I'm no blogger, obviously

It's been a month of change, serious change. We found a new place to live and are moving this weekend so I get to spend all my knitting/crocheting time packing and unpacking. Good news is that I'll have more room in the new place for my yarn obsession.

In addition I had about 6 inches of my hair whacked off, back to short and I think it will stay this way:

Thank you Katie Holmes for your inspiration. You may have a crazy gay husband but damn you do have good hair!

On to more important things...moving into a new place is a great excuse to make a new throw for the couch and what throw is complete without a matching pillow? I decided to crochet this set as I'm 10x's faster at it than knitting.
Yes, that's Rocky in the background and Maynard's nosey nose on the blanket. Silly dogs love the camera! For this project I made up my own simple pattern and used Lionbrand's Homespun in Barley and Russet as it was on sale at Michael's.

Next, and so exciting is a hat that I knitted. Yes folks, Stephanie has finally mastered the DPN's!!! Maybe I'm not a lazy knitter after all...I found a free pattern on the Zephyr Style website, you can download it here. These ladies have the most amazing sweater patterns, can't wait to try them out! Back to the hat, well I used some cheap acrylic yarn in case I couldn't master those DPN's so I don't know that anyone will receive this hat as a present. Acrylic scratchy yarn is very hard to work with, always splitting and such. But this pattern is pretty easy although the twisted rib is a little time consuming.

How do you take a picture of yourself in a mirror without the annoying white light? Will somebody please tell me?

And finally a little sweater jacket for Ellie's Christmas present. The blanket idea was frogged. Wendy at Knit and Tonic has this great pattern, Girlfriend's Swing Coat. I'm almost done, just need to finish up the picot edging that I added and complete one sleeve. Actually it was this sweater that I first tried the DPN's truth be told. I used the yarn from Ellie's blanket, Knitpicks yarn in Orchid doubled-up.

Brenna, if you are reading this do not despair. It's not really 80's hot pink, just a bad picture.

That's enough blogging for now.

Purple Projects

Once again it's been a long time since I've posted on my blog. Since the last post lots of knitting has taken place along with the 2007 Firestorm and a trip to San Francisco. But this blog is about knitting so let's get down to business.

I bought this great purple yarn, Knitpick's Andean Silk in Sangria. I decided to make a deconstructed jacket from a pattern online. Was about 90% completed and I realized that it was the ugliest mass of yarn I had ever seen, horrible! Embarrassing! So I frogged the whole piece and put the yarn aside. A few weeks later I came across an inspiring blog, Knit and Tonic and decided that Flair was a perfect sweater for my purple yarn. I've almost completed the jacket, just one sleeve, the neckline and buttons. This is my first sweater attempt and really its been painless. This is a great pattern, Wendy is a genius.


I'm also planning on knitting A Somewhat Cowl, Marilyn's Not So Shrunken Cardigan and Sizzle for myself after all the holiday gifts are completed.

I also made this little sunglass case last weekend in an afternoon. Just an experiment, it came out a little wider than I had planned but I think it's cool.


And finally, I finished the Contessa Shawl just in time for a friend's birthday. She loves it and I think it turned out great.

Finished projects and such

Well what can I say, I'm a lame blogger. First of all I realized I don't have any friends who knit, therefore I doubt anyone is actually reading this. But the narcissist in me loves blogging all about me-self!

I have actually started and finished two small projects in the last few weeks. Both were inspired by yarn I had laying around that I wanted out of my yarn basket. First up we have a purple and army green camo knitted purse:

This was knitted up using plain old scratchy worsted weight acrylic yarn. I love the two color combinations but it's a little floppy. I'm thinking of adding a liner.
Second up a crochet felted bag!!!! This was my first felting project and I have to say that I could easily be hooked if it wasn't for the fact that I don't have a washer at home and felting this last night at the laundry mat wasn't as exciting as I hoped.

I had the top variegated yarn sitting around but had to go buy more yarn -darn :-) to finish. I love this bag, the colors are brighter in person and it looks so cool. I think lots of people will be getting felted bags for holiday presents...

I've added a few new projects on the needles these last few weeks. My favorite so far-I've decided to experiment with a yarn I bought a while back from Knitpicks, a lace weight baby alpaca yarn called Alpaca Cloud and I tell you it's a little slice of heaven. Just a simple garter stitch scarf/stole:

A new find for yarn and a pattern that I adored online Morehouse Farms Contessa Shawl Kit, I ordered the silver kit and here it is so far:

Looks really different but who knows maybe after blocking...this is a lace weight merino yarn and it's got kind of an unfinished look about it, which I haven't decided if I love or hate. I'll wait for final judgement when the project is completed.

A project update: I've completely frogged Ellie's blanket, I didn't like it. I changed the pattern and went down a few needle sizes. I should have a picture soon of the progress.

And last but certainly not least, I'm anxiously waiting for my Ravelry invite, I'm sure I'll make lots of knitting friends there! Plus I love to organize so I'll probably become obsessed with this site!

Unfinished projects

You know those projects that are quite simple but for some reason you can't finish them? Well, I've got a few hanging around that I really should finish up. They're taking up way too much room in my knitting basket and tiny livingroom. First up we have a cozy lace shawl I started last spring:

I'm using Knitpicks Andean Treasure in Embers Heather. My original intention was to give this as a gift, but then I decided that most of the women in my life wouldn't wear a shawl. Oh well, guess I get to keep it for myself :-) When am I going to wear this in San Diego???

The second project again, taking up way too much room, is a child's blanket for my quazi-niece Ellie. She loves all colors pink (and what girl doesn't deep down) and I was told she would like a nice soft blanket. The goal for this one was beginning of July when a visit to Minnesota and Ellie's birthday took place. But May and June just were not knitting months for me, too hot or something. Anyhow, picked this up again last night, a great pattern for watching a movie. I will finish this one very soon to stock up as a Christmas present:


For some reason I've been on a Knitpicks run lately, this time I used Shine Sport in Blush and Orchid. I keep my stitches loose so that it doesn't get too heavy for Ellie to carry around or too hot, I like that this cotton blend yarn is soft and shiny.

I'm not so sure about this blogging business

Well it seems that if you're in the know you're blogging. So I'm ditching my cool anti-blog persona and diving in...well maybe. You see, the thing is I'll probably be really lazy about posting. I'm not much of a writer.

I'm currenty working on a throw for Mum's couch. She wanted neutral (blah) colors and it has to be sturdy to withstand the claws of death-Maggie the weiner dog. Why do dogs always like to ruin my work??? Anyways, just have to add the fringe, pack it up and ship it to Texas...here's a pic:



I used Lionbrand Homespun in Deco, Fawn, & Rocco. Four strands held together with giganto needles size 50! Went really fast. I'm hoping this sturdy acrylic yarn will hold up to Maggie, crossing my fingers.