The Circle of Crafting

I've been knitting so much stuff recently that I'm at that point again where I'm feeling the urge to work on a different craft for a bit. After receiving my new heddle, I never took the time to put the warp back onto my Kromski loom. I wanted to take it out of the closet on Monday but I got preoccupied. Last night at the knitting group, we had two people who were spinners. Maybe I should take out my drop spindle and give it another whirl? :P I was also thinking about digging out my jewelry wire and pliers so I could try to making ear cuffs.

Sahara Progress

There hasn't been a significant amount since my last post, but I'm just SO excited! :D It's my first top! I've started on the increases, but it will take just as long as the decreases (the circumference of the hip is made to be the same as the bust). I compared it with my waist, and I think the narrowest part *should* fall at my waist.

I am actually kind of torn over what to do about the bottom portion of the top. I could just follow the directions and trust in their measurements...or I could measure myself and modify the length and the rate of increases to try to get it to fall where I want. I can't wait to do the diamond lace edgings too! :D BTW, here's a link to the top:

Sahara

Fitted top

I set out to knit myself a fitted top a few months ago. I was all excited about it and looking forward to making something out of Sensual Knits. I even ordered a bajillion balls of the fingering weight yarn, Palette, from KnitPicks. I started on the Demeter Camisole. Considering that it was in a fingering weight yarn, the same weight used for socks...I actually got pretty far before getting sidetracked. I got through all the decreases and am now at the point where the increases start. However, the pattern doesn't include any additional bust shaping, besides just the typical increases/decreases, so I wanted to add bust darts. I've never done it before, and I have to calculate the stitches based on my measurements.

As a result, I got lazy and ignored it. It's currently sitting in a bag somewhere in the apartment. However, just last week I read a thread about Sahara, from Stitchdiva.com, discussing it as an easily customizable top that allows room for the bust. The neckline is actually a knitted border added on to the top, and at the bust the 2 sides are seamed together. You can seam it up as high as you're comfortable, or keep it low if you want. You can make it in a sleeveless, short-sleeved, or long-sleeved version. Plus, the neckline makes a plunging 'V' that looks very flattering. It uses a worsted weight yarn which makes it work up a lot more quickly than fingering weight. I'm using the O-Wool Balance I bought from Organic Imaginings. One week in and I am over halfway through. I am just about ready to join the piece in the round, which happens near the waistline. It is currently at about 14" long, 8.5" away from the final length of 22.5". After that, the bottom is shaped for a shirt-tail hem. The sleeve stitches are picked up and knit (I'm making the short-sleeved version). The diamond rib neckline stitches are also picked up and knit. Finally, the center of the neckline is seamed together.

I would post pictures but I need a bigger memory card for my camera. :(

Time for another Reorganization

I already went through and organized all my yarn by taking pictures and entering the data into my Ravelry stash. In the process I found a bunch of UFOs (un-finished objects) that I had forgotten about. I took the time to frog a few of them as well as work on some of them.

Frogged -
There was a crochet lace scarf from a Japanese pattern book that I was making out of Red Heart Symphony in Moss Green, a brushed acrylic yarn that looks like a very soft fuzzy mohair. That was a real pain to take apart because it was so easy to crochet through the fuzziness of the yarn.

I also frogged the bulky Clapotis, for which I used some Moda Dea Tweedle Dee in Cinnamon Twist. The pattern was made for a much thinner yarn and I didn't properly adjust the number of repeats for the bulky yarn. I also didn't remember where in the pattern I was because it had been so long since I last worked on it...so I just saved myself the trouble and frogged it.

Another item that got frogged was a pair of Endpaper Mitts. Well, actually it was only one of the mitts, but it was already half done. I decided I couldn't really live with the yellow yarn. It was too bright of a contrast with the red. I don't know if I'd ever make anything out of yellow yarn seeing as I don't look good in bright yellows. Maybe I'd use it for toys, but I don't really have any coordinating colors. I'm thinking of maybe over-dyeing it with some Kool-Aid.

In Progress -
I have an amigurumi elephant I never finished. I sewed the front legs on in the wrong place, so I never touched it. I was able to find the yarn ends and take the legs off, but I actually ended up unraveling part of a leg. I'll need to look at the instructions again before I re-sew it on. OH, and I just remembered another reason I never finished it. At the time I didn't have snap-on eyes. I thought I would just glue them on, so I sewed the head to the body. I'm going to have to take that apart to put eyes in.

I've still got an argyle golf club cozy to finish. There are wayyy too many ends on the thing. I kind of feel like frogging it and redoing it without the small lengths of yarn and just using the yarn while attached to the skeins. I could use the small frogged lengths on some sort of scrap blanket project.

Ela's scarf is still not done. By the time I finish it, he'll be back in Hawaii and will have no need for a scarf until next winter.

I started working on my Demeter Camisole again. I've just barely started the waist-to-bust increases, but this may go on hold because I want to put in bust shaping.

The Athenian scarf is waiting for me to feel in the mood for broomstick crochet again. I wish I didn't make it so wide.

The "My So-Called Scarf" made with Paton SWS needs more yarn. I don't know if I'll keep it in this scarf. It's a little too thick and spongy feeling. I was thinking about doing some felting with it. I have some SWS in a solid color that would match. I've also got 2 more balls in pinks/greens. Maybe that would make for some interesting contrasting stripes. My only problem with felting is that you have to knit a lot bigger than the actual size because it can shrink a lot!

On Hold -
The aran braid socks I'm working on using the KnitPicks Gossamer in Red Hat are currently on hold until I dig out another hank and wind it into a ball. I ran out of the first ball while working on the heel flap of the 2nd sock. That's pretty good for what amounts to about 220 yards of yarn. That means a pair of socks probably takes just a little bit more than 300 yards of fingering weight yarn.

The original aran braid socks I started several years ago will probably be frogged. I just haven't gotten around to it yet. I don't have a plan for the sock I'll make with the self-striping yarn either.

I finished crocheting a pinwheel doily, but it needs to be starched and blocked.

The Butterfly Wrap needs to be washed & blocked before I can tie the ribbons.

I'm waiting on the purse handles before I finish up the Hawaiian Motif Purse. I also need to find a button to use for the closure, and some "purse bottom" material to keep the bottom stiff.

Learn from my Mistakes

1) Check for gauge. Even if it's not a garment. Even if it's a purse because you might end up with an over-large purse and not enough yarn.

2) Read the directions and know what materials you need (and bring them with you) if you're working on a project away from your supplies.

I was up to row 13 in the body part of the Hawaiian Motif purse. I decided to take compare the yardage & gauge of the Berkshire Bulky I'm using with the Karabella Aurora Bulky the pattern calls for. It turns out that I was getting 12.5 sts and 13 rows per 4" when the pattern gauge called for 17 sts and 19 rows per 4". That's a big difference, and would account for why I would have run out of yarn. My purse was turning out roughly 4" longer than it was supposed to, and to match the pattern purse's height, I would have had to stop at 23 rows for the body as opposed to the 35 rows called for in the pattern.

I decided to frog the whole thing and start over. For one, I'm using a hook size I when the pattern calls for a G. Maybe H would be doable, but an I hook is probably making the fabric too loose anyway. For another, even if I started adjusting the pattern for my gauge, I'd only be able to affect the height, and that would change the overall shape of the bag as well as probably still leave me short of yarn. Thus, it's rip rip I go! It makes me sad, but this is one of the things that knitting and crocheting teaches you. Sometimes you have to be able to distance yourself and start over for a better quality result.


I received my order of yarn from Knit Picks yesterday! I was so excited because then I could start all those cute tops from Sensual Knits. But then...I took forever trying to find my Addi ciriculars, the only circulars I have smaller than size 3. I have a regular Addi Turbo in size 0 and a Addi Turbo Lace in size 2. I tried the size 2 on a gauge swatch but it was coming out too big for the Pink Sundae Camisole. I tried the size 0 circulars and that ended up too tight. That means I need a size 1, which I do not have. So, I looked at the other patterns and decided to start on the Demeter Camisole, which took a looser gauge. It was already too late at night by then. This morning I wound the yarn for the camisole into a ball, grabbed my size 2 needles & the Sensual Knits book, and left for work. I take a look at the pattern and remember that it calls for a provisional cast-on. The only other yarn I have on me is my Berkshire Bulky. I have no other needles, just crochet hooks.

I guess I get to just sit on the train today.

Busy Weekend.

For such a busy weekend I actually got a bit of stuff done. Well, not "completed" done, but progress nonetheless. I finished up the first ball of Patons SWS for my "My So-Called Scarf". I finished a couple more rows on that Athenian Scarf. I even finished 3 rounds of my star shaped blanket! Sure, that doesn't sound like much, but each of those rounds get progressively bigger and the blanket feels pretty big already.

Here are some pictures of these projects. They aren't the most recent, but better than nothing. :P

"My So-Called Scarf" using Patons SWS


Athenian Scarf in Bernat Alpaca Natural


Star-Shaped Blanket in Lion Brand Homespun


AND, as a bonus, here's a picture of my first lace project (started last year), completed and blocked. I gave it to my mom when I went home over the weekend.

New projects out of old[ish] yarn

It's so sad that as a crafting/knitting/crocheting blog, I have a distinct lack of photos. I even have a digital camera now....what can I say? Call me lazy, I guess. :P

Anyway, as my star blanket reached critical mass and became too large/bulky to carry around with me in my [new] purse, I started thinking about how to use up the yarn in my stash. Actually, I started out by looking at the patterns in my Queue and thought about what I could make with the yarns already in my stash.

Athenian Scarf in broomstick lace

I've been wanting to make something in broomstick lace, and even if I couldn't start the Hourglass Jacket, there was an Athenian Scarf that looked very nice and basic. To figure out a yarn for this scarf, I thought about the qualities of the original scarf that I liked. What was it that drew me to the scarf?

• Bold stitch definition
• The way the broomstick part crosses
• Solid coloring

With this I could determine what yarns in my stash would be able to fulfill these qualities. I wouldn't use any of my laceweight yarn. I wouldn't use any variegated yarns either. I wouldn't use the fuzzy yarns. I also had to make sure I had enough to make a scarf with. In the end I decided to use my Bernat Alpaca Natural Blends in Peony (pink). I had 2 balls of this, in case I needed that much. Each ball is rather large to begin with, and the yarn is a bulky 2-ply. Although slightly fuzzy because the plies are loosely spun, it's got a very nice luster to it and has nice definition. The effect is slightly different from the original Athenian Scarf in which an 8-ply yarn was used (Debbie Bliss Cathay).

My only issue with the way it's turning out so far is that I would prefer the broomstick loop part to be a little more open. The holes seem a little too small right now, but I don't have a knitting needle large enough to achieve this. I may stop by Michael's today to pick one up. Alternatively, I could create my own "broomstick", loop holder thingy out of paper taped together to be stiff. I do have plenty of that lying around on my desk.

My So-Called Scarf, a slip-stitch pattern

I've wanted to create something that utilizes a slip-stitch based pattern. Slip-stitches show off variegated yarns beautifully, and they add texture and stitch definition while still looking refined. I could be pulling all of that out of my ass, but it sounds better than saying "slip-stitch purty!" It's actually a stitch pattern from a pattern book, repeated in scarf shape, but distributed by the people at the store, Imaginknit, in San Francisco. The pattern can now be found on their website at here.

Looking over everyone else's photos of this scarf on Ravelry, I came up with a few guidelines for myself regarding the yarn for this scarf.

• Single ply
• Shine factor (from silk, soy, bamboo, etc.)
• Multi-colored (striping or variegated)
  

I decided on using my Paton SWS. Since I only have 1 ball of Natural Crimson left, I may turn that into a skinnier scarf. People seemed to typically use 2-3 balls of Paton SWS for their scarves. I may use my Natural Pink with this pattern as well, alternating the rows to create a sort of mixed up striping pattern.

Tightening purls

While working on the lace party scarf, I noticed after I switched to continental that my purled rows were looser than the knit rows. I didn't bother looking up and experimenting with various techniques so it's a good thing that today I saw a thread on Ravelry where someone else was having the same problem. Suggestions include using interchangeable circulars and using a smaller needle on the purl row; tightening the tension for the purl row; knitting backwards instead of purling; use combination knitting by wrapping the yarn the wrong way on purls and knitting into the back loop on knits.

Combination knitting sounds like it might get confusing in a complicated pattern...but then again...it probably wouldn't be that much more difficult. All you would have to do is look at the legs and make sure you always knit/purl into the front leg.

Knitting backwards is something I still want to learn to do proficiently.

Stash busting project ideas

I didn't want to make any clothing items because most of the yarn I have stashed is not so great for wearing. It's cheap big box store stuff, and I don't have enough of any one nicer yarn to make a garment. So, the alternative then is to make home decorative items. I don't know why but I've been feeling big on home decor lately. A while ago I bought the book, Simple Sewing (by Lotta Jansdotter) because I liked the simplistic, contemporary style of the designs and fabrics in it. Even if I don't specifically use the patterns, it's a good source of inspiration. I'm actually planning to make the wall hanging pocket organizer. However, that means I need to actually buy some cloth, so it won't really be conducive to reducing my stash.

While using the Ravelry pattern browser, I came up with a few good ideas for potential projects. The problem is that it needs to be something on the large side, but should not be in only 1-2 colors. First of all, because I probably don't have enough of any one color to make a large project with, second some of the yarns I have would not look good by themselves. For example, I have several skeins of Lion Brand Homespun in a solid forest green. I have a couple skeins in a heathered teal. I think there's more in a lighter heathered color too.

While the yarns in my stash come in many colors, I did not consider coordination when choosing colors. Thus, a lot of the yarns would not really go together well in many instances. Luckily, while looking at patterns I saw some creative color solutions.

In terms of project types, I looked mostly at blankets/afghans, rugs, & pillows. Quilt-inspired patterns seem to provide the best color combination solutions. Examples would be log cabin-style blankets, modern deco-style blankets, and various geometric pattern repetitions. Although I did not specifically find a plaid design I liked, I saw one that inspired me to use the Tartan Designer web tool to design my own plaid considering my color and yardage limitations. I would get a rough idea of how the resulting color combinations would look before I even cast on!

Busting through the Stash

Using up the yarn in my stash is something I need to do before I can seriously justify buying more things. I'm looking for ideas on Ravelry. I would do something like use extra large needles and knit a bulky blanket with multiple strands....but I think the end result would drive Lawrence batty. He'd toss it out before I'd get a chance to use it. I'm not sure I want to do a project where I'm not sure I'd have enough yarn...but that may be my only opportunity to create something worth keeping.

Nearly completed socks & Scarf (finally)

Last night I went out with Lawrence to a cafe where he and his cousins played cards together. While they played cards, I finished up my Zephyr socks, painstakingly undoing the plies and weaving each ply in separately. Thats 3 strands x 2 ends x 2 socks = 12 ends to weave in. At least....they're done! They do still need to be soaked & blocked for better photos, but that should be easy.

I was also able to do many more rows of the party lace scarf, my first attempt at lace. Then I figured it was long enough and I bound it off. It definitely needs to be blocked. I'm not sure whether to do it before or after blocking, but I was also going to thread some orange seed beads on orange sewing thread and weave it in. Then, I can save it for Christmas to give to my mom. >:)

Reorganization

It feels like it's time again to get organized!

Budget:
- Yarn swift
- Ball winder
- Kitchen scale
- Yarn for new projects (sweaters)
- Books: Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters
- Hairpin crochet lace tools
- giant needles (for large-sized knitting & broomstick crochet)
- floor mats for blocking
- giant hooks (for large-sized crocheting of blankets)

Tools:
- Categorize stash yarns
- Organize tools
- Make a needle holder pouch
- Add yarn photos on Ravelry
- Update needle information on Ravelry

Projects:
- Scarf/belt holder (crochet with yarn around brass rings)
- Blue bunny slippers for Cameron
- Hemlock Ring blanket (finish putting in life line and rip back to fix mistake, finish more rounds, and then bind off)
- Frog & re-knit Vogon socks
- Finish 2nd Zephyr sock
- Finish bulky Clapotis
- Finish 1 Womb
- Finish Ela's scarf

Future:
- Sayuri Sweater
- Deep V Argyle Vest
- Endpaper Mitts
- Pink Sundae Camisole
- DNA model
- FSM plush
- WoW-themed, horde symbol? BElf swirls?

Socks!

I've been on a sock knitting binge ever since that first pair of Hedera socks. I can totally understand the craze over sock knitting now.

• You can't stop at just one pair of socks, you've got to have several pairs of socks (with the ultimately goal of course of replacing all your mass-produced socks)
• Sock yarns come in SO many different beautiful colors and patterns. You've got plain solids, semi-solids, gradiented (slow color changes), variegated (jumbled colors), self-striping, self-patterning, brights, darks, contrasting colors, harmonizing colors.
• They're small and portable from start to finish. Even with 2 socks at once, it's a perfect project to carry everywhere. I even worked on them while walking.
• So many variations in techniques. You can do them on double-pointed needles, 2 circular needles, or 1 long circular (Magic Loop). You can do them one at a time, 2 at a time side-by-side, or 2 at a time one-inside-the -other. You can knit them from the cuff down or from the toe up. There's various techniques for shaping the toes, the heel, the gusset.
• They can also incorporate various other knitting techniques like lace, cables, entrelac, & colorwork.
• You can shape them to fit your feet, and once you've done enough you should be familiar with how to size them for your feet. They knit up much faster than a sweater too, so there's not so much to lose by experimenting.

These are the Hedera socks made with Cherry Tree Hill Supersock. They may be a tad tight on my feet because they were knit on size 0 circulars. These socks were knit from the cuff down, and ended up being a good size for my feet. I was afraid of not having enough yarn so I made the leg short than the pattern called for. I ended up having a bunch of yarn left over.

These next socks are 'Vog On socks. These were made with Cherry Tree Hill Supersock DK on size 2 needles. The pattern came with instructions for both cuff down and toe up versions, so I went ahead and did the toe up version. I also did these 2 at a time on one circular. Unfortunately, these ended up being too big for my feet! Since I worked on these at work and while walking, by the time I realized they were too big, I was already done with the heel and did not want to bother frogging back. There's probably a good inch in the length of the foot that could be taken off for it to properly fit my foot. They fit Lawrence's size 11 feet perfectly. Too bad wool irritates his skin.

This next photo is of the Zephyr Socks that I'm working on. This is using Cherry Tree Hill Sockittome on size 2 circulars. I'm doing it only 1 sock at a time and it's cuff down, as you can tell by the picture. Sockittome has nylon in it, unlike the Supersock which is 100% merino wool. I can already tell that I should have used a stretchier cast-on. Instead of 4 pattern repeats for the leg portion, I only made 3 repeats so the top of the sock doesn't have to ride too far up my thick calves.


I think most people block their socks, but I haven't bothered for any of mine. I don't want to spend to much on sock blockers so I'll probably look up a way to make my own. I remember seeing instructions on how to bend wire hangers into the right shape. These socks feel rather loose, but maybe having nylon fiber will help keep them more durable. We shall see. Other things on my to-get list include wool wash so I can properly wash these socks and sandals so I can wear these socks at home without worrying about wearing holes in them.

Hat Attack starts!

Aaaand, the pattern is out, let the madness begin! :D

Hat Attack starts tomorrow!

Between 9am-10am EST Saturday morning, the pattern for Hat Attack will be released! It's a game based on Sock Wars, which itself was based on the popular Assassin game.

Once the pattern is revealed, hundreds of knitters will start knitting a hat to mail to their assigned targets. You finish the hat and mail it to your target as quickly as you can. Once you kill them, they send you the hat they were working on so you can assassinate their target. On and on it goes until either you get killed by a hat someone knit for you, or you are the last one standing. >:]

They've released the yarn & gauge used for the designed hat. I still need to swatch the yarn I want to use to try to get gauge. Someone had the good idea of casting on at least 60 stitches to avoid that painful first step. Hm, but what if it's knit from the center out? I don't know if hats are usually knit one way or the other as I've never knitted any before. The pattern will have cables, and there's a multi-colored option. I have a nice pink yarn to match the Patons SWS in Natural Crimson, in case I'm feeling adventurous. Then again, cables...are not exactly my forte in terms of speed. Some people can do them without a cable needle, but I feel like my stitches are never stretchy enough for that. Even with a cable needle, it gets pretty tight. I'm pretty sure that if I tried to just leave the stitches loose while cabling, I'll have a mess of dropped stitches.

Starting over: Socks; Starting anew: Purses

In my first knitting phase, about 2 years ago, I started knitting socks on DPNs. I don't have the label for the ball of yarn I was using but I think it might be Regia. It was a busy pattern, with criss-crossing cables on all sides. I only finished about 4" of the leg and it was left in a bag, unfinished. After making those big bulky socks for my grandpa, and actually knitting a heel & gusset, I felt more confident in tackling the techniques on "real" socks in fingering/sock weight yarn.

Skip now to last weekend, when I went over to my aunt's house. I brought her the cat sweater I finished and she absolutely adored it. We took the cat and attempted to put the sweater on. I actually thought it wasn't going to happen, but the cat didn't really seem to mind too much. The only thing was when she tried to walk, her legs pulled up inside the sleeves and she tripped and rolled over on the ground, hahaha. It was really funny to watch but we took the sweater off of her after seeing that. In being afraid of making the sweater too tight, I ended up making it way too loose in the body, and also too long and loose in the sleeves.

So my aunt had been toying with the idea of learning to knit since the first time we went to visit her LYS. That night, I suggested it again and she said she would totally want to make a purse. She doesn't wear scarves and she finds yarns too scratchy for her skin, but would so totally use a cute purse! I took her on Ravelry and started showing her project photos. She ended up really liking the purses from Noni Design's Spring 2007 collection. Unfortunately the yarn store didn't carry any of the patterns, and we didn't want to wait for the pattern. Instead, we found another purse, the Hawaiian Motif Crochet Handbag found on Nexstitch.com. The next step is now finding the yarn. Each bag needs 5 skeins of Karabella Aurora Bulky, which costs $7.50-$8.50/skein. Plus, it needs a ball each of 3 other colors of Karabella Aurora 8. That adds up to a lot for 2 purses. I asked on Ravelry for a bunch of suggestions, but some of the alternatives cost just as much. Either I go with the original suggested yarn or substitute something from KnitPicks, which will cost half as much.

At the LYS, although we didn't find the pattern we wanted, I ended up buying some sock yarn from Cherry Tree Hill! I've seen that brand on the forums and figured I'd give it a try. I got a skein of fingering weight and a skein of DK weight. I also bought a set of Addi Turbo size 1 circular needles and decided very suddenly to make Cookie A.'s Hedera, found on Knitty.

I've got a cameraaa!

Lawrence got me a Canon PowerShot digital camera for Christmas! :D Yay! I can now take pictures of my projects without having to go to him for his Nikon! I still have a problem...the default memory card that comes with the camera is way too small. It only fits like...8 pictures.

I've ignored my blog for the past month because of the holiday season. It's nice to not be in so much of a rush anymore, and even though so many people say that they learned to not craft Christmas gifts....I guess it takes living through the hell to really learn the lesson. I stayed up (almost) all night and worked all day to finish gifts. Even then, I have some that I haven't completely finished:

• 1 baby duck and a mommy duck (lily's sugar'n cream)
  
• crochet striped scarf (vanna's choice)
  
• bunny slippers (bernat cashmere/moda dea dream)
  
• argyle golf cozy (red heart)
• scarf for philip

I admit I've been putting off some of these. The ducks because I don't like sewing pieces together. The crochet striped scarf because I've actually already finished it (I had to give it away for the Christmas gift exchange and I now need to make a replacement). The bunny slippers because I need more Moda Dea Dream yarn. The golf cozy because I used too many loose pieces of yarn and I'm going to have a hell of a time weaving the ends in. Philip's scarf because it's a scarf and scarves are evil and long and can get really boring.

I also have a bunch of projects that are not gifts, but are still works in progress:

• hemlock ring blanket
• clapotis
• amigurumi elephant
• womb
• lace party scarf
• butterfly wrap

The hemlock ring blanket is getting closer to completion. I am on round 93 (out of 121) and there are 440 stitches per round (600 by the 121st round). The clapotis I'm still not sure how long to make it. I'm not sure if I have enough of the yarn either. I'll get around to it again I'm sure. The amigurumi elephant I've been avoiding because the head & body are already sewn together and I will need to take them apart to get the safety eyes in the head. Or, I could just hot glue them while sticking them in. Even then, I probably have to take apart the legs because I put them in the wrong position. The womb just needs the pipe cleaners and stuffing. The lace party scarf is getting near the ideal length...maybe another 6-12 inches. The butterfly wrap still needs to be blocked and needs the ribbons to be properly tied. I also need to find some occasion to actually wear it.

Lawrence said he wouldn't mind giving me $200 for me to buy yarn. I don't remember the context that caused him to say it and I hope he means he would give me $200 to buy $200-worth of yarn if I wanted to. Actually I'm thinking I should buy a swift & ball winder.

Doh, still no pictures

Lawrence left the camera at work yesterday...tonight I'm going to my parents' place. Bleh. I did finish the bulky socks, so that's pretty cool. I'm going to give them to my grandpa tonight instead of waiting for Christmas. I've started a pair of Dashings for my brother, which I had to frog and re-knit because I did NOT check the gauge (bad!). I started crocheting baby ducky parts for the duck amigurumi. I really don't like working with the pure cotton. The non-stretchiness is tough on my hands and the fiber splits really easily so it's hard on my eyes too.

My list of things to finish:

• puffy slouchy hat (tweedle dee cinnamon twist)
  
• dashings (nashua creative focus) - 25%
  
• 3 baby ducks and a mommy duck (lily's sugar'n cream) - 10%
  
• triforce scarf (vanna's choice) - 40%
  
• crochet striped scarf (vanna's choice)
  
• bunny slippers (bernat cashmere/moda dea dream)
  
• shrug (black shimmer snowflake chunky)
• argyle golf cozy (red heart)
• baby booties (bernat be mine)
• basketball (orange yarn)
• amigurumi/fetching
  

Wow, that's still quite a bit. Most of these aren't difficult...just time consuming.

Procrastinated knitting

Okay, so I didn't get the 2nd sock done, but I did finish the first sock. I didn't get to go to Joann's because Lawrence was being neurotic over this minuscule rattling noise coming from the door of his car. I was working on the Hemlock Ring Blanket, however. I think it's like finals stress....when I have something I should be doing, aka Christmas knitting, I find a million other things to occupy me instead.

I finished putting together the wreath and we hung it on the door last night. It's pretty awesome...but we still need a nail to hang up the other piece above the door (I think it's called swag...). :D I can't wait to get a picture up!! Perhaps tonight...

2 weeks left...

What am I doing starting a Hemlock Ring Blanket (modified from a doily pattern by jared of brooklyntweed)?

I started the socks for my grandpa. It's pretty awesome for my first real attempt at a sock. I'm doubling the Tweedle Dee, so it's knitting up super-chunky at 3 stitches/inch. Unfortunately I didn't have enough yarn. I had to get some more from Michael's last night (they only charged me $1.50 because the ball band was missing!). I can see myself finishing it up fairly quickly...I may even be able to get the 2nd sock done tonight at Zephyr.

Saturday I made a slouchy hat in blue Dolcetto. I gave it to Peggy to try. If she likes it and will wear it, I'll make her another one so she can give that one to her sister. If not, she can just give it to her sister and I'll make her something else - like the argyle dog sweater she sent me a picture of. :) I've learned my lesson from last time and will do it flat.

Yesterday at the Subaru dealership I was able to finish several more inches of the Triforce scarf while waiting for Lawrence's car to get tuned. It may be about half done now.