We're Making Progress

So I have pretty much recovered from my nasty chest cold. I still have a bit of a cough, but it's nothing compared to where I was one week ago! Much news on the knitting front therefore! I have made some progress on the Tiffany Mittens.

I was getting a little concerned when I tried them on last night, and they were pretty tight! I know that fair isle knitting can be a little less stretchy than regular one color knitting. This is my first fair isle knitting project, so it is definitely a learning process. I have gotten some really great advice about spreading the stitches out when bringing the floating yarn along the back, and how the mittens will fit differently once the afterthought thumb is placed and knitted. I have been trying it on my left hand, but will try it on my right, and which ever one is looser will be the mitten that I knit!

I have also started a new project, which I probably shouldn't have since I still have much Christmas knitting to accomplish. This pattern though is knit with big yarn on big needles, and has been going pretty quickly. I am doing the Bold and Bulky Mini Cardigan from Fitted Knits, by Stephanie Japel. When I first browsed this book at the bookstore, I was a little unimpressed, until I looked at the KAL page and saw all the great interpretations of the patterns. I immediately fell in love with the book! I have borrowed it from the library, looked at it about 52 times, and have picked half a dozen patterns that I want to knit! What a pleasant surprise this was! I will be purchasing this book very, very soon! Here is my progress:

I had a difficult time with the yarn, though. The pattern calls for Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick. Now, I am not a huge fan of this yarn, and wanted something that would be lovely to knit with and would be something that I would cherish for years to come. I am making some modifications to the original pattern, like lengthening the body so it is less like a bolero, and because I have a fairly long torso. I am also planning on making the sleeves a little longer, and depending on how much yarn I have, full length. I went to my LYS and spent about an hour and a half with the proprieter, Deb, who helped me pick out a wonderful, beautiful, makes me want to crawl inside and sleep yarn. It is Araucania Yarns, Limari Semi Solids. It is a merino, alpaca, silk blend and is like butter! I walked around the store for about 30 minutes petting the yarn without even realizing it! It is wonderful. It is a little pricey, and when I realized just how much I was spending, I almost went for the Wool-Ease! However, knowing the quality of this yarn, I will definitely cherish this piece of knitting for years! Definitely worth it!! I am super excited for the fall air to come and stay so that I can wear this piece at least weekly! Sorry to my co-workers in advance to see one outfit all fall and winter!! HAHA!

I have also been doing some lurking on other really great knitting blogs. I have joined a couple of online KALs, and love looking at other people's work just about as much as I love knitting my own!

Qutecowgirl, Jill, Crafty Pancakes, The Half-Assed Knit Blog, of course the Harlot, and there are so many more that I can't remember, or find...I really need to start bookmarking them immediately when I come across them!! I will start a running list of blogs I come across so that you too can enjoy the world of the fellow knitter! I have also put my name on the list for Ravelry!! Geez...this could become a real problem. I think I waste time at work now browsing and lurking knitting blogs and sites, but a whole huge community with links and links and links dealing with knitting could be trouble!! Oh well...my co-worker is obsessed with running, so to each their own! On a side note about the Yarn Harlot...she posted yesterday and today about a garter stitch jacket that she loves, and going to the link, I think I agree...they are all enablers, the whole lot of them!!

Well, my link happy post is done for now, I think! Also, if you look to the side...I have finally learned to do the whole button thing!! Go me!! Knitter I am....Computer genius I am not!

I feel Yucky...

Oh what a week it has been. Labor Day weekend was a nice and much welcomed day off to catch up on many things, including knitting. I finished a major project, to which I am thrilled. I also cast on for the Tiffany Mittens and made some pretty good progress on Monday.

I am really happy with this progress, and love the fact that I am actually doing a Fair Isle project, which I have been super scared of since I started knitting. But the problem herein lies...I have not made any more progress through this entire week!

I started to feel a little scratchy in my throat Sunday night, and it was a little more pronounced on Monday. I was thinking that I was having a bit of an allergy attack, and thought that a little rest, and avoidance of the outdoors would help. Not so much! Tuesday things just progressively got worse, and by Tuesday night, I was resigned to the fact that it wasn't my allergies, but a nasty chest cold rearing its ugly head. Wednesday I went home from work sick, and couldn't even bring myself to knit a simple no patterned sock. I have not picked up my knitting since Monday, and I miss it!! I am starting to feel better, but still have a lingering cough that has made my abdomen feel like I just went through sit up boot camp! I am hoping to make some progress on things this weekend as I hole up...yet again...and get myself well again!

I am also feeling the desparate need to get going on my Christmas knitting. I have one project just over halfway done, and the finishing will be the most complicated with some lining and embroidery work. I also need to knit 2 pairs of socks, to which I have joined the Sock A Month KAL 4 in the hopes that it will motivate me to knit, knit, knit!! Then my sister's boyfriend has thrown a whole cog in the wheel by possibly being at the family Christmas this year. So I think that I am going to be knitting him a scarf. Probably a simple chunky ribbed scarf with a black tweed yarn of some sort. My LYS has a nice Noro tweed, but maybe something out of a Knit Picks bulky yarn. I haven't really decided yet.

So, I have decided, no more sick days allowed! Or sick weeks for that matter! At least until Christmas is over and I can focus on nice casual knitting projects!

Marlo

Marlo from Black Purl Knits is finally finished! This sweater took me so much longer than I had anticipated, but I am happy with the final results. I am hoping for a few days of Indian Summer to allow me to wear this a few times before long sleeve sweater season is upon us. I am realizing in my early knitting hobby, that one needs to knit for the opposite season! At least for me, who it takes a little longer to make a project! I started on a sweater last winter, before Christmas, and didn't finish it until May! By that time, sweater weather was over, so I had to put it away right away. I am pretty excited to wear it this winter, though. Here is a picture of the finished Marlo, she's blocking right now...

She fits pretty well, but if I were to make it again, I would do the collar in 2x2 ribbing like the bottom rather than in stockinette. I am afraid that even after blocking, the collar will roll. The top of the collar is done in three rows of garter stitch, but that didn't help when I tried it on after finishing last night. Oh well, I still really like it!

I have finally started the Tiffany Mittens but am having issues getting the charts printed out. I changed all the charts to match my color selection. I have an old printer that my mom and dad gave to me a while back. They also gave me some of their old speakers for the computer, but seeing as I have a laptop, I don't really have need for them. So my sister took the speakers back to my mom and dad's when she was out to visit. Well, I didn't realize until yesterday when I was getting ready to set up the printer that the plug in cord and USB cord for the printer was in the same box as the speakers, which are now 9 hours away at my parents house! So I need to go to Office Depot or somewhere with the charts on a disk to get them printed out! I have the first 11 rows of the mittens knit up and am ready to get started...so off I go to get those charts printed out so I can continue trying to catch up to my fellow knitters who are so much further than I am! Hi Jill and Qutecowgirl!!

I will post my progress pics very soon!!

Knit, knit, and knit some more!

Happy Friday everyone! Not too mention a nice long holiday weekend up and coming! I plan on doing a lot of knitting, Christmas and otherwise. I got my Knit Picks order yesterday, which is always very exciting. I thought I had all my colors worked out in my head for the Tiffany Mittens but no such luck! I was planning on making the mittens in MC Cinnamon with the main pattern in the Nutmeg (tan). The green and yellow were going to be the flower section along the wrist. Now that I have the colors in front of me, and lots of looking and pondering, I am thinking I want it all different! I am now planning on making the MC in the green with the main pattern yellow, the wrist band flower area in the cinnamon and nutmeg. I think this might give them more of a retro look. Also, seeing as I own both a black and an off white winter coat, I think this color combination will be more versatile. I am a little freaky about what goes with black and what goes with brown, but pouring all my energy into making these, I will surely wear them as much as possible this winter. I am so excited to get started on these mittens.

Before I can do that, though, I have some finishing up to do. I have almost all of my Marlo sweater done from Black Purl KnitsAll I have left to do is the neck line. It is a mock turtle, knit all rounds, so that is really easy knitting...I could totally get it done during a movie or TV show. I still have to finish knitting an item for Xmas, but I can put that aside for a break from the mittens as well. I am almost finished with the knitting, but need to do some "finishing" work to it after that. Its nice to have diversity! I have also finished the first sock in my first pair of socks. I mentioned the "Peachy Keen" sock in a previous post, and finally finished it!

I have cast on for the second sock and knit the first few rounds tonight, so I am hoping to avoid the whole second sock syndrome. I realized as I wore one lonely sock around for a while tonight, that I LOVE hand knit socks! Good thing too, seeing as half my stash is sock yarn!!! It is just so irresistible!! "Houston, we could have a problem!"

I would also like to spend some time with the sewing machine this weekend as well, but let's not get too excited here! I do have a life outside of knitting (WHAT?!?!), and have a wedding to attend tomorrow, and some housework to catch up on from the week. I would much rather be knitting...hence the having to catch up I think! This would be the one, and only one, reason I dislike the single life again! When I was living with my ex, at least I could delegate the housework to him! Ah, well, single life is better, for now! :)

Have a happy Labor Day weekend! I will post my progress on the mittens as soon as I have some!

P.S. Thanks so much for all the birthday wishes!

How do I work this thing?

As I read other people's blogs, I am realizing that they are much more technologically talented than I. I finally figured out how to link in text. For example, if I wanted to tell you to go here for free knitting patterns, I can! But I still don't get how to put a button in my side bar, or in the middle of my post like some of my fellow bloggers do. Hmmmm....Its curious...and frustrating all at the same time! So thing #1 that I don't know how to work.


Thing #2 is a very exciting challenge to me. My birthday is September 17th, but I have gotten one of my bday presents already. My sister and her boyfriend came out to visit me a couple of weeks ago, and brought my present from my parents. This is not neccessarily something that I have begged and pleaded for, but definitely something that I have looked into getting, and now that I have it, I am so pumped to learn how to use it!! So what is it you ask? Its a brand new.....

SEWING MACHINE!!!I am super excited to learn how to use this! I have scanned through my owner's manual, and have not a clue! Today, however, upon advice from several of my knitting circle girls, and my mother, the veteran sewer, I bought some plain white cotton muslin to practice all the stitches on. I also got some other really cool fabric to make a lining for a handbag that may or may not be for Christmas, but as it might just be a present for some one, I will not post a picture of it until the recipient has received it. It's way too obvious even for a teaser photo...sorry!

I am super excited for this weekend, not because I have huge Labor Day plans, but because I will have a full extra day for the weekend to finish some much neglected WIPs and to start on a new, beautiful project. I am going to be joining a KAL with some fellow knitters from the Stitch n Bitch Forum

We are going to be starting this project as the KAL, and I am really excited and anticipating getting started. This will be my first foray into Fair Isle knitting, and I am sure that it will be fine, but I have some fears that the whole thing will just be messy! I am using Knit Picks Merino Style, and am anxiously awaiting its arrival...hoping that it will get here before Monday so I can spend the whole day working on them!!

Happy Labor Day everyone...time to get to those WIPs so I can move on to my pretty mittens!!

Beading

While I was online today, I read a fellow knitter's blog today, and she had linked to this really cool bracelet/row counter. It is really cool, and super practical. The link is


http://westenddesignknits.blogspot.com/2006/08/row-counter-tutorial.html
(thanks qutecowgirl!)


I have dabbled a little in bead work, and had a stash of left overs from making bracelets for my mom and sister one year for xmas. I pulled out the beading materials and here is what I came up with... I might have made it a little small, but it will definitely work in some capacity. I was looking at it and thought, the toggle ring at the end would probably fit around most of my needles (not the 11s or 13s of course, but anything under). So I was thinking that maybe I would use it as a row counter at the end of my needles, and another thought dawned on me! I have seen so many pretty stitch markers that have jewels and beads on them and thought that with some of the materials I have laying around, I could make a few for myself. So here they are!!
I had a bunch of toggle clasps left over that I used for the actual stitch marker. Each marker took me probably only 10 minutes to make, and am excited to start using them. This could be a bit of a problem, I could totally see myself making a bunch of stitch markers for every project that I have, to match the yarn, and all!

Deadlines....

So, I am leaving for my Homecoming weekend, the one I was hoping to wear "Marlo" to. I thought that if I gave myself a deadline, I would knit faster, and get it completed. I kind of feel like my eyes were too big for my timeline. Here is my progress in the last week...(the pic is a little funny looking because I took it on my cell phone, my digital camera battery decided to die!)I have finished up to the start of the third cable repeat. I had to rip out 8 rows when somehow, I managed to either drop a stitch or YO when I was knitting plain stockinette. I tried everything to figure out how to fix it, thinking that if it didn't look super great, that's OK since this is the back. I was having no luck and didn't want to unknit two rows of cable, so, after walking away from it for a few minutes to gather my courage, I ripped. And then painstakingly picked up my live stitches, trying so hard not to drop any more stitches. It was successful (thank goodness!!) and I managed to knit back to where the problem occurred. I couldn't look at this project anymore for the rest of the night, so I didn't get much accomplished. My deadline was to finish and block tonight so that I could pack the sweater, but no such luck. So, though I will not be wearing it...I will be at least bringing it with me to work on. Maybe next week I will finish!

Since I have come to grips with the fact that my sweater will not be finished, I decided to do another little project tonight while I was doing laundry. I will be meeting up with a friend I haven't seen in a couple of years, and she is pregnant! So, I thought it would be a nice gesture to bring her a handknit gift.

These are the "One Hour Baby Booties" from the Stitch n Bitch Nation book. The designer and pattern are true to its name, and only took me about 1.5 hours to start and complete...blocking and all. I actually made one this morning per the instructions, and it turned out really small. Since I don't have kids, I don't really have the concept of really how big or small a baby's feet are, so I decided to make them bigger. My friend is due in October, so I figured that the baby could get a lot of winter use out of these if they were a little bigger. I think they are super cute. I did modify the pattern per some advice on the SnB forum, and knit a couple extra rows instead of making a strap and making them in to Mary Jane type booties.

A great, exciting piece of news in my knitting world as well...I have learned to knit 2 socks at the same time on 2 circular needles! It is super easy, and I really can't see myself knitting socks any other way in the future. I have one sock stalled on the dpn's right now, and plan on taking it with me to hopefully finish while I am sitting in lectures this weekend. I have located the LYS and will definitely be paying them a visit while I am in town. I didn't knit while I was in grad school, which is probably a really good thing, so I didn't have any clue about LYS's and the like. Come to find out, I lived just down the road from them the whole time!!! Yet another good thing about not knitting in grad school...my semester stipend would have been blown in the first week!!

Well, I better get packing and also getting myself ready for work tomorrow. I am leaving straight from work, so that means that I have to have everything ready by 8am tomorrow morning!! Blech!! Hopefully I will have some FO's to show off when I get home!