I finished the Wheat Ears Baby Afghan on the weekend. It's small, I didn't have a skein of cotton to work with. The yarn was given to me, and was likely bought a long time ago, so I didn't want to bother trying to match the colour, so I went for a short blanket instead.

It's about 2 feet by 3 and a half feet, should be good for a stroller blanket, or to cover me when nursing or something. I really like how it turned out, the colour is nice and the pattern is pretty. It was originally started to be a gift but I liked it too much!

Pompoms are a pain to make. I made two for one of the hats last night, but I'm not thrilled with how they turned out. I need some really sharp scissors to trim them up a bit I think.

I pulled out my Wheat Ears Baby Afghan I started ages ago. It's a nice project, fairly mindless, but with some lacey bits to keep it interesting. I don't have enough to make it square I can tell already, but that's ok. Who says baby blankets should be square?! It's in a pretty sunshine yellow cotton, and I'm keeping it for my baby!

Well the ties on my hat weren't working, so I'm going to just make them pompom hats. That's still really cute I think, and will be much easier. Given there is only one month left to christmas, I need to do easy when I can!!

My overflowing yarn stash was depressing me severely, not to mention taking over what will be the baby's space, so something had to be done. I took stock of all the yarn I have that I do not like and I've started giving/trading it away. Whatever is left (that I don't like) will be sent to a thrift shop, and I will be able to enjoy the yarn that pleases me, and have space for more as needed. I have more yarn I hate than most people own alltogether and that is just not right! I will be happy to send this stuff off to happier homes......

I found a really cute hat I'd like to make for my cousins. The girl is almost 7 and the boy is just over 1, so I was having trouble finding a cute pattern that would suit both of them, but I think this will do the trick:

From what I can see it is one of those flat square hats, with an I-cord coming from each peak leading to a pompom, then the I-cords are tied over the top. I think it's really cute and would suit both kids. The girl's favorite colour is apparently blue, so I might do hers blue with white stripes and the boy's in white with blue, or something. They should knit up pretty fast!

I'm also working on designing a cap for my husband. He wants a seaman's cap in black with blue lightening bolts on the brim. Sounds simple enough, except that I'll have to do the brim in stockingknit instead of ribbing to make the pattern show. This means that the top of hte hat will have to be purled, or something to make it work out. Also I'm not sure how to keep the brim from rolling as it will be all stockingknit...........I'll have to think on this for a while.

Lots of photos to share today. First a pair of socks for my aunt. She sent me the yarn from a bunch of stuff she had of my grandmothers and went on about how it was the most gorgeous shade of green, so I had to make her something. They look short but they're just thick, they should fit her well:

I finished the multidirectional scarf for my mother-in-law. I'm still dissapointed that the patterning doesn't show a lot but it is very nice and SO soft. One skein of Red Heart Plush made this whole scarf, with a couple yards left over:

Two baby hats I made recently. The yellow one is sort of shimmery, and the pink one is a nice fluffy mohair blend:

and finally, the pink and white baby mitts I made yesterday. They knit up super quick, I think I will make a few more pairs of these! The pattern is HERE :

I finished the multidirectional scarf on the weekend. It's quite nice, I really like that Red Heart Plus yarn. I may have to find other projects to make up in it. The scarf needs blocking I think, which I'm nervous about. My dirty little knitting secret is that I have never blocked anything! Bst I start though, the sweater I'm making for my sister will need blocking to make it look nice, so I'd rather practice on something easy and forgiving like a scarf.

I have to get back to working on the stuffed monkey, but I realized I misplaced the pattern. The book is not in the library at the moment, so I have to wait until it comes back in. I'm still working on baby hats, as gifts and ways to use up stash yarn. They are so fast and fun, the perfect projects for when I get bored of whatever I am currently working on.

I couldn't resist, I stopped by Walmart yesterday and bought yarn to make the multidirectional scarf. I choose Red Heart Plush, which is a soft, plushy acrylic/nylon that comes in veregated colours. I have already finished 2 feet, this pattern moves so fast. I am a little dissapointed that the close colour repeats and plushiness of the yarn hide the diagonal pattern a lot. You can barely see it in the closeup photo:



Still it looks nice and feels really nice, and I think my mother-in-law will like it. I hope so!

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:

More photos to share!

A Watch Cap made from a thick tweedy wool I had in my stash. I think I have enough left to make a second one


A Baby Watch Cap I made using basically the same pattern as above, and some neat cotton cord. I love how this turned out, I think I will keep this one for my baby.


A sweater using the bulky bibbed baby sweater pattern


My first attempt at crocheting a snowflake, using leftover cotton cord


A photo of part of the double cable in the BPT sweater I'm making. I'm using Alafoss Lett Lopi In a very dark brown.

I just keep starting new stuff! I got started on BPT from the new knitty.com yesterday. I made pretty good progress, after I got my head around the cables and everything, but I was still a little unsure I was doing the increases right. I started composing an email to the author to check, when I found my error. I was only doing 4 of the 8 increases needed on each row. DAMN! There go the 11 rows I'd already completed! At least I better understand the pattern now, it should just fly along. I'm using Lett-Lopi, a neat icelandic wool I found at a thrift shop a while ago. It's a great brown/black colour and should look great. This will be a gift for my sister for christmas.

I didn't manage to finish the socks. I managed to kitchener one toe up almost completely before I realised I was doing it at a 90% angle to how I should be........like I grafted the left half of the sock to the right half instead of the top to the bottom. ((sigh)) so I had to rip that out and redo it. Then I found the socks are too small for me, just a touch. I guess they will become christmas presents for someone!

I am working on another quickie gift item for my brother, something more portable than the larger multi-piece project I started the other day. I'm trying to use up some stash yarn to make more space, and this will use up most of one ball anyways.

Making good progress on the christmas gift for my brother. Haven't asked him yet if he reads here. I will share a photo when it's done though. I'm also trying to finish up some of the many WIPs that I have filling up my yarn containers. I nearly finished a pair of socks last night, will finish them today. I also have a pretty sweater top that needs I think one more (short) sleeve to be done, so I should work on that. It would probaby fit me now, but not for much longer as my belly grows. Also have a baby sweater that needs one more small seam and the new buttons I bought sewn on. If I get busy tonight I might have a whole mess of photos to share tomorrow or Friday.

I made some good progress on cleaning up the yarn mess. I have traded some away for knitting books (YAY), and have some in mind to give away. Beyond that I think I just need to get knitting and fast to use up a lot of this yarn! I have the "baby corner" clear now, though the large yarn cart and a couple boxes still need a home. I have barely touched the stamp mess, but I have been sick this week. (excuses, excuses)

I'm looking for a good jacket pattern to adapt into a maternity sweater/jacket. I found a neat one meant for Homespun yarn: http://pages.e-yarn.com/6030/PictPage/1920694972.html which is close to the Bernat Soft Boucle I have in mind, but it bugs me to pay $6 for the pattern booklet when the pattern is fairly simple, and I wouldn't do anything else out of the booklet. I'm hoping to find someone willing to trade me that or another similar pattern ;)

I've started on a christmas/birthday gift for my brother. I have to find out if he reads this thing before I post much about it though. I doubt he does, but it's not like I hid the blog......

My craft area currently takes up an entire nook off the living room. Half of this nook is what will become "baby's space" so I need to organize, downsize, and just plain clean up my crafting! I started with the yarn, since the bags and piles were actually starting to take over the living room too:

I've got it all into the two carts, one bag, and a box now. I'm working on a trade with someone for yarns I'm not fond of, in exchange for knitting books - YAY! I bought a lot of it at thrift shops when I first started knitting, or my mom picked it up for me, before I knew what I liked knitting with. Now that I know, lots of what I have just doesn't suit me, even though it's nifty yarn. If I can swap it for things I like I can actually make things, rather than feeling overwhelmed by piles of yarn I don't like. I have a few things posted for trade at TRADE if you want to check it out.

Next will be the stamping table:


Which will need to also hold any miscellaneous crafting stuff, and my couponing/refunding stuff. It's a big project getting it all organized, but I will be so happy when it's all neat and useable again!

I forgot to post my big news! I was waiting until I got a meeting with my boss, just in case anyone at work stumbles accross this little blog, but now that he knows, everyone can....

I'm Pregnant!!!!

My due date is January 29th, and hubby and I are thrilled to pieces. This will be our first child. (and the first grandchild for both sides) I haven't managed much knitting for myself yet though, as all my friends keep having kids first! I also didn't get to find out the sex at the ultrasound last week, so no pink or blue for me. I am considering making the Before & After Sweater from Canadian Living's site. I love the idea that you can wear it after the baby is born by taking the panel out, but I don't like the design or instructions. I may just adapt a simple boxy cardigan to do the same idea myself. I have some Bernat Soft Boucle in rich blues that would be perfect.......

Comments are down but feel free to EMAIL ME if you have something to say!

I have SO MUCH YARN!!! I decided to organize my stash, pulled it out of all the piles and bags and stuff, seperated, organized.........and realized I have TOO MUCH YARN! Most of it is stuff my mom or I picked up when I was just starting knitting, before I knew what I liked. Lots of mohair, some buffalo wool, and tons of really weird stuff. (nylon ribbon that would suit weaving a lawn chair maybe?? raffia yarn??) ICKY! I did manage to pack it back up nicer, but its still a whole lot of yarn I don't see myself using. So I have to decide how much of it to discard, how much to knit, and if any of it is even remotely swappable. I do have 4 balls of Pengoin cotton slubby yarn in lime and blue that might interest someone...........

I finished the baby towel. I don't know if I will make another one any time soon though. It was easy and knit up quick, but it was SO BORING! Nothing but garter stitch the whole way through - yuk! I used Bernat Cotton Handicrafter yarn, which is really cheap, and once I washed and dried it, it thickened up and softened nicely. Here is a photo of the finished product:


I couldn't pick my next project, so I just started on a baby hat. I had some pretty blue yarn to use, so I figured I could make it, and one of the two friends still expecting, or even myself, one of us would have a boy!

I started counting up the active WIPs and WIMs that I have.....about a dozen, for all the ones I'm actually serious about. Most are christmas gifts, but a few are needed sooner, and some very soon (a week and a half!) so I'm getting a bit worried. I need to keep the needles moving! I started a hooded baby towel for the first baby gift. I haven't decided about the yellow blanket yet, so I can give her this new project instead. I'm halfway done almost, and I only started on Thursday. Photos this weekend if I finish it!

I started a lace scarf for the raffle. I've done one full repeat of the lace pattern (12 rows) and I like how it looks. It will take a while, it's on 3.5mm needles or something like that. The wool I'm using is some unidentified stuff in a naturall beigy grey colour. I am thinking of koolaid dying it after I knit it all up. Even just to add a touch of colour, I really don't like the plain colour it is now, but I wanted to work from my stash.

Still working on the baby blanket, I'm about 1/3 done. I will need to have a baby gift to give my field hockey coach in two weeks. She may get this blanket, or I may have to whip up something else, we'll see. I may like this blanket too much to give it away too........

This other baby blanket I'm working on is turning out nicely. I'm not in love with the pattern, but it's nice enough. I've done about 7 inches so far, so it's coming along. It will probably be a gift for one of 3 upcoming babies.

I'm still mulling over ideas for the daycare raffle. I thought about doing a mohair shawl, as that would use up some of the MASSES of mohair I have. Of course, when I checked out my stash I found a lot of it is "mohair like" but not actual mohair, and that I didn't have more than a ball or two of a lot of the colours/styles of yarn. I also haven't found a pattern I like. There was one in the knitter's stash, but the one mohair yarn I had enough of, is WAY too fluffy so it looks funny knit up. I may do a fancy scarf instead, that doesn't take as much yarn.

As painful as it was to frog that last baby blanket start, I'm glad I did. I'm just starting the new pattern, and I'm liking it much better already. It's a fairly simple repeat of stockingknit sections and little lacey bits that will make a sort of basketweave. I think it will look nice, but not be TOO complicated, and yet interesting enough to keep me at it.

I got a flyer for this year's Daycare raffle at work. Last year I donated a packet of handstamped cards I made, plus a hooded baby sweater and booties in Lion Brand Microspun. They turned out really cute and I had fun making them for a good cause. (the raffle earns money for the daycare to buy new books and toys, since they don't charge too much to parents who have their kids there, most of whom are students) The thing is, last year, I didn't have any other kids to babies to knit for. This year, I have TONS of babies to knit for, so I don't know if I have time to knit something for someone else. I might have to look for a really quick pattern, maybe make another "5 hour baby sweater" or something. I'd really like to donate something.

Off to the frog pond! I took a pattern out of A Passion for Knitting and adjusted the width a bit, since I was using a thicker yarn than they called for. Well, it was STILL ending up about 20% wider than the pattern, and I know I would have run out of the yellow cotton I was using. Plus, I hated the pattern. It was excruciatingly boring, so far consisting of a wide garter edge and plain stockingknit. Ugh! So here is a photo, pre-frogging:



I think I may try the Cabled Eyelet Blanket as it looks much more fun and interesting. I did a swatch of it in acrylic about the same guage as the yarn I have, so I should be able to adjust the size ok.

I've had a few suggestions of what to do with all the mohair. Some peple suggested mixing it with another fibre to make soft mittens and stuff, so I might try that. I also might try to make a nice lacey shawl or scarf for my mother-in-law for christmas. She really liked the eyelash and snowflake scarf I made her last year, so I just have to ask my husband if she'd wear a shawl........

The felted camera bag was less than a success. It felted up but in the wrong porportions, turning into a funky purse more than anything. And the strap didn't shrink at ALL! I may give it another run through, see if that helps, otherwise it may become a christmas gift in purse form. I am still happy with the colours, so it wasn't a total loss, and I had fun making it.

I want to think up some projects to use up some of my overwhelming stash now. It's such a mess and there is so much there, I can't rationalize buying anything more until I use some of it up! Here's a photo to give you an idea:



There is still more hidden behind that too! A large portion of what I have in the bags in front is mohair or mohair blends, so I need to think of some ideas for that. It's not really appropriate for baby projects unfortunately.........any ideas??

I forgot to mention another nifty birthday present I got - a knitting book! I received Knit It Your Way from my mother in law, along with a nifty yoga/pilates book. Knit it your way shows you each of the patterns in the book in 2 or more types of yarn, and discusses substituting different yarns in patterns. This will be great for me, since I rarely, if ever, use the yarn listed in a pattern. She knows I get much of my yarn from thrift shops so she figured it would be useful for me.

Getting farther on the camera bag, I hope to finish it tonight and maybe even felt it tomorrow!

I started playing with my digital camera last night and took some photos of the camera bag I'm working on. Having a digital camera is GREAT, I can take realistic photos of my knitting, and not have to wait to finish a roll, develop it, scan them in and then mess with the colours so they don't end up too dark.

I dyed the yarn by submerging part of the skeins (did 2 at once to make them sort of match) into the dye bath on the stove, and propping the rest up on a plastic utensil. This is the lovely green colour I got from a couple of packets of "changing cherry" flavour:



Here is a photo of the skeins drying on my balcony railing outside. It shows the colours fairly well:



And here is the bag so far. See how great the colours are coming out in the knitting? Exactly the effect I was after:



I think the bag might end up a little large, but if it does I will just make it into a purse or something for a christmas gift. I have one more skein of undyed wool, and will only need part of the second dyed one for the flap and handle, so I should have plenty for a second try.

Well the socks have been set aside for now. I just don't enjoy making socks on thick stiff wool! I hope that stuff softens in the wash, if I even get back to making them.

I haven't been able to keep my mind on one project lately. I did a bit on that Bob sweater (only 1 and a half sleeves left), dabbled with the thick wool socks, made half a baby sock, and then the other day started a new project! I koolaid dyed some wool in pretty blues and greens, and am knitting up a camera case to felt. It looks neat so far though I think it might be too big. If it is, I'll make it into a purse. I have another ball of dyed wool so I can take a second try if this doesn't work out. Once I learn how to get the photos out of my digital camera I will share :)

I have been trying to make some socks for my aunt out of that pretty green wool she sent over with grandma's stuff. It's worsted weight though, so they are coming out way thicker and stiffer than I'd like. I'm going to have to try bigger needles again. The stiffness should improve a little at least with washing.

I've got a new project in mind too. I want to felt myself a case for my digital camera! My birthday was yesterday and my husband bought me this cute little digital camera. I love it! Now I can snap photos of knitting projects, instead of trying to fit them in the scanner :) I want to koolaid dye the wool before I knit and felt it, so the dying will be the project for tonight. I have a ball of fine wool from my aunt. and some thicker stuff, so I will have to decide which I'm going to use......

I got a box in the mail from my aunt yesterday. She found an old box of knitting stuff from my grandmother, who died over 4 years ago. It has about 10 pairs of straight needles in a needle case, some miscellaneous yarns, a whole bunch of pretty green wool, and 2 nearly completed pairs of mittens. The mittens are child size and adult size. I may finish them for my cousins, who are 8 and 13, for christmas. It would be pretty cool to give them mittens started by their grandmother, and finished off by me, I think. I'm also going to make my aunt some socks out of some of the green. She was commenting how wonderful a colour the green yarn was when she told me what she was sending, so I really wanted to make her something. She lives up north and the winters get fairly cold, so wool socks should come in handy.

Still nothing new to write about. I have hardly picked up my needles in a week! I haven't worked much on Bob because I'm just not happy with how it's turning out and it looks like I might run a tad shy of yarn for the second sleeve. I don't want to spend MORE on this until I know if it fits, so I'm kind of stuck. I'm almost done the first sleeve so I may pin it together and sort of try on that much to see how it is. I can always redo the sleeve and make it shorter if I need more yarn, but if the whole thing is just wrong, I don't want to go to the trouble.

I've got to get started on christmas gifts, I have some great ideas for things to make but I don't know if I will have time to finish them all!

Long time no post - AGAIN! I just haven't been knitting much, so I don't really have a lot to say. Hopefullly this post full of photos will help make up for the sparse postings.

I finished the 5 hour baby sweater the other day. I think it took longer than 5 hours, but not terribly long. I can see making another of these down the road. The pattern is nice, patterned enough to be pretty, but still masculine enough for a boy. The colour I chose was pretty good for that too.

Hopefully the photo shows up okay. At home it's bright and the colour is fairly true, but here at work it looks pretty dark. I used Red Heart Cotton Twist which is a new yarn that just appeared at Walmart. I really like it, no splitting, nice even stitches, and the colour was just perfect.

And finally, afghan photos! I finally got the photos from my brother and put together a little page with 4 photos of the completed wedding afghan I finished in May. It was quite an undertaking, but I was really happy with the end result. I got a thank-you card yesterday and it seems the happy couple liked it too! Click Here for the wedding afghan page. I've also included a link to the pattern I used in case anyone is interested, on that page.

I'm working on a baby sweater for the third pregnant gal on my lacrosse tea. I'm hoping to finish it by tuesday, thinking she may come to watch the league finals. She is due on July 11th I think so I'd like to give it to her soon. I'm doing one of the variations of the 5 hour baby sweater. It's taking a bit longer than 5 hours overall I think, but it is moving along pretty quickly. I'm using a new cotton yarn by Red Heart that I found at Walmart. I think I will be able to make the whole sweater out of one ball.

Hoping to edit the wedding afghan photos this weekend and put up a link to a page. I have them all but most are duplicates and very large so I need to do a little editing.

I screwed up the sock I'm working on. I lost a stitch or two somewhere in the heel flap. It pains me to imagine ripping out almost 1000 stitches, but I don't know enough about socks to figure out how to adapt the heel shaping to less stitches. Plus I don't know where that dropped stitch went and I don't want it unravelling later! I found a mistake in the first pair I made for mom, one stitch was slipped so it sort of stretches across two rows, but its not TOO noticable so it's okay. I doubt mom will even see it with the fancy jacquard patterning.

I need to get more done. I'm halfway through a mess of xmas presents, and have more to sort out, plus christmas cards to make!

I still haven't solved the baby sweater mess, so it's still set aside. I may try to make something else instead and just work on it again down the road for someone else. I just found out another friend is pregnant so I have much more knitting in my future!

I did pick bob up again. I'm about 2/3 done one sleeve. I will need to go buy one more ball of the yarn I think, but I should be able to finish it fairly soon. I have so much yarn and so many things I want to make that I really have to keep moving! I found two of the CUTEST patterns today:

Ducky Baby Set

Froggy Baby Set

I just HAVE to make one of these, they are so nifty! I have someone in mind already.

***COMING SOON*** the long awaited wedding afghan photos!

So little knitting done these days. It's very sad. I still haven't solved the dilemma with that baby sweater I mentioned in my last post. I'm really sad, I've made such a mess of it and it was nearly done too!

I haven't picked Bob up again because I'm sad about how "over" drapey it's coming out. The socks are needing a colour change a bit early, I was going to do the toe in green but I just ran out of the main colourway, so the toe and part of the foot will be green. I only have one ball of the green to work from though, so I have to sort out the logistics of working on two socks from one ball of yarn.

Something nicer to mention: my mom found an AMAZING thing at a thrift shop. A nearly completed, beautifully done, irish knit sweater! All that remains is the collar, I just have to slip the stitches onto a needle and knit up a colar. It's a really beautiful cardigan, something I would definitely wear. It even has buttons sewn on already (though one appears to be missing) and there is enough extra wool to finish the collar. The best part? She got it for $3.50!! (that's $3.50 canadian by the way) The wool is good quality off white wool, and the stitchwork is so nice. I should get to work on a collar so I can wear this! though it's too hot to wear it for a while now.......

The baby sweater was NEARLY finished last night, when I ran into a problem. I was about to stitch up the second side when I found a dropped stitch in the sleeve! This yarn is SO tangly and hard to unravel, but I cut the bind of and tried to unravel back to the dropped stitch. After half an hour I gave up in frustration, I don't quite know what I am going to do. If you look at the photo in the last entry you can see how "fluffy" this yarn is, so you can imagine how it tangles up. In retrospect I should have taken a piece of the yarn and just sort of "mended" the dropped stitch in, it wouldn't have shown and would have been much easier than this.

I'm going out of town for an IT conference for the next few days, and I think I'm going to take those socks I've been working on. They're on 2 circs and I'm on the foot part (top down) so they are quite portable and nice mindless travel knitting. We'll have to see how my coworkers (all techy people) react to my knitting on the ferry and in the car!

I couldn't resist casting on for something else! Startitis is definitely a disease....

Someone at my stamping group was talking about a really simple knitting pattern for a baby sweater, and emailed me the link. I couldn't face reworking the pattern to work with my Patons Pixie yarn, so I found another pattern instead. I'm doing this pattern. It looks very simple and fast, and unisex, since I don't know the sex of either baby left to knit for. This yarn is SO soft, you can almost see the softness in the sleeve part I knitted so far:



It feels so neat on my fingers, I can just imagine how great it would feel holding a baby dressed in it!

I'm a little worried about Bob. I think the yarn I'm using drapes too much......It seems REALLY stretchy. When I hold up the front and back from the neck area, it stretches pretty long. All I have left now is the sleeves though, I think I might just finish it, then try it on and worry about the fit. If it does stretch out too much, I can always rip it.

"Bob" is coming along nicely. I'm about 2/3 of the way up the chest, I would guess. The ribbing pattern is nice. I think I am going to have to buy more yarn though. I'm on ball number 5 right now and still have part of the front, the back, and two sleeves to do. We'll see.

I'm headed to a friend's place tonight to play Settlers of Catan. (a really cool board game) I'm going to bring some knitting to work on. I don't need to watch my hands much while I knit so it gives me something to do between my turns. I don't know whether I will take Bob or my socks yet though.....I'm eager to finish both projects.

The next project I have in mind is another baby gift, probably with that Pixie yarn I picked up. I'd love to make a sweater but I don't know if I want to wimp out and do a hat and booties again instead. Does anyone have any nifty and easy patterns for baby items done in a yarn that is almost like Snowflake?

The afghan has been given! We drove up to the wedding on saturday. Sadly we got lost and missed the ceremony! We did make it to the reception though. The couple looked so happy! They weren't openning the gifts until sunday, and we had to get home, so I didn't get to see their reaction. Hopefully they liked it! My brother hasn't uploaded the photos from his camera yet, but as soon as he does I will share photos!

I got a good chunk of the ankle socks done on the trip up island. I'm about halfway down the foot now. They look kind of cute with the solid color heel and veregated yarn for the rest. I don't have a lot of the veregated yarn left, I'll be doing the toes solid too. Still working away on Bob. I'm up to the shaping at the chest. I'm not sure how its going to work out though. Do you ever find yourself following a pattern thinking " this doesn't SEEM right, but I'm going to trust the pattern" and hoping it all works out? I'm there now, a few more rows and I will be able to see how it works out.

I managed to check out "Mad About Ewe" in Nanaimo. Cute shop with a great selection. I picked up a couple balls of Pixie by Patons to make more baby stuff. It's a lot like snowflake, but about half the price. ($4.99 Canadian - which is like $3 US) I got the Gelati colour, blue, green, yellow and white veregated.

Still no photos of the afghan, I will have to email my brother to see if he will email them to me. I'm anxious to share!!

I do have a scan on my progress so far on Bob, though. It's whipping right along, lots of straight stockingknit with shaping to keep it interesting:




The colour is a little off, my scanner insists on scanning this particular yarn REALLY dark, so I had to play with it in photoshop a bit. (And a photoshop whiz I am not!) It's really coming out nice, I can't wait to finish and wear this top! Despite the main colour being dark navy, the flecks of rainbow make it seem summery, and I'm knitting it nice and loose to be light and airy.

I got bored with the socks. Maybe the tiny needles were getting to me after the big needles I used on the afghan, but for whatever reason, they weren't seeming like fun. I set them aside for now, and decided what to make with my lovely Grignasco Safari yarn. I wanted something pretty and flattering, but not overly complicated, so the funkiness of the yarn would still work out okay. Then I remembered to check out knitty.com and there I found it - BOB! Simple, flattering, and knit mostly in the round, how perfect?

So I started on Bob last night. So far I have about 3 inches done, and it looks like this yarn will work really well. It's coming out light and drapey, which is what I was hoping for. It should be great for the warm weather that is starting to show around here.

IT IS DONE!

I completed the afghan on sunday night. I've never felt such overwhelming releif and happiness at completing a project. Even my very first sweater wasn't as big of a deal as this afghan to finish. I did some math and given the number of "oopsie's" I had to fix and piles of frogging when I messed up, I spent in the neighbourhood of 100 hours on this afghan. I can hardly beleive I spent that much time on one single project!I'm very happy with the result, though. I made it to be a "couch afghan" but it ended up the perfect size for a twin bed, so that is another option. The different patterns of all the panels look really neat, and the cable edging ties it all together wonderfully. The lettering turned out alright too. Duplicate stitch on loosely knit acrylic is difficult to get straight and even, but the end effect is really nice, I think.I washed and dried it yesterday, and now I just need to make a card and wrap it up. I'm so pleased with myself! I hope the couple really likes it. I'm quite certain they will - if I had any doubts I wouldn't have undertaken a project like this! I had my brother snap a few photos with the digital camera before I washed it, so once he sends them to me I can show you all what it looks like :)

Now I'm working on some anklet socks for myself, while I decide on a top to work on. I really liked a top that is in the current Vogue Knitting Magazine, but I checked the pattern and it calls for an elastic yarn (cascade fixation) not a straight cotton like I was planning on using. I noticed something was up when the Large size was only 35inches around.....my waist may fit in that, but not my chest! I am considering just altering the pattern to work with the cotton yarn, basically by knitting it larger, but I may just find something else to make, and buy fixation or Patons Katrina to make the vogue top later.

It's nearly finished! All I have left are 8 rows of nearly all garter stitch, the embroidering of the names, and weaving in a couple of names! I was going to work on the embroidery last night but I discovered I can't find the chart I drew up with the names on it. I'm going to have to rechart them today, I guess. My plan is to head to mom's house tomorrow to wash the afghan and block it out. I've been handling it so long and taking it everywhere, I'd like to wash it. Plus I think washing it will help all the stitches even out and look nice. I'm going to try to get my brother to snap a couple photos of the afghan with his digital camera too.

I want to finish this morning, so I can start on my next project this afternoon. I found a top in the new Vogue Knitting Magazine, it's a sleevless top with triangle details at each side at the waist. Very pretty and done in the round - YAY! I'm going to make it from that navy/rainbow yarn I got, my original plan for that stuff just was not working out.

It's kind of boring, just posting updates on the same, huge, neverending project. But that's pretty much all I'm knitting, so it's all I have to talk about. I'm making progress, only 23 rows to go, then weaving in a couple ends and doing the lettering. The end is in sight!

I did take the time to knit a couple of baby socks to match a baby hat I made. The planned recipient may have already made his or her entrance into the world, so it was about time I finished them!

I've been home sick from work a couple days, I feel really rotten. Sadly I haven't gotten a lot of knitting done in this time. Well, I DID get a bunch of knitting done yesterday but last night my husband, with his eagle eye, noticed a mistake I'd made. I had knit halfway across the afghan, then somehow got mixed up, turned around and knit back the same way. I've done this before, I have to be careful when I set a project down midrow to double check my direction! I lost about 2 hours worth of knitting ripping that error out! I haven't made that time back yet either.

I'm getting tired of the afghan, its a VERY large project. I'm looking forward to knitting more quick baby items once it's done.

I'm getting very nervous about this afghan getting finished on time! I only got a couple rows done last night, I estimate I have around 100 rows left to do! THEN the embroidery! I need to average 8+ rows a day starting now if I want to get it done in time. I'm really going to have to pick up the pace! I sense some heavy duty tv knitting time in my future.....

I haven't had a lot of time to knit lately. Work has been very busy (plus the afghan is TOO big to tote around) and lacrosse is really getting going. 2 practices a week plus a game night keeps me busy!

Finished the bright coloured baby sweater! It's VERY bright. I still need to get some buttons for it, then I will try and scan a photo. I also made a baby hat out of the same yarn. Saw a cute idea in a magazine to do a hat with an I-cord at the top and then tie the icord into a little knot.....I did that on a roll-brim hat and it turned out quite cute!

I'm getting a bit nervous about the afghan, I have just over 2 weeks to finish it and 1/4 left to do, PLUS the embroidery. YIKES!

I haven't been posting much, I just haven't had much to say! I'm still working on the rainbow baby sweater. I am partway done the second sleeve, then I just have to weave in all the ends. It's actually trickier I think with veregated yarn as you don't want to weave blue into yellow, etc. Still working on the afghan too, 3 weeks left, I'd better hurry up!

I'm making pretty good progress on the insanely bright rainbow baby top. I'm starting to think it is TOO bright, but anyone I ask says it's great, so I'm just going to keep going. I started on the hood, which is straight stockingknit now. Just the sleeves after that, and a bunch of ends to weave in. I don't think it will take much longer, I hope to get a good chunk done during Friends and Survivor tonight.

Good progress is also being made on the afghan. I'm approaching 3/4 done, so it's nearly the home stretch now. It's been an enjoyable pattern, but akward lugging an afghan around. I also am finding faults with the pattern. It is a series of panels, each a set of 9 pattern squares. Poor planning in the design puts a ribbed square next to a stockingknit panel, where the "knit" part of the rib sort of runs into the stockingknit panel. (does that make ANY sense?) I would have planned it so the "purl" rib started next to the stockingknit square. There are a few other things like that I'm noticing too. Overall they aren't a big deal, and I'm certainly not going to start fussing about it now!

The Safari sweater is still set aside. Instead, I started ANOTHER project! All those babies my hockey and lacrosse gals are having start coming due very soon, so I started working with that pretty Patons "look at me" yarn. The colouring in the yarn is pretty wild, so I decided to find a more basic sweater pattern. I ended up with the hooded baby top from knit-it (first issue) again! It's a great pattern, and I think it will suit the yarn. I got started last night, and here is my progress so far:


I need to check my guage soon. The original pattern calls for Lion Brand Microspun doubled up, so this is definitely thinner, but I am using 4.5mm needles instead of the 3.75 called for, so I don't know how it will turn out. I need to find out how big a baby is to know what I am aiming for LOL. I love the colours, knitting them up makes me want a top for myself out of this yarn! I love how the colours line up into rainbows at some parts, not as keen on where it ends up really random, but I will have to wait for the big picture.

I have to rip out my progress on the Safari top and try again. THIS time it's too small. [[sigh]] This happened due to a combination of poor swatch measuring and forgetting I have [[cough]] explanded a little in the waistline recently. I did the math for the size I THOUGHT I was, not the size I actually am. There are a couple inches difference in these two numbers, unfortunately. My poor measurements of my swatch also contributed to it ending up and inch or two too small. So the cumulative effect is too big to ignore. So I am going to pull it off the needles, do some more measuring, and hope I can end up somewhere between the two attempts.

I'm contemplating setting the whole mess aside for a few days, and picking up something else to work on, since it's frustrating. (It also sucks big time to have to adjust clothing ideas to fit a larger than expected waistline!!!) I want to make a whole mess of baby stuff, several gals on my sports teams are expecting this summer. I have that cute rainbow yarn to knit with, and I know it would make cute baby things. I'm going to look for a cute but non-frilly baby sweater that would suit rainbow veregated yarn....

I got knitting on the Safari top the other day, and decided to measure to see how my guage and math had been. It's hard to measure circumfirence when you only have a couple inches on circular needles but I could tell I was WAY off. I ripped the thing off the needles to see how bad, and it was SO far off I had to laugh. It was probably 45inches around!! (I may wear a large - but not that large!) I recalculated my guage, and cast on 46 less stitches, and things seem better this time. I don't have good measuring tools here, a piece of ribbon and a 6inch ruler tell me it may be a tad small this time, but I will measure better when I get home. It's knitting up quickly, the first ball got me 4.5inches, and I'm well into the second ball now. I love the fabric this is knitting up to. It's light and airy - but not see-thru - and the rainbow bits running through it look so neat. I can't wait to finish this and wear it.

Once I get a little farther I will try another scan. The first one (below) turned out so dark many people can't even see it :(

I tried something new the other day - making a hemp necklace! I bought a kit at Michael's and it had everything in it to make a necklace, bracelet and anklet, including the instructions. I think it turned out pretty well, it was very easy to make. Only problem, is, it tore the heck out of my fingers in two spots, hemp is rough stuff!

I could definitely see myself making more of these, trying my own designs and adding different beads, but I might need to wear gloves or something.

I went back to Lewiscraft and bought that great yarn yesterday. I couldn't resist knitting up a swatch right away. The swatch looks a little funny as I was doing stockingknit, then some ribbing, and then trying larger needles.....



Isn't it pretty? It's a little dark for summer but the other shades had more neutral threads running through and I wanted the rainbow! So now I am trying to decide on the needle size. I think a looser fabric will drape better, and be more airy for summer, plus make the yarn go farther.........

I found a new project, to add to the large stack of WIPs I already have. (hey, the wizard hat is done, I need to replace it, right?!?) There is some new yarn at Lewiscraft the other day. It's called Grignasco Safari, but I can't find it online ANYWHERE! The yarn label didn't seem to have any info on it either. It's a cotton blend, with a main strand of a solid colour and a rainbow thread running through it. Very pretty and it seems like it would drape nicely for a summer top. I'm thinking either a rowan V-neck tank or a top our of the current Vogue Knitting magazine.....a t-top with split sleeves. I might go with the second one, as an excuse to buy the magazine!

I am wrestling with my growing stash. I'm planning this next project which would have me buying more yarn and possibly a magazine. I already have HEAPS of yarn at home. so much that it fills two of those iris carts on wheels, a huge shopping bag, and spills out onto the floor. Some of that yarn is, well, kinda garbage. I bought it at thrift shops cuz it was "neat" but I don't know WHAT I will do with it. Some of it is just waiting for the right project. But still, I feel guilty buying new yarn and stuff when I already have so much! How do you all deal with that?

As promised, photos of the Wizard hat!




The one photo has him sort of hidden behind his friend's head, but shows you the point of the hat at least. I am SO pleased with how it turned out. I didn't really use a pattern, I just used ideas from a flat brim felted hat I saw online, and a pointy elf hat pattern online, and made it up as I went along. The felting also made the colours merge nicely, I was going for a "fire" look and I think it worked well. Oh and the little bag is a felted drawstring bag of "spell components" like a rubber bug and shiny stones. He really liked that part of the gift! It's such a treat to make something, thoroughly enjoy the end product, AND have the recipient love it as well.

I managed to fix the afghan. I created an extra stitch to make up for the lost one (after making DARNED sure it wasn't a dropped stitch that would haunt me later). It's right on the edge of a pattern panel and doesn't even show, so I'm happy.

The hat went over wonderfully with the little wizard on the weekend. I have photos, I just need to edit and upload them, so I'm hoping to do that tonight. I was so pleased with the hat, it's so much fun to make something "different"!

I have a dilema. I've discovered an error in the afghan. Not in the pattern, something I have done. I've lost a stitch in one of the panel sections. Not a dropped stitch, just a missed, M1 or something. Problem is, the error is 58++ rows back!!! As I see it, my options are:

1. Rip out 58++ rows (OUCH!!)
   
2. Try to rip out 58++ rows of that one 18stitch panel and knit it back up correctly
   
3. Find a way to fudge it and create the extra stitch I need
   

Obviously number 3 is most appealing, but I worry about making an ugly VISIBLE mistake by doing that. I REALLY don't want to rip out 58++ rows, and don't really have time to do that. (nor do I have time to keep setting the whole thing aside in disgust which is what I have been doing)

The hat felted up BEAUTIFULLY! It shrunk more than I expected, but it seems to be the perfect amount. It needs to be kid sized, and it looks just right. The red, orange and yellow all felted together so nicely to really look like fire. It's just drying now, I'm trying to keep the brim nice and flat. It seems a little floppy but I think a lot of that is due to the water weighing it down. I wish I had a digital camera to take a photo of it. Hopefully the recipient can share a photo with me later.

I started a hat for my sister too. I don't know that she wears hats, but the style seems like what she would wear. I'm sort of stuck for birthday ideas for her.

Off to felt! I'm leaving in a moment to head to mom's to felt the hat and a little side thing made out of the spare yarn - wish me luck!

I brought some socks I've had on the needles for a while to work on once I finished the hat knitting. I screwed them up, big time! I was knitting away on them when I realized I'd done them as toe-up socks, but done the heels as though they were top-down socks! Very silly! Off to the frog pond with those I guess.

The afghan is going ok. I screwed up a panel back and lost a stitch somewhere. It wasn't dropped, just not done properly so I ended up one shy in the end. Hopefully I can fix it without mass frogging. I am going to run out of yarn too, so I headed to both walmarts in town. One doesn't carry it, the other won't give me a straight answer on whether they will get my shade back in. ((sigh)) I lucked out on ebay though and found 2 balls (I needed one) on fairly cheap. Shipping will be over $7 US (that's $10++ canadian) but it's worth it to be able to finish the afghan :)

As promised, a photo of my pretty koolaid-dyed yarn:




Isn't it pretty??? I love how it turned out, I think once it's felted it will look really cool, orangey-reds with little sparks of yellow in it. I have 3 skeins (though the third has lots of cuts in it, what you get with thrift store yarns) so I should have more than enough for a great big hat. I think I might start again, I don't think it's quite pointed enough, especially considering it will shrink vertically most. I also think the stitches might be a little tight for felting. No worries, I only just started so it's not a lot to rip out.

I dyed the wool for the hat tonight. It's hanging in my living room drying right now. It looks gorgeous, red, orange, and a little touch of yellow, it looks like fire!! I'm a little concerned that since I handpainted it, the colours wouldn't match up right using two strands so I might have to knit it in one strand. That would take MUCH longer. Does anyone know if using one strand rather than two makes a big difference in felting? I'm going to try and scan the yarn this evening if it's dry to show you the awesome colour :)

Afghan is going well, finished row 105 yesterday, almost 1/3 done!

The afghan is going great guns again! Hopefully I can stop getting ahead of myself in the pattern, since that just leads to me ripping and losing lots of time :(

Still puzzling on the hat. I think I may felt it, just make it bigger than I want and see what happens. It shouldn't take too long to knit up, especially if I do double strands. That seems to help in felting too. I may skip the brim or leave it as is. Someone gave me a good idea of using single crochet around the bottom to make a flat brim, so I may even try that.... I'm also considering kool aid dying the yarn, I have some beige wool that should felt nicely, and it's crying out for kool aid!

Un-progress is being had on the afghan. [sigh] more ripping thank knitting lately it seems. On the plus side, I seem to have mastered the art of ripping out just a small section of cable, and fixing it back up, rather than ripping out full rows to correct an error way back. Since there are over 200stitches in each row, I'm glad I figured this out!!

Another project is in my head, either this HAT or something a little different. Do you think it would felt well? I think it would be hard to make the dimensions right if I was felting, I'd have to make it a lot "taller" since stuff seems to felt most vertically. Also, does anyone have an idea how to make a flat brim instead of the rolled one in the pattern?

Thanks to Ivete for the idea, a list of my knitting projects:

Active Projects:

• Sampler Afghan
  
• Small Secret Gift Item
  
• Bow Tie Scarf (for me!)
  

Set-Aside Projects:

• Confetti socks for me (seeking a reasonable yarn match to finish up the cuffs)
  
• Baby Socks (many pairs for many pregnant friends)
  
• Summer Top (was desigining it for Knitty originally...)
  
• Lacey T-top from freepatterns.com
  

Projects in mind:

• summer tank top for me (maybe a rowan pattern)
  
• wool sweater for sister (xmas)
  
• More socks for me
  
• lime green and blue baby sweater for ? (found the coolest yarn that begs to be a baby boy's sweater)
  
• summery top to design_
  
• knit animals for gifts
  
• felted box idea
  

So I have a lot of projects in mind, and quite a few being knit or temporarily set aside. Still nothing compared to Ivete's list though, so I guess I'm okay!

I found nothing at Michaels yesterday. They were all out of that nifty veregated baby yarn, and didn't have anything else I liked the look of. If I think of anything I *need* I still have the coupon so I can head there on my way home today....

I have been mulling over my knitty idea today, but then I came to a realization. I was trying to think of a project "for knitty" not "for me that would work for knitty" which seems kind of silly. I have so many things I want to work on, and less time than I wish I did, so why waste it making things I'm not totally into? I kind of wanted to submit to Knitty early on, while I figured my chances were better, but I guess it's less important to me than I originally thought. I think I will just go on making what I want, following patterns that already exist, and making up things if I WANT to. If I manage to dream up a pattern or two, I can just post them here or something.

I've thought of a new possible idea for knitty, so I'm puzzling away on that right now. The other item I'd been working on has been set aside for now, adding to my even increasing UFO count. I have SO many things I want to work on, it's hard to stick to only a few. There just aren't enough hours in the day!

I have a 40% off coupon for Michael's so I'm going to stop by there on my way home today. I hope they have the new Vogue Knitting in, I liked the look of that, just not the $8 pricetag. If not I'll probably get another skein of that great bright baby yarn :)

***CRYING***

I've been working away at designing something. Focussing on making the pattern workable, keeping the sizing adjustable with the math, all the things you need to do when you are designing a pattern, because I wanted to submit it to Knitty. I ran out of time for the Spring issue but my idea was fairly summery so I didn't worry, I was going to submit it for the next round. I was finally nearing completion when the current Knitty issue came out. The current issue of Knitty has an item that is extremely close to what I was working on. Actually, it's better, more what I WANTED to do but my limited experience made difficult. My pattern would be too close, it would look like I copied this other designer's great pattern, with a mediocre one that was only slightly different. **sigh** very sad times for me.

So I have set that project aside and just focussed insead on a large afghan I'm working on. I'm really enjoying the afghan pattern, so I'm feeling less sad about knitting now :)

I found some very cool yarn at Michael's. I was there yesterday armed with a 40% coupon so I couldn't leave empty handed. I need to make a mess of baby booties for the many gals on my sports teams who are expecting, so I checked out the baby yarns. Nothing looked fabulous..........until I saw this:

Isn't it awesome yarn?? It's so bright and fun, I can't wait to make baby things from it. It's a touch softer than it looks in the picture, but still wonderfully bright and loud!

Still working away on secret project #1, more than half way done now though. Still planning for secret project #2....gosh I have to get some non-secret stuff to work on or this will be a VERY boring blog.

Had a friend over yesterday (for a pizza and survivor party) and she wants to learn to knit! She's quite eager, so I will have to set up a time for us to get together, and grab a set of needles at a thrift store soon. I don't have any multiples of needles around 5mm to give her and I think that would be a good size for learning on. I do have a spare skein of veregated cotton though, so she can do a dishcloth to start. Dishcloths are great starter projects. You can do them in plain old garter stitch if you want, and they work fine even if you make a bunch of mistakes. And they aren't big and intimidating, instant gratification is a good thing

Okay, as pennance for being SO DARN SMUG about enjoying frogging a bit, I discovered a major mistake that led to my having to frog the whole darned thing! *sigh* Oh well, it's probably for the best, I tried something different at the beginning this time that is working out much better. And I still maintain that I enjoyed the first bit of frogging!!!

How to make frogging (ALMOST) exciting and fun!

A while back I read about a nifty way to go about ripping a number of rows at once, in Vogue Knitting I think. Basically, you decide where you will be ripping to, then at that row, insert your needle into the right half of each "V" all the way along. (This only works for stockingknit, you'd have to do it a little different for garter stitch) once all the stitches are picked up on the row you are ripping to, rip away, and the stitches all magically land on your needle, ready for you to start knitting again!

This is really quite cool to do, I always hate struggling to pick up stitches after ripping, not twisting them, not dropping any, this makes it so much easier. The excitment of this new technique made ripping out about 8 rows of my secret project nearly painless!

Yet another ripping session at the D&D game last night. I'm happier with how it's going though, so I'm glad I ripped it out. I'm up to 4 inches now too, so I'm making some good progress.

I have another project in mind that would be quite ambitious. I fell in love with a photo of some knitting I saw online, and asked the creater for some info. Turns out the item was made on a machine, but I think it would be do-able by hand. I'm a little afraid of attempting to create the pattern myself though, the actual project would be a challenge, let alone creating the pattern! Must think on it for a bit.

Ripped out what I'd done on my secret project. The gal in our building that just started knitting was quite upset at this! She couldn't imagine ripping out that much work! Ripping out work can be traumatic, but I do enjoy the process too so it's not so bad when I really want the end result to be correct. I got started again last night and hope to make some progress today........

A little more KIPing (knitting in public) yesterday waiting for tests at the medical lab. I got a couple glances, but no one outright stared or asked questions. It's fun to pull out my knitting and go at it. I find I get the most looks from older woman, surprised a young woman is knitting away I guess. I'm one of those people that doesn't want to be the center of attention, but likes a little bit, know what I mean? So the sideways glances I get for KIPing are just about right.

Sadly I think I'm going to have to rip out what I've done so far on my secret project. The edging I was trying (purl rows and YOs) is rolling up which is just what I didn't want. I don't want to do k2p2 ribbing either, so I'm not sure what will work to prevent the rolling. I've done plain garter stitch on a sweater at christmas and it rolled, so I guess that isn't an option either.......

The burgundy sweater is DONE! It feels like I have been working on that thing forever. I guess I started it around September, so that is a little while.....I wore it to a friend's place and got lots of compliments. I like the design of the sweater, but now that I can put it on and see it's fit, I would have preferred it be a little narrower in the chest and shoulders, and an inch or so longer. I do like it though, and can see myself wearing it a lot!

I'm trying to get another woman in our building knitting. She's friends with my pal/neighbour who I got knitting, and mentioned she'd tried to knit a little years ago. She said she couldn't "Start" (cast on) so I started a cotton dishcloth for her, knit 2 rows to get her going and packaged it with a printout showing the knit stitch in pictures to help her. I stuck the package on her apt doorknob on my way to work this morning. My friend ICQ'd me that this woman had gotten the package and was pretty happy about it, which was great! (I was worried she was just talking knitting to be polite, but it sounds like she's really interested in getting going with us) Now we can all get together and knit while we watch those silly reality tv shows our husbands hate!!

Cast on for my secret design project. It's pretty exciting and scarey to be making this up myself. I'm excited to see how it ends up!

I've almost finished the project I can't mention, due to who reads this blog. I tweaked the pattern a little, both in size and construction. It's quite a good feeling, adjusting patterns. At first it was a frightening though, I mean, what if I totally messed the thing up? But now it builds my confidence, if I can think of a better way to do something, than what is written in the pattern, that's pretty cool!

I'm scribbling away at plans for the item I want to design. Too much time pressure to try for the Feb 1st knitty deadline so I let it sit for a while. It's a summery thing anyways so I can see how I do for the next issue. There is a lot to think about when designing a pattern. you have to think of the pattern you want, how to work in shaping, guage and the type of yarn you want to use, and edges/ribbing. I have pages of sketches and scrawlings already and I haven't even picked up the needles and yarn yet! I'm stuck on ribbing ideas now. Does anyone have any nifty resources for ribbing ideas? I don't like the plain old k2,p2 thing, but I don't want the edges to curl up like they do on plain stockingknit edges. Thoughts? Suggestions??

Does plain garter stitch ribbing roll up like stockingknit does?

I'm finally back at work today after being off sick since Wednesday afternoon. I almost never get sick, and certainly not for this long! I'm still sniffling and coughing today but feeling much better, plus I have a private, secluded office so I'm not sharing germs or anything. You'd think will all this at home time I would have gotten lots of knitting done, but I didn't. My brain was so foggy that I knit, ripped, reknit and reripped the same 5 rows of my ribbed sweater over and over all night on sunday. That's all I managed in all that time. Damn.

I tried felting some of the mohair my mom keeps finding for me but it didn't seem to do anything. I was doing it by hand but I figure if it didn't felt AT ALL by hand, its not likely to do much more by machine. I really had hoped that it would work because everyone is doing the Fuzzy Feet Felt Along now and I feel so left out! All the wool I have is plain old beige that needs dying so that is no good. Hubby could USE some slippers for work too. Perhaps a visit to Michael's on the way home is in order....

No more takers on the Rubber stamp chain letter thingy? It's pretty cool, send one card, get up to 36 back!!