Friday, March 31, 2017

Spoils from Seattle 2017 v2.0

As I stated in my original post of Spoils from Seattle 2017, I had recently started a new job.  My new job's headquarter's is in Seattle so, I got to go back - again. ;) *yay*

Since I was able to catch the red eye flight out, I had a free day to spend with A up there (V was on a work trip so it was just us girls! ;D).  A was gracious enough to take me on a mini yarn crawl.  To make up for it, I took A on a mini binge eating tour! ;)

Once I landed and got settled in, A picked me up and we went to Dough Zone Dumpling House in Bellevue.  For a Chinese dim sum restaurant, it was pretty good (that's high praise from me since the best Chinese food on the planet is at my grandpa's house! :)).  After brunch, we headed out to Mad Cow Yarns located in the Town Center Lake Forest Park.  It was a cute place and the owner was really nice, helpful and friendly.  Here's what I got:
I couldn't decide which sock yarn I wanted and A wasn't helping - she said buy it all! :P  So I did. :P  Plus with a little accessory too! :D (It fits in my needle case perfectly! :))

As we were looking for Mad Cow Yarns, we found a bookstore called Third Place Books.  It was a huge bookstore, very much like an old Borders (just without a music section) that also sold used books.  I found this there and ended up picking it up for Hubby:
Isn't it hilarious?! :P
We spent so much time in there that we weren't able to hit a place called the Chocolate Man in the same complex (A said that if we didn't leave now, we wouldn't be able to hit the other two (2) places I wanted to go to).

Then we headed toward Yarn of Eden in Country Village Shops.  That area was really set-up like a country village square.  There was even a duck just "hanging out" in the parking lot! :P  The store was a bit small but, they had this:
I couldn't resist! :P  Even though I promised Hubby that I wouldn't pick up any sweater yarn, I just had to get this!  The colour was so beautiful, it just called to me (plus, A wasn't helping either since she kept saying the colour was soooooooo nice! :P)  And, the buttons were so cute; they just said: "Buy me and put it on your Field Bag!" (and, yes, that's where they're going to go).  And, A saw the tag and wanted it.  I can't resist her so, I bought that too for Sammy's snood. :P

Our last stop was going to be All Wound Up Yarn Shop but we discovered that it was closed on Mondays! *sob* :(  Since I was still looking for a pair of Knitter's Pride Nova Cubics US5 dpns for Hubby, we ended up at Serial Knitters Yarn Shop (again).  I was hoping that I could get this year's pin but, they didn't get it in yet. *bummers*  But, the person running the register said that she'd mail them to me!  (They are so sweet and nice at that store!  It's seriously one of my favorite places to go to if we're in the area or passing by!)  So, not only did I find and pick up Hubby's dpns, I also got this:
The colorway just screamed Hubby all over it (it's called Hemingway) and I just had to get it.  After all, how is the next great American novel going to be written without a pair of Hemingway socks!? ;)  Don't worry, I won't let Hubby kill himself; his forthcoming Hemingway socks are suppose to "inspire" him, not invoke Hemingway himself! :P lol

After that, we headed back to A's place to walk Sammy (actually, I think Sammy walked us) and then headed out for dinner.  Since it was a girl's day out, I told A, "We need to eat dessert first!  No boys and we can binge on all the sweets we want before getting "real" food."  A agreed and wanted to have a molten chocolate cake at Hot Cakes Molten Chocolate Cakery in Ballard.  So we walked over there.  The place was fairly empty; we ordered a hot molten chocolate cake and this really good peanut butter, chocolate chip cookie.  We got our cookie and waited for our cake; more people came in.  We notice that people who came in after us received their hot molten cakes but, ours was still in the oven? ... I guess. 8S  Eventually, we noticed that it seemed as if everyone who came in after us got their molten cakes except us. :(  So, I went up there to inquire if the flour was still being grown for our cake.  The guy making the desert said that he made it already.  I said that we still had our number tag so, we never got it (and, if you looked at our table, it was obvious that we only had a plate of something, no cake).  They apologized and said our cake was coming right up; they eventually figured out that they gave away our cake! :(  However, to make it up to us, they comped our entire order. :)  (Btw, the cake was pretty good and it was even better comped! ;)).  And here's what the famous hot molten chocolate cake looks like:
Afterwards, we wandered around a bit trying to decide what "real" food we should eat.  I've been dying to try Sizzle Pie as every time we were up there, there was never an opportunity to eat there! (There's too many food places to pick from! :P)  Sizzle Pie had three (3) types of pies: vegan, vegetarian, and meat pies.  Of the three (3) types, there were three (3) variations to pick from.  A and I couldn't quite decide so, we ended up with three (3) slices: two (2) vegan ones (New Maps Out Of Hell & Apocalypse Dudes) and one (1) vegetarian one (Police & Thieves - one of our favorite pizza combos).  The vegan ones were soooooooo good! :)  It put the vegetarian one to shame.  We loved the New Maps Out Of Hell the best.  I never thought I'd like a vegan pie so much but I must say, if I could eat like that, I'd be more than willing to be vegan! ;P
After binging on pizza, we were stuffed silly.  To help walk it off, we hiked it up to Trader Joe's (I'm addicted to their pretzel nuggets) and then headed out to the new Ikea.  I needed a new lamp and A needed some additional dishes (and we still needed to walk off dinner).  After that, we called it a day.

And, it was really quite a day: filled with lots of fun, girl talk, yarn talk, and foodie talk! :)  Thank you, A for taking me around and stuffing me silly! :P  Thanks to you, I think I gained five (5) pounds (despite all that walking) and grew my stash a bit more! :P  We need to do it again! ;P

The Pussy Hat that Turned into A Pussy Snood

During my last trip to Seattle, my friend, A asked me if I could knit her a Pussy Hat for her dog, Sammy.  I said sure (after all, how hard could it be?  It's supposed to be a 2-hour hat for a person, it should be quicker for a small-ish dog, right?).  Plus, if anyone knows A, she doesn't ask for things very often.  So, I was happy to oblige her request. :)

Before I left Seattle, A & V offered to take me yarn shopping; I said I wanted to go to Wal-Mart to see what colour pink she wanted so I could find something close to it at home.  Well, we went to Serial Knitters and she fell in love with this:
She picked it up, declared this was the color, bought it and handed it to me!  All in one fell swoop! :P  I was surprised she picked this color but happy that she found something she loved! :)  

After looking at the skein she purchased, I said, "Ya know ... that's a lot of yarn ... I'm going to have quite a bit of leftover yarn ... Do you want a matching hat?" ;)  And, A said, "Yes!" ;P

So, when I returned home, A sent me the measurements of her head (23.25") as well as Sammy's (13" in circumference & 3" tall to account for his ears) and it was off to the races!  I wanted to finish (or get to close to finishing the hats) before my next trip to Seattle (which was sooner rather than later due to a workshop I needed to attend for work).

Here's how it went:
I read the instructions and then decided to go onto Ravelry to see what other Pussy Hats looked like (I simply couldn't figure out the ears portion).  Then, I found this pattern and I started to see the light! :P  I did end up using the original pattern I found since it was designed to be knitted in the round (my favorite way of knitting - not much seaming, Ma! :P) and tweaked it a little bit with the other pattern I found.   Here's what I did:
  • Casted on 110 sts for A using my Denise needles 5mm (US 8) & 60 sts for Sammy using my Denise needles 4mm (US 6)
  • Ribbed 10 rows for A (for 4 cm (1.5 in)) & 10 rows for Sammy (for 3 cm (1 3/8 in))
  • Finished off the hat with 53 rows for A (for 19.5 cm (7.5 in)) & 2 rows for Sammy using my Denise needles 4mm (US 6) then switched to a 4.5mm (US 7) needle for 13 additional rows (for 4.5 cm (1.5 in))
  • Lastly, I used my Denise crochet hook to bind off A's hat (I didn't bind off Sammy's hat because I wanted to be sure it fit first).
A's turned out perfect! ❤️  Sammy's hat , however, didn't turn out so well because it kept popping off his head. 😥   Upon seeing that, I realized that since Sammy didn't have a forehead to "hold down" the hat, it wasn't going to work.  So, I ripped it out and started again.  I decided that I was going to make Sammy a Pussy Snood since I thought that if it went around his neck/torso area, it would "hold on" better.  Here's how I made it up:
  • Using my Denise US 7 needles, casted on 70 sts and join in the round.
  • Did 4 rows of Seed st 
  • Switched to Stockinette st for 16 rows
  • Held 40 sts onto one side and on the other side (30 sts) continued in Stockinette st for 10 rows 
  • To turn the "hat", I used the German short row method until there were 14 sts left
  • Picked up 8 sts on each side and did 6 rows of Seed st
  • Bind off in pattern.
For the ears (using the same needles as the snood), 
  • Cast on 12 sts and join in the round.
  • K
  • K2tog, k4 (total of 5 sts on each side)
  • K
  • K2tog, k3 (total of 4 sts on each side)
  • K
  • K2tog, k2 (total of 3 sts on each side)
  • K2tog (total of 2 sts on each side)
  • Bind off using my Denise crochet hook, leaving a very long tail
  • Used the very long tail to attach to the snood. 
I was very lucky that my gamble turned out.  Since I only had 3 days in Seattle with my muse, I was able to finish it off on my last day.

And here are my finished products:
In hind sight, I think I could've made Sammy's snood a bit longer in the head area so it would hold better whenever he shook his head.  Overall, I think he likes it as he didn't seem to mind wearing it. :P

Thank you, A for giving me yet another opportunity to try something different and new! :)  If it weren't for you, I don't think I'd ever think of making something as different as a Pussy Snood! :)

Saturday, March 11, 2017

Make Me Happy Sock (aka Tabi monogatari v10)

I was traveling for work when I finished Hubby's last sock so, I had time for another pair of socks for myself.  Using my Make Me Happy Sock cakes I had picked up in Fukuoka and my interchangeables Chiaogoo US 0 needles, I casted on 46 sts based on a couple of trials (twice - I finally got it right the third time around; three times the charm! ;)) of "swatching". ;)
Here's what I did:
  1. I started with a Provisional cast on with a total of 46 sts.
  2. K 1 straight row on each side, then connected in the round.
  3. K 18 rows in the round as part of the foot portion.
  4. Started the toes: with 23 sts on each side, splitting it up for 8 sts for big toe, 15 sts for remaining toes.
  5. Big toe:
  • Row 1:
    • Front: k, m1, k, m1, k to the 2nd to the last st, m1, k, m1, k for a total of 12 sts
    • Back: k, m1, k, m1, k to the 2nd to the last st, m1, k, m1, k for a total of 12 sts
  • Row 2-15 (14 rows): k
  • Row 16:
    • Front: k2tog tbl, k to the last 2 sts, k2tog, total of 10 sts
    • Back: k2tog tbl, k to the last 2 sts, k2tog, total of 10 sts
  • Row 17: same as row 16 continuing to decrease 2 sts, total of 8 sts on each side
  • Row 18-20 (3 rows): k
  • Row 21: same as row 17 continuing to decrease 2 sts, total of the 6 sts on each side
  • Row 22-23: k
  • Row 24: same as row 21 continuing to decrease 2 sts, total of 4 sts on each side
  • Bound off using the Kitchener stitch.
The big toe came out to 4.7 cm (1 ⅞ in).
  1. The rest of the toes:
  • Row 1:
    • Front: k to the end, picking up 3 sts, for a total of 18 sts
    • Back: pick up 2 sts, k, for a total of 18 sts
  • Row 2: k
  • Row 3:
    • Front: k to the last 2 sts, k2tog (L) / ssk (R) for a total of 17 sts
    • Back: k2tog (L) / ssk (R), k to the end, for a total of 17 sts
  • Row 4:
    • Front: k, k2tog (L) / ssk (R), k to the end for a total of 16 sts
    • Back: k to the last 3 sts, k2tog (L) / ssk (R), k for a total of 16 sts
  • Row 5-6 (L 2 rows) 5-8 (R 4 rows): k
  • Row 7 (L) 9 (R):
    • Front: k, k2tog tbl (L) / ssk (R), k to the end, for a total of 15 sts
    • Back: k to the the last 3 sts, k2tog (L) / ssk (R), k for a total of 15 sts
  • Row 8 (L) 10 (R): k
  • Row 9 (L) 11 (R):
    • Front: k, k2tog (L) / ssk (R), k to the end, for a total of 14 sts
    • Back: k to the the last 3 sts, k2tog (L) / ssk (R), k for a total of 14 sts
  • Row 10 (L) 12 (R): k
  • Row 11-12 (L) 13-14 (R): same as row 9 (L) / 11 (R), continuing to decrease 2 sts, for a total of 13 & 12 sts on each side
  • Row 13 (L) (1 row) 15-16 (R) (2 rows): k
  • Row 14 (L) 17 (R): same as row 9 (L) / 11 (R), continuing to decrease 2 sts, for a total of 11 sts on each side
  • Row 15-17 (L) (3 rows) 18-19 (R) (2 rows): k
  • Row 18 (L) 20 (R): same as row 14 (L) / 17 (R), continuing to decrease 2 sts, for a total of 10 sts on each side
  • Row 19 (L) 21 (R): same as row 18 (L) / 20 (R), for a total of 9 sts on each side
  • Row 20 (L) 22 (R): same as row 19 (L) / 21 (R), for a total of 8 sts on each side
  • Row 21 (L) 23 (R): k
  • Row 22 (L) 24 (R): same as row 19 (L) / 22 (R), for a total of 7 sts on each side
  • Row 23-24 (L only) (2 rows): k
  • Row  25: k, k2tog (L) / ssk (R), k, ssk (L) / k2tog (R), k for a total of 5 sts on each side
  • Bound off using the Kitchener stitch.
The rest of the toe came out to 4.5 cm (1 ¾ in).
(Sorry - forgot to take a picture! :()


Then I went back to the bottom of the provisional cast on and picked up the stitches to start the foot.
  1. Row 19: k to the end then pick up a twisted st from below for 24 sts on one side & 23 sts on the other side
  2. Row 20: k to the last 2 sts, k2tog for 23 sts on each side
  3. Row 21-71 (60 rows): k, maintaining 23 sts on each side
Including the initial 18 rows, this came out for a total of 15.5 cm (6 ⅛ in)
With the foot done, I started on the heel portion using the German short row method. Depending on which side (left or right) I was working on will determine if I were ktbl/p and looking at the back (WS) or front (RS) side
  1. Row 72:
  • Front: k, for a total of 23 sts
  • Back: k/p the first st, pull the working yarn straight up and bring it to the front then to the back (as if to k/p, creating an extra st), then k/p to the end, creating 1 ultimate st and 22 regular sts on the RS (right side (aka the knit/purl side))
  1. Row 73: turn the sock around so you're looking on the back/front side, slip the first st, pull the working yarn straight up and bring it to the back then to the front (as if to p/k, creating an extra st), then p/ktbl to the second to the last stitch, creating 2nd ultimate st and 24 regular sts on the WS (wrong side (aka the purl/knit side))
  2. Row 74: slip the second st, pull the working yarn straight up and bring it to the back then to the front (as if to k/p, creating an extra st), creating the 3rd ultimate st on the RS/WS; then continue to ktbl/p to the the 2nd to the last st
  3. Row 75: slip the second st, pull the working yarn straight up and bring it to the front then to the back (as if to p/k, creating an extra st), creating the 4th ultimate st on the WS/RS; then continue to ktbl/p to the the 2nd to the last st
  4. Row 76-85 (15 rows): continue to follow either Row 74 or 75 until you have 7 ultimate sts on each side and 9 regular sts
This came out to 3.5 cm (1 ⅝ in).
  1. Row 86-87: p the first wrapped st (aka the 7th ultimate st), (if need be, pick up a st or two), p/ktbl or p2tog/k2tog tbl the picked up st(s), p/k the second wrapped stitch (aka the 6th ultimate st on the WS) then turned my work around (so that I am now on the RS/WS); slip the first st (aka the 5th ultimate st) and pull up the working yarn (to recreate the 5th ultimate st), (if you picked up a st, k2tog tbl/p2tog (k/p the wrapped and picked up st together)) and k tbl/p to the left side
  2. Row 88-89: ktbl/p the next wrapped stitch (aka the 6th ultimate st on the RS/WS), (if need be, pick up a st or two, ktbl/p or k2tog tbl/p2tog the picked up st(s)), ktbl/p the next wrapped st (aka the 5th wrapped st), then turned my work around so that I'm now on the WS/RS; pull up the working yarn to recreate the 5th wrapped st then if need be, p2tog/k2tog tbl (the 5th wrapped and picked up st together) and p/ktbl to the right side.
  3. Row 90-99 (12 rows): continue to follow Rows 86-87 or 88-89 until all the wrapped stitches were done; picked up sts as needed (anywhere between 2-3 sts) and either k2tog tbl or p2tog as needed to maintain a total of 23 sts (aka the goal is to get back to the original number of sts before starting the heel)
This came out perfect! :) *yay* :)

(Sorry, no picture -I was so excited to finish the heel and start the leg potion that I'd forgotten to take a picture!)

With the heel done, I finished off the leg:
  1. Row 100: picked up 2 sts on each side, k in the round for a total of 25 sts for each side
  2. Row 101-130 (30 rows): k in the round, maintaining a total of 25 sts on each side
Total length of the leg was 5.5 cm (2 ¼ in)

With the leg done, it was time to actually finish off the sock with a short cuff as it was all I had left (*yay* homestretch!):
  1. Row 131-163 (33 rows): complete cuff using 1x1 ribbing, for a total of 7 cm (2 ¾ in) of ribbing
  2. Bound off using a variation of the Estonian bind off, in which I picked up a stitch from the row below then used the Estonian bind off technique. :)
The total length of the leg and cuff was 12.5 cm (4 15/16 in).
Look another finished pair! *Yay*! :) (And, t
his is perfect for my rain booties! :))