or seaming your knits?