Finished Project Round-up

Well, I have put off posting here for so long, I've decided to gather all my finished projects. First:

I blocked it a little too big, so I'm thinking of trying it again. I don't know if a sweater will shrink the second time around, but maybe I'll have to wash it in slightly warmer water. Over all, I'm pretty happy with it. The buttons were a lot of fun and when I'm not lazy, maybe I'll take a picture of them.

Project #2:

Yes! I finally finished my first pair of socks! They were really fast to knit when I finally got around to actually knitting them. I used this pattern for Moda Dea Sassy Stripes yarn but modified the heel and made my own instructions for a short-row heel based on these sock instructions. The short row heel was SO easy. For a long time I tried using a pattern that didn't wrap the short-row, but I would always mess up somwhere and never pick up that second sock but I'm sticking with a basic short row from here on out.

Project #3:

This is a baby sweater my mom wanted me to knit for a friend of my little sister (whew!). I used an interesting pattern from Knitty. I though it was interesting that the sleeves were knit separate from the body and then attached. A topdown raglan is so easy to knit (see project #1) so this was a nice change. I didn't have enough yarn (this was started before I published Knitting Lesson #1) so one sleeve is way off and this sweater suffers from a term I have coined as The Colorway Curse.

The Colorway Curse is defined as irregular or unflatterning patterns created from using colorway yarn, a particular pattern, gauge, and needle size. Notice the sleeve's odd pattern. I don't want to take credit for this, but the baby will probably wear it once before it outgrows it, so I'm not too stressed.

Give Peeps a Chance

This one goes out to my girl Rita:

Crocheted Peeps!

Giant Sweater

From the Fall 2006 issue of Knit.1, it's a giant V-neck sweater vest/dress, knit in quick, soft, cheap Homespun from Lion Brand. The pockets are my favorite part. And! Once and for all, a proper kitty shot.

Bacon & eggs

Hmmm...over at Monster Crochet there are crocheted fried eggs and a giant strip of bacon...plus other weird yarn creations. I'm not sure how I feel about these, but I felt somehow that I had to share.

I cheated!

So I'm not quite done with my sweater--I'm stalling on the buttons, but I really want to finish a baby sweater my mom commissioned me to make so I went to a long forgotten Ben Franklin in Monona today. They had supplies for crafts that went way out of style in the 70's (but I did find bags of latch-hook yarn so I'm going to finally make my long desired latch-hook wall hanging!) I also found the Sugar and Cream yarn I needed. They had every color imaginable so I impulsively decided to buy yarn for a washcloth/towel set...



The two green/yellow skeins are for the baby sweater, but the orange, yellow and rainbow are for my kitchen. I really wanted brown and orange but there wasn't a colorway skein with brown and orange; strange considering the rest of the out of date stuff they had!
I'm off to look for a great washcloth and towel pattern...and I'll accept any suggestions.

Lunchbox cozy

Hi! In a previous post I mentioned that I have an awesome new lunchbox that really rocks, but I didn't care much for the carrying case, so I made this knitted bag for it:

It's made out of Wool-Ease Thick, left over from a sweater I made for my husband, and stretches to fit the lunchbox & an ice pack...I can squeeze in a small orange, too. The handle is kind of a drawstring I-cord thing. I like this better than the case it came with, but I'm already envisioning improved future models, like a lighter cotton version for the warm months.


And although it's not knitting-related, here's what it looks like inside...hummus & tomatoes, carrots, a BabyBel cheese, pita, applesauce, two little chocolates, and some cute clearance valentine napkins from Target! I love this thing.

Rita's Rules of Knitting: Lesson 2

If you're going to modify a pattern or stop knitting in the middle of a pattern, even if it's only overnight, write down everything!

When beginning a project record needle size, gauge, color, dye lot of yarn and any modifications you're planning on making. If you stop knitting, make a note of where you left off. You never know when you'll pick the project up again.

Let's look at Exhibit B:

One of these sleeves is not like the other one, and it's not just the dye lot (which isn't the same, but I can't tell the difference!) I thought I counted rows correctly, but the second sleeve came out about an inch shorter than the first one and it was wider so I didn't decrease as much as the first one either. So I agonized overnight about tearing it out or not, but I ultimately decided I should because I want it to be as nice as possible. The sweater already looks nerdy enough as it is (and yet, it looks like something Rita would wear!) So here is the final outcome:

I promise to model it as soon as I have someone to take my picture. I haven't blocked it yet--but I can't wait because then it might not be so lumpy and uneven (at least that's what I'm telling myself!)

The pink sweater that never was

Well, it just wasn't meant to be...I finished the pink sweater and tried it on, and it was close, but just not close enough. The fit was just a little off, and I couldn't help thinking how much better the sweater looked in the space-dyed yarn used in the magazine I saw it in, so I'm sadly going to rip it out and reuse the yarn. I definitely want to remake the sweater in a new, yet to be determined yarn, and with some slight modifications to the sleeves.

:-|

Crocheted Atari!

I always wanted a Nintendo when I was growing up.

I guess these Mario mushrooms can be a suitable replacement. Now if I only knew how to crochet!

It looks like mental_floss found this on this website.

Wow, this website has an awesome post on felted fruit. I think the actual pattern is only in the magazine though. So here is a picture of the fruit: