sweater gone

I am knitting this sweater in the round but swatched flat... so after about 2 inches I noticed that my guage was more like 3.5 st per inch rather than the 4 it was supposed to be. The sweater has been frogged. I'm going to switch to size 8 needles and try again tomorrow. I have had real bad luck lately starting projects. I seem to start everything half a dozen times before I like it. The last 2 scarves I started were that way. So wish me luck with the sweater this time :-)

Finally a sweater

I started a sweater using this cable:



with some Berroco Uxbridge Tweed that I picked up from Elann.com awhile back in pumpkin spice:



I've been wanting to start on this sweater and swatched months ago... before the Christmas knitting madness. I feel a bit guilty as I'm not done with a baby blanket that I should really work on... but I'll get that done as well. Oh yeah... I have one more scarf to get done too. It'll all get done eventually :-)

And I finished my super chunky orange scarf. It's Wool Ease Thick and Quick in pumpkin (hmmm lots of pumpkin yarn at the moment):



I'm still without the ability to download pictures from my digital camera.... but the pattern stitch I used was the broken rib.

Cast on a multiple of 4 stitches +1 (I did 17 stitches, this yarn was bulky)
Row 1 K2 P2
Row 2 K2 P2

Someday I'll get a photo posted. This was my first time using craft store yarn... this stuff was actually really nice to work with. It's soft and cushy :-)

Having this week off has been great... I had so much time to knit and spend time with my boyfriend. Too bad I'm not independently wealthy... back to work Monday.

Artfibers

While we were in San Francisco the other day my boyfriend and I went to Artfibers. This is one of the coolest yarn shops I've ever been to. So I of course bought yarn for a couple scarves even though I could knit for a couple years withough using all the yarn I already have.

I got some Kyoto and Golden Chai.

The Kyoto is Superkid Mohair/ Spun Silk/ Extrafine Wool and is so soft I just can't wait to start someting with it. Here is a review of the yarn from knitters review.

And this is the color I got:


Golden Chai is 100% wild tussah silk and has a really nice shean to it. They don't have a photo of the color I got in Golden Chai. But it's a verigated dark pink, purple, and red. I started on the Wavy scarf from Knitty using this yarn. It's coming out really well... which is good because I started and ripped the scarf about 10 times trying to decide on a stitch pattern :-)

Now I'm going to watch a movie and work on my wavy scarf (It's for me!!!!)

That was fun

I made hats and purses for all of my cousins and Aunt's & Uncles. Everyone really seamed to like their gifts and the boys wore their cabled hats for most of the evening. I realized on the way home last night that I had forgotten to take photos of all the gifts I made... oops.

My cousin loved the poncho I made her and loved that the yarn was ecological wool so no chemical processing or dyes. She said she was never going to take it off :-)

So now I have a couple more purses and a couple baby sweaters that need to be done before the new year. Shouldn't be tough... I have this week off from work :-) And of course I'm going to start a sweater for me before the weather gets too warm.

My boyfriend and I are going into San Francisco (Union Square area) to do some post holiday sale shopping armed with some gift certificates. This is the best time of year to shop for clothes... the sales are awesome. We did the same last year and it looks like this is a new tradition for us :-)

Hope the holiday went well for everyone!

Almost Christmas

Wow I've been knitting A LOT lately (yes! even more than normal). So far I have 7 sophie purses, 4 basic cable hats, 2 felted backpacks, 1.8 ponchos, a felted tote, and 2.5 scarves for christmas gifts. Not too shabby considering I started in October :-)


Well it's getting down to the wire now... some people may be getting half finished projects for christmas this year. I'm knitting mostly for family... I think they'll be ok with the projects being done in January


And here is yet another project I want to make after the holidays Wavy

Gift for dad

Finally figured out what I'm going to make my Dad for christmas. The sweater with flames I posted a few days ago. It's perfect for him. I ordered the yarn today its Schoeller Stahl Merino Stretch:



It should be comfy and he'll really like it (I hope). But obviously it won't be done before christmas. Maybe I'll start it and then wrap the WIP and yarn and give it to him anyway :-)

My mom also expressed interest in a poncho... I'll have to make her one up after the holidays. Didn't think she'd wear one so I made the Ruffle scarf for her. But it's mom, she can have both :-)

And soon I'll have some photos of the Basic Cable hats I've been working on. But at the moment my card reader isn't working. 2.5 down 4.5 to go... wish me luck.

Another must have project

Stitch n Bitch Nation has a cute fair isle sweater that I just happen to have (almost) enough yarn for:


I need one more ball of:
and

and these will be used too (already have them).


This stuff is from an elann binge long ago, but Wednesday morning they are selling the yarn again so I have to grab a ball of the aubergine so I can make this sweater. The aubergine is the main color with reds for the stripes and the dots in hazelnut. Should be fun!

And once again... back to the christmas knitting.

More Cristmas Knitting

I've been knitting christmas gifts.... mostly for family at the moment. All the girls (cousins, aunts, etc.) are getting sophie felted purses. But that left me with nothing for the boys. Thankfully my Stitch n Bitch Nation book showed up the other day. Now all the boys are getting the Basic Cable hat:



of course they won't be bright like this and I'll leave the pom pom off the top :-)

The one I'm working on now is a dark and light gray tweed (cascade 220 yarn). I'll post a photo when I finish up. It's about half way done and is really turning out to be a nice hat (And a quick knit as well). If anyone else is making this hat... I read on craftster that the hat comes out a bit too short, so add a cable repeat or 2.

Kathy Zimmerman

With my current obsession for all things cabled.... I started going back through my past year of Interweave Knits Magazines. Originally I had ignored the cabled patters as I didn't know how to cable, but now I do :-) And apparently Kathy is the cable master. Here are a few cabled sweaters on my to do list (all Kathy's)




And here is some yarn from yet another elann.com binge that should work out well for at least a couple of these sweaters. It's Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran and I can't wait for it to arrive!


and the last one is Jo Sharp Silkroad DK Tweed from a few days ago :-)

SnB

I ordered Stitch n Bitch Nation a few days ago and can't wait till after christmas to make some of this stuff.... I mean how cool is a sweater with flames on it?!?!??!



And I love this bag:



Anyway, off to work on more christmas knitting.

felting, felting, felting

Yet another sophie purse:


And here are the 2 backpacks felted and dry. They really don't flare out at the top so much... I just didn't position them that well.



And my Jo Sharp Silkroad DK tweed came in the mail yesterday.... yummy! The color is great and I just can't wait to use it. It'll be awesome for a ribbed / cabled pull over!

Did I mention that I really LOVE yarn ;-)

photos finally

So here are photos of everything I've been making.

This is the frogged and re-knit (in progress) cable poncho:


Here is my 3rd irish hiking scarf. It's for my brother for christmas and is being knit from 100% merino from handpainted yarn.com. It's really soft and cozy.


Here are a couple finished sophie bags. I think I have 5 more to knit but luckily they go quickly:



And here are the 2 backpacks I've been working on for my cousin's kids. They are felting in the washer right now:



And last but not least here is my completed ruffle scarf:

made me laugh

Elann.com is evil

Couldn't they just carry ugly yarn? So today I ordered some of this:


Jo Sharm Silk Road DK Tweed in Emporio (maroon)

to make something close to this sweater:



Not sure where the yarn will live but I'll find a nice home for it :-)

Wow I just can't pass up great yarn for a great price.

Knitting like an insane person

I knit at every available moment these days. It's the only way I'll ever finish all this stuff by Dec 25th.

Tonight I'm going to start the second of 2 felted back packs I'm making for my cousin's kids. Last year I made each of them a scarf and they were both really into the fact that I had made them... so this year they get a more complicated project. I'm a sucker for people that appreciate my work. The kids are 8 and 11 and lots of fun.

I'm also going to start an Irish Hiking scarf for my brother this evening. My dad is the only real issue. I have no idea what to make for him. I may just make him a scarf and hope he wears it a couple times a year. He appreciates the work... just isn't much of a scarf or hat wearing kind of guy. He's also too warm for a nice hand knit sweater... not a sweater guy.

The poncho pictured below is no longer with us. It's now about 5 inches of a circular poncho with a cable running up the front and back. It's turning out much better (well, better meaning more appropriate for my cousin). I think she'll really like it.

Ok back to the needles!

Ruffles done!

I need to take a photo but I finally finished the ruffles scarf from scarf style. It's for my mom for christmas... one more christmas gift done :-)

Now I think I'm going to pull apart the lace/cable poncho I started for my cousin. It's about 25% done but I think I got carried away with the cables... it might be a bit too fussy for her. So I think I'll make the yarn harlot poncho with one of the cables down the front and back. It should go pretty fast (I hope).

This is what the poncho looks like so far:


and although I think it's pretty... it really is too busy for my cousin. Oh well... it was my first cable attempt so at least something was learned from this project.

New projects from the winter Interweave Knits!

I must make these.... as soon as my christmas stuff is done :-)

Christmas Gifts

I'm getting a bit worried... not sure I'm going to get all of my gift knitting done. So far I have 4 Sophie purses done, a poncho (and a half), a scarf, and most of another scarf done. So I still need 2 felted backpacks, half a poncho, and 6 more sophie purses.... so if I quit my job and knit all day long I might be able to finish :-) Oh yeah and I need something for my brother and dad as well. Hmmmm ok I'm going to get back to work now.

Couldn't resist......

Before I cut myself off from buying any more yarn I ordered 3 skiens of the above yarn and 2 skiens of the merino handspun in natural from http://www.handpaintedyarn.com/. Well they finally arrived on the 3rd. I copletely loved them both. But REALLY wanted to make a sweater out of the pesto colored stuff rather than a scarf like I intended... So I promptly ordered 7 more skiens and broke my yarn diet. And by the way... the sweater is totally going to be for me.

It's such yummy stuff..... ok back to my yarn diet.

Progress photos

I've started so many new projects lately... I'm a bit out of control. But many on them are christmas gifts so I guess starting them all at the same time is ok :-)

Here is a spin off of the irish hiking scarf with a different cable. I'm using some blue sky alpaca that I bought a really long time ago. It feels great... really soft.




And here is yet another scarf from the scarf style book. It's Vintage Velvet. The touch me yarn is awesome. I had 5 balls in my stash that I picked up on sale about a year ago. So I'll be putting stripes in this scarf:



I've also finished another sophie bag in pink cascade 220 and started yet another. The current one is made from Araucania Nature Wool in olive green with a couple oatmeal colored stripes.

The ruffle scarf is moving along nicely. I worked on it in the waiting room at my Orthodontist's office today. She is also a knitter and oohed and ahhhed over it. She's going to the buy scarf style book now as well :-) I think I'm a knitting related pusher as well.

Ruffle progress

Apparently this scarf taught me to do short rows :-) I didn't know that was what I was doing... but it is.

Here is the progress on the ruffle scarf for my mom made of baby camel yarn from a previous elann binge ;-)

Elann.com binge

Ok so the Jo Sharp Silkroad Ultra and Rare Comfort mohair were just too much for me. I ordered a bunch of yarn.... as if I needed ANY more. Of course it's all gorgeous and I love it :-) So today I did a bit of organizing of my stash.... I have to say that I finally hit the point where I think I have too much yarn. So my goal is to not buy any more yarn till at least my birthday (january 10th) that's just a couple months and some change. I reserve the right to pick up yarn to finish christmas gifts but that's the only exception.

Wish me luck!

Felting is so cool!

Felting isn't new to me but every time I felt a project I'm reminded about how cool it is. So here is a sophie bag that I knit in a few evenings after work (it was sooooo quick to knit). This is a good thing as I'm making about 8 of them as christmas gifts. They will all be different colors and some will have stripes or some sort of 2 color option. So hopefully it won't get too boring making so many of them :-)

So here's the first:

before & after:



I think it turned out really cute :-)