Blog Facelift

So I decided (while bored at work) that my blog needed more color. So I am re-vamping it in pink now :-) I'm also having some problems with photobucket... hope they get their diskspace issues resolved. I'm missing my pictures. But hey the service is free after all.

And I picked up the stitches for my under the hoodie sweater last night... so I'm getting closer to finishing it. Can't wait to wear it!

Irish Hiking Scarf Photos (and other photos)

My completed chunky Scarf:



The manos yarn that will be my knit along hiking scarf:


And the never ending purple 2x2 rib scarf (54 stitches wide on #7 needles) This has been in progress for over a year. It's turning out really nice but it is SOOOOOOOOOOO boring to work on:


ok that does it for tonight... off to work on my under the hoodie.

Chunky Irish Hiking Scarf

I finished a chunky version of this scarf last night (I'll post a photo tonight). It's going to be a gift for my cousin for christmas. Since the yarn is chunky (Jamieson's Shetland Chunky -used size 11 needles and got firm fabric) I had to alter the pattern so as to not end up with a 3 foot wide scarf :-) So mine has 2 cables rather than 3. The colors are Arctic and North Sea.

It turned out quite well and now I'm about ready to start one using dark blue and olive green manos for the knit along. I'm thinking the center cable will be in blue and the 2 outer cables will be green. I'm so excited to find a good use for this yarn that I have been stashing for about a year. And this one will be ALL mine ;-).

I'm just going to have to focus on the manos scarf and my cable and lace poncho since I'm currently in knit alongs for both. It's too bad I have to work full time... it's really eating into my knitting time.

Rip Rip

Just finished ripping apart the double stranded cardigan body. What a pain. I had to separate the two colors as I ripped it out... took forever. It feels like ripping it out took longer than knitting it in the first place. But I know the sweater will turn out much better this time. I'm thinking pink trim, gray arms and body and pink and gray stripes near the top. Hope it turns out well.

Kitten

Just thought I'd share a picture of my kitten (well he's 6 months old now). His name is Seamus (pronounced sha-mus)

Angora

I got my elann order yesterday... I just couldn't resist the angora they had for 40% off. I already had enough for a scarf in green that I paid full price for and it is sooooooooo great to pet. There is a photo of that scarf a few days ago. So now I have some in black and some in a dark (but not navy) blue.

But I have promised myself that I will start no new projects until I finish at least two that are already on needles. I think the Irish Hiking scarf and my hoodie will be the next ones finished. Then I need to go back to the cable poncho I am working on for my cousin. Then the bulky cardigan... maybe this weekend I will frog the body... that leaves me with one arm that is done. And I thought I was so close to done.

Perhaps 8 wips is just too many for me... I think 4 is better. I feel kind of overwhelmed by 8.

Irish Hiking Scarf Knit along

Ok I joined another knit-along... so now I have 2. One for a poncho and one for the the Irish Hiking Scarf. I'm hoping that having others to work along with will help me finish it rather than just making it a permanent work in progress. And I do really like the pattern. I think this will be for my boyfriend... I don't really knit for him often as he's always warm so doesn't really need sweaters, scarves, hats, etc. But every once in awhile he wears a scarf (maybe 2 days in January). So it won't be a waste, and if he doesn't wear it.. I will.

Chunky Cardigan good and bad

I started on one of the two sleeves today and learned to use 2 circulars to knit in the round. This is the good news :-)



The bad part is I don't really like the way my yarn stranding looks on the body. I used a strand of the pink and a strand of the gray together and the more I look at it the more I really wish I had just done a striped body and solid sleeves. So I'm going to rip it out. The sucky part is that the back and both front pieces are all knit completely to the armpit. But I know I'll like it better if I just start over :-(

I think I'll do large gray stripes and smaller pink ones. Well it's not the first sweater I've restarted.. at least it's not sewen together yet.

Scarves and cables

Well I started a Besotted Scarf on Friday. The yarn is Artful Yarns Jazz in a color called Ella. It is so yummy to knit with. This ball of yarn has been started into a scarf not less than 10 times. First I tried seed stitch and that didn't really suite it then I tried ribs then a broken rib pattern... none looked right with this yarn. But as it turns out... this yarn needed cables (which show up much better in life than in this photo... the flash flattens out the cables). The cable pattern is actually really easy.

Who knew that cables were this fun and easy? I now have like 4 cable projects lined up in my head. A sweater from the Fall IK and one from the Fall VK as well. Not to mention a few cable patterns I want to stick on a normal st. stitch sweater. Suppose I should finish a few projects before diving into another new one. I've made some good progress on a chunky tweedy cardi. The body is about 15 inches long, so pretty soon I'll need to split it for the reglan shaping on the 2 fronts and the back. And tomorrow I have to go back to work after having a week off. I was making such good progress on so many projects... but alas I have to work so I can aford more yarn ;-)

Under the Hoodie - progress at last

This is the back and both sleeves of my Under the Hoodie from Stitch n Bitch. Just finished the sleeves last night.

This project has been on needles for months... it's so boring to knit. But the Kid Classic yarn is really nice to work with and makes a very cozy fabric. So glad I found some on ebay ;). Once I finish this one I'm sure it'll be a favorite to wear... just not a favorite to knit.
I didn't keep the stripe pattern the same as the pattern at all. The pattern calls for a large 2 tone stripe across the chest and the arms match the color of the stripe. This one has the stripe arms (obviously) and I'm going to put the same stripes on the hood and one stripe on the front pocket. I'm still in the ribbing for the front but hope to finish this one before the end of October.

Poncho Done

I sewed it together and this is how it turned out. It looks better than I thought it was going to. Just couldn't visualize how it would look once sewen together. This is a gift for my Aunt for Christmas... just have todecide if it needs fringe or not. I think my Aunt Judy is a fringe woman. Ok so it's now 95% done again :-)

Future Projects

I just set up a list of future projects on my sidebar... mostly so I don't forget what I want to make. Thanks to Kim for giving me a link to the morning surf scarf. That pattern looks like it'll translate well into a stole for my mom for christmas. I have some baby camel yarn that should work well for this.

Oh and last night I finished one of my poncho's (the beaverslide wool one). It's in the washing macine soaking as I type.

I'm really enjoying my time away from work. This week I decided to take a vacation from working and I'm amazed at how much knitting I've gotten done already. The real purpose of taking this week off is to scan, retouch, and color balance about 90 old family photos. I'm working through them but it's going slow. And I have to admit... as much as I love all of the old photos... knitting is much more fun than Photoshop work. Especially since that is about what I do for a living. But I offered... I just didn't want my mom to drop all the photos off as some photo lab and have them get damaged or lost. So I'll work through them with MANY knitting breaks.

Ok off to block my poncho.

Vogue Knitting Mag

I started yet another project last night. It's based on a cardi/jacket from VK Fall 04. But I'm changing the shaping from set in sleeves to reglan and the yarn is totally different as well. I'm using some bora softspun I picked up when webs was having a really good sale. So I'm doubling it to get 3 stitches to the inch and mixing a pinky and charcoal color to get a tweed effect. But the edging will be charcoal (saw a similar look in a rowan pattern called Jane).

I really love starting projects.... I like working on them... and I love completing them. That middle part can be hard to muddle through. At least this one will be a quick knit. Which is not going to be the case with the other pattern I just have to make from VK. The cabled cardigan (#17). I did a swatch in rowan kid classic in a great shade of green and love the way it looks. But it's the most complicated pattern I've even thought about trying. I'll really need to pay attention while knitting that one. But I have promised myself that I'll finish my under the hoodie from stith n bitch before I start the cable cardi. I need the needle that is in the hoodie. I only have the one 24 inch 7's so that's good as I have to finish one before starting the other :-)

Chunky Dark Red Cardi

I haven't sewn the buttons on yet but it's otherwise complete. It's knit from Valley Yarns 2/2.6 Chunky. The yarn softened a bit after washing... but I would not make a scarf from this yarn.

I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. I used a seed stitch edging and a crew neck rather than a collar.

Poncho combo

poncho_yh
Originally uploaded by virtual_amber.

Here is my completed poncho. It's knit using the body from the Very Harlot poncho and the neck from Berocco Paige. I used Araucania Nature Wool doubled for this. The colors are oatmeal, plum, dark blue, and a moss green. I've only worn it a couple of times (it's still pretty warm in Northern California).

Beaverslide Wool Cable Poncho

cable_blue
Originally uploaded by virtual_amber.

I love love love this yarn! This is going to be a poncho for my Aunt for Christmas.
You might notice a blue bar across the top of the image. That is the picked up and knitted add on I did once I realized that 18 inches in stockinette stitch (54 stitches cast on) is 14 inches with ribs and cables.... oops. So I added 4 inches after the fact. I think it'll work out. The second side is about a third of the way done and I'm making it with the same blue bar. So now there will be a blue stripe at the top around the neck.

I think this will be the next project that I actully complete. The cable pattern is easy to remember so I don't need to keep track on a chart like I do on the other poncho I'm making.

Ok off to bed with me. My boyfriend went to sleep over an hour ago (he has to be up at 6am... yuck)

Good night

2 color felted bag

multi_bag
Originally uploaded by virtual_amber.

I actually think this is kinda ugly... but it's my first attempt at 2 color knitting and I'm keeping it as a WIP bag. So it'll probably never leave my house :-) It still needs to be felted. I'm going to try and get to that tomorrow after work.

anouk

anouk
Originally uploaded by virtual_amber.

From knitty.com. I'm making it solid lichen green with a lipstick pink heart on the front and on the 2 pockets. I haven't done a lot of 2 color work so I'm hoping it turns out ok. I'm planning on using the heart chart from stitch n bitch as a template (it's for the knitted bikini pattern). This is a photo of the back and a ball of the pink heart yarn.
The green is one of Quinn's mom's favorite colors. Quinn is the baby who will wear this once I finally finish... she just turned a month old.

Angora Scarf

angora
Originally uploaded by virtual_amber.

This is a luscious scarf made from Valeria di Roma Angora in a kermit the frog type of green. I'm using seed stitch broken up by 1x1 rib every 8 rows. I bought this yarn with money my grandma gave me for christmas last year. She passed away in February so I'm really taking my time and enjoying working with this yarn. I'll name this scarf Zelma after her :-)

Close up of same poncho

cable_wendy_cu
Originally uploaded by virtual_amber.

This is my first cable work as well! It's knit in Ecological wool Natural color.

Lace/Cable Poncho

cable_wendy
Originally uploaded by virtual_amber.

This is the lace/cable poncho I mentioned a few days ago. And I'm also playing with getting images to post. So bare with me :-)

Sidebar

Now I have some spiffy icons. But I can't seem to get space at the bottom... so my last icon gets cut off. I'm wondering if I put enough posts up if my page length increases? Guess I'll see once I get some more posts in. I finished one of the two rectangles for my Beaverslide wool poncho. It has 3 2x2 cables running the length of the rectangle and I'm using purple, blue, and a heathered purple/blue yarn to make it. This yarn is nice and spongy. It's kind of squishy and nice to work with. I'll get some pictures up here some day... really :-)

New Book

I got the knitter's handy book of sweater patterns today! This book is awesome. I'm really looking forward to making use of this one.

Ok off to knit a bit before bed.

Poncho Knit Along

Joined my first knitalong! I'm making a 2 rectangles poncho using a cable pattern from Then New Knitting Stitch Library (it's cable #95 for anyone who has this book). It's my first attempt at cables and I'm really enjoying it. I've had to rip a few rows here and there (and here and there again) but it's really turning out well. The yarn is Ecological Wool from Cascade in natural. And I must say that this yarn is so much nicer than I expected. I'll post a picture once I take one and figure out how to post.

another knitter's blog

Now I can play too!

testing....

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