I'm contemplating what kind of scarf to make for my mother-in-law for christmas. I made her one last year in cobolt blue eyelash yarn and black snowflake yarn. It was super easy to make and felt and looked nice. This year I want to try something a little different, more luxurious I think. I was thinking about one of the Multidirectional Scarves in Noro yarn that are all the rage right now. That yarn is pretty nice, and in the right colours it could look pretty cool. The other thought I had was to make something using a fancy shmancy yarn like alpaca, silk or cashmere. (or a blend) I haven't worked with these yarns before so I don't know what I'd like. I know I hate working with mohair, the way the fibres cling to each other drives me batty, so if any of these other fibres are like that I'll have to consider that. I also don't want anything that's too easy or too complicated. A fancy lace pattern is out, but so is plain garter stitch.

Suggestions?

I get excited when a larger project like a sweater, actually starts looking like the end product! I've still got a ways to go on my BPT sweater, it needs arms and the hood, and a couple inches of body yet, but it's really coming together and looking like a sweater! I'm pleased with how it's coming along, and am anxious to keep working on it to see the final product. The style of knitting the sweater in the round and not having to think about seams (other than putting in a zipper which scares me a little) is perfect for me, and I think I might make something similar for myself later on. I REALLY hope my sister likes this sweater, I think she will.

I've been crafty lately! I finished up 3 seperate projects last night, so I'm feeling pretty accomplished. The first is the felted purse for the daycare raffle at work. I made a matching changepurse to go with it, though that didn't felt as well. The changepurse was in garter stitch, the purse in stockingknit, so that might explain it. I also feel like the strap was too short, last time I felted a bag with a strap it stretched out like crazy so I erred on the short side this time. The second photo shows the zipper I sewed into the changepurse. That made me nervous to do, I've never sewed in a zipper before. It turned out okay, the felt is forgiving for sewing, and bulky enough to work.


I also made a set of 6 stamped birthday cards with envelopes for the raffle:


And my third project was a mask I decorated for a contest at work:

The photo makes it look pink and blue, but the pink parts are actually silver glitter over a pink mask, so it's really just silver and blue. I can't wait to see what other employees did for their masks, they all go up in the bookstore monday, and there are prizes :)

My ebay auctions all have bids - hooray! I am so happy this nice yarn will find another home, and I should make enough to buy myself something I will enjoy using!

I'm planning to try making a simple felted purse as another item for the daycare raffle. I have a little time, they need stuff before the end of next week. There are some neat looking simple purses pictured OVER HERE so I might try to make something like those. I have some blue feltable wool for sure, plus some in earthy tones, and more in white that I could koolaid dye. I'll take stock when I get home and see which would work. I have some black eyelash wool that I could use along the top to jazz it up nicely as well, and that would go with almost any colour of purse.

I am still working on trimming my stash. I sent one box of yarn to someone in trade for some books a while ago. (I am still waiting for the books, she got the yarn but hasn't sent them yet!) I've given some away to a friend I think will use it, I've been knitting hats out of random smaller bits, baby hats are PERFECT for this.

I finally took the plunge to try selling on ebay yesterday! I had bunches of mohair and mohair-like yarn that I was never going to use. It's lovely yarn, but just not my thing at all. So I put it up for sale, hoping someone else would have a use for it, and I could get a couple of bucks to spend on yarn I like! Here are the three auctions I put up, for anyone interested(photos link to the auctions):

I fretted over the BPT sweater a bit, wrote the author for help and had a eureka moment and figured it out on my own. Now that I have it figured it out it seems so simple, of course.

I whipped up another watchcap today. I'm trying to make some quick stuff to donate to the childcare raffle. The second photo shows how the decreases make a nice pattern of the top.

I've run into another problem with the BPT sweater from knitty. I am separating the parts for the sleeves and the instructions aren't seeming to add up for me. THOUGH, now that I am looking at the pattern, to type here what my problem is, I think I figured it out! I was reading "CO" as cast off, not cast on, which changes everything! *sigh* Ah well, I can continue knitting now.....

I took a photo of the circular knitting holder my mom made me. I might reinforce the back with cardboard to make it lie flat, and I plan to put the sizes on with a pen or maybe use iron on patches or something. Right now I have little address labels stuck on for sizes. (it is hanging on one of my plastic drawer sets that hold MOST of my yarn and needles):

I also made two more baby hats this weekend. I love baby hats, they work up so quickly, and in any type of yarn really. The first one is from a scrap left from a sweater I made my sister using Bernat Denim Style Yarn which is very soft and cozy. The second is made with some mohair blend I got at a thrift shop. I have plenty left to make booties to match.

AARRRGGG! I hate it when yarn "breaks" mid knitting. I hate finding joins in yarn too, but worse is when you are knitting along and the yarn just sort of disintigrates when you tug it. This happens a lot with White Buffalo yarn (the stuff you make Cowichan sweaters from) so I got rid of all I had, it annoyed me too much. I'm finding the Lett-Lopi I'm using does it a little too. It's only lightly spun, not tightly twisted, which is part of the problem. I just had it split about 2 yards past a join I made for the next ball. I ended up ripping back to the join, rather than having joins on two rows in a row. I'm not knitting tightly, or pulling hard on the yarn, it just has weak points. Once knit it is nice and strong fabric, I think I will just have to be careful and deal with it.

I had set aside the BPT I was working on a while ago. I decided to count my stitches to make sure I hadn't missed any increases and I found I'd missed one!!! I couldn't see where and the idea of ripping upset me too much so I put it away. I pulled it out last night and the error popped right out at me. It wasn't too far down so I was able to just undo that bit and fix it up, and I'm back to working on it. The yarn, Lett-Lopi, is a bit hard to work with as it's not tightly spun, but the effect is quite nice. I'm about 2/3 done the yoke.

My mom sewed me up a pretty holder for my circular needles the other day. I'd seen them in the stores, and they are very cool, but also expensive for what they are. They are basically a strip of fabric, folded over and sewn at 2inch intervals all the way up. You then feed your needles through the loops and they hang either side, seperated by size. I still need to put all my needles in and put some labels on it, but iI'm happy to have it! Now I can sort out all my circulars and see which ones I have doubles (or more) of and which I'm missing. She has more of the matching fabric and offered to make me a holder for my Double Pointed needles too - yay! I'll try and post a photo in the next couple of days.

Happily Michael's carries Bernat Soft Boucle in the colour I'm using for my jacket. I don't know if I will need more yet. but I'm glad it's there. Perhaps I should be smart and buy a ball now, I can always return it if I don't need it.....

No luck finding Patons Country Garden in Snowdrop anywhere. I've contacted a couple places online, tried every store in town or in nearby towns, but nothing. I'm starting to think I will be starting over, which doesn't make me happy. That yarn was perfect for the project, the right weight, the right feel, washable wool, and a nice shade. PLUS I have knit more than a full pattern repeat so that is a lot of work to have to give up!

I'm moving along on the back of my maternity jacket. Here is a photo showing how far I am so far:

I hope I will have enough yarn, I only have 6 balls and I think it is discontinued. I'm using Bernat Soft Boucle in a pretty blue colour. Here is a closeup of the colour and texture:

Bit of a disaster with the DNA scarf.....I went back to lewiscraft to get another 4 balls of yarn now that I like how this yarn works for it, and they don't have anymore! They were clearing it out when I bought that ball last time, and I didn't realise, so neither location in my city has anymore in the 'snowdrop' colour I used. Thankfully Patons country yarn is available online and elsewhere, so I will look around. I'll call the knitting shops in town to see if they have any I can grab, otherwise I will look online. I'm not willing to start over!

I also started a convertable maternity jacket for myself. I liked the style and idea of the Before & After sweater on the Canadian Living website, but the pattern was written very strangely. Instead I am trying the Cropped Cardigan from Lion Brand. I'm going to make it a little longer, then make a triangle panel for the front to extend it while I am pregnant. I may add on a polo-type collar if I'm brave later too, we'll see. I don't really have any sweaters that will fit me much longer and the weather is starting to cool off, so I wanted to get started on this right away.

Now that I have the digital camera, I can post pictures fast and easy, though I do need to work on posting more often in general here! I'm working on the DNA Scarf right now as a gift for my husband. He's into science of all kinds, and actually doing a co-op job right now that deals with biology and chemistry, so I think he will get a kick out of it.

I had a lot of trouble getting starterd, as I haven't really dealt with charted patterns before. I didn't realise you started reading from right to left at the bottom of the chart, or that you read even rows left to right and inverted the symbols! Jerry, who just finished this scarf, kindly helped me out with tips on how to read the chart. He said for even rows to "knit the stitches as they appear" rather than using the chart and reversing the stitches. That is working out well and speeding up my knitting on this thing quite a bit. I'm pleased with the progress so far, here is a photo of where I am, plus a closeup of the cable:


I also am working on some baby socks. They're really cute and much faster to work up than adult socks, but I don't think I will make a lot. They are kind of fiddly to work with and take a while, considering how cheap a pack of baby socks is at the store! Here is a photo: