Birthday Post 2.0

Here is the other gift I made for last week. It is the drop stitch scarf from Vogue Knitting made with Caron's Simply Soft. I have also made this scarf with a mohair yarn and it turned out equally well. I may make some more of these. They knit up very quickly and I think they work well for both genders. It is rare for me to use the same pattern more than once (except for my beanies) so it is really saying something that I already have two down and am not sick of it yet.
Over the Thanksgiving weekend, my Stephanie Pearl-McPhee calendar had one of the "You Know You Knit Too Much When...." quotes that continued on as something like"there are only 25 days left of Christmas and instead of this fact striking fear into your heart, you cast on two more sweaters and three more scarves because you know you have time to finish them." That is so me. When I realized a few of the presents I had planned were not going to work out, I added five new projects to complete in addition to the two I had left for December. I now have a total of six projects to finish (and 3 that need adjusting or finishing up.) I can do it!
The annual Christmas card session is commencing this evening so I will be occupied for a while, but we did a bunch of prep work last night so hopefully it will be quick and I can get back to my knitting!

Birthday Post 1.0

Pictured at right is one of the birthday presents I made for November. It is a cabled wristwarmer pattern that was on the ballband for Caron's Simply Soft, which may be my favorite yarn since Red Heart Symphony was discontinued. I like these so much, I may make a pair in a different color (probably black) for myself.
I also have another picture of a drop stitch scarf I made (in a pattern I am loving from Vogue Knitting), but it is on my phone and I am technically challenged at the moment in downloading to the computer. I'm sure once I figure it out, it will seem oh so easy.
Tonight I started a lace scarf in a silk/bamboo yarn. It is only 102 yards. I got it for a Christmas project and then ended up finding something that worked better so now I have one of those stray one skein projects going. I may end up ripping it all out like I did with my chenille hat Saturday, but we'll see. I will try to post the other birthday project later this week.

Cat Blanket Mama

Ha ha! Mondays are my new blog day apparently. I have been successful three weeks in a row now in updating my blog. Awesome. Since I have still been mostly sick, I have been relegated to cat blankets. The Idaho Humane Society has to wash and dry them all before they get used, so I figured I could get my knitting fix in without making anyone else sick. (I even took my knitting to the New Moon midnight premier and worked on it while waiting for the show to start.) According to the doctor, I will be coughing for another week or two still. Ugh.
This week I have a few last minute things to finish up (read sewing the ends in and wrapping them) for various birthdays in November/December. I often forget about these until the last minute and it interferes with my Christmas schedule. I guess it's a good thing I am such a fast knitter. The good news is, I will finally have some pictures to post next week! Hooray! I will try to be good and remember to actually take the pictures before I wrap them and give them away this time. I swear.
My one new project that I have been working on is a felted hat. I could not find any merino wool at Joann's (blast!) so I have been wearing those one-size-fits-all midget gloves to knit. Otherwise my hands get all itchy and scratchy since I am allergic to the one yarn they had (Paton's) that fit my instructions. All I can say is, this project had better work out! It is knitting up pretty fast since I am using size 11 needles (my those dpn's were expensive for such short work. I hope I can use them on another project some day.) The part I am sketchy about is the actual felting. I have never done it before and I sure don't want to have wasted all that time knitting such a large item to have it not turn out in the end. I ought to be finished with it by next week so hopefully I will have something positive to report about the fo (finished object.) Until then....

Ta-da! Sort of.

Well, the good news is I am back on one week later. The bad news is I have been laid up with a lasting cough. I finished my wrist warmers, but that's it. There has been no knitting for four days and I am starting to freak out. But, I don't want to give my cough to any of my gift recipients. (Even if it's not possible germetically-speaking (yes, I made that up), that's just gross. "Here, I made you this, *hack, hack* but don't get sick! *hack, hack*") I have thoroughly warned my husband not to touch any of my sleeves, or pretty much anything in our room as I have been holed up there for 20+ hours/day. I guess now the computer is off limits too. Or maybe I will just spray it with some Lysol. Ugh, I am going to go lie down. I hope to have more good news to report next week!

Designing

Okay, so the weekly thing is not working out, but I am on again at least within the next month. Whew! Progress.
I am still working with the Caron Bamboo/Acrylic yarn, but on the last bit of the project. I am currently using a ripple pattern, and it has turned out just as beautifully as the star stitch and the bramble stitch. Excellent.
I have also started using a transparency to graph out designs (on knitter's graph paper, which is different than regular graph paper) to incorporate into a project, intarsia-style. Note to all readers, DO NOT use dry erase markers on transparencies. It does not come off! After a long hunt, I finally found Vis-a-vis markers (which I did not know are also called wet erase markers, eureka!) at Fred Meyer. I tell you, that store has everything. So I mapped out my first project, but have not been able to work in it with the yarn b/c my elusive needle has disappeared yet again. I suspect the cats. They have stolen it twice already, argh! I think I am just going to have to purchase a back up, although finding one will be the challenge. I may have to forgo the Clover and suck it up for an Addi.
I also found a delightful cabled wrist warmer pattern on a super sized skein of Caron's So Soft that knits up quite quickly. The Evil Empire has them: a 7 0z. skein for $5. Awesome! One caveat: they don't have the color (plum wine) that is depicted in the picture on the label. Still a fun project though. Until next time.

New idea

So, since I am terrible about updating my blog in a timely manner, I have decided to try updating weekly, regardless of whether or not I have pictures available to show. This week I finished a pink purse for my niece's birthday which was Friday. It was a rectangle that I sewed up the sides (tri-fold) and sewed a handle in. I also sewed on a button to keep the flap down. It was a pink plastic butterfly. Unfortunately, I did not take a picture before I wrapped it and gave it away.
October of course is in the middle of Christmas run, so I am still working on projects that I cannot talk about without giving them away. But I will say that I am currently working with a bamboo/acrylic yarn by Caron that is FANTASTIC! It is so soft, and I swear, it is the never ending yarn. I may buy some more if I can find a good T-shirt pattern. It is soft enough to sleep in. The only bad part is that it splits easily and I find myself having to be careful to make sure my loops are all going the correct direction. I am using a new pattern called star stitch which I am quite pleased with. Here are the instructions:

1- knit across
2- knit 4, p1, "star stitch-p3, leaving the stitches on the left needle, move the working yarn to the back and p3 again" to remaining 5 stitiches. p1, knit 4
3- knit across
4- knit 4, p3, star stitch to remaining 7 stiches, p3, knit 4
repeat

You may want to try a swatch of it before committing to a long term project, but I really enjoy unique stitches like the star stitch. Enjoy!

Christmas project, pt. 3

These are the only two Christmas projects I still have. Two beanies I made for my dad and his girlfriend. One is Red Heart Super Saver & Red Heart Symphony combined. The other is Red Heart Super Saver with a simple fair isle pattern I whipped up on the fly. They met on the same vacation to Peru so I thought the pattern fit well.