Not Knitting, but Still Crafty

I made a bag for my BFF for her birthday. I couldn't find a pattern that I liked, so I made this up myself. It's basically two squares held together by an extra long strap. To make the bag sturdier, I used double thicknesses of all fabric pieces, including the lining. I also did double zigzag seams. The zipper gave me some grief, but mostly because after I had the whole zipper set and sewn, I discovered it would not open. I finally got it to open, but it's still not as smooth as I would like. It gets better with every tug, though.

This is Evelyn's first modeling job. Isn't she doing a great job?





Lining and blasted zipper.


In other news, I went to the fair today to check out how my sweaters fared in the exhibition. I got a red ribbon (2nd) for my lamb all-in-one, and a white ribbon (3rd) for my Round Trip cardigan! Best in Show went to a lovely aran sweater. What they say is true: once you enter in a fair, you'll be hooked! I already can't wait until next year, and actually find myself thinking of stuff to make just for the exhibition! I also plan to perfect my pie crust so I can enter into the big apple pie contest (it's one of the highlights of the fair). My filling, if I do say so myself, is pretty dynomite, but my crust tends to be a little hit or miss.

Work continues unabated on Rogue. I'm almost done with the first chart, and am getting ready to split for the arms. Now that it's getting colder, I just want to be knitting all the time.

Hey! Ho! FO!

I finished knitting the Round Trip cardigan last night, and spent today weaving in ends (I had more ends than expected, since the yarn kept breaking and I kept finding knots).

From the front. I'm thinking of finding a simple pin to hold it closed, when I'm in the mood for that sort of thing.


And from the back. I LOVE this cardigan, both for its unique construction and the way the Noro looks.



Project details:
Pattern: Round Trip, Knitter's Magazine, Fall 2003
Yarn: Noro Kureyon, #116. The pattern calls for 8 skeins for the size small, and I used almost all of 8 skeins.
Needles: I actually got gauge with the recommended US7!

I would definately make this sweater again.

In other news, last week I decided I would probably never get around to knitting an iPod cozy before it got scratched all to hell, so I sewed one.


I bought a frog applique to sew on the front of it, but I think I'll save that frog for something else. Basically this is just a piece of fleece folded over, closed with a snap. It'll do.


Because the fleece I bought for the cozy was a remnant, I now have pretty much a yard and a half of that fleece left. If I'm not careful, next thing I know I'll have a fabric stash too.

Next stop: swatching for Ribby Cardi! Thanks for the suggestions of Cotton-Ease. I plan to go the Jo-Ann's route the next time I get paid. Thanks, Secret Pal!

Ah, the joy of the snow day....

I had a snow day yesterday, so along with playing Nintendo, watching movies and reading, I made real progress on my projects.

I got the gumption to pick up for the second sleeve. I didn't get it until around 8 last night, so I only got to work on it for an hour.

Now that the second sleeve has started, my desire to work on this project is rejuvinated! I can't wait to wear it.



The cuff was not ready for her close-up, she kept murmuring about her ends all hanging out, but I assured her you would love her anyway.

I realized I went on about how much I loved making the cuff, but never showed it in all its glory. I'm usually not a big fan of garter stitch, but it really works in this sweater.



Coming soon to a yarn store near you... it's Freddy Krueger!

I've had my boyfriend try this glove on every step of the way, because I want it to fit perfectly. I hadn't noticed the blue needles, the red and gold stitch holders, the silver of the circular holding the thumb stitches, until he said he felt like a patriotic Freddy Krueger! Which also reminded me that I've been planning to make him a Freddy sweater for years now. I'm having a very difficult time finding the right colors for it, though.

I'm so anxious to finish Round Trip because I want to get started on a Ribby Cardi. Seeing the gallery and all the great cardigans being made, I want one of my own. I've finally settled on my color scheme (navy blue and fuschia), but can't decide if I want to still do stripes on the sleeves or not. Seeing them on someone else's sleeves has given me pause. Maybe I prefer the solid sleeves. Plus I need to get the yarn soon to make Gigi. I finally decided to use baby blue and black for that (after a brief flirtation with using lime and hot pink).

Slowly but surely

I finished up the first sleeve of Round Trip shortly after my last post. I believe I finished it on Monday, but I could very well be mistaken. I have to be in the mood to pick up that many stitches again, so I've not yet started the second sleeve, but here's the first one.

I love that gentle slope of the sleeve, and making the cuff was FUN. Aside from the picking up of stitches (somethng I've never liked), I wish this sweater would never end!


While I wait for the gumption to pick up for the second sleeve, I casted on for T's fingerless gloves. I'm just using Brown Sheep Naturespun in a dark gray, and I want to finish them before winter is totally over.


I'm just finishing up the thumb gusset. I'm using Ann Budd's Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns, which I highly recommend.


I met up with my friend Amy yesterday at the yarn store, where I managed to not get any yarn, but did get two books, both by Debbie Bliss. I picked up The Tweed Collection, because I've been eyeing the Biker Jacket ever since the book came out, and New Baby Knits, because Amy is expecting and her baby NEEDS to have an all-in-one sheep outfit. I've never heard of the yarns she uses in the baby book, but I'm sure it won't be hard to substitute. Most of the patterns in the book are cute, and I'm sure I'll get to make few more things out of it, too. (Though, not for my nephews, because my sister prefers clothes for her kids to be plain, plain, plain.)

Progress Continues

I can't wait until summertime, with its abundant sunshine, so I can take pictures more often of my WIPS. Work continues on Round Trip, I am right now making the cuff on the first sleeve.

I took this photo yesterday evening before I started working on it again.



The sweater has 3/4 length sleeves, which I didn't really notice in the photo, I thought she just had the sleeves pushed up. I toyed with the idea of making the sleeves longer, but decided that would a. just look weird, and b. I would be always pushing the sleeves up anyway, which would make them bunch up unattractively at my elbows. I really enjoy working on this sweater, and appreciate the fact that when I finish the second sleeve, all I will have to do is weave in the ends and block!

Slowly but surely

I've been spending a lot of time this past week ripping my CD collection (finally), and not doing as much knitting. A couple of nights ago I finally picked up stitches for the first sleeve of Round Trip, and casted on for the second baby bootie.

All I have left to do for this bootie is make the cuff. Easy-peasy. I planned to make a hat with white stars on it to match, but I think I'm going to skip the stars. I don't even know if I'll do stripes... though maybe I should, since I only have white ribbon for the booties.



The sleeve has started! This picture shows the color in the yarn a little better. It's mostly black and gray, but with some red thrown in. In this particular ball of yarn, I was shocked to come up to a section of BRIGHT, almost neon, green. I've not come across that in any of the other balls thus far, but I decided to go ahead and keep it. It'll add some flair.

Yesterday I went shopping "for my secret pal," and naturally also found a little something for myself, since I've been so good about beating this yarn addiction. The other day, Bonne Marie over at ChicKnits was knitting a cowl, and the moment I saw it, I knew it was the gater I've been looking for. While I happen to have a nearly complete ball of Baby Alpaca Grande in the color she used left over a scarf I made for a friend, I also knew that color isn't really me. So I stopped off at this wacky little yarn store I have a love/hate relationship with, and picked up some alpaca in a more suitable color.



The lady at the store said that Plymouth is coming out with ten more colors of this fabulous yarn! Since I was last there, they'd added this orange, a really nice red, and a deep purple (everytime I see purple I try to convince myself that I like it and that I'll wear it, but I'm just not feeling it right now).

Of course, I can't take photos of the treats for my secret pal, but it was so fun poking around the yarn store for stuff to get for her. Our tastes are similar, but different enough that I found myself picking up yarn I never would have looked at twice before. I can see myself doing another secret pals in the future.

WIPS... Now with Pictures!

I've been busy with other things, not much time for knitting, but I've still managed to get more work done on the Round Trip sweater (almost done with the border, about ten rows to go).

Doesn't look like much right now, eh? Just wait'll she gets some sleeves!



A couple of weeks ago when the weatherman first started in with negative degree forecasts, I decided I needed a thick hat, pronto. I bought some Adrienne Vittadini Dani on the way home from work and made this hat that night. Dani is very interesting. It's about twenty or so very thin single plies of yarn all plied together, which makes a very thick, yet light, yarn. It's 100% wool and very soft.




And the bootie. Just the one so far, and this one has been done for quite a while. It cries out to me, forlornly, from the knitting basket, "Please don't leave me all alone in the world! I'm so small, and the world is so, so big!" These only take a few hours to make, I'll set aside a night this week to make the match. I'll be making a hat to go with them.




I'm thinking about going to the yarn sore today to pick up some sock weight wool, but I'm trying to talk myself out of it. I already have so much sock yarn, and I have three projects to get through before I even have to decide what I'm making next. I have no willpower. If any stash enhancement occurs, I'll be sure to keep everyone updated.