Hot Mess

There's been lots of knitting happening chez nous since the New Year began...I think my slump is finally over! Though that said, it's been lots of "little" things knit for the most part, and I find myself immediately backlogged when it comes to updatting this 'ol blog about them.

For starters,

The Colonnade shawl from Knitty.



yarn: Manos Del Uruguay Wool Classico (in Emerald, I think?)
needles: 6mm

This shawl technically was finished in 2009, but it took me so long to block it out and take some pictures that I finally just decided to count it as my first knit of 2010.



Now I know I've mentionned this particular yarn before...I've knit THREE other things with it (and subsequently frogged them ALL). You can see those three items here. This shawl marks my FOURTH attempt to use it. If that isn't due dilligence, I don't know what is.

It's even the prescribed yarn for this pattern. And to be blunt: I hate it. Though that's not the pattern's fault---it's just this horrible yarn that has been trying to mess with me and wear me down. It may have finally won, because I'm also counting this shawl as a frog-worthy failure.

Even if I hadn't made a big hideous boo-boo in it (a boo-boo I didn't notice somehow until this beast was essentially done and I refused to then turn back...):


Ugh, what was I thinking?

Even if I hadn't made the mistake, I still wouldn't be happy with it. It is simply too thick/lumpy/bumpy/itching/bulky and oddly-shaped to ever sucessfully be worn. Now that it's done I'm really not even sure what to do with it. I refuse to rip back and fix the mistake, plus I know it's one of those non-noticeble mistakes to anyone but me...so for now, I will put it in the "gift box" until I decide what to do with it. In truth I'm not sure if I could even bring myself to gift it to someone knowing there was such an error in it. Ideally I will just frog it all again, and then gift the four possessed/cursed/mean-spirited skeins to a more accomodating knitter than I. It will seriously be a miracle at this point if I decide to attempt a FIFTH project in it.

I tell ya, the tail-end of 2009 (for more reasons than I will admit to you here) was not looking so hot for me. And it seemed to show in my knitting.



free pattern: Destroyed Cowl
needles: 5mm
yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in "Emerald Blue" (about 1 skein)



Sure it looks purty in the photos, but I was really more "meh" about it in actuality.

Honestly what IS my problem? Two revered yarns...Manos and Malabrigo, and yours truly can't make 'em work??? Gah.

Though in defense of the Malabrigo, the yarn itself is squishy and gorgeous...it's just the colour that's not me. I used the same yarn making this hat, and knew then that it didn't really suit me, so I've subsequently found a home for it in this newest incarnation as well. (See, already I'm doing better than last year in the gift-giving department!)

That one was also pretty much a 2009 knit as well. I was starting to feel thoroughly depressed that things for 2010 weren't boding well, but then as my French cousins say "le trois fait le mois..." (though that's more a weather-related expression), and now here it is FEBRUARY already and 2010's gone off with a knitting bang, and I've got lots of new knits to post about.

So, speaking of thick and crazy-ass-warm (and a hot mess, really --though a hot mess that kind of worked out for me...)



pattern: French Press felted slippers
yarn: Hand-me-down-20-year-old Lopi from the stash, in several colours...raspberry, cranberry, coral, black...
mods: Double-stranded knitting for the soles, single-stranded on top
needles: 10mm
size: smallest (I'm a 6.5 shoe size)
buttons: From my stash...likely just from Fabricland.



Quite simply: these rule!

I literally just began by grabbing Lopi from the stash cause I wanted to get rid of it. I really never thought they'd turn out even remotely wearable, so it was kind of an unexpected surprise that they did! And not only that, our house is so freaking cold that I've been wearing them non-stop ever since...and there's not a lot of knits I can say that about.

They knit up VERY fast...probably within a couple of hours. The downside: they took equally as long (nay longer) to seam together. And frig, I hate seaming small things together, which is why I'm not so keen on knitting toys. I really thought at first that these would make excellent gifts and that I'd start cranking out a lot of them, but I think all the seaming has made me change my mind on that score.

Also I would caution you not to use Lopi. I felted them in the washing machine twice to get them down to my size, but really felting with Lopi is another hot mess (literally) ..it is super fuzzy and leaves crap everywhere (but I knew this going in and went for it anyway!). My next pair of these will definitely be made with Patons Wool. And finally: they are wipe-out-central. Definitely put some glue dots on the bottom (I meant to but still haven't gotten around to that). I've wiped out about three times now on our hard wood floors.

But regardless of those issues, they are totally adorable, and those are all pretty easy fixes.

Okay, I need to stop typing now...I've probably lost you at this point anyway.

every year less knitting...

I figure I'm still ahead of the game managing to do a "look back at 2009" while still in the month of January.

click on the image for the full 5X5:

seeing all these grouped together I am inwardly cringing at some of my facial expressions...

My immediate observations for 2009:

- a lot fewer knit items than in previous years: 29 F.Os in 2009 vs. 45 in 2008 and 54 items in 2007! (blogged/recorded knits at any rate...). Really, that's almost half as many as two years ago. I'm hoping that's it simply quality these days versus quantity. I've definitely had a much busier year in 2009 personally speaking, so I'd hate to think that I was losing interest in knitting. If those stats are any indication of a trend, I'll be lucky to crank out 15 knits next year!

-hardly any sweaters! Apart from a few shrugs, I only really knit two sweaters. In previous years it's been more like 4 or 5 a year in addition to all these smaller things. Being a more competent knitter now you'd think I'd have more interest in garments these days, but the opposite seems to hold true. Also the reality that I hardly ever wear any of the sweaters may have finally sunk in. I know I'm my own worst critic, but a lot of this stuff simply does not look good on me.
I'm sure it's just a matter of time before I'm really jazzed by a new sweater pattern, so for now I'm not going to worry about it.

-very little gift knitting. And THAT is something I really want to change for 2010.

I'd add that last one to my list of 2010 New Year's knitting resolutions, but you know I think I'm just not going to do any this year.

And with that segue, here's last year's knit-o-lutions:

-Learn to crochet.
Embarrassingly this one has been a carry over for TWO years now. I did make a half-hearted attempt a couple of weeks ago, so there was some semblance of effort -but that really doesn't count.

-Some form of colour work.
Big check-mark here! I'm patting myself on the back for my sucessful attempts at both intarsia and fair isle. Go me! By no means an expert at either of these things now I am at least no longer afraid to attempt them in the future. Bring it on.

-De-stash.
Again, always ongoing. I've actually made some strides here. Mostly in the realm of not adding to the stash. I never buy for the sake of buying anymore because that's how I end up with too many one-off balls of things (pretty tho they may be...). These days the only time I buy yarn is for a specific project I plan on starting immediately, and I have to say that's really working for me right now. Also I've adopted a much more frugal approach to my yarn purchases. "Glamour" yarns are usually purchased only for smaller items like hats and cowls. (Of course, I say all this NOW -- I could just explode and go yarn crazy at any point --that's always just simmering beneath the surface...)

So I will leave it at that for now, I think it's MORE than enough.

And because I always like to have all these hotlinks ready to go for my sidebar at right this is everything from 2009. Let's leave it all behind us and ring in the New Year right: I wish you ALL endless Cashmere and ne'er an unwanted dropped stitch!

Fat Mouse Mat
City Mouse knit toy
Patons Fair Isle tam
Le Slouch beret
Eternity scarf
My kind of cowl
Textured shawl
Bella's mitts #2
Lace shrug #2
Seed stitch scarf
Birthday cowl
Prairie boots
Alpaca Silk bow scarf
Robin's egg blue hat
Bella's mittens
Tw-tone ribbed shrug
Lace shug
Owls sweater
Mustard scarf
Rochefort chapeau
Julia beret
Lace Ribbon scarf
Raglan wrap sweater
Chunky ribbed cowl
Sideways Grande cloche
Side slip cloche
Grey owl mittens
Gold owl mittens

der kleine maus in das kleine haus?

...or something like that? My German is not the best. Unless you want to hear me tell you that it's very cold outside. My Norwegian is marginally better. I can a) tell you that I have to pee b) tell you to turn up the music and c) tell you that you have beautiful eyes, and that I want you SO much. Yes ladies and gentlemen I will be going far in life with these tucked away in the no man's land that is my frontal cortex.

But on to der Kleine Maus:



I finally gave him a face and shipped him off to his intended recipient (she for whom I'd previously knit (in the same yarn...) this pinafore:



He is a free pattern (and a fast and easy knit) from Lion Brand. My mom actually knit him quite awhile ago and I fell so in love with his divine squishy-ness that I made one of my own.



He really is just too cute for words. I made him back in October but agonized over the face (as always). The face always seems to make or break a knit toy, no matter how simple it appears. I actually looked up a bunch of "french-knot" tutorials online just to get the eyes right. Honestly, what did we do before video tutorials on Youtube? You can learn how to do ANYTHING (and everything) on there! The internet has definitely made me the knitter I am today.


(I just knit him using leftover cottonease that was in the stash, and 3.5mm needles)

Also in the land of doe-eyed toys...



BAM! (and her name is Austina...) Though I can't take ANY credit for her.


(here she is surrounded by her new brethren)

Isn't she freakin' adorable? Bet your heart skipped a beat when you thought I'd suddenly mastered the art of crochet, didn't it? Wrong again. This was gifted to me by the awesome Miss Muffy who I sadly did not get to see this Christmas as I normally would have. I'm sure she'll be posting all about it at some point and will have pattern details for you over there.

So enthralled was I that I paused to think "maybe I DO want to learn how to crochet after all!". God knows it would make knitting toys a heck of a lot easier. So I picked up my copy of the Happy Hooker and went to town. That first Stitch 'n Bitch book was somewhat of a bible to me when I was a beginner knitter. I referred to it a lot and figure her crochet book is likely to be a comparable source.

So I knit (er sorry crochetted) myself a chain stitch. Lots of fumbling but maybe with practice it will get easier? Then I got to the next part which is more of a "cast-on" I guess? That went badly. I ripped and started over. Badly again. Started over again. Badly again. And then finally once more before I launched the whole thing across the room in mass frustration.

Learning how to crochet was on my 2009 "knit-o-lutions" list. I was kidding myself to think I'd somehow be able to squeak that in a few days before the New Year, but hey a valliant effort on my part, right? I'll just bump that over to 2010 (again) and force myself to take a course or something.

So back to what I know a little bit better --KNITTING, and currently/apparently: MICE.



Mouse Mat pattern from: Pet Projects a very cute book I got from my fabulous sister for Christmas
needles: US #11 (sorry I like to use my old style Denise interchangeables for most projects and they never have the mm equivalents written on them, so I can never remember the equivalent Can./UK sizing)
yarn: leftover Sirdar Tweedie Chunky in "Cedar"


I just used some black Patons merino for the embellishments and some black buttons from the stash.

Again, the face --slightly all consuming. I must have re-shifted the positioning of eyes and ears at least three times.

My only mods were to make it "fatter" and longer. Maybe two stitches on each side (of the body) and another dozen rows. Really I should have probably done an additional 20 rows for my big 'ol beast, but he's easy to please so it's all good.



He currently sleeps all over this hideous navaho-type blanket that's folded up on the ground for him (yes there are other more cat friendly options, but he seems to love that thing...) Honestly I think I just dropped it on the ground ages ago and he's claimed it ever since...they are funny creatures. But rather than get rid of it I've just tried to camouflage it with the mouse mat. He seems to love them both, so it's a win win.



I have to count both those as 2009 knits...I know, I know I am sooooooo behind right now! (Happy New Year nonetheless)
xxxooo

Merry New Year?

Oh man, I am painfully slow on the uptake this year... I hope everyone's having a great holiday season!

I did virtually zero Christmas knitting this year. I started out with the best of intentions (as always) and began cranking out random hats. There's 8 other people on my team at work that I was thinking I'd make them for. And then apathy (and some illness) struck me and those plans flew out the window. In the end I came through with approximately 1.5 hats. (I think I've officially banished the .5 in that equation as well).

I had a massage appointment on december 18th, so mostly by virtue of the date (and her general awesomeness) that's who the hat in question went to: my RMT! She has the misfortune of seeing me naked on an almost monthly basis so I suppose it's the least I could do!



pattern: le Slouch by Wendy Bernard (I've knit this several times now...it's the perfect "slouchy" beret I'd say...)
yarn: Patons Shetland Chunky in "wine"
needles: 4mm
mods: I only knit to it's shortest slouch specified. It's more than slouchy enough...


My creepy headform "Sam" makes another appearance, as this picture was really all the energy I could muster in terms of taking a photo of myself wearing it.

I figured this whole exercize would be a great excuse for me to stash-bust. Here's what I've discovered about my ability to stash bust: it's pathetic. This is how things generally go: "I know, I'll knit a hat with that 3/4 ball of Shetland chunky I have left!" knit. knit. knit. "Hmmmmm, I've run out of yarn." drive. to. store. buy. new. ball. knit. knit. knit. Finish hat. (with different dye-lot on top). Put remaining 3/4 of NEW ball of Shetland chunky back in the stash. Stash remains exactly the same."

blargh.

There's also two newer things on the sticks (also being knit-from-stash, so here's hoping I don't run into the exact same issue...)

The Colonnade shawl from Knitty,



and the Destroyed cowl which will be some nice mindless knitting for me.



Listening to my Stash and Burn podcast recently they were talking about having a knitting "gift box" for all those items you knit and basically have no use for the second they're done (in my case, a SEA of hats) and I thought "Man what a GREAT idea!" So I definitely plan to put that plan into action for 2010. Maybe by Xmas next year I'll just be able to pull from the box for any last minute knit gifts.

I was also gifted some yarn for this for my birthday as well (yes, I'm a Christmas baby...)


Cape Nebuleuse from Phildar.com

I know I'm taking a chance here --how attractive can one look in a blanket with a neck hole? (Y'all know none of us look ggod in our snuggies!) And knitting a cape also flies in the face of my hatred for ponchos. Cape. Poncho. I'm walking a fine line. I've convinced myself that it's the difference between chic and say, covered in mud at Woodstock.

At any rate I have yet to cast on for it...that's likely to happen in the next couple of days. And hopefully I'll be able to get my act together enough for my usual New Year's Knitolutions post and a look back at 2009.

Happy New Year everyone!

Cowl Nation

sweet bejebus I am so behind on posting about things!

See I'm still a redhead here:



You know, I think I actually finished knitting this at least a month ago now. (And it's already gotten LOTS of wear...)



yarn: Sublime Cash Merino Silk DK (about 2 and a half balls?)
needles: 5mm circs
pattern: Eternity Scarf from Michele Wang

Now, Michele is one of those people whom I've never actually met in "real life" but who I feel a definite affinity for. Hers was one of the first blogs I came across when I first started knitting and getting into this whole blogging/online knitting community dealio. Really I'm not even sure how I found her way back then, but I'm glad I did. She has great taste, and just recently has started to come out with a few patterns. (And currently so many cowls! and you KNOW I can't resist a good cowl!)

This one is no exception...and I am already planning a second one in a slightly more appropriate yarn. The Sublime yarn I used here was a serious splurge for me originally and was left over from the Raglan Wrap sweater I finished earlier this year. But then horror! I still didn't have enough and a trip to my LYS to replenish was met with mad disappointment (I think this colour is discontinued?! why?!) Undeterred I then tore out the Birthday Cowl in order to finish it off. I mean, I liked that one too but meh, it can be knit again.

Seriously I feel like that's my M.O lately. I have been really, REALLY good about buying NO new yarn...unless it is for a specific project that is to begin upon purchase of said yarn. As a result though I seem to either be tearing out previous knits (possibly boring for you as a reader having to see the same yarn over and over again?) OR knitting from stash projects that I can't possibly hope to complete with the amount of yarn actually IN said stash (resulting in secondary trips to my LYS to "finish things off" --often in a different dye lot). Dare I say that I think it's time to just start THROWING.OUT incomplete balls of yarn. I'm hanging on to this odd assortment of blobs of angora and stuff, I mean really, what will I ever do with it??? Still, the fear of purging it remains.

Anyhoozle, my side-track rant about my yarn woes aside, the Sublime did make for gorgeous stitch definition:


I love how that cartridge rib turned out!

But I don't know that I'd use a DK like this again (I find I am wearing it doubled-up more than anything, it's quite stretchy) or if I was smarter I would have cast on probably 20 or 30 less stitches with it. Something to think about at any rate if you're planning to knit this in something similar.



The same week I knit another cowl in Twinkle soft chunky. (Let's get real...that stuff is so huge it took me like 20 minutes). It has since been frogged and is awaiting another incarnation...it never even made it to the photo stage.

But this beast did:


(greetings to the new brunette)

And, yeah you can tell by my non-woven-in ends the fate that this chunky cowl is also about to meet.



That is the My kind of cowl from ttwcreative. It calls for one skein of Cascade Magnum (which is what that is...) but I didn't have quite one skein, and that really made all the difference. It's knit flat and seamed, so if you don't knit it long enough, the cowl will never be "wide" enough. Exactly my problem here. Just a few more inches and it would have been perfect, ah well. It's still wearable (and I am still in love with this awesome purple...), but I can't really pull it down onto my shoulders. Which makes for a little bit of "neck claustrophia".

I tell yah though, there's nothing warmer than this bad boy. Sometimes I'd just throw it on when I was cold and sittin' on the sofa watching a movie, but it's like narcolepsy in a cowl --impossible to stay conscious for the duration of any movie while wearing it. You slip it on and immediately fall into a deep coma! At present my cat is currently using it as a bed when he's cold too.

Hmmm, would it kill us to turn the HEAT up? Um, Apparently.

First Fair-Isle!

So lately I've been missing me some Julia time. I know, I know, I will probably see her at Christmas, but her blog's been pretty quiet lately (I am also guilty of this...) and then I remembered "Duh!" she's been doing some stuff over on the Patons blog, so off I went...

And what did I discover, but a KAL in progress!

Now, first let me say that I'm not really much of a "joiner". I'm more of an organizer I'd say, so while for a split second I thought "maybe I should join this kal?", a dose of reality got the better of me and I remembered "oh yeah, it's all I can do to update my OWN blog let alone add to another". Plus I'm kind of bad at progress pictures lately...and by the time I get around to posting about the process, said item is usually DONE and I'm anxious to skip that step and just post my completed F.O. (naturally sweaters are a different story!)

Secondly I need to point out that this was their chosen project:


The Patons Fair Isle Tam.


(this image borrowed from FiberFervor from the KAL's flickr group...)

Yes, it's beautiful, and yes it's Fair Isle, so it looks appropriately intricate.

That said...Fair Isle? I'm really not a fan. Maybe I'm supposed to be because I'm a knitter? I think I don't like it because it sort of goes against my general fashion sense, which for the most part is a wardrobe full of basics and neutrals with pops of colour. I'm a Plain-Jane for the most part. Garish patterns and bright colours all over the place send me screaming for the hills.

Yet still, I was intrigued. I've always wanted to take a stab at knitting some fair isle, and what better than a fast, non-committal hat to get me started?

Done. It was decided. But I refused to agonize over colours and whatnot, so I ran up to my stash to see what Patons wool was there. I had about 6 colours in the stash (all neutrals, naturally!). I needed five. Even the process of deciding which colour to omit was pain-staking, so I cannot image the anguish I would endure if I had given myself all and any options. If you go over to the blog you'll notice people have charted out all their colours - -clearly the way to go-- but not something I would ever have the patience for. As it was I didn't even draw mine out on graph paper --I just sat there cursing the chart I was looking at that had nothing to do with the colours I was actually knitting. Every stitch was "ok, the chart says green, that's my dark grey" I didn't even write it down, I just went from memory (it's a miracle that I didn't screw that up).

And now here it is in all it's glory:





AND, I absolutely love it. I think the fact that I chose so many neutral colours has actually made this a very wearable hat for me. I've worn it a few times already and gotten many compliments. Several folks have asked me if it's "store bought", which I presume is a non-knitter's compliment haha.

My one issue though is my grey on grey combination. It does kind of make for a nearly invisible "star" pattern on the top and kind of belies the intricacy of the pattern. You'd sort of never really know to look at it at first glance that I used as many colours as I did. The gold winds up drawing the eye more than anything else and looking like a sunflower on top. If I did it again, I'd swap out one of those greys for something a tad brighter so that the outer star shape would pop a bit more. And I'm actually thinking that I may still knit this hat another time. I'm not sure what I was so afraid of, but it really only took me a couple evenings of TV-watching-knitting to get it done.

It's definitely given me the confidence to move on to a bigger fair-isle project if I so choose (though I don't really see that in my future), and I'd seriously recommend it as a first stab at fair isle if you were looking for one.



I also haven't blocked the hat. I'm really not into making it all "tam" style but prefer a slouchier beret, which I think is evident in these pictures. Blocking it may have made the pattern pop a little more.

For those interested I used 4mm needles, and just some Patons Classic Merino wool from my stash, but my colours were: Black, Olive, Mercury, Old Gold and Grey (sorry the actually name of this grey escapes me...)

I had a picture of the inside of the hat that I must have deleted, but I was pretty proud of my "floats" as well, particularly for a first try. All that "extra" carried-over yarn in there will make for a warm winter hat!


Don't mind my vaccuous robot face...really not sure what I'm smirking at here--pleased that I'd conquered fair isle perhaps??

And desperate for some new "winter" hair I have gone back to my roots (pun intended) and am officially a brunette again. Bye-bye red (for now...)!

let the giftin' begin!

I saw this shawl recipe a while back all over Ravelry and immediately queued it. Of course at the time I also queued several others that were kinda similar too. I think I was itching to make a non-lacy, non granny-ish, basic, neutral shawl.

Shawls to me are in some ways just scarves with more options. Plus it seemed like everyone on ravelry who had knit this managed to crank out a winner, so in the end this one came out on top.



free pattern: textured shawl recipe from Orlane
needles: 5mm
yarn: 5 balls Mirasol Contanani (60% cotton, 40% merino)in colour # 401 (gray)





Shawls. Not just for Grandma anymore.

Ummm, except this one--it actually is for Nathaniel's 90 year old gran. I know she likely won't be able to make it to our wedding so I wanted to send her a little something (she's in a retirement home in Toronto) to let her know we're thinking of her. We've also just learned that she recently suffered a bout of pneumonia so hopefully this will warm her up a little bit as well. (ok, I know it doesn't really work that way...) and I'm still on the hunt for a shiny brooch to include with it.

This really is a shawl "recipe" as stated. If you're on Ravelry you'll notice everyone listing their own version of the recipe, so I would be remiss if I didn't also include mine here I think.

I was super-excited when I found this yarn half price because it really is a-m-a-z-i-n-g. I was thinking I'd do an all wool shawl for her, but the blend of cotton and merino was just too smooth and perfect to pass up. Anyone I've shown it to has asked me if it's machine knit, every stitch just seems to lay so flat and perfect. I used up my whole 5 balls, but I think I'd probably go for 6 the next time. My final rounds of garter stitch weren't as much as I'd hoped:



So, my recipe: 16 rows of stockinette; 16 rows textured knitting; 16 st; 16 text; 16 st; 16 text; 10 st; 4 text; then about 20 rows of garter stitch.

I absolutely, positively, definitely will be making another one of these shawls for myself.



Also in the realm of gift giving (and grey...SO much grey I'm knitting lately!)



My second pair of Bella's mittens. Though in truth, they're not a gift from me. I knit them for a co-worker , and he gifted them to his wife to wear to the premiere of New Moon. If you don't know what that is, you've likely just beamed in from Mars, but she's a serious Twi-hard, and the mitts were very well received.


Knit in Patons Classic (2 balls of "mercury" double-stranded) on 5.5mm needles

You can see the first pair I knit here. This second pair were much bigger. I also discovered another free pattern for Bella's mitts on Ravelry, that are slightly more accurate to the ones worn in the movie (if you care about that sort of thing...)--the main difference being a textured palm. I'm still keen on this pattern though, and they no doubt go up a lot faster (these really only took me two or three evenings of tv-watching knitting) another reason they are such a great knit!

I am way behind on blogging and picture-taking these days...I'm not even a redhead anymore! This past week I knit two hats for another co-worker that I couldn't even be bothered to take pictures of (black Seaman's hats that are a major go-to pattern for my mother--she's probably knit a hundred of them by now). But it's a pattern that I would seriously recommend. It's flattering on everyone, a fast knit, and a great basic hat pattern for gift giving. I've knit a lot of them myself, and I think virtually all of my friends have one by now. Sooo, if you're in the market for another hat pattern, give that one a whirl.

And still more new things on the sticks:



At this point I'm not even sure if any Xmas knitting will make it onto the pile this year.

And one more thing (if I haven't lost you already...)-- The latest issue of Vogue Knitting had a little blurb on this crazy big yarn from BagSmith, and I find myself very intrigued by it. It knits up to 3 stitches per FOUR INCHES!!!!!!!! Size 25 needles. I'm tempted to buy enough for a rug (though broom stick sized needles may be murder to my child-sized hands)--anyone out there tried it? uh oh, hold the phone...website says 110$ a ball. Strike that (unless that gets me a whole rug, which I doubt). Yeesh. I mean I get it, but I still feel like you have to be a millionaire to be a knitter these days...

Maybe I'll just buy the book and stare at all the pretty pictures instead.

this wedding may be the death of me

I think this might be my third(?) attempt at a shrug for my wedding...



yarn: 1.5 balls of Butterfly Super 10 in charcoal
needles: 4 & 4.5mm
pattern: to come...but see here to get you started



So, you may recognize it as I've attempted it once before in green (see the "pattern" link above). This time I've added the ribbed collar all the way around in an effort to sort of "fancy-it-up" a bit more. For some reason I had it in my head that a big 'ol collar would make it seem somehow more "wedding-y" or "regal". Uh yeah --maybe that's cause Prince Charles and Camilla are in town today and I got all confused about my place in the monarchy. Yeah, that's it.



I've had some interest from a few folks on Ravelry, so I plan to write this pattern up for y'all at some point if anyone was interested in making it. Right about now I'm wishing I had WRITTEN SOME NOTES as I was doing it. But no matter, as I've already cast on for a third in some slightly more wedding-appropriate yarn and colourway so it would have happened anyway.



Contrary to what I'd originally hoped, a collar does not in fact make a shrug "fancier". In fact it seems to have toned this little lace number down somewhat (no doubt the grey aids in that too) and given it a much more casual vibe.

I'm really not a shrug person to begin with, but I think it would be great with jeans this way. However, for my more formal needs, I'm scrapping the collar altogether. You've likely noticed that I haven't woven in the ends, and that's why. Also if you have boobs, and I most assuredly do, you will need to make the collar several inches longer than I've done, otherwise it just curls away. A couple more inches would no doubt rectify that (or a stiffer yarn).



Lots of smaller projects on the go lately,


berets, berets, berets!


my kind of cowl


another pair of bella's mittens


toys!

and so on...

There's a couple of fabulous F.O's I plan to post about soon as well--

Fall knitting fever has officially taken me over!