FO: Elijah

My friends have baby fever, therefore I have Elijah fever! Sorry the picture isn’t so hot – Its really icky today with not much light coming through the cloudy skies.

Pattern: Elijah by Ysolda
Needles: US2 Crystal Palace Bamboo DPN’s
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in Yellow #001 – 58 grams
Mods: None!

Once again, I cannot stress how much I love love love this pattern. Unlike the last Elijah I knit, I used bamboo DPN’s this time and found it was a lot eaier to pick up the stitches on his body for the arms and legs. I attribute that mostly to the 6″ bamboo DPN’s versus the 8″ Inox ones I used last time. The yarn is beautiful, although a bit splitty so at time gave me fits. I think his right ear is a bit crooked, but I think that gives him a little charm, right?

One gift down for 2008!!

FO: Monkey Socks

I’m whipping them out!

Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A.
Needes: US1.5 Crystal Palace Bamboo DPN’s

Yarn: Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock Multi in Cherries Jubilee
Mods: Repeated pattern on leg 7 times, short row heel over 18 stitches, rounded toe (I found the directions for this here.)

Did I mention these are my first socks to finish up…ever?? I love them, am wearing them right now. I think I could become a sock knitting addict. Seriously.

Here you can see my beautiful short rows and rounded toe. LOVE!

FO: Tangled Yoke Cardi

FINALLY! My first sweater, AND first FO of 2008!

Pattern: Tangled Yoke Cardigan by Eunny Jang, Interweave Knits Fall 2007
Needes: US4, US3, and US0 Addi Turbo Circs

Yarn: Knit Picks Swish DK in Moss
Mods: See below

I did a lot of mods on this cardigan. I probably shouldn’t have since it was mh first sweater and really needed to understand sweater construction before changing things up, but you live and learn, right? The first thing I did was add length to the body, about 2 inches (next time I will spread out the length along the lower half instead of adding it to the top or bottom). I started out by including the faux seam stitch, and at a later point decided I didn’t want it so I left it out of the sleeves, but then was too lazy once I got back to the body to actually go back and reknit that one stitch, so I left it. I don’t think it made a difference in the way the cardi looks, so its all good.

I also added length to the sleeves – too much length. Here’s where my ignorance in sweater construction came in – I didn’t realize that I should be
measuring from wrist to under the arms…instead I measures from my shoulder, so when I attached the sleeves the were about 3 inches too long! I went back and removed the 3 inches and bound off where I liked the sleeve length. I think I would have died if I have to reknit the sleeves a third time! Another mod to the sleeves was that I shortened the ribbing section. I really like the way they look after all those changes.

The yarn ended up working pretty well, although I think its a bit on the heavy side. Its very warm and cozy, and I love that its a superwash. However, I think several washing would cause the cabled yoke portion to felt too much (is that good or bad??) so I’ll probably end up hand washing it. After it was all finished I thought the cardi was a bit big, so I stuck it in the washer and dryer, and it did shrink slightly which worked out really really well. I think its just the right fit now!

Overall, I’m really happy with the knit. I wore it as soon as it was finished, and know it will be a staple of my wardrobe! My first sweater was a success – yay me!!

Progress

Still casting on…Its an obsession…

I’m finding myself working on one project a little at a time, switching between the several that I have to keep things interesting. I am going out of town for work tomorrow and will take a small project with me (most likely the Broad Street Mittens, which have been hibernating for a good month now, even though I really want to take the new Monkey socks I’ve been working on). I make myself work at least one hour a night (which will knit up one pattern repeat) on my sister’s Twining Vine baby blanket, as it really HAS to be done by March 15th. I’m almost finished up with the first panel, thank god, and hopefully will be able to cast on the second this weekend. At this rate I should be able to finish in time with no problems *crossing fingers*. I also frogged the BFF sock, and got all the kinks out of the yarn so its ready to go. I’ll probably cast on for that this weekend as well (as I’ve got chronic startitis!!).

I already mentioned the Monkey socks…I’m knitting them in Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock Multi in Cherries Jubilee. I got this yarn off Jimmy Beans Wool website and it was one of their custom colors. I felt the colorway was too busy for many sock patterns, but I had read on Ravelry that Cookie’s Monkey socks looked good in variegated yarn. So here they are:

Love the pattern, love the yarn, love the socks! And these are my first pair of socks ever, even though I’ve tried knitting them twice now (first one was a horendous color choice, and the second were the frogged BFF’s). These fit perfectly too! Just the way I like them…snug. I also did a short row heel instead of a heel flap and I like it sooo much better.

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I also cast on for another Elijah. This one is for my friend Gina who just had a baby boy. I’m using Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in Yellow #001.

The Tangled Yoke is done except for weaving in the ends and adding buttons. I’m going to try and finish that by this coming weekend.

New Project-itis (Salina, Shrug)

You know when you area *this* close to finishing a sweater, how you can’t wait to finish it but at the same time your mind starts to wander to what’s next? Yeah, I have that bug. I have been waking up dreaming of my next project and how lovely it will be when finished…this is how obsessed I am with starting something new. I think that all that unselfish knitting from last month boiled over and all that is left is knitting for me me me!!!

I can’t say that’s true though, as I have been knitting for others, mostly the Twining Vine Baby Blanket for my sis (there are no updated pics because its mostly the same, just a bit longer). I need to have this finished by the time I go visit my sis in March before she is due, so I’m trying to work on it a little bit each day. Its such a complicated lace pattern that I really have to focus on it whilst knitting. The good thing is I’ve discovered that the blanket will only need 3 panels instead of 4, so yay!

Onto the chronic-project-starting. I had purchased 8 balls of Rowan Felted Tweed for half off at my LYS and couldn’t wait to knit it up. After a lot of research and some help from some knitting friends, I decided to knit Salina (Ravelry link). I immediately ordered a copy of Rowan Vintage Knits off amazon.com and swatched as soon as I could. I cast on a few days ago, but will not allow myself to continue until the Tangled Yoke is finished (mainly because its bogarting the circs I need). But here’s what I’ve got so far:

The colorway is Rage #150 and its beautiful. I am in love with how this yarn knits up and the texture. I love tweed but I’m not a huge fan of the kind of tweed that has specks of a multitude of colors…I like my tweed kinda boring, but still tweedy. That’s what I love about this yarn – the specks are grey, black and white, with no purples or greens. Love that.

With Salina on a short hiatus I was itching for something else. I had purchased a beautiful ginormous hank of Alpaca With a Twist Baby Twist, (also half off!) and decided I wanted to knit up a shrug. After checking out the available patterns on Ravelry, I realized that I had the perfect pattern in my copy of Fitted Knits. Soooo, I cast on for the Two-Tone Ribbed Shrug (sorry, another Ravelry link) last night, except mine will not be two-toned:

The color is Cotton Candy #1003 in the blue family, and oh my how soft this yarn is. Its gorgeous and I want to buy more. The hank has about 550 yards, and I hope that’s enough. If not the sleeves will be just a tad bit shorter

Tangled Yoke will be finished soon. I’ve just got the button bands to knit and blocking – I actually knit up one side last night and realized that I did it wrong – I made my TY a bit longer than the pattern stated and didn’t realize you are only suppose to pick up but 3 stitches for every 4, or something like that. I’ll be doing some math tonight to figure it out.

I also got some yarn p0rn for you. I sat by the computer and waited for Sundara to update her website so I could order her sock yarn as I have heard rave reviews about it. I don’t think I was the only one because I didn’t get one of the colors I wanted, but that’s ok, I’ll wait until next time!

This one is Sangria over Garnet.

And this is Ember over Flame.

The sock yarn is gorgeous! Beautiful vibrant colors and soft yummy yarn. Now I need to knit me some socks – I have so much sock yarn and no socks as of yet! Ooooooh, something else to cast on for!

2007 in Review

Don’t you hate when you’ve written this long post, and you’ve included everything you want, but then you go and add a picture and the post freaking disappears?? That’s what happened to my last 2007 in Review post. I hope I remember everything I originally covered!

My New Years Eve was such a blast this year. Last year was awesome too – a bunch of friends came over and we just got smashed, did some dancing, etc. This year we took the extra step in going to my parents lakehouse on Lake Texoma for the weekend – well, Sunday through Tuesday. Oh. My. God. we had so much fun! My friend Chris put together a mad dance mix so we danced the New Year in. We also had hundreds of sparklers courtesy of my friends Schuyler and Ellen from their wedding three years ago and we LIT THEM ALL!!! There almost nothing better than a great time with great friends. Here are a few pics.

Did you notice the accumulation of drunk in each photo??  This last one is the day after…we are still in recovery mode but I love taking these group pics before leaving the lakehouse. So much fun!

Ok, now to some knitting talk. I have copied a bunch of other knitters and put together a flickr set of all my FO’s in 2007.

I started teaching myself to knit in December of 2006, but I really didn’t start knitting until sometime in the middle of the year. I think I discovered that there was more to knitting that just scarves and hats, and grandma-y things. Well now I’m totally OBSESSED!! I can’t buy enough yarn and I can’t wait to cast on the next project. I have a few knitting resolutions for next year that I’d like to share:

1. Knit sweaters/tops – at least 5. I have Tangled Yoke on the needles that I’m almost finished with, and I have Salina ready to go. I also have yarn for one other and I’d like to crank out a Central Park Hoodie. I’ve already researched yarns on that one I’ve also got yarn for a few tops that I’d like to knit up, and those are great as they don’t take as long!
2. Knit socks – at least 6. I am obsessed with sock yarn and I haven’t even finished my first pair yet! I keep having to rip back, and now I think I’ve got a sock that’s too large, so I’ll have to re-knit it (or deal with a large sock). But sock yarn is so lovely that I’ve accumulated many many skeins. This may be the year of the sock.
3. I also want to knit a gift every month so that once December rolls around I’m not stressing about it. Gifting should be a pleasurable experience, not stress filled!
4. Learn something new – always! I’d like to tackle something that I’m not familiar with and plow through it.

Happy New Year everyone!

FO: Saartje’s Booties

Pattern: Saartje’s Booties by by Saartje de Bruijn

Needes: US1.5 Crystal Palace Bamboo DPN’s

Yarn: ShiBui Sock Yarn in Blossom – about 60 yards
Mods: None, I followed the pattern for the larger size.

These are so precious! I knit these up in a few hours for my sister’s baby shower. Because I was using sock yarn the larger size came out as newborn size, but that’s ok cause newborns need booties too! I heart Shibui Sock Yarn – so yummy to knit with. She loved them!

FO: Philly Flyers Fetchings

One of my really good friends grew up in Philly and is a hardcore hockey fan…therefore a hardcore Philadelphia Flyers fan. I share her love of sports (its very hard to find chicks that love sports), so for Christmas this year I wanted to knit her a sports themed item…the Philly Flyers Fetchings.

Pattern: Fetching by Cheryl Niamath
Needes: US4 Crystal Palace Bamboo DPN’s

Yarn: Cascade 200 Wool in Black, Burnt Orange and White
Mods: I did 4 repeats of the cable on the wrist, and I did a regular bind-off instead of the picot bind-off.

She loved them! I’m hoping these will be her wrist warmers to every Flyer game she goes to