Ugh, Intarnsia

Finished the colorwork portion (i.e. the face) on The Monkey, but it pulls! I don't mind this technique, but it never ends up looking that great - always pulling or gapping. I hope it the roundness might be forgiving than pulling it flat. Maybe color work should be my next class. =)

Does it look like a monkey yet?

This weekend I had a genius stupid idea to rip out a cabled sweater I knitted about 2 years ago, that's really huge on me to make something from a book I received for Christmas from my lovely sister. I think I need professional help with this one...shouldn't I be able to find the end and just RIP? I found myself picking out knots and bind off stitches for hours on Saturday - I don't remember this being such a strangley constructed sweater... I just don't want to end up with a pile of useless, tangled Alpaca - wish me luck!

And....by popular demand from Knit Night @ AFY I will be re-felting by hand portions of the Celtic Cable Tote bag and will post the new improved bag hopefully this weekend.

Year in Review

I got to looking @ Beatrice's blog and was extremely impressed with her knitting accomplishments for the year. There's no way I could keep up with this knitter! But I did look back over my blog this year (handy little thing it is) and in 2007 I managed to eek out:

3 sweaters/cardigans

2 hats

5 pairs of socks

2 baby blankets

1 scarf

1 purse/bag (2 half finished projects counts, right?)

5 tank tops/cropped boleros

Right now, one of those 1/2 finished project is the Celtic Tote - here its waits patiently to be (hand) felted this weekend!

Great size & enjoyable cable pattern, its from the latest issue of Interweave Knits. Can't wait to fill it full of the [back-breaking amount of] essentials!

How Could Anyone Resist?

Such an adorable pattern ....

Project details: Saartje's bootees....try Googling or search in Ravelry's patterns. ]

Actually, make that two adorable patterns:

[Project details: Pinwheel Jacket - from elann.com a free pattern... I used Encore for the black and white and Cascade superwash for the pink. Sorry about all of the unwoven ends, I was in a hurry to get this in the mail for a Christmas present!]

Merry Christmas!

Rapid Fire!

Two posts in 2 days - nobody saw it coming! Today is most definitley worth posting about because:




1) All Christmas shopping /packaging is COMPLETED!



2) All Christmas cards are in the mail!



3) 4 more days to vacation!



And last, but most certainly not least:

4) I got my acceptance letter today!





P.S. The Pinwheel jacket nears completion - joy, oh joy!
P.P.S. Merry Christmas from me & the hub

I am here.

Our new place is starting to feel a like more like home, as things get unpacked, organized & decorated. I'm convinced, based on past experience, that hiring movers was what made the move entirely tolerable and even bordering on pleasant. The dogs did not agree- all of this change was awfully traumatic for them, but I think they are warming up to the new digs as well.

Now that Finals are over, I can redirect my energy to some knitting projects again. I spent some time this morning finishing the body of the Pinwheel Jacket:

It doesn't really look like much while its still on the circular needle, but the border and binding off are done at the same time. I plan on using pink for the sleeves and border, but my pink is dwindling and I can use black or white for the border if I need to - would rather just utilize what I have on hand and be more flexible about colors.

Found those ultra-warm toe ups from the sock class and got in a picture during the unpacking - love these!

Have a wonderful week!

Projects for Gifting!

Gave the Wild Stripes baby blanket to my friend at her shower this past weekend - she really liked it! We are in the midst of packing up our apartment to move to a new place a few miles away - can't wait to start unpacking and to be able to find things again! (My yarn has been stashed away in that little plastic bin, still accessible just in case!)
Speaking of finding things, I have finished the pink toe-up socks, but they are in a suitcase so I can't quite post pictures right now! After BO for those, I started a Pinwheel jacket for my niece for her Christmas present. Its going really quickly which is good because I have a lot of projects lined up after this one; I plan to be finished with it by the end of the week.

That's about all in my little world. May be a while before I post again depending on setting up our internet again at the new place. Have a lovely December!

Worth the Effort

I got back the Wild Stripes Baby Blanket from "my" finisher today at AFY and here's the combination of our work - let me just say I'm pleased![Also, there are more close-ups for details under socalknitter on Ravelry if anyone is interested.]

I went to the first 1/2 of a toe-up sock class at AFY today and walked away from the class with this:

I'm digging this technique so far!