progress is good

I got a lot done on the Demi front this weekend. I'm halfway there! I just have to find some buttons before I get to the end, or there will be trouble.

I will have to turn the air conditioning down to 65 and wear this in the condo (sometimes the office is so cold, I bet I could wear it there, even in July). Or, I'll just have to wait for the fall in VA. I love the fall in VA, it's beautiful there. Mmm.



I signed up for the amazing lace today. I got in just in time! The other project (besides the scarf) I want to make this summer is the Ribbed Lace Pullover from A Gathering of Lace. It's a cool sweater and I think it will be great for Florida.

sunny sundays

I made a little bit of progress on the scarf. It is going slower than I'd like, but I keep forgetting to do 4 stitches of the pattern after the border. I like how it waves and how the pattern is irregular.



I thought I'd also put up some pictures of Demi. This is the back:



I got sick of tiny yarn for the night, so I decided to pull this one out and work on it some more. It's nice because it doesn't take much knitting to show some good progress. Both sleeves are also done, so the front is all that's left. But, this is all that is done so far on the front:



I'll finish it before it gets cold again, I'm sure.

lacey

I started the Lead or Follow Scarf tonight. The yarn is Zephyr in Admiral, which has a bit more purple in it than the picture shows. It's got a nice sheen to it, but it's not as soft as I would like. I haven't tried washing it yet, but I bet that it will soften up a bit after blocking.

I used the backwards loop cast on, which is really great for this pattern. The cast on edge is pretty much invisible, and it matches up with the tension perfectly, so it will stretch nicely. I'm sure I'll have to try the blocking with string method, as the bottom edge is supposed to be straight across.



I haven't started the second pomatomus yet. I wanted to do something different for a little while first. Hopefully I don't wait too long to start it, or that poor first sock will be very lonely.

It's very hard to be motivated knitting warm things when the temperature outside is 89º. My poor Demi is nearly finished, but it has been sitting in a bag since the end of March. I pretty much stopped knitting it once it started getting hot outside.

I need to remember this, and maybe it will be easier:

happiness is..

I found my favourite kate spade shoes at DSW yesterday. And they were cheap! Check out those savings:



Happiness comes from many places.

one down

I kicked this sock's ass.



It went a lot faster than I expected. I finished it while watching Munich. My boyfriend, Mathieu Kassovitz (alright, he's not really my boyfriend) was in it, so I had to watch it. I wanted to watch it anyway, but that made it more pleasant, since the film isn't very cheery.

I still have another sock to make, but the pattern is so easy to remember that I think it will go faster. I like this pattern a lot - it's interesting to knit, and I don't have to stare at the chart the whole time. I'm really glad I picked out this yarn to make these socks, it's perfect. The sock does seem a little droopy, I don't know if it's the pattern, or just me.

The only thing I changed in the pattern is I finished the toe with 24 stitches left instead of 12. I don't really like pointy toe socks and it was the right length at that time, so I just stopped knitting. I also only knit two repeats of the pattern on the leg instead of three. I have short legs and it would have looked too stupid if it was longer.

purples

A little progress shot:



I love this yarn. The colors are absolutely beautiful. I'll get a better picture in the sunlight tomorrow.

the green hat

This was the first and best ear flap hat.

Jake found the pattern for a Chullo hat on the internet before there were actually patterns on the internet. The website is gone now, but it was a simple top down in the round pattern. The original pattern had squared off ear flaps, but we liked it better with pointy ends. I made this in 2000. I think I made it and then re-knit the bottom of it to fit better. We found some hand dyed wool something on sale and it turned out to be perfect for this hat. I wish I had the band for the yarn because I would love to find more of it. It was nice and soft and easy to knit with and the subtle variation of the colors is really cool. Also, he has wanted a new one for awhile now. I have made three different ear flap hats since this one and none have been as good. This one is getting old, but you can't really tell too much from the pictures.

Check out that eyebrow!

pomatomus begins

This is a fun sock to knit, especially with this wool. It's beautiful. The pinks are much more muted in real life and the blues aren't quite so blue. I sort of wish they were this bright in real life. Too bad you can't adjust the color of yarn like you can a digital picture.

There was an unfortunate accident tonight:



This poor Lantern Moon lived a short life, used only for 12 rows of its very first sock. There is sadness in the needle box tonight. May you rest in peace young child.

PS I thought it might happen, but I am so used to those metal needles that never break. I tried the sock on because it was looking too small, and snap! Oh well.

where i end and you begin

It's finished!



This is a baby sweater from the Dale book #142, pattern #14208.
Dale Baby Ull and some pretty buttons from G-Street Fabrics
Started 5 May 2006, Finished 18 May 2006

I really like the Baby Ull and will definitely use it again for more baby stuff. This sweater turned out a bit too wide, so I guess my gauge wasn't quite right. I'm sure he'll be able to wear it, even if it is a little too big.

On Sunday I made some hand wound center pull balls:



Koigu and the Manos from the last post. For a nostepinne I used a huge bullet that was on our shelf at home. It was a bullet my dad got from an air show, so it was one that would have been shot from a plane. It worked great though! I was too busy watching Grey's Anatomy to take a picture of it. I'm sure I'll use it again, so next time I'm home (in July, sadness), I will take a good picture of it. It's a shame, because I only got to wind one skein of the Koigu. I'll have to find something else to use for the second skein.

I started the Pomatomus socks with the Koigu tonight. I like that stuff.

green

How cool is this?



I found this today at aylin's in Falls Church. It's cotton, but it's really nice cotton. I'm going to make a pullover for baby Palmer. I want to try to put some leaves on it somehow. I'll probably steal the leaves that are on the pullover from Kate Gilbert's pattern in Interweave.

It's exciting!

The cardigan is nearly done. I will probably finish it tonight during the Deal or no Deal/Grey's Anatomy marathon.

leaves and things

Some things I finished before I started this:



Backyard Leaves from Scarf Style
Karabella Aurora 8 in the pretty green (not the one they suggest in the book)
(I want a sweater in this yarn, it's yummy)
Made in November 2005



I loved making this scarf. I would love to make another one. Maybe in some of that overdyed Sundara yarn. I think slight color variation would be really pretty for this scarf; it would add to the leafiness.



Tiger Eyes from Socks Socks Socks
Lornas Laces in Cranberry
I think I made these in January or February



For Mom. She loved them.



Thuja Socks from Knitty for Jake
Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed
I made these at Christmas for Jake to wear to sleep. He lives in England where it's cold.



Rose Pillow from Vogue Knitting Holiday 2005
In Lion Brand Suede
For MOM for her birthday in January
The roses were fun to make, and pretty fast, too. I was going to make a smaller one in purple as well, but by the time I finished 25 of those roses I didn't want to make any more of them.



Jake's Hat
Rowan Yorkshire Tweed Aran & Felted Tweed (doubled up)
He picked out the yarn, told me what he wanted and I made up a pattern. He doesn't like wearing it, so I was very disappointed. edit: I apologize, Jake.

Nothing beats the original green hat. I will have a picture of that to put up soon.



This weekend I'm going home to VA, so I'm going to find some of my old old knitting and take some pictures just for fun.

babies

Here is the Dale baby sweater; well the bottom half of it anyway.



It is Dale Baby Ull, and the color is really more navy. My camera is getting old and can't see very well anymore. You can see my silly buttonhole. The next one up is more invisible because I actually followed some directions on how to do it. I am going to just stitch a bit around the bottom one to make it look better. It's pretty strange, but I have been knitting since I was 10 and that was the first buttonhole I ever made.

I am knitting this for my friends who just got married. They are going to have a boy in September and he'll need a nice warm sweater to wear inside all of the air conditioned places down here. I think I wear more sweaters down here in Florida than I did when I lived in Virginia.

I tried some continental knitting on the stockinette part of this, which is why it is uneven. I learned how to do that a long time ago, but I never got very good at it. I can knit continental style but definitely can't purl. I guess it comes better with practice. When I start Salina I will have lots of stockinette to practice on.

first day of school

I wanted to show Eunny that I made her stole. Here it is:



Eunny's Print o' the Wave Stole
Jade Sapphire 2-ply Cashmere, about 900 yards
Size 4 needles
Started 28 March 2006, Finished 26 April 2006






The join.


Baby stole, when it was started.

This was a lot of fun to make. I wore it to my friends' wedding last weekend and it kept me warm on the beach (yeah, right) and in the air conditioned restaurant. It is such a pretty pattern, and was really fun to knit. This was my first lace piece (besides some socks), and it came out great. I can't wait to start the next one. I want to make the lead or follow scarf for my mom in light blue. It's simpler than the stole, so I will have to find a bigger lace project to work on sometime soon. I loved knitting the border around the middle part that was already done. I would love to make one of those huge shetland shawls, they must be really fun.

I am also working on Demi from Rowan Vintage Style and a baby cardigan from one of the Dale books. I really like the Baby Ull yarn. The fabric it makes is much nicer than the yarn in the ball. When there is more progress on the cardigan I'll put up some pictures.