Photos for yesterday's post...

Incorrect opera scarf:


Bunny:



Clapotis:



And for an added bonus... I finished my flip top mittens from Hand Knit Holidays. These are the 3rd pair I've made, but this pair is for me. I used some Peruvian alpaca that has been in my stash for about 2 years. Very nice and soft but a little scratchy on the neck (this yarn was originally purchased to be a scarf). Perfect for mittens:

Oh my god!

I have actually finished a few projects. I've been trying really hard to just focus on some of my nearly done projects and just finish them off.... So my Clapotis, Opera Scarf, and Bunny are all done! Except that I just noticed that I altered the Opera Scarf pattern by accident....

what I did:
K1 *sl 1 purlwise with yarn in front, yo, k2tog*
repeat for every row.

what the pattern actually says:
row 1: *sl 1 purlwise with yarn in back, yo, k2tog*
row 2: K1 *sl 1 purlwise with yarn in back, yo, k2tog*

So I suppose I'll have to make a second one and see how the pattern looks. I used 4 strands of yarn together on size 15 needles. So it's not the most openwork scarf ever. I was home sick yesterday and basically watched movies and knitted on the couch all day. Tonight I'll take some photos of these 3 completed projects. And I haven't bought any yarn or fiber for 5 weeks.... pretty good for me :)

Squarey done

He's for a friend's birthday. I really like making small toys... started and finished him in less than a week and it's so cute. Thanks to Jess's pattern. Can't wait to make more of her toys.

Used Gjestal Naturgarn yarn from Elann.com that I bought over a year ago.

Ok off to a dinner party for my friends birthday. Not sure how to wrap squarey... mabe just a bow :)

Stash Along

So I finally have a very appropriate knit along. It's the Stash-Along. You set a yarn diet goal and use up stash yarn (fiber). I also plan to use this as a focused finishing the WIP's time. I am a planner and a starter, but I have knitting ADD and move onto new projects much faster than I finish the old ones.

Here are a few newly spun yarns from my fiber stash.

Lisa Souza BFL fiber in mahogany:


Spunky Eclectic Merino in vineyard:


And a couple really pretty Bosworth spindles:





And some WIPS to be worked on and completed:

Bunny in Beaverslide wool:


Clapotis in 100% wool merino almost done:


Lace and Agate scarf in blue sky aplaca sport:


plus most of what I posted in January isn't done yet either. See post.

New Camera

Ok these aren't knitting pictures but I wanted to share anyway. I got a digital SLR camera to replace my film one. And I really love having all the controls of my camera and being able to change lenses while still getting a digital image. Here are a few photos from my dog walk yesterday:





And the dog too:


So much fun!!!!

And I had a great time in NY. What an awesome city! Alas I didn't make it to any yarn shops.

And she finishes stuff too!

Flap Top Mittens from Hand Knit Holidays:







This is the second time I've knit these mittens (both pairs as gifts). The pattern is written well except for the part where you start the flap. It's worded badly. Really they want you to k1, yo across the back and do k1, yo 2 times on either edge of the front. But it's written that they want you to wrap the yarn around the needle twice which is 2 yarnovers and doesn't work.

I used Artful Yarns Jazz which is 50% wool/50% alpaca and worked out really well.

Here is some merino I spun up (color is jeans)


some alpaca spun and then spun with noro (don't remember the yarn exactly)


And my second skein of the wild things fiber from stitches:


Off to NY in the morning. Have a great week!

Happy St Patty's day!

Your Irish Name Is...

Zoe Doyle

What's your Irish Name?

And I'm headed to New York next wednesday. Please leave me a comment if you can thnk of and super fun things for me to do there. It'll be my first trip.

and speaking of travel:

You Are Austin

A little bit country, a little bit rock and roll. You're totally weird and very proud of it. Artistic and freaky, you still seem to fit in... in your own strange way. Famous Austin residents: Lance Armstrong, Sandra Bullock, Andy Roddick

What American City Are You?

Spinning

I'm totally addicted to spinning yarn now. Which is not good because I already have a ton of yarn and now I'm making more. Here is some 2 ply I made from Lisa Souza Wensleydale in Wild Things.


And here is some awesome roving that I custom ordered from HeatherZ:


I have 8 oz of each of the above on the way..... Suppose I need to get knitting the yarn I have :)

I've actually finished up a couple projects. But they were gifts and I gave them away before taking photos. One was a pair of mittens where the top flips back. I used Lorna's Laces Shepard Worsted and the pattern is in Hand Knit Holidays. Also made a felted make-up bag with a zipper in dark purple cascade 220 with a blue stripe and blue zipper.

Stitches West

On Saturday I went to the most tempting (fiber) place on earth... the Santa Clara Convention Center aka Stitches West. And I bought a few things.... Mostly fiber as I have discovered the fun of spinning my own yarn now as well:

The fiber load:


merino, tencel, wensleydale, blue faced leicester etc... Some came from Lisa Souza who hand dyes yarns and fibers... loved her booth.

this is the wensleydale from above in "wild things"


And here is my first completed 2 ply yarn in merino:


Also went to Tess yarn booth and got some merino/silk (on left) and some angora/wool (on right):


Habu textiles was so cool... they have really different yarns made from things like paper, silk, or bamboo. I picked up some bamboo in 2 colors. Figure I have enough of each for a lacy scarf:


And how could I pass up Webs? Got some of their stockbridge in kiwi and denim for some wrist warmers and longmeadow for a sweater (both yarns feel like heaven):


And I even finished off a couple projects:

My sesame sweater is finally done... buttons on and sleaves sewn in:


and Letter Have It from Stitch n Bitch Nation for my friend finally has a zipper and has been given away. (she loved it)

word cloud

This site takes a scan of your blog and makes a word cloud from it's contents:



kinda fun and I'm still at work waiting on stuff.. so why not? :)

real live photos

My "Letter Have It" felted bag from Stitch n Bitch Nation (sans letter and zipper) I used cascade 220:

before finishing and felting:


and after:


A little felted pouch made from some unknown wool from my leftover stash area:


I ordered zippers for both of these felted items and they sent the wrong length zippers :(


And a photo of the back of my ballet wrap cardi (I'm actually just about done with the back this photo is acouple days old) It's handpaintedyarn.com 6 ply merino and I LOVE this yarn:


it's pooling quite a bit even though I am using 2 balls of yarn at a time... but I don't really mind. The photos show it much more than in life.

And here is my first spinning attempt and some roving:

I've actually already spun a hank of blue and a hank of brown... it's fun :)

Resistance is futile

I have most of the back of this cardi done... just couldn't resist the beautiful 6 ply merino that showed up in the mail last week. So now I have one more project started. I'm going to try and finish this cardi by the time I leave for NY at the end of March. I think that's an attainable goal.


Also have a pair of mittens that I want done before I go....

I think I'm just going to embrace my desire to start projects. They all get done eventually :)

I resisted

Ok I didn't go home last night and cast on for the Ballet Wrap Cardi. Decided to finish my clapotis (almost done!), a pink knit bunny (for a friend's baby... body, ears, and head done), and the Flap-Top mittens from Handknit Holidays first. Then I will cast on for the sweater.

Bu tI had to share this site... the strangest knitted "art".

oops I did it agian

Well a box showed up at work for me... it's Mal Abrigo 6ply Merino in velvet grapes to make the Ballet Wrap Cardigan in the current issue of IK. The guage is about right and I've really wanted a nice wrap/tie cardi for awhile now. In fact I might even cast on tonight! Even though I have a ton of projects on the needles.... I'm just crazy like that. ;)

And in other fiber news... I have an intro to spinning (on a hand spindle) class this sunday. It's at a place called Deep Color right around the corner from my house. I walk by there all the time when I take out dog out. So finally I just signed up (a $15 class so it's not going to break the bank). But it occurs to me that I have enough yarn to last me years, so why would I start making yarn?!?!?!? No idea... except it look fun :)