I always have good intentions to work on a hand-stitching project while watching TV in the evenings, yet it never seems to happen. Finally I'm doing better, since I have several projects in the works. I'm slowly growing my granny square blankie - I made some progress on the plane to and from my conference last month. I'm also planning to get back out the cross-stitch stockings I've had kits for since my husband and I got married. I guess they won't be done by this Christmas, either...
Labels: knit/crochet, wip
We're back home but maybe not mentally back from vacation... We had a wonderful time, did and saw so many amazing things. I think I have about 600 pictures to go through. We were so busy the whole trip that I didn't finish a single book or make very much progress on the granny square. I only did maybe two rounds. One while waiting for tunnel access to Whittier, and one on the plane ride home. For now it is back to the real world of unpacking, laundry, and cuddling our furbabies.
Labels: knit/crochet
I wanted to get started on the granny square blankie and realized I didn't really remember how to crochet. It's been a while! Thankfully there are some decent videos online and I have a few books, so that all helped jog my memory. This is my little practice square:
I switched to a smaller hook and got started on my blankie. I can't wait to see it when I get into the 2nd round of each color - I have that green to do after this turquoise which I think will tie nicely back into the center chocolate brown.
There needs to be a little more balance to all those warm colors in the middle but hopefully the green will help. I think it's going to be really pretty!
Labels: knit/crochet, wip
Another WIP. Are you tired of these photos of craft supplies instead of actual finished projects? I don't blame you. As my sister said, "But your last post was just a pile of fabric!" Tomorrow's post is another work-in-progress but then hopefully the finished projects will be more common! Anyway, I couldn't resist picking up some yarn to do a
giant granny square blankie. Loving these rich colors.
Labels: knit/crochet, wip
Sometimes, when trying something new, everything just works. I can't believe how easily I accomplished a beaded cast on! Remembering knit vs. purl on the other hand... Good reference pictures
here (pdf).
Labels: knit/crochet, wip
I saw
this great idea for center pull balls of yarn on
whipup and thought I would get ready to start some more knitting. I love the simple task of sitting and winding yarn. Well, I love it until I get my yarn into a big tangled mess. We'll just forget about that part...
(I am heading off to San Francisco in an hour and am so excited! But it will be quiet here for a few days... I'll be back on Wednesday! Have a great weekend!)
Labels: knit/crochet, simple pleasures
I had an out-of-town class for work a while back, and I wanted a portable project I could take to work on. I had bought some Koigu yarn last fall, intended for a Christmas present that was never made. So I grabbed that, printed out the
feather and fan scarf pattern from
Wendy and set to work. I had a good bit done when I started second guessing myself...
I consulted my mother (husbands are no good with questions like this) and she agreed it would look good one scallop narrower. So I ripped the whole thing out!!
(Aren't those counters gorgeous? That's at my mom and dad's new house.) By the time I left, I had one pattern repeat done.
It goes faster now that it's narrower, so hopefully it won't take me too long to get back to where I was!
Labels: knit/crochet, wip
So I had a request for a picture of me holding the blanket. This is an awful picture - it's at night, I had to use the timer, the lighting is horrible, and it came out blurry. But the blanket still looks awesome!
The weird thing at the bottom of the blanket is the tag I made - I'd already pinned it on when I remembered I wanted to take a picture. Here's the front of the tag:
And I put washing instructions on the back, since I went to a lot of trouble making sure the blanket would be machine washable!
Finally, I made a card to go with the blanket - I couldn't just buy a card, after everything else was homemade!! It's really simple --
And on the inside I just stamped "Congrats!" So, other than posting a picture of the wrapped package (I got really cute pink and blue gingham wrapping paper at Target - and I'm not really going to post a picture!), that's everything that's going to the shower tomorrow!!
Labels: knit/crochet
I finished the green blanket! It is way past my bed time, so I'm going to make this quick:
It is cast off, all the ends are woven in, and it's ready to be wrapped! There are many places you can tell it's handmade by an amateur, but that's the point, right? Okay, time for bed.
Labels: knit/crochet
Well, as of this weekend I think I might have a chance of finishing the green blanket. I am almost caught up to where I was on the yellow blanket when I stopped: 50 rows on the green to 56 on the yellow... I think I can do at least 10 more tonight. The trick will be to decide when I'm half done so I can switch to the other part of the center section. Okay, enough words, you want pictures!! I linked them this time so you can see a larger version..
Oh, and if you click on the close up, you can see where I messed up early on. Oh well! It proves it's handmade!!
Labels: knit/crochet, wip
As I mentioned before, I've put the yellow baby blanket on hold to try to madly make the green one for a baby shower in three weeks... Anyway, here's how far along the blanket is now:
I'll probably start working on it again during our ski trip in March!
And another note - this is 56 rows into the center section of the yellow blanket... I'm already almost 20 rows into the center section of the green blanket, so there is hope that I might be able to finish it in time!!
Labels: knit/crochet, wip
I took these pictures the other day (I'm actually a little farther than this now) but I totally forgot to post them. Here's the beautiful seed stitch border on the Big Bad Baby Blanket - it's done and I'm on to the center pattern!
Here's a close up of the seed stitch. I'm proud of it because I've never done it before, and I think it's coming out well!
The blanket is actually being made with a skein of pale yellow and a skein of cream held together, so the blanket looks very light yellow... not the white it looks in the pictures. It's going to be very pretty.
Labels: knit/crochet, wip
I finally made a scarf I've been planning for months! I bought this yarn (Blue Sky Alpaca, I think, in Rusty Orange) on my Thanksgiving trip to Virginia, and just got around to knitting it when my sister was visiting for New Year's. She wanted something to do, so she cast on and knit about half of it, and then I took over to finish the length and do the fringe. I love it, and it's so soft I forget it's wool! It's so fun to know we made it together!
Here's a picture of me wearing it on my way to work yesterday, since it was actually cold for a day.
And here's a close up of the weave:
Labels: knit/crochet
Well, I did get done what I planned to, tonight, so I guess I shouldn't complain...
My intent was to at least cast on for the Big Bad Baby Blanket from Stitch N' Bitch. And I did that. I decided I had time to do at least the first row. Of course, when I got to the last of 126 stitches, it was a knit, and it was supposed to be a purl (seed stitch: k1, p1, repeat). I counted, and had 127. Crap.
It was so so tempting to rip out and start over. That's what I used to do when I messed up. Instead, I looked back through the row and actually found where I messed up. I got out some spare needles and similar yarn, and tried to recreate what I did. I was able to do it, and fix it, after about 10 cast on test rows. To keep this from getting any longer, I was able to fix the blanket row, but it did me in for the night. So here is what I have to show for probably an hour or more of knitting:
It's kind of depressing - all that work and you can hardly see it on the table. The circular needles still like to curl up from being in the package, and the box still has the next hanks of yarn in it. The gray yarn and blue needles are what I was using to recreate my mistake. See the dog in the background? He's kind of why I messed up in the first place... yeah, it's his fault! Anyway, there's a happy ending, and I'll get to knit more tomorrow night, maybe.
Labels: knit/crochet, wip
Yay, the
Rockstar Scarf is done!! It was a little late for Christmas (I had to wrap it still on the needles to give it to my mom), but it's done now and I totally think it was worth it! I used a different color of Koigu to be a little more... sophisticated, I guess, and I think it turned out awesome. My mother was kind enough to model for me!
Unfortunately, it's not cold enough here for scarves right now, but maybe we'll get another cold snap soon so she can show it off!!
Labels: knit/crochet
I finished this a while ago, but I only remembered to take a picture right before I wrapped it for Christmas, and then I forgot to post the picture... Oops!
This is a scarf idea from the Crystal Palace website, made with Merino Frappe and Shag - a nice warm wool blend, but still really soft. I'm pretty happy with the way it came out, though I wish the colors matched a little better.
Labels: knit/crochet
Well, I finally got Blogger updating again - it was my fault after all. Oh well!
So anyway, I made a scarf in one night! And I love it! I took a picture, but I haven't uploaded it yet, so I'll have to update this post tonight with a picture. Finally, I can start posting again! I feel silly now for it taking me so long to get this working...
Check back tonight for a new picture!
Update: Finally, the picture I promised! Took longer than I thought because of the whole hard drive crasing thing... The red is so pretty in real life, and it's really warm since it's wool, but not too scratchy.
Labels: knit/crochet
Finally, I had a chance to take some pictures! This post will have a lot, so bear with me!!
First, here is some new yarn I got...
This is for Karen's scarf. The pattern is
here. It's really more of a celery in real life, but it doesn't photograph very well.
This is for Kristen's scarf. The pattern is
here. I think it will be really pretty.
Now some works in progress...
This pink scarf was supposed to be for Jenn, but it's much brighter pink than I thought. So I might make this for Lauren and give the turquoise scarf to Jenn. It is going so fast! The pattern is a ladder pattern, which you can kind of see in this close up shot:
Now for something Mom can't see. Don't click if you want your Christmas present to be a surprise, Mom!!
For more pictures, click here.
Finally, some pictures of our house... I finally got the wreath I wanted for above the mantel! I added some fall colored candles, but I will replace them with more red candles after Christmas. I have better pillar holders coming, but they're on backorder from Target and should be here the first week of December.
The mantel:
The wreath closer:
And even closer:
I have big plans for this weekend, so hopefully I'll have even more pictures to post!!
Labels: homework, knit/crochet, wip
Well, it's finished when I hoped it would be! And I love it! Maybe it will cool off even more here, so I don't have to wait until our trip to Virginia to wear it. It could actually be a little longer, but I decided with all the other projects I want to do (and buy yarn for), I wouldn't order any more for this scarf. I'll just call it a stylish length!! Here's a picture of me wearing it:
Edited to add: How funny is it that I'm wearing the same shirt in the only other picture of myself I've put on here?? I guess that shows you what tshirt I usually throw on when I'm just laying around the house knitting!
Labels: knit/crochet
Well, I started my scarf, because I was frustrated with the progress on the boucle one I was working on. Here's what I have done so far:
I love how it feels so far. It is so soft! My only concern is that I won't have enough yarn. Oh well, I guess it could be a short scarf. We'll see. Here's a closeup of what the yarn combination looks like. I'm knitting it up in garter stitch on US15's.
Labels: knit/crochet, wip
I found this pretty eyelash yarn at WalMart, and knit up this scarf really fast (don't I sound like an experienced knitter?? This was my first completed project!) on size 17 needles. I really like how it turned out. I still have to "weave in" the ends where I cast on and bound off, but other than that, it's done! I'm going to give it to my friend Lauren for Christmas, I think, because the yarn makes me think of her. Here's me being a model:
Labels: knit/crochet
