Forever-Scarf is FINSHED!

And isn't it pretty on her? :) It did take me forever, but I do think the finished product looks really nice. Especially after I blocked it. I didn't realize what wonders blocking does for such little trouble! I was dreading blocking, but it was so not bad. I just soaked it for like five minutes, till the yarn was saturated, pulled it out and laid it out on a towel. Then I put another towel on top of it and walked on it so that it'd dry more. Then pinned it out, and let it dry overnight. And then it was good to go in the morning! Amazing! So easy! And it really retained its shape. I will never question the greatness of blocking again.

The details... (also on my Ravelry)
Pattern: Clapotis
Needles: US 6
Yarn: 3 skeins of Blue Sky Alpaca & Silk
Modifications: I did 4 repeats of the increases instead of 6 repeats. Then I did 2 extra repeats of the straight rows.

That's it for the Clapotis! Finished finally. Then I went about a week and a half without knitting anything (It was rough.. my needles were starving!!), but I got more yarn yesterday, to start on the adorable Mrs. Darcy Cardigan. I cast on last night, and worked on it all day today. Made quite a bit of progress!

Exhibit A (morning):

Exhibit B (evening):

Aaaand, I got some yarn for a hat for my sister's fiance.

Well, is that enough pictures for one post? If you can't tell, I'm happy to be knitting again. I also bought some sleek new needles that I'm making this cardigan on. They're so slick and fast. Love 'em. Worth the $15.95 I guess.. eek! But they are great.

The end.

Quickest Project Ever

I made this cowl in less than 24 hours. I even blocked it because it went so fast. That's a big deal. I've never blocked anything before. It helps that school hasn't really picked up yet, but it was just a really quick and fun and pretty knit. I had been wanting to try this pattern for a while now, and it was a nice break from my clapotis for my mom, that is still taking me forever. I'm actually getting close to finishing the clapotis though, but I ran out of yarn (as expected), so I'm getting some more today.

Anyway, back to the cowl. Pretty pattern, especially with this yarn. It is very similar to the pattern for Beth's hat, and the yarn is almost the same, too, just slightly lighter than the purple in her hat. I like it, but it has a bad habit of slouching. I even made it on smaller needles than the pattern called for, but it won't really stand up straight. Can't figure it out. And I couldn't have made it even smaller because then I'm pretty sure I couldn't get it over my head.
Well, enough of the goofy pictures, I was just having fun with the color accent on my camera, but the true color is in the photo below.

Also, the details.
Pattern: Crofter's Cowl (available on Ravelry)
Needles: US Size 7
Yarn: Malabrigo worsted merino, about half a skein.

That's it. More yarn today, hopefully I'll finish this forever-scarf by next weekend.

XOXO.

Appropriately Timed

Just finished my first sweater ever!! And I wore it today and it kept me warm in weather that feels like it is -30 degrees out. YIKES. WHY DID I COME SO FAR NORTH FOR SCHOOL???? I don't understand. At least my knitting gets put to use.























But yeah. It's a sweater. I'm so proud and excited! And I finished it in just under 3 weeks! Not bad, huh?

Again, here is the pattern: The Laura Sweater
Yarn: 2 skeins of "I Love This Yarn" ($2.79 a skein. SCORE!) from Hobby Lobby
Needles: US size 8

I have a few notes on my ravelry about this pattern because I was trying to adjust it to my size/gauge and I didn't do a swatch because I never do swatches because... I'm lazy. It's a little tight in the shoulders and the collar tends to puff out at the bottom but some people have said they liked the look of it? Dunno. Whatever, IT IS A SWEATER AND I MADE IT. And that's cool. I want to do a winter photo shoot wearing it outside when it warms up a tad.

Knitted Gifts Galore!

Here is a long overdue post. I'll try and be concise because I have a lot of things to talk about and I usually ramble..

Finished Objects:
1.) Beth's Dashing Wristwarmers!

Beth picked out the yarn (and paid for it!! What a perfect deal for both of us!). She picked out nice yarn too. The charcoal colored yarn is 100% baby alpaca wool, turned out gorgeous and so warm and fuzzy and sooo soft to knit with. It doesn't have great stitch definition, which the pattern does look good with, but I still like this pattern with the alpaca wool. They didn't photograph very well, but you can see the cables in real life, and the wristwarmers have a great texture and body to them. Knitted on US size 5 needles.

2.) Beth's Meret

This gorgeous yarn is Malabrigo merino wool. It was fun to knit, and it felt perfect on bamboo needles. I trimmed the wristwarmers in this wool too, and the alpaca was used for the rim of this beret. Knitted on US size 7 needles. Maybe a little tight of a gauge, but it worked. I agonized and agonized about blocking this hat (Beth can attest) but in the end, I didn't. I think it would have looked prettier lying flat if I had blocked it, but I like the shape it has when worn without blocking. And it was finals week, so yeah...

Of course, we closed out the evening with a fabulous photo shoot of Beth in her matching warm accessories.
OK. Now fast forward to break-knitting.

3.) I'm working on a Clapotis for my mom. It was supposed to be done by Christmas and a surprise. Now it is neither of those things. Oh well, such is life.
Just look at that gorgeous yarn. 50% silk, 50% alpaca by Blue Sky Alpacas.

I'm not even doing the full version of this wrap and it is still taking me forever. I think I'm also a little annoyed because I'm knitting it at a pretty loose gauge, using size 6 needles for what I would normally use probably size 4 needles. Well, I got a little bored, and so I have moved onto my new project....

4.) MY FIRST SWEATER EVER. OMG.

I'm getting there slowly but surely. I was just able to try it on today, how fun. It is going to be for my sister, but she has warned me that turtlenecks aren't her thing, so maybe I will end up keeping it.
Haha, so obviously I'm not stopping at this awkward length of a sweater, and I will attach sleeves, too. But I was so excited to try it on! It's going to be a real sweater! And the best part about this pattern is that it's knit top-down, meaning NO SEAMS. Wow, awesome. Also funny that I chose this color yarn. I'm kind of sick of it now because it is just about the exact same color as the one for the clapotis for my mom. But nice sweater color, no? Oh another funny thing. This yarn was SO CHEAP. Hobby Lobby. I swear I got enough yarn for the whole sweater under $5. Not bad, huh?

5.) Number five isn't a gift from me, but rather gifts FOR me. Sadly, no pictures yet. But descriptions!! Elizabeth came back from Australia with some yarn for me from New Zealand... An outrageous pairing of animal hair: sheep and POSSUM. what. I know. But she swears it's all the rage in New Zealand. It's really soft anyway. And such pretty colors. Purple and green, my favvvvss :)

And Joe brought me back yarn from the Aran Islands!! So much too! And so pretty. It's like a maroon-ish color, but more pinkish than the stuff I've been working with lately. Fuschia. It is a lot though, so I want to try and make something big maybe (This is fun, knitting big things..). Or a few little things that match.

Ok, that is all. I'm done. PHEW! What a giant post. And this is just the beginning of my pictures. If you are not satisfied you can see the rest on my flickr page.

Also, I want to apologize to Ellen, because my post is too long and too soon after hers. So read hers now please, her mittens are beautiful. :)

Ellen's first pair of mittens

Hey everyone! Its Ellen and I have finally posted on the knitting blog. These are my first pair of mittens!!! Exciting right?! I gave them to my mom for Christmas. I am working on my second pair and they are looking even better! So I hope that everyone is having an amazing beginning of 2009. :)

See you all back at school.

More Mittens

Quick post during finals week...

My second pair of mittens are finished. Have been for a few weeks actually. The first one is a little to tight right after the thumb, and the other one is a little too short. But they were good enough, so I didn't redo them or anything. I have been wearing them a lot actually. I like these colors more than the green ones, but those are kind of fun too. I worry that they look a little frumpy though. Sidestory: I was walking one day with a friend and telling him how I worried that my green mittens looked frumpy (I was wearing them) and we passed another girl I knew and she complimented me on them. We both started laughing after she had passed because I wasn't sure if she had heard our conversation and was trying to boost my confidence or if it was actually genuine. Anyway, here are pictures of the finished mittens #2! I don't have that many either, but maybe I'll take more soon.


Also, be on the lookout for another post soon of Beth's wrist warmers and beret! Finished that project last night and ended the evening with a FABULOUS photoshoot.

(One last picture, where you can see the rim of marron at the bottom of the cuff. I like it.)

Mittens!

It's been way too long. Knitting has been kind of slow since I've been back up at school, but at least once a week during Gossip Girl Mariel and I get some knitting in. At the beginning of the year I was trying to do that argyle hat, but it was such a mess. I noticed when I searched online, most people do argyle knit flat and then seam up the socks or hat or whatever. But I wanted to be brave and do it in the round. (Actually, I'm just scared of seams.) But sure enough, it was just an absolute mess and I kept messing up each time I started the hat -- probably four or five times. So I've set that aside for a while. I'm determined to someday do it, but it takes much more planning and patience than I realized before.

So what HAVE I been knitting then? Mittens! As promised! I finally picked up that fun green yarn that I bought at the Knit Nook last winter and decided to learn how to make mittens. I guess I had put off making mittens because I thought they were going to be hard. So I searched for a very simple pattern, one without any increases for the thumb. They went really quickly and they were pretty fun to knit. And the best part -- they were easy!

Pattern: Instant Mittens
Needles: US size 8
Yarn: Tessin, 43% super wash wool, 35% acrylic, 22% cotton; color 65806; (not quite) 1 skein (110 yds)


I'm pretty pleased with the way they turned out, at least as a first pair of mittens. But I only knitted from one ball of yarn, so I didn't get the double warmth thing the pattern talks about. And I think I would increase for the thumb after all because there are a few holes near the thumb. We'll see how they actually hold up when winter hits in a few weeks.... Eek!


So one pair down. Then two weeks ago, a few of us girls from the dorm went to this knitting shop, the Red Purl, which I had found online when I was craving yarn. It's in Niles, MI, just about 15 minutes away, in the most adorable little neighborhood! The store was so cute too! Funky red woodwork with stuffed sheep in the window decked out in cowboy hats and boots. And they had a dog! And CAKE. Because we just picked the best day possible to go - their one year anniversary. So there were a bunch of women hanging out and knitting and there was cake and, best of all... ALL THE YARN WAS ON SALE! I was pretty ecstatic. Yarn shopping just puts me in the best mood. So I got some Malabrigo yarn for 25% off and some pretty maroon yarn for 10% off.

I have no idea what I'm going to do with the purple yarn. I bought it because I was just enamored with the color and, again, the gorgeous subtleties from the kettle dying. I should try that... Anyway, I do have something to show for the maroon yarn.


More mittens, of course. ;) Notice how well it matches my bag! I'm convinced my knitting bag must have subconsciously inspired my color choices. Here is the pattern I'm using. This one has thumb increases, but I think I'd tweak the pattern if I used it again. I still am getting this mitten thing down.

It's midterm week so I haven't gotten to work on them much lately, but Fall Break is coming, and we all know what that means -- knitting time!

Till then,
Teresa