holiday mystery gnome start

This will be my only post about this for the duration of the month (so I don't spoil the surprise), but I wanted to share the beginning of my next gnome... an advent mystery knit along! Sara Schira, the designer of these adorable beings, has had mystery gnomes at various times in the past and this is her latest installment of a holiday/winter gnome. It's my first mystery knit along (and perhaps my first knit along?). We know how much yarn we'll need, how many colors, and what "types" of colors (light, dark, etc) to use but other than that, it's a surprise! There will be daily clues this month to take us through the pattern and reveal, ultimately, a "Gnandad" gnome who has been off on worldly travels. 

I chose colors last night and of course by this morning had changed my mind. I swapped in a more muted navy instead of the brighter blue. We'll see if I stick with that or switch back. Depending how the clues work out, maybe I'll use both! This is a bit out of my comfort zone because I'm such a particular planner, but I am going to enjoy trusting the process and releasing some control here. I am positive that the finished gnome is going to be amazing. 

firefly tote prototype

This weekend I had a hankering to sew. And I wanted to sew a very particular thing - a project bag pattern I bought in March while enjoying the Bay Area Yarn Crawl. I had in mind that I would make this for a friend of mine, and if it didn't turn out I would keep it for myself because we share a love of the same colors and these fabrics are awesome together! (spoiler: it turned out great.)

I had such a fun time auditioning different fabric combinations and settled on the set above. The combination of earthy blues and greens will appeal to my friend, I think, and the gray canvas is a very sturdy option for the bag's main panels. 

The pattern is the Firefly Tote by Noodlehead Designs, and I've had it sitting around, as I said, since March. In a recent (habitual) YouTube binge, I found a video tutorial in three parts where the designer steps through the construction for a sew along she put together. This was a great find, because I was feeling intimidated by the pattern instructions which looked much more complex to me than it actually ended up being. I've said it before - I am a very visual learner. The videos really lowered the activation barrier for me to jump right in and get started. In a couple hours on Saturday night, I got all of the pieces cut and interfaced and the outside pieces assembled. Sunday morning I woke up enthusiastic to finish it up and it took just another couple of hours before breakfast. 

        

I think it turned out great. I really love the color combination, and the canvas was pretty bulky in a couple of seams but overall a great base to work with. For the handles instead of cotton webbing or leather as recommended, I used quilt batting and fabric strips. Webbing or leather would elevate the look a bit more, but I did like the option to add the lining print and colors to the outside. I am also very pleased that I had all of the materials in my stash. I think this is a really classy gift to give and all it cost me was time! (that's crafting math for you...) More of these in my future, for sure. 

mossy sweater reclaimed

I wandered off to work on some other projects, but I have also been making steady progress on this sweater for my dad. After having to frog back nearly the whole thing, the body re-knit pretty quickly and I have worked my way up the back yoke and armhole shaping all the way to the neckline. 

I think it's looking pretty weird at this point. I've taken measurements and all looks proportional and okay, but this is definitely a faith in knitting stage right now. Next up is the front, and then I have two sleeves to tackle. Onward!

Gnolan, finished

Well. This guy's a charmer. I have to say I am very pleased with how he turned out! The colors mom and I picked are bright and whimsical, and those little arms just make me smile. The slightly damp post-rain garden atmosphere felt just like home to him. I could see him puttering around deadheading flowers and getting seeds in the ground for the winter season. He's a fan of the pansies. 

And the mushroom!!! I was watching a bunch of seasonal "small things to knit" videos on YouTube last night and I just had to try out this little mushroom. Together they make SUCH a cute pair. I can't even believe how great they look together. Pretty soon it will be time to box him up and send him off to his new home. Until then I'm going to enjoy him in my kitchen. 

 

mom's gnome in progress

I started this guy in the bright days of August but set it aside until this week. I had just about half of the hat started and left it at the fussiest part. After wrangling an octopus of needles and yarn in ever smaller rounds, the hat was done and topped off with that cute little curlicue. 

The body went pretty quickly after that. There's nothing quite like stripes to keep me going! It's like Pringles. Or popcorn. Just one more.... I am so thankful I attended that workshop back in February where Sara went through the particulars of finishing up all the little details. I learn so much visually that having it done and discussed in person has made it all really stick with me. This is a fun picture of me trying to not drop any of the weighted stuffing as I'm closing up the bottom. 

 

He looks kind of funny without a face! I finished that up this evening, too. The arms have also been made and attached, I'm just hoping for better light tomorrow to take some great photos out in the garden. For now I leave you with a colorful bowling pin. 

so sad!

Oof. I got so far with this sweater and then last weekend when I was to the point where I was binding off to shape the back yoke, I realized I'd made a rather significant mistake. My side marker was placed wrong. Like 10 stitches wrong. Because I didn't read the right line of the pattern. O. M. G. This is the problem with a) multitasking, b) patterns that just go along and say "knit to marker" instead of giving a count, and c) not double checking marker placement. Darn. 

I thought for a hot second (or two, or three) about how I could add columns of knitting to one side and remove them from the other and hope blocking was kind to me, but I decided that it would end up bothering me if the fit was even slightly wonky. I also talked it over my friend Madison who is a more experienced sweater knitter than I. While she appreciated that the approach might work in theory, she advised against it. She also shared a story of a time she had to redo a substantial amount of a sweater recently which was a bit of a comfort (misery loves company). So I ripped it back. 14 inches of knitting. So. Sad. I did not rip back the ribbing, that was unnecessary and would have been awful to re-do given my feelings about knitting 1x1 rib. I had just started my fourth skein of yarn and by now I have finished re-knitting the body to the end of one skein with just an evening of effort, so it will come back quickly, but wow. That was painful. Count your stitches, people. And then count them again. 

stripes ahoy

I've been making great progress on both sweaters so far this fall. Right now I've found myself drawn to the stripey fingering weight project. There are so. many. short rows. As I worked I remembered that the first time I knit this pattern I couldn't wait to be done with the short rows. It's similar this time. I felt myself itching to get to the easy in-the-round part not because of the counting, but because of the purls!

At long last I did finally finish them (complaints aside, they really do make for quite a cool hemline) and I got to my first stripe! At this point it's potato chips - when can I get to the next stripe?! It's been going pretty quickly. I must thank my past self for taking such good notes in the pattern with respect to row counts, when stripes started, etc. There has been minimal thinking required this time because of that. 

I should probably return to the sweater that needs to be done by Christmas soon, but just look at those stripes!