Almost Solid Spectrum

I spent this week spinning up an Almost Solid sampler pack from Spunky Eclectic in all Merino. I love how they look and I wish I had enough money to buy 4 oz of each of them! There are 20 one ounce skeins in the photo. Some of the colors have been picked out to be used in my Mrs Weasley sweater and the rest might be used for baby socks.

I know I said before that I wasn't interested in socks, but that hat from last week has got me tied in knots! I don't have any experience with socks, so I don't know if it was a mistake on my part or just an odd pattern, but it will bother me untill I conquer it. So I figured the easiest way was to make Teenie some socks out of some of these beautiful colors! Once I have an understanding of the Engineering of Socks then I might go back to the hats for another try.

Burried in Fiber, Send Hooks and Needles!!

First off, I have made some additions to the sidebar! There is now a Patterns section for easy access to my patterns. I have also fixed the dead Spunky Eclectic image Now, on to the fiber!! I finished this blanket I had been making for my Teenie. It is in the Maid Marrion colorway. I spun the yarn into a sport/sock weight and knit squares 5 stitchtes across on US7's. She spent yesterday afternoon carrying it around the house and took it to bed with her last night.

I also spent time spinning a bunch of 4oz superwash rovings from that I have been hoarding.

Upside-Down Frown
Pie in the Sky
Boogie Days
Brain Freeze
Buggin'
Navajo Gems

I had planned to use these colorways to make Stocking Caps. I used the Navajo Gems to make the first one.I was a little disapointed in how it came out. The top isn't very sock like, it is more Snork like. I think I am going to add the other colors to my Mrs. Weasley sweater. I am doing an acrylic mockup right now to decide where I want to use acrylic and where I want to put handspun. I am also trying to decide if I want the sleeves to be completely acrylic or if I want some handspun in there too.

Moogle Pattern

Moogle Doll Pattern
By Amy Shimel

Copyright Amy Shimel 2007 For personal use only. Not for resale or to create resale items.

Design Notes
Some of the parts of this doll are started using the magic ring technique. Here are directions if you are unfamiliar with this technique. The doll is worked in the round unless otherwise instructed. Mark the last stitch in each round to keep track of where you are supposed to stop each round. This is also done with a very tight tension. Tight tension will stop the stuffing from showing through the stitches and help the doll keep his shape.

DIFFICULTY
This is an Beginner pattern

ABBREVIATIONS
ch - chain
sl st - slip stitch
sc - single crochet US (same as double crochet UK)
hdc - half double crochet US (same as half treble UK)
dc - double crochet US (same as treble UK)
sc - 2tog decrease one stitch with single crochet
() - indicates section to be repeated

MATERIALS
Size E/4 ( 3.5 mm ) Crochet Hook
Tapestry Needle
Small Needle
Poly-beans and Poly-Fill for stuffing
White yarn for body
Red yarn for bauble and nose
Purple yarn for wings
Black yarn for eyes
6" long piece of small gage wire
Needle Nose Pliers for bending wire

GAGE
6 stitches and 6 rows per inch

HEAD
With White yarn , MAKE ONE
R1 - 6 sc in the ring and pull the ring tight. Mark the last stitch ( 6 sc )
R2 - 2 sc in each stitch around ( 12 sc )
R3 - ( 1 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 6 times ( 18 sc )
R4 - ( 2 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 6 times ( 24 sc )
R5 - ( 3 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 6 times ( 30 sc )
R6 - ( 4 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 6 times ( 36 sc )
R7-11 - sc in each stitch around ( 36 sc )
R12 - ( 4 sc, sc 2tog ) 6 times ( 30 sc )
R13 - ( 3 sc, sc 2tog ) 6 times ( 24 sc )
R14 - ( 2 sc, sc 2tog ) 6 times (18 sc )
Finish off and leave a tail long enough to use to sew the head onto the body. Set aside.

BODY
With White yarn, MAKE ONE
R1 - 6 sc in the ring and pull the ring tight. Mark the last stitch ( 6 sc )
R2 - 2 sc in each stitch around ( 12 sc )
R3 - ( 1 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 6 times ( 18 sc )
R4 - ( 2 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 6 times ( 24 sc )
R5 - ( 3 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 6 times ( 30 sc )
R6 - ( 4 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 6 times ( 36 sc )
R7-12 - sc in each stitch around ( 36 sc )
R13 - ( 4 sc, sc 2tog ) 6 times ( 30 sc )
R14 - ( 3 sc, sc 2tog ) 6 times ( 24 sc )
R15 - ( 2 sc, sc 2tog ) 6 times (18 sc )
Finish off and Set aside.

ARMS AND LEGS
With White yarn. MAKE FOUR
R1 - 6 sc in the ring and pull the ring tight. Mark the last stitch ( 6 sc )
R2 - 2 sc in each stitch around ( 12 sc )
R3 - ( 1 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 6 times ( 18 sc )
R4-5 - sc in each stitch around ( 18 sc )
R6 - ( 1 sc, 2tog ) 6 times ( 12 sc )
R7-12 - sc in each stitch around ( 12 sc )
Finish off and leave a tail long enough to use to sew the appendages onto the body. Set aside.

EARS
With White yarn, MAKE TWO
R1 - 4 sc in the ring and pull the ring tight. Mark the last stitch ( 4 sc )
R2 - ( 1 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 2 times ( 6 sc )
R3 - ( 2 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 2 times ( 8 sc )
R4 - ( 3 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 2 times ( 10 sc )
Finish off and leave a tail long enough to use to sew the Ears onto the Head. Set aside.

NOSE
With Red yarn, MAKE ONE
R1 - 6 sc in the ring and pull the ring tight. Mark the last stitch ( 6 sc )
R2 - 2 sc in each stitch around ( 12 sc )
R3 - ( 1 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 6 times ( 18 sc )
R4-5 - sc in each stitch around ( 18 sc )
R6 - ( 1 sc, 2tog ) 6 times ( 12 sc )
Finish off and leave a tail long enough to use to sew the Nose onto the Head. Set aside.

BAUBLE
With Red yarn, MAKE TWO
R1 - 6 sc in the ring and pull the ring tight. Mark the last stitch ( 6 sc )
R2 - 2 sc in each stitch around ( 12 sc )
R3 - ( 1 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 6 times ( 18 sc )
R4- sc in each stitch around ( 18 sc )
Finish off and leave a tail long enough to use to sew the Two halves together. Set aside.

WINGS
With Purple yarn, MAKE TWO
R1 - 4 sc in the ring and pull the ring tight. Mark the last stitch ( 4 sc )
R2 - ( 1 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 2 times ( 6 sc )
R3 - ( 2 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 2 times ( 8 sc )
R4 - ( 3 sc, 2 hdc in next stitch ) 2 times ( 10 stitches )
R5 - ( 4 sc, 2 hdc in next stitch ) 2 times ( 12 stitches )
R6 - ( 5 sc, 2 dc in next stitch ) 2 times ( 14 stitches )
Finish off and leave a tail. Set aside.

FINISHING

- Place small amounts of PolyFill into the very bottom half of the hands and feet, leaving the top half empty. Sew them to the body so The Moogle will be in a seated position.

- Flatten the wings and sew the open ends shut. Attach them onto the body as shown in this photo

- Fill the body with the PolyBeans and place a small amount of PolyFill at the top to keep the beans from spilling. Set aside.

- Fill the nose with PolyFill and sew it and the ears to the Head.

- Using the black yarn, sew the lines for the eyes. Set Head aside.

- Using the plyers, bend the top of the wire into a shape to hold it inside the Bauble. This could be a Y, T or spiral shape. Slide it through the center of one Bauble half. Sew the two halves together leaving a small hole to stuff the Bauble and then finish sewing it together.

- Slip the wire through the top of the head and out the bottom. Bend this end of the wire at the length you want the Bauble to be above the head and into another shape to hold it inside the head.

- Fill the head with PolyFill and sew it to the body.

- Sit back and enjoy your new friend!

lace, FO, what next?

I have finished the second clue in the Galveston Mystery Shawl KAL. It is now in the slouchy hat/tea cozy stage, so I don't have a picture of the whole thing but I have some close ups. It is currently octagonal in shape. There was a square pannel where there were no increases. I love the rectangles in this section.And a triangular pannel where all the increases were placed. There is sort of a leafy pattern going on there.
I just can't wait to see what it looks like when it is done!!

I also finished the Clapotis I was working on last week! It is a very simple pattern once you get used to how the pattern is written. I was confused a bit when I started the second section, but once I worked it out it was a breeze to finish. I was using a larger set of needles and a heavier yarn than the pattern called for, so there was some frustration, frogging, further frustration and additional frogging involved with the finishing of this item.

I used worsted weight superwash that I spun from a combination of Dandy Lion and Macaw colorways from Spunky Eclectic. I had 12 oz that I spun into aprox 800 yards of 2 ply worsted and I used US 10.5 needles. The pattern calls for 12 repeats of the third section, on the larger needles that would have made this shawl ENORMOUS!! So I tried 10 repeats, and came up short in the yardage. I ripped it back to 9 repeats and tried again. STILL to short in yardage *groan*. Ripped it back to 8 repeats and I had enough yardage to finish with just a teeny bit left over. Even with only 8 repeats, it is still almost 7 feet long!

Now I need to figure out what I am going to do next. I might do some spinning for fiber friday tomorrow, I have tons of fiber to choose from. But I also have some other ideas for knitted things. I want to make a print 'o the waves shawl, now that I am all into lace, I also want to make some stocking caps for friends and family to wear to the Harry Potter parties this summer. I could spin some orphan rovings into yarn for caps. And at some point I have to start crocheting my Mrs Weasley sweater. I just don't know where to start!

I am such a lemming!

I have gone and caught The Clap. This is yarn I spun from fiber I got from the Spunky Club this month. It is Superwash in two colorways, DandyLion and Maccaw! They are plied together in 800 yards of worsted weight. My hubby loved the way it looked, but I already had plans for it. I told him if I didn't hit my yardage then I would make him something out of it. I love unzipping the drop stitches.

I also joined in with the Galveston Mystery Shawl KAL. I purchased a complete set of KnitPicks Options as a birthday present to myself this year and a bunch of laceweight. I was planning to purchase copies of A Gathering of Lace and Heirloom Knitting, but it takes 3-5 weeks to get Heirloom Knitting and with the move I wasn't sure what address we would be at in 5 weeks. So I was pleased when I found the KAL that I wouldn't have to give up my ideas of lace knitting until after the move.

I finished the first clue last night! I worked it on one circular needle using the magic loop. After the confusion over the first couple rows of the pattern were worked out it was a very easy chart to follow! I love the pattern so far and I can't wait to see what happens on the next clue!