Dino

Here is a nice little dinosaur from the book Knitted Toys by Zoe Mellor - such a great book. I used the same recycled yarn that I made the EZ baby sweater with, plus some of the remnants of the $2 wool (that one skein is still going!). He's going to live with a baby boy.

And just for fun, here's what I got at my public library branch's book sale a couple of weekends ago. A Brief History of Time (!), a film book for my husband, a fun historical costume book, a catalog of beautiful paintings by an artist I hadn't heard of before, and this cool kids' book about fibers of all kinds, even Kevlar! I gave that to a coworker for her kid. I do love my library.

Little sweater

It's the February Baby Sweater by the wonderful Elizabeth Zimmermann, knit in the yarn from a ripped-out old sweater of mine. I really enjoyed knitting this for a brand new baby, although she probably won't be big enough for it for a couple of months.


And these are my two-at-a-time socks! After the first couple of rows, it became easy to handle the two needles and manipulate the turns. It's so exciting to think that I'll get to avoid the notorious Second Sock Syndrome and have a complete pair when it's all over. The only downside is that the multiple components don't lend themselves well to subway knitting, which is how I've been trying to make a dent in my holiday knitting goal.

A wee update

Circumstances have conspired to keep me away from knitting lately, which is very bad considering how many holiday gift projects I've set out to make. The brown sock has been made twice now, and has turned out way to big both times, so in a fit of frustration I bought the book Knitting Circles Around Socks, plus two circular needles in a smaller size, in the hopes that not only will I end up with a normal-sized sock but maybe save a little time by doing the two at once.

While I waited for the book to arrive I needed a portable project to work on during my lunch breaks, so I started my first Elizabeth Zimmermann project, the February Baby Sweater:


The yarn is reused from the sweater I ripped apart a few months ago. I think it's a perfect baby color, plus it's machine washable. This pattern is going incredibly fast, and is terribly cute. If I have time (hah) I want to make the baby leggings from the same book in the same yarn...but I might have to settle for just booties or a bonnet.

I actually do have a few more projects underway, but since those are destined to be gifts for people who may read this, they'll have to remain secret for now. :-)

This & that

I finished the Debbie Bliss Martine cardigan and I'm pretty happy with it, but it's very big in the body (hard to tell from the photos), so I'm giving it to my sister who's pregnant and starting to show - I think this style of one-button sweater is perfect for a big belly.





Here are the results of some more thrift-store un-knitting. These are both cotton; the red and tan are really soft, and the green is a really fine tape-like yarn. I don't have anything in mind for them yet, they're just going into the stash.




I just received the new Norah Gaughan pattern booklet, Vol.1, from Berroco, and I *love* it. I've actually never yet knit with Berroco yarn but I'm a big fan of their patterns.

And finally, the recent posts on TECHknitting on joining methods are amazing! She shows several ways to join new yarn *without leaving tails* that will need to be woven in! I can't wait to try them out.

Recycled Yarn-O-Rama

It's the finished Twinkle sweater! I actually made this weeks ago, wore it once, then ripped it out and re-did it and I'm much happier with it this time, although it's not 100%. It's just the right weight for a summer jacket. I used two strands of navy Cascade Sierra (wool & cotton) and one strand of a purple cotton from a Gap sweater I bought at a thrift store years ago and ripped up for the yarn. I still have a lot of the purple left so look for it in future projects...


This is the adult version of the Ballet T-Shirt from the Teva Durham book Loop-d-Loop. It is also made with recycled yarn - slightly nubby cream & tan cotton from an American Eagle Outfitters sweater I didn't wear much. This top is so easy to make and I love wearing it. I made mine much longer than the book version, and like the kid's version, I added a single-crochet border around the neck and hem to minimize rolling.


I've been doing a lot of yarn shopping in my closet lately! This is a pink marled cotton Land's End sweater that was a gift. I love the double-pink color and the light, soft yarn, but the shape just wasn't right, so I'm remaking it into the Martine short-sleeved cardigan from a Debbie Bliss book.













And Rita might recognize this Bass sweater from a legendary outlet shopping trip. Regrettably this acrylic & wool sweater didn't make it into regular wardrobe rotation, but since I do love the color, I pulled it apart and it's waiting for the right pattern to come along.