Another Downton-related post!

And yes, this is the weakest of connections, but I still wanted to include it.  I had fun playing with some new knitting accessories recently, and since I used them for the first time on the Downton KAL, I feel that I can include it all together.  Besides, it's my blog.  I'll post what I want :)

First up, some new stitch markers.  One set of lobster claw ones (the watermelons) and one set of beaded drops (the purple and orange - surprisingly cute $1 beads from Wal-Mart!).  Nothing much more to say, really.  I just wanted to show them off  :)

 

The other new stitch markers are simple rings.  I found a bag of assorted colored jump rings at a big box-type craft store (Michael's or Hobby Lobby, can't remember which).  Too much fun to pass up.  So, using simple silver beads (most of them are spacer beads), I made a sizable number of simple larger stitch markers.  Just opened the rings and added the silver accent over the opening. They are light and pretty snagless, both very important when working with any knitting, but especially when using the larger needles that these fit.  You definitely want lightweight stitch markers on projects like that!  And c'mon - hot pink!

 

The last new accessory is a new knitting bag set.  These are clearance too, for a bonus. I got the idea during the yarn crawl back in October.  I noticed a lot of very cute small project bags, and started making mental notes.  I didn't want to pay $25 for a basic drawstring bag, after all.  One style that I noticed added a grommet hole to their bags, to pass the yarn through.  YarnPop is the brand I saw, but upon looking for their website, I also found other brands and etsy sellers who used the same idea.  You pass the yarn through the opening, so that the skein stays in the bag, nice and clean, while you work on the project outside of the bag.  Helps keep the yarn clean, the skein from unraveling like crazy all over the place, and other nice perks.  I really liked the idea, but as I mentioned, paying $20 and up for a drawstring bag with a grommet just seemed excessive.

I had leftover grommets from adding one to my wallet (where I clip my carabiner with my keys).  Those grommets come in large packs, lemme tell you!  I needed one for my wallet, but they come in packs of about a dozen!  So, I had plenty to experiment with in creating a project bag.  All I needed was the cute bag! 

I found the bag I liked at Old Navy.  A clearance lunch bag, as a matter of fact.  $2.50!  So much easier on the wallet than $25.  Yes, it is a Velcro closure, but it's easy to feed the yarn through so that the Velcro won't catch.  And as a special plus?  There was a pencil case in matching material!  Can we say notions pouch?

To make my lunch bag into a project pouch, I added two grommet holes near the top, between the Velcro squares. The yarn can be fed through very easily, and if the grommets are installed properly (follow the directions on the package!), then the holes are pretty snag-free.  When you load everything back into bag, the flap of the lunch bag protects the yarn coming from the grommet and passing back into the bag.  Ta-da -  everything stays nice and neat!

So, there you go! A very simple alternative to fancy-shmancy store-bought bags.  To summarize:

1. Find a bag you like.
2. Purchase a set of grommets (or use some from your craft stash).  You can find these at most big-box craft or sewing stores.
3. Mark where you want your yarn holes to be.  You don't want them too close to any Velcro or zippers on the bag, to cut down on any snagging.  Also, it's nice to have the yarn protected when you're not using it, there there are any flaps to take advantage of.
4. Cut the bag at the marks, if necessary, to start the hole.  You probably will, if there's much thickness to the material - the grommets just don't punch through thick materials.
5. Follow the directions to install the grommets.  Hammer, hard surface, etc.  Nothing too complicated.
6. Enjoy!

NaKniSweMo Update!

Cumulus is off the needles as of Saturday!  It looks like I'll actually finish NaKniSweMo in the official Mo!  :)  The Ravelry page for it is here.

And from the back!

I love how the yarn showed the detail in this pattern.

And of course the buttons!  Zach is probably so sick of hearing my talk about these buttons :)  No, they're not sewn on yet, just laying in place on the sweater.  I wanted a picture where you could see the colors in the shell with the yarn.

I will graft the 7 stitches under each arm, and then figure out something for the pockets.  I don't really want to use the same yarn for the pockets - reading reviews, it says that the pockets can be very bulky. And let's face it, who really needs extra bulk around their hips?  So, I think I'm going to use a worsted yarn from my stash knit on a narrow gauge.  I also want the pockets to be densely knit, since I tend to stick a lot of stuff in my pockets, and don't want to worry about things falling through.  So, the project may or may not be done "on time" depending on how long it takes me to figure out my pocket situation, but at least the bulk of the knitting is done when it 'should' be! :)

And of course, I would be me if I wasn't starting a new project as I finish up another!  This time it's a shoulder wrap (small shawl) which could easily be a short scarf as well.  It's actually free online, if anyone's interested :)  I've Raveled it here.

It's a Red Heart pattern, using one of their yarns, Shimmer.  And I'm pleasantly surprised with how it's working up!  It's a bit fuzzy to work with, and can be a little splitty, so be careful when working with it.  On the plus side, though, it's got a nice little bit of shimmer, is pretty soft and not scratchy, and (being Red Heart) is nicely affordable.  Also, neither here nor there, it's kinda thin - others on Ravelry have said it's almost a DK weight yarn.  Just something to think about if you're substituting it.  Personally, I liked it better than some of the other shimmery yarns I could find in stores.  Berroco Lumina, for example, is much more metallic - good for some projects, but not what I was looking for here.  So, for once, I actually stuck with the yarn recommended in the pattern!  *gasp*  :)

 

It's a diamond-shaped shawl, with soft-pointed (blunted?) ends - start narrow, widen and knit straight, then narrow back down at the other end.  The lace runs down the middle, adding two more rows when the shawl is wide enough.  When I took these pictures, I had just started the two outside lace repeats, so it's almost as wide as it will be (not that you can tell on the needles, of course).  You can just barely see the new lace sections at the needle in the pictures.  You can also see a little of the shimmer in the yarn - no, that's not dust on the yarn or the camera!

 

Knitting peer pressure has hit me

And I join the ranks of folk casting on Clapotis :) This is one of those patterns that came and just took off. And as I'm getting into it, I can see why! It's simple enough that it's good TV or conversation knitting (you know, mindless knitting) but there's enough variation that it's not totally boring (like, say, a sweater for a 6 ft man of plain stockinette...). And since it's a finer yarn, it's actually only two skeins! Fit nicely in my carry-on bag as a travel project. Unusual for a shawl to be a travel project, but there you go! And since we had SO many crazy delays this trip, I definitely got some knitting done!!

Oh, and it's pronounced Clap-o-tee by most people, in case you're wondering.

I am using a sock yarn in a lovely purple ombre colorway. Lang Jawoll Magic. Nice superwash wool (not that I'd put my hand-knits in the wash, especially this one with all the dropped stitches, but still, nice to know it won't felt on me even on accident). You can see a bit of the purple shading in the on-end picture below.

I'm really enjoying how it's knitting up. Much softer than a lot of sock wools out there, particularly superwash ones. Not squishy soft, but certainly not scratchy by any means. I'm knitting on US 7's. The pattern calls for US 8's, but that was a little too drapey for my taste, so I went down a size. It's still much bigger that what a sock yarn usually uses, but it's not quite as loose. Just personal preference. Part of what I love about scarves and shawls and such - gauge isn't quite so important as with other wearables :)

It's knit on the bias, part of what gives it such lovely drape. It also means that the "starting triangle" of increasing stitches goes really quickly! I'm into the straight rows - the slog-along part of the project now. 107 stitches through lots of 12-row repeats. But even then, you have a dropped stitch every 12 rows, so that's a bit of fun to break it up and make it not quite such a boring project.

Talking with shop owner of a yarn shop in Tallahassee while we were visiting (Really Knit Stuff - worth a stop!), she said she had held a class for Clapotis. A lot of the ladies were really nervous when it came to dropping their stitches! I can understand somewhat, actually - it's very counter-habit for knitters. Those stitches should stay on the needle, right? It's a heart stopping moment in some patterns if you drop stitches - "Gasp! Nobody move! Where's my crochet hook?!" And then this pattern calls for you to do it intentionally?! But it's actually pretty fun dropping the stitches on purpose. Good for relaxing your knitting - "Learn to let go" sort of thing.

As of Knit Night on Thursday, I'd made it through my first 4 drops :)

Oh, and don't all my little carrot stitch markers look cute? :) You need a lot of them in this pattern, to mark all the twisted stitches for the drops. This project's what got me into beading stitch markers in the first place! If I'm going to be stitch markers on a project, I really prefer them to match, and it's just hard to find 18 stitch marks in the same style!

So, I lied...

Yeah, I had the goal of not casting on any new projects until I tackled some of the hibernating WIPs stashed about the apartment. Didn't work.

Needed a quick-fix FO to satisfy me, as I'm dealing with all these lace projects, so I found this one: the one-ball scarf with Red Heart Pomp-a-Doodle. A total impulse buy :)

Pomp-a-Doodle is a novelty pom-pom yarn. This one is just the Red Heart version, though there are several companies that make similar yarns. We'd seen some similar ones at Stitches, and the fabric that it creates is actually really, really soft. Seeing that Red Heart has a $5 version, instead of the more expensive equivalents, it seemed like a simple splurge.

The scarf itself is just garter stitch, just working around the pom-poms as you get to them. Yarn knits up very soft. The pom poms shed a little, so I doubt this will be a scarf for heavy wear, but it’s fun and quick and for $5, can’t beat it!

The whole scarf was done in under 2 hours - less than 2 episodes of the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes, including weaving in ends! In fact, the in-progress picture above was done after the first episode I watched. I had to get up to switch discs in the DVD player, so I took a picture while I was at it. All in all, a very good quick-fix project :)

The pattern is available free at the Red Heart website. I've raveled my project here.

Knitting Updates :)

Oh, yeah, in all that's going on, I've been knitting too! So, here are project updates:

• Gaia - all done, both Sarah and I! I LOVE how this came out. The silk gives it a nice drape, and makes it not quite so heavy, which is good for the desert. And I love how different the same pattern, same yarn but different colorways look. That was part of why this project was so much fun as a KAL, seeing the two different shawls take shape. There was only one thing I'd change in the pattern next time, and that's just personal preference - to make the stockinette and reverse stockinette sections the same at the eyelet rows. You can see it on the picture where's it's zoomed in on the edging, how the eyelet rows are always flanked by purl rows. If I did it again, I'd have that row be whatever stripe I just finished (stockinette or reverse), just to keep it balanced and extremely reversible. Not that it's noticeable now; I'm just picky. Other than that, this was a great mindless knitting project - once you get used to the pattern, just look for the color changes in your yarn. Easy! But with impressive results! Raveled here.
  

• Sugar Leaves - continuing on slowly. I still love this project, but like all my long and slower moving projects, my knitting ADD means I've more than this one going. So, I'll work on it a few rows at a time, and am now through about 3 pattern repeats. Raveled here.
  

• Yoga Set - finally finished up the details :) I've had the bag finished for a while now, and use it regularly. I'm just getting around to the details of the strap loops, seaming the block bag, etc. I'm going to write up what I did as a pattern/guide available here, since (though I started with a bag pattern available, it was really little more than an inspiration piece and I figured out everything else myself). No new pictures on this one yet - they will come soon, though, when I write up my notes. Raveled here.
  

• Yoga Socks - starting on my second one. This is my travel project right now, the perfect size for Weight Watchers meetings, for example. Our aerobics room here on post, where the yoga class is held, is sometimes enthusiastically air-conditioned. So, I'm making a pair of these to keep me a little warmer as we get started. If I like them, I'll probably make more :) Raveled here.
  

• Baloo Hat - another FO to report! A friend does theater costumes, and needed a ear-flap hat with ears for Baloo in a production of "Jungle Book." Basic top-down cap with ear flaps. The ears are picked up from the top of the finished hat, and are based off of the Official Kittyville Hat from Stitch’n’Bitch. The shape of the ears was adjusted to be more bear-like than kitty (I simply adjusted how the decreases were placed) Also, I added 2 rounds of single crochet along the base of the cap and earflaps (to keep it from curling), and two ties of single crochet. Finally, I used tassels instead of pompoms, as am for some reason unable to make good pompoms. Raveled here.
  

G is for...

Gaia!

(Mine is the blue-green-purple one, of course!)

The first in a series of projects I'm doing which I consider my "Finally Joining the Crowd" series of projects that I'm working on this spring. The other two are Clapotis and the February Lady Sweater. If you're at all familiar with popular knitting projects, you'll recognize these are REALLY popular right now. Currently Clapotis and February Lady Sweater are both in the top 10 popular patterns on Ravelry, and have been for ages. And yes, they've been on my queue for ages too, but now that I have knitting time, I'm trying to catch up on the queue and see some of these projects that people are so excited about.

Gaia isn't quite as common as the other two patterns yet, but it's a bit newer, too. We actually saw this one all over the place at Stitches, and that's what piqued our interest. It's designed to play with self-striping yarn (pattern calls for sock weight, but I did see one that worked with worsted - it's one of those nice flexible patterns). The pattern calls for Noro Kureyon Sock, but any self-striping yarn will work. Sarah and I are using Noro Silk Garden Sock (a little lighter, for us desert dwellers), and a lady in one of my Stitches classes had worked it in Mini Mochi, another gorgeously colored yarn. Those are the ones I've seen in person, but like I said, any self-striper will work. I'm working on US 5's and Sarah (who's a much looser knitter) is down a few sizes (I think on 3's). Being a shawl, though, gauge is less important - no fitting to worry about. Same reason I love scarves!

Seeing it on a bunch of people at Stitches, yet looking so different on each one because of the yarn, definitely got our attention. The eyelet rows are designed to come when the yarn starts changing color, so it leads to a really fun effect, and it makes it pretty mindless too. No counting rows or anything, just watch the yarn! I love how the front and back look a little different from the stockinette and reverse stockinette. The change in stitch is just enough to make different colors pop on each side. A reversible project, without being too mindless or two complicated. And for me, a non-sock knitter, it's a chance to use some of the fun self-striping sock yarns! Win!

So, since both of us were interested, we decided to work it as a KAL. Sarah's first KAL, actually. Even if it's only 2 people, we're still knitting the same project together at the same time, so still counts in my book! And we're hoping that if the other handful of folk in our knitting group see us having fun with a joint project, maybe we can talk them into doing one with us too. We're hoping something like Coco Vee for the next project. I was in Jane Slicer-Smith's Stitches Etc. class, and got to handle her Coco Vee sample, and it's a lot of fun! And miters, as complicated as they look, are really very simple. If you can do garter stitch and pick up stitches and decrease, you can do a mitered project, so we think it could be a good project for the less experienced folk in the group. Not too hard for them, but with impressive results. And if nothing else, it might be just us 2 again, but that's OK too :)

Oh, yeah, Gaia is a free Ravelry download, if you're interested.

WIP Wednesday! And some FOs too :)

Since Stitches, I've been oh-so-gung-ho on my needles. So very motivated! Got my stash and queue organized too, so I'm all ready to get tons of projects done this year! It helped that Zach was traveling for work until just last week, so I have plenty of time to get my stash bins organized, and all my projects lined up for the next few months. Am very proud of myself! In all this work, I also have been knitting actively in my spare time, and have a bunch of projects to report on. First up, those currently actively on the needles:

Tropical Fish Shrug

These skeins of yarn have been lurking in my stash for about 2 years now, a door prize at the annual Pajama Party at Knit Wits back home. They are such fun colors, so that even though the colorway is SIGNIFICANTLY brighter than most things in my wardrobe, I had been keeping my eye out for a good simple shrug pattern that will work with the ribbon yarn. I decided on the Minimalist Ribbon Shrug from Interweave Knits (the Minimalist Ribbon Wrap is in the Staff Shrugs bundle of patterns). As usual, I'm right on gauge, so it's on US 10.5s and 11s in the Colinette Giotto. Since I only have 2 skeins of the Giotto, I'm not making the sleeves as long (only to the elbow) and took out a few stitches across the piece (45 stitches instead of 49) so that should be just enough for what I have :) Makes is a little trimmer too - with colors this bright, you don't need it quite so big and drapey. It'll be eye-catching enough!

The other alteration I'm making is to work the sleeves in the round, instead of making the whole piece flat and then seaming. We all know how much I hate seaming! Oh, and once I reached the back piece, I started alternating the two skeins, so that I wouldn't have any pooling on the back. I had worked it one skein at a time at first, but was getting very strong pooling on the second skein, so backed up to the end of the sleeve and redid the back alternating like I said. Looks MUCH more even now!

Aside from the one skein pooling, there really haven't been any other complaints with the Giotto. It's got a great shine to it, and drapes wonderfully. The colorway I'm using is Jewel, but it looks more summery and tropical-fishy than jewels to me. I guess I think of jewel tones more in the garnet and hunter and navy and dark sapphire color range, not the bright tropicals. Still, the name aside, the colorway is a great summer piece. I have a few tank tops that will look good with it, and this will be a nice throw-on piece when summer evening parties start cooling off as the sun sets :)

Sugar Leaves Scarf

My impulse yarn from Green Planet! Don't regret it a jot! This stuff is so silky and drapes so beautifully... I will love this scarf when it's done! The yarn is in soft to dark roses and soft to dark greys. I can't tell you which picture below is closest to the actual colorway, (the pinks look better in the first, the greys in the second). There are no dye-lots for this yarn, so I'm working from two skeins and alternating rows. The pattern I'm using is the Streaming Leaves Scarf from Fiber Trends, though my lefty pattern reading has flipped the chart. Nothing really noticeable, unless you've seen the original pattern and notice that my leaves are cascading in the opposite direction :)

The view above is just after finishing the first lace chart. The pattern calls for you to repeat it 5 times, I believe, but I like my scarves a bit longer, so will play it as I go and end when I'm ready :) Either way, I think I will have enough yarn to make a little hat to match! Cute springtime-y set for when I have to dress up and still be outdoors. Spring weddings and the like.

The yarn is Araucania Ruca, and I'm working the pattern on US 6. The yarn itself tends to untwist a little, so it's kinda like knitting with several strands of embroidery floss. Still, you get used to it and just watching a little more closely to make sure you're not splitting yarn as you go. I've heard a similar description for Lion Brand Microspun, which holds up well once it IS knit up, and the sample in the shop was in great condition, so I'm hoping my scarf will hold up well too, since I'm sure it'll get a lot of wear too!

Gaia

Our KAL, mine and Sarah's. More coming up in a few days, since that will be my G ABC-along post :)

Mitered Hat

This is a free pattern from Sandi Rossman from her class at Stitches on using self-striping yarns. Band of miters around the head, then pick up for a small band and pick up for the crown, nice and simple. I was practicing the miters in class, and decided to go ahead and make the hat. Really, because I can :) I'm using Bernat Baby Jacquards on US 7. This is really just a portable project and will end up gifted or as a charity project or something. That's the sort of thing that happens when you're using a baby yarn and don't have any babies of your own. The garter stitch is very stretchy, so it might be a toddler hat, really...

And now, on to the recently finished:

Mom's Sweater

Version 2.0! This is the reworking of the sweater I made for Mom a few years ago. I know I mentioned it before, how I was redoing a beloved sweater for her. Well, I'd finished the knitting before Stitches, and have just now finished the weaving in ends and gotten it mailed off to Mom. I only have a picture of me wearing the sweater, but I made Mom promise to send me one of her when she gets it (Please remember, Mom!) It's a little long on me, but Mom's a little taller and likes her sweaters longer anyway.

I used the same pattern I did before, EZ's Percentage Sweater, nice and easy and in the round. It's what Mom asked for - nothing too fancy, basically a sweatshirt but nicer. I went down a needle size this time, using a 7 not an 8, but that should help it hold up to the amount of wear she puts it through, as well as bringing in the size a bit. And I didn't decrease the extra 10% at the cuffs and hem, because no one in our family likes that extra clinginess - the ribbing adds enough. I was very proud, though, looking at how some of my techniques had improved. The increases on the undersides of the arms, for example, were nice and ordered, and the collar was more even as well. Oh, that was another change too - I made it more of a mock collar this time, compared to the last version.

Travelling Woman

Here's for the gushing section of the post. I wanted a cute little shawl to make, using about 2 skeins of Lion Brand Wool-Ease that I had stored up. I chose Travelling Woman by Liz Abinante (the pattern is free at that link on Ravelry). This shawl is designed for 1 skein of fingering weight, but I used just over 2 skeins of the worsted weight instead, to get a little heavier shawl. Also, that's what I had :) I liked that it's a semi-circular shawl, not a straight triangle. I will have several triangles in my wardrobe by the time I'm caught up on my queue, but I like having the softer curve as a variation. Second, I love lace, and this is a nice simple lace pattern. Finally, the name - I am a traveling woman, too, after all! (The name of the shawl came from a British song, though, so that's why it's got 2 l's)

Part of what I liked about this pattern is that it is REALLY easy to customize the size. She gives 3 variations on resizing it in her directions. I chose to make it a little bigger by adding one more lace repeat at the bottom. In addition to making the shawl a little bigger (a bigger stockinette section and wider by one lace repeat), adding just one lace repeat instead of 2 shifts the eyelets on the back. In the original pattern, the center increase eyelets line up with the double decreases when you start the lace border. In mine, using an even number of repeats instead on an odd, the eyelets branch into the eyelets of the lace pattern. Subtle difference, I know, but it appeals to my sense of symmetry :) You can see what I'm talking about in the picture below (don't mind the color - the flash kinda washed it all out).

One other variation for this shawl is at the blocking stage. You can either block the piece in a soft curve, or with little peaks at the lace mesh. You can see examples of those in her original sample. Since I was working with an acrylic-wool blend, blocking was a little more challenging. "Vigorous blocking," as they say. I didn't worry about the peaks :) Using a wool-acrylic blend on the regular size US 8 needles meant that it was a little stiff when it came off the needles, but once it was blocked, the yarn softened up nicely and the drape kicked in.

Overall, I love love love this pattern! It's cute, the perfect size for me, and was FAST! The whole thing from cast on to off the blocking boards was under 2 weeks, and that included reworking a bit at the beginning. Cold meds plus counting stitches do NOT mix, just so you know! Anyway, I'd definitely do it again. The project was just over 2 skeins of Wool-Ease, the little bit more came from a hat I'd frogged in the same yarn. I think if I hadn't made it bigger, then 2 skeins might have been enough.

Oh, and as an added bit of trivia, I got to meet Liz (the designer) at Stitches! She's the lady behind Femme Fatale Fibers, and I recognized a Travelling Woman as one of the samples in her stall. One of those innocent conversation starters, "Oh, is that a Travelling Woman? I'm thinking of casting on for that when I get back home." "Yes it is. Actually, I designed it." So, thank you again, Liz, for a great pattern!

Knitting odds'n'ends

I am finding that with homework for Stitches, I am reverting to old habits. Namely, procrastination by productivity! You know, doing laundry instead of writing that essay. This time, I'm avoiding doing all my boring swatches for my homework by doing other knitting!

The Runner's Companion I finished last week or so only used maybe 1/3 of the ball of Fixation, so I thought I'd use the rest of the ball to make the Provence Summer Breeze headband from Classic Elite Yarns. That in turn only used a little bit of the ball, so I still have about 1/3 of it left! Will have to find another tiny project to use up that last little bit :) The headband though is a very quick knit. I think the whole thing took less than two movies worth, but the provisional cast on and the grafting at the end (both of which I'm slow at) took some time because I had to look up instructions and remind myself how to do them :)

This is a picture of the headband while it was still blocking. There's something about the years of bio classes in me that saw this all pinned open as something akin to an earthworm dissection. I can't believe that I see that, but there it is. Haven't ever seen that on any of my other projects while they are blocking, but this time, with the long straight shape and the two dozen pins opening it up... you can see where I'm coming from. No? Oh dear...

Here it is once the blocking is finished, and it's actually on my head. Less earthworm-y looking :)

The other little distraction project I've worked on is a pair of Yoga Socks (available as a free Ravelry download). There are actually several different pairs of yoga socks on Ravelry - I was making the ones by Justine Turner. I've really enjoyed being able to take yoga again, now that I'm not working, but the aerobics room where the class meets can get a little chilly. Once we warm up it's fine, but on the more stretching-heavy classes (as opposed to a more intense power yoga class) it can take a little longer to warm up and in a barefoot class, you can tell! So, I'm giving these socks a try, to see if they help. Something nice and simple, so they'll knit up quick. Even if they don't work like I want, they won't have taken up much yarn or time. I've got one done now, save weaving in the ends, so when I get the other done, I'll let you know how they work :)

The last project was the Cloud Bolero, which wasn't really a distraction project, but a quick-knit, almost-instant-gratification project. Well, it was supposed to be. I kept dropping a stitch near the top, right after the sleeves started. On some projects that isn't a big deal, but with this being a top-down lace pattern, any stitch mess-ups I have would be right up at the top where everyone looks, not like under the arm or at the hem or someplace else less visible. So, I frogged and reworked. Ran a lot of lifelines the second time 'round and made sure to count my stitches very regularly, and no problems!

For Cloud, I used two skeins of Lion Brand Homespun, which I know will pill a bit, but it drapes nicely and I had the two skeins left over from two different projects. Same colorway, different dye-lot, of course! So I got to play with the two rows alternating method of hiding different dye-lots. Gives it a very subtle striping, which I like. :) To make the longer version of the shrug (which I saw several people do on Ravelry, and I really liked) I ended up using all of the two skeins. Good stash-buster project, I guess! I don't have any pictures yet , since Zach hasn't been around to take pictures of me IN it (the finished piece itself doesn't look like much if it's not on someone), so pictures will come when I get a chance.

And some knitting news too

Besides the ABC-along, there's other knitting news going on in my little world.

For starters, I have TONS of time now to knit. Really, my life right now is cleaning, working out, and hobbies. This is the first time in over 4 years, since before Horrible Job in SC, that I've actually had enough time to really pursue my hobbies, instead of letting the supplies for them build up. Not a bad change! It'll be a nice break during whatever time we have left here in the desert, and whenever we get our orders and move (fingers crossed everyone!), I'll be ready to enter the workforce again, all recharged!

But, until then, I have plenty of time on my hands! So, the hobbies I'm focusing on are knitting and scrapbooking. Figure I'll try to work my way through a portion of my Netflix queue and get some projects done. Have tons of yarn and tons of pictures that are just waiting to be dealt with, and a mile-long queue to keep me supplied! So, expect lots of knitting pictures and chatting about movies :)

For the knitting realm, I'm almost done with my first big project of the year. When Mom came to visit last January (goodness, was that a whole year ago??), she brought with her a sweater that I'd made for her in college. She was so cute, "Is it bad manners to ask a knitter to redo a gift that they made for them?" Typically, the answer to that is a resounding YES. However, the gift that she was referring to was a sweater that, like I said, was made while I was in my senior year in college, as in a good 5, almost 6 years ago. This same sweater is one that she wears ALL the time in the winter (yet, I surprisingly don't have a picture of her in it). She likes that it's dressier-looking than a sweatshirt, but still sweatshirt-comfortable. And then there's the fact that her daughter made it for her. ;)

So what was the problem? Well, after the last 5 years of very regular wear, the sweater had gotten a little stretched out. Add to that, Mom has started running regularly, and has lost some weight as a result. Bottom line? The sweater which used to be comfortably baggy was now a sack around her. She could grab a handful of the sweater and still have a comfortably baggy sweater around her. So, no, I was not insulted that she was asking me to rework something she loved so that she could continue wearing it all the time.

As she was here visiting last January, she and Zach would sit and chat and rip out the sweater. I left that to them, as it's still hard for me to totally undo something I've done. :) When she left, she left behind the yarn, which sat in a bag until November when I was ready to start work on it again.

I started the sweater again in November, thinking that I'd do that sweater as my project for National Sweater Knitting Month (NaKniSweMo). To be honest, with work and everything else at that time, I didn't seriously think that I could finish the sweater in a month, but I did see it as a good chance to get my butt in gear and at least start the project. My goal (rather optimistic one) was to get the sweater done in time to put in Mom's Christmas box.

Still, although the sweater was not done in time for the Christmas box, it will be done shortly, so Mom will still to wear some this winter.

The sweater itself is the classic E Zimmerman Percentage system sweater. There's a good article about it over at Knitty. Lots of knitting in the round, very little seaming. My kind of sweater! I've been working on it as much as I can over the past few months, and am just about done. I joined the sleeves to the rest of the body on Saturday (Scruffy is inspecting the work in the picture below - yes, he really does sit like that) and have reached the decreases now. Once the decreases start, the rounds start going quickly, so pretty much in the home stretch now! After this, it'll just be seaming those 14 stitches under each arm and weaving in a whole bunch of ends. :)

Once Mom's sweater is done, I'll move on to more acrylic projects for family! I don't know if I've announced this yet, but I'm due to be an aunt this spring!! My brother-in-law and his wife are expecting twin boys this spring, so there will be plenty of baby knitting in my future! Zach's grandmother made each of the grandchildren a blanket when they were little, different allover cable patterns for each of them, and they all still use them now. Since Granny has passed away, I (as the only knitter in the family) inherited her needles, some yarn, and a lot of her notes, including the cable patterns she used in several of the blankets. So, each of the twins will be getting a blanket this year made from Granny's patterns. They will be different colors and different patterns, in keeping with tradition (also keeps me from getting bored!). I have chosen the color for the first one, and am figuring out what color I want to do for the second. Will have plenty of time to decide, since it's still a while before I'll be starting the second blanket!

Little filler projects for the spring include a simple shrug for me, and finishing up a carrying set for my yoga stuff. Oh yeah, and all my homework swatches for Stitches West! Can't forget those! Pictures will come, as always.