Kiela Knits

Hey Monkey!

2008-06-05T12:15:00.000-07:00

It's only taken me 13 months, but guess what I finished?

Yup! The Monkey socks from Cookie A.

I love them! I don't know what took me so dern long! I had that first sock knit down just to the instep and there it sat, unloved and lonely for a full year. Last week I picked it up and decided to give it some love. I was actually pretty scared that I wouldn't know where I was in the 11 row repeat, but just a quick glance back at my needles and I was knitting the correct row in under 30 seconds! I flew through that first sock and had the 2nd one done in 3 days!

Now I don't know if it's the mid-weight yarn or what, but they ended up too big for me. (sigh) Alas, I must find a friend with size 10 or larger feet and gift them off.

Baby Surprise Jacket!

2008-05-16T12:35:00.000-07:00

I'm in love with this pattern!

It's the Baby Surprise Jacket from Elizabeth Zimmerman. It's knit all in one piece with seaming only done at the shoulders. It's amazing, and perplexing, but mostly amazing. ;)

And for the curious, it's done in a Peruvian Highland wool hand-dyed by a local artisan.

Tootsies & More

2008-01-11T13:49:00.000-08:00

So I cast off on these socks a few days ago and then promptly put them on my own feet. I thought about gifting them to someone, but then realized that I hadn't ever knit myself a pair of socks. Then I realized that I hadn't ever knit myself anything. Anything at all. Ever!

So these puppies? ALL mine!

And real quick, what's cuter than a newborn bum in wool?

Give up?

TWO newborn bums in wool!

My friend, Tif, is expecting twins in March and I could not be more happy for her!

Oh, and that is Lady of the Lake Targhee, dyed by Morwenna of Mosaic Moon. It's the Picky Pants pattern adjusted w/ the Curly Purly waistband (which I adore for newborns).

Happy NY and some December FOs

2008-01-01T13:55:00.000-08:00

So I've been working on a very large custom order the last few months, but in between that, I've also been working on projects to stock Cherry Blossom Knits. I did, however, manage to complete some gifts in December.

What? What is that, you say? Kiela completed a project? Really?

I say, Really. I did. Two, in fact, and I'm very pleased with both of them.

This is a sweater based on the Child's Placket Sweater. I loved the first pattern so much, that I decided to go ahead and do it again. This sweater had to be knit out of this particular yarn (WWBN BFL) because the mother of the recipient hand picked those colors for Brad to custom dye. At the time, I had no idea I was going to be doing a sweater. In fact, I thought it would be soaker pants, but alas, he grew and I never got them finished. So, my guilt of not finishing the pants before he outgrew them has been replaced with happiness for the sweater.

Then we have, a basic Fan and Feather scarf.

This scarf was a free handout from my LYS. I saw the sample knit up on the wall and knew it was absolutely perfect for my secret santa recipient. Two days later, that puppy was knit, blocked, and drying.

Ahhh... the sweet smell of... what is that? Oh yeah, completion.

UFOs Share

2007-11-13T09:40:00.000-08:00

Yeah, yeah, long time, no blog. I know. I have had a good excuse, though. The little nursling doesn't leave a lot of time for blogging.

Fortunately, I still have time for knitting in the evenings. Why don't I blog in the evenings? Well, I use natural light for my pictures. I find that using a flash on my knitting makes the colors go screwy, washes out the lights, and is just generally icky. So I only photograph during the day. And not just during the day, but also when I have lots of good light. Couple that with not having a baby attached to my front, or a toddler that needs lunch, or an older that needs me to get her off the bus, and I've got quite a few obstacles to overcome. As it stands now, I've been typing up this post for 3 hours.

Don't laugh. I'm serious.

So anyway, back to the knitting.

Guess what happened this summer? You know, besides me giving birth to a toddler nearly 2 weeks late at the end of July. (You know I'm going to milk that for all it's worth) This nifty little thing called Ravelry was launched and thousands of little knitters like myself had a tiny little orgasm. If you haven't signed up yet, go. Go now. If you're a knitter like me, or even unlike me, (an incredibly organized knitter) you'll love this resource! Go sign up and put me in your friends. I'm Keyswalee.

Last year I came up with the idea of using all my scrap balls of yarn to make a blanket, but I never started it. Since this is likely going to take me 300 years, I thought I better get started.

I have to say that so far, I love this blanket. I know it's miles and miles of Stockinette stitch, but I don't think I'll ever tire of it. Every few rows it's a new yarn and colorway, and each yarn brings with it memories of a past project. It's also perfect tv knitting.

I have visions of my children fighting over this blanket and for some reason, this makes me happy.

Here's a yoke sweater I started for Peyton. This is in the most divine yarn. It's hand-spun from an artisan I met while at Maryland Sheep and Wool festival. It's a blend of angora and merino and it's like knitting with clouds. I also have to mention the unique way this is plied. She takes 2 separate colors and plies them together and then one of those colors continues and the other color stops and a new color is picked up. After a while, that new color continues and the old color stops. Am I making any sense? I may not be. That's okay. You can probably see what I mean from the picture.

So why am I stuck on the first sleeve? Well, it's because I discovered that because of the uniqueness of the yarn, the sleeves will be different. As in, each sleeve will have different blocks of color in different spots. The anal retentive control freak in me hates that. Yes, I love this yarn, but I think it might be too much for me to handle. However, the thought of figuring out exactly half of each color repeat and then "striping" the yarns to make 2 sleeves exactly identical doesn't exactly thrill me either.

So there it sits.

Here I have some ankle socks. Just plain vanilla ankle socks with an eye of partridge heel flap. These will be for some lucky family member for Christmas. They are knit with Knitpicks sock yarn that was gifted to me. I think it's a discontinued Sock Garden yarn.

Next we have a design I came up with a few months ago after diapering my wee little one in the middle of the night. I was using those awesome cotton newborn gowns and a fitted diaper with a soaker over it, and the kid was peeing through the soaker. I thought to myself, how awesome would it be to have a wool gown? I'll be that super peer couldn't pee through both a wool soaker and a gown!

So here's what I've got so far, but I'm stumped as to what to do for the collar. Until I figure it out, it sits.

Next is a gnome hat; another pattern that I put together. It's knit with Three Irish Girls Lindon merino in "Reilly." It's sized 2-4 and will go up in the store for CBK opening. It's 95% finished. I've just got to grow the cojones to sew a lining into it and block it.

And lastly, just to show that I actually do finish some projects, is a pair of plain socks for another lucky family member for Christmas. They were knit with a patterning sock yarn. I'd tell you what it was, but (gasp) I threw away the label! Had I started them before I got into Ravelry, I would have put that info into the project page before the label got thrown away.

Ahhh... that's better

2007-08-20T13:40:00.000-07:00

Check out my best completed UFO this summer! Nearly 10 lbs of baby boy sweetness, but we call him Gavin. He was born July 28th at 10:13 AM. That's 11 days overdue, not that I was counting or anything.
Oh, and all those itty bitty newborn soakers? Yeah. Too small. (sigh) So each evening after the other munchkins are in bed and we've finished our nursing marathon, I knit a little bit for him. He's got a long torso, and despite being nearly 10 lbs, he's skinny. I'm sure being 22.5" long helps thin out a babe, huh?

I'm finding that I still need to knit newborn-sized waist/hips and just increase the rise. In order to avoid that lovely diaper plumber-crack, we need a 16" rise. I still can't believe my 3 week old infant needs a 16" rise!
These sweet pants are a size small Picky Pants, adjusted as to use the CP waistband, in WWBN Silver Rainbow-- which happens to be one of my favorite colorways. These pants have 17.5" rise and a 7" inseam. I figured if I wanted him to fit into something for more than 5 minutes, I better start knitting things a little bigger. Besides knitting pants for the Gavinator, I've been doing baby sweaters. Here's the Child's Placket sweater from LMKG. It's knit in Mosaic Moon's single-ply Merino-- uber soft and perfect for a wee one, plus, who can resist those rich colors?

After much deliberation on the buttons, I decided to skip them altogether and fold the neck band down to create a collar. I haven't actually tried this on the kid yet, so we'll see if I need to do some adjusting to make that work.

Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot...

2007-07-08T11:37:00.001-07:00

July is in full swing and I am feeling every bit of my nearly 39 week pregnant self. Babe's estimated date of arrival is a mere 9 days away, but who knows when he/she will decide to show up?

In the meantime, I'm keeping myself cool in the icy a/c and keeping my fingers busy to pass the time.

Here's a pair of Picky Pants and shorts for a trade with a friend of mine. Pants are 3 ply Targhee from WWBN in Caramel Sundae, shorts are a slightly thinner Targhee from Morwenna at Mosaic Moon in her Lady of the Lake colorway-- a stunning kettle-dyed blend of blues, greens, and teals.

Next I have a pair of striped shorts. Aren't they cute?

Cue Psycho music now! Holy ends, Batman! Anyone feel like weaving these in for me?

Lastly, another beautiful hand-knit, but not of my own making. This was sent to me from a friend this week. Isn't is gorgeous? I can't wait to put a tiny little head in it!

Confessions of a Knitting Blog Loser

2007-06-06T11:41:00.000-07:00

Yes, I said it. I'm a knitting blog loser. When I started this in January I had these high hopes for myself. I dreamed of sharing my projects and holding myself accountable for all of those darn UFOs. Of course, what I've accomplished instead is something else that I'm not finishing. Well? Back on the wagon! I'm going to try to post at least twice a month. Are you holding your breath? :) I am.

Here's my plane project from my trip to Detroit.

Yes, I went to Detroit. Adrienne and I, actually. We flew up a few weeks ago to visit with my family, get a husband/kid break, and meet a longtime online photographer friend. This photographer friend, Teresa Anne, did an amazing maternity photosession for me, as well as a few pictures of Adrienne and I for our new website, Cherry Blossom Knits (due to open later this summer).

By the way, what's with all the strange looks I got at the airport? Don't pregnant women fly anymore? Seriously. People were staring at me as if they were afraid I would start huffing and puffing out a child at any moment. I assure you, I was not. 32 weeks is still a perfectly acceptable time to fly. So there.

Back to the knitting.

Here's a close up of the sock. It's done in Socks That Rock "Seal Rock" colorway, and the pattern is Cookie A.'s Monkey, available on Knitty.

Here's some of the non-store things that have been keeping me busy.

Could this be any cuter? I mean, look at those itty bitty socks. Together they weigh .4 oz and each one is about the size of a standard business card. Oh, and yes, that's the highly coveted Dashing Dachs Goldfish yarn. Isn't it gorgeous? Amanda from Sweetiebums is making the little bebe a matching NB shirt with the ever popular goldfish fabric. I'm thinking this little set just might be the bebe's very first outfit.

Here's the lot of my NB diapering knits. I'm thinking this is probably enough, considering how fast those little newborns grow.

Clockwise from the dark green soaker in the upper right corner.

Newborn Undersoaker done in "Olive Juice" wool dyed by me. It's not quite as dark in person as it is in the picture, and I'm thinking this is larger than a standard NB soaker, but I like the full coverage and will probably use it a lot as a nap/nighttime soaker.

The following 3 pairs of shorst are all newborn-sized Picky Shorts with a Curly Purly waistband. First one is "Goldfish" on BFL from Dashing Dachs. Next is "Silver Lining" BFL dyed by Brad of WWBN, and last pair is "Silver Rainbow" BFL, also dyed by Brad.

The next pair of shorts are newborn Picky Shorts w/ a ribbed/drawstring waist done in "Summer Splash" wool dyed by me. Above that you can see 2 little Gerber shirts I dyed and painted to go with it.

Lastly, a newborn Curly Purly soaker in "Nightlight" BFL, again, dyed by Brad. This soaker was incredibly fun to knit b/c I was "knitting on fumes," as I like to call it. I think I had less than a yard of yarn left when I was finished. As I started the project, I knew it would be close, but throughout the process, I kept glancing at my dwindling ball and wondering if I'd make it. Thankfully I did. Now I just hope the kid is able to wear it for longer than 5 minutes.

Long Time, No Post

2007-04-10T13:38:00.000-07:00

Wow. It's been a while.

It's not that I haven't been knitting, just that I've been knitting for the store. Furiously knitting for the store, actually. With all of the Picky Shorts knitting I've been doing, I haven't had much time for personal knitting. I did manage to finish Peyt's dress in time for Easter, though.

Did I mention the snow we got last week? So yeah, she didn't actually wear it on Easter, but at least I got a decent picture of her in it, and perhaps she'll have an excuse to wear it before she outgrows it.

I might cry

2007-03-07T08:43:00.000-08:00

So this is supposed to be Peyton's Easter dress. I say "supposed" because it's still up in the air weather or not my child is going to wear it for more than 20 seconds. Yesterday she came into the family room as I was finishing the picot trim on the bottom. This is the conversation that ensued.

Me: Look Peyt! Your Easter dress! What do you think?
P: (eyebrows knit together and eyes narrow)
Me: Isn't it pretty?
P: No.
Me: Don't you like it?
P: No.
Me: (ever the optimist) You're going to wear it for Easter!
P: (very matter of fact) No. (spins on heals, curls in my face)

I might just cry.

(sigh) Moving on.

I actually have a project on the needles for myself. I don't think I've ever done that before, so this is really cool.

Socks!

This is also my first adult pair of socks. I have to say that I never really had much desire for sock knitting. I've always been one of those slightly chunky yarn on size 8-9 needles type-of-girls. The thought of carrying dental floss yarn through my fingers and working with toothpick needles just never appealed to me. It's funny because Adrienne told me that I would love it. She told me that I'd get the hang of it and then I'd love it and I'd loathe picking up big needles. I told her she was insane.

So, now I'm eating my words.

Lotsa Pictures

2007-02-20T14:21:00.000-08:00

Isn't this darling?

This splendid collab is for the Fluff Factory Auctions benefiting Autism Speaks next week. Amanda, from Sweetiebums, put together the swing top and gorgeous diaper. Brad, from Wooly Wonders by Nada, dyed his scrumptious Blue Faced Leceister wool to match the fabric to perfection, and then generously donated it for me to knit into the little shorts.

Next we have Crumpets. My story with Crumpets is a long one. I knit this dress for my daughter last year in the most perfect shade of orange. In true Peyton fashion, she watched me knit for hours and then refused to wear it once it came off the needles. Her poor, unloved dress has been hanging out with Andie, my toddler mannequin, ever since.

Later, I agreed to knit 2 of these dresses for the daughters of a friend of mine. Once I got in and realized how over my head I was, I asked Adrienne to take one over for me. I started on the purple, and Adrienne started on the red.

From the beginning, these poor dresses were cursed. The beads we picked out for the bodice took hours to string and resulted in many headaches. I had issues with my cast on, while Adrienne actually broke needles with the weight of the dress. At one point I was knitting the bodice around 1 AM and looked down to see that I had done an incorrect repeat. I tried to frog back to the row before my mistake, but it was useless-- I had to start all over again. And then later, because this dress was on the needles for many months, my friend's daughter grew, as toddler's tend to do, and I actually ran out of yarn! I painstakingly waited the 5 days to get another ball in so I could finish the crochet trim.

All frustration and struggles aside, the dresses are complete, and I'd say they're pretty stinkin' cute.

This is the front of Julia's dress.

And a close-up of the bodice stitch pattern and bow.

And although I didn't knit it, I thought it was worth showing off and putting in the blog. This is Rachel's dress, kindly being modeled by my daughter, Peyton. Yes, I said that right. It's Peyton, wearing the Crumpets dress that Adrienne knit.

(scratches head) Now, why won't she wear the one I knit her?

And the back

"Kink Socks"

2007-02-12T13:09:00.000-08:00

Not only are these my first pair of socks, and not only is my anti-sock daughter actually wearing them, but she adores them! She comes home from school and demands that we get her "kink socks" (pink socks). It should also be mentioned that if I knit it and she watched me knit it, she generally wants nothing to do with it, so I'm thrilled that she's in love with her Kink Socks.

Maybe I'll get around to knitting a pair for myself.

Kimono Love

2007-02-07T11:58:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine is expecting a baby girl. A few days ago I went through my stash looking for inspiration. I came up with a gorgeous Tahki Donegal Tweed in this subtle sort of heathered pinkish plum color with bits of green in it. I instantly thought "itty bitty kimono." For 2 days I poured through all of my children's pattern books and searched online. I couldn't find anything close to what I was picturing in my head. So I picked up some needles and decided to go at it alone.

Adorable, no?

Project Spectrum

2007-02-01T11:09:00.000-08:00

Today marks the beginning of Project Spectrum 2.0!

I love this concept. I love the idea of going through my stash and picking out a specific color to embrace, to love, to cherish. I love listening to the yarn and finding out what it longs to be.

So February and March are blue, white, and gray months. I'll begin with blue. Isn't it delicious?

UFO Numero Uno

2007-01-28T12:04:00.000-08:00

My first UFO is finally complete!

I started this project 18 months ago my when youngest son was just a few days old. I made one lonely bootie and shoved it up away in my UFO cabinet.

The yarn is Debbie Bliss, a chunky Cashmerino blend. It's plenty soft, although I suspect it's going to pill a lot. I enjoyed working with it, but the frequent knots were quite annoying and I have a feeling that I'm not going to enjoy it so much when I have to go through 11 skeins of knottiness to knit myself Simply Marilyn. I'd sub out the yarn, but it's already hanging out in my stash in the most perfect shade of pink.

Oh, and with another bebe on the way, these itty bitty booties and hat won't go to waste.

Original, isn't it?

2007-01-20T16:18:00.000-08:00

The name of my blog, that is. I really did try to come up with something witty, but nothing popped out at me. I guess Kiela Knits isn't that bad. And for inquiring minds, Kiela is pronounced Key-la. And no my parents weren't boozing when they came up with it; although, now that I think about it, I never did get anything more than "I made it up" out of my dad.

So anyway, I've done this blog thing before and I always slack off after a few weeks. Okay, after a few posts. But I'd like to keep it up, if for nothing else other than to be held accountable for all of my UFOs (unfinished objects). My good friend (and business partner) Adrienne made me face all of my UFOs the other day. I had no idea I had so many. I was just coming to a point in a project where I was either bored or frustrated with it and setting it aside. I'd then pick up a new project and put the UFO into the craft cabinet. Specifically on the top shelf of the 7 ft craft cabinet in a Sterilite container where I'd never have to see it again. Thanks to Adrienne, they have all been pulled out of the cabinet to stare me in the face as the shameful little projects that they are. My goal? To finish them. All of them.