What I've been up to (in the crafty sense)

I went to the Bazaar Bizarre on Sunday and got a few goodies and tons of ideas! I have a bad habit of thinking to myself as I browse the tables, "I can do that!" But I need to remind myself that just because I can doesn't mean that I will or that I shouldn't support indie crafters! So I bought some really cool pieces of fabric and Jorge bought me a cool necklace and pair of earrings.

Sunday was also Community Day at the ICA. This means FREE admission! It was fun to see the new building (well they've been there for ~1 year now) and the neat exhibits. And for FREE-- ya can't beat that! I think that there's one day a week from, like, 5-7 or 9 that admission is free...maybe Thursdays. Everyone should check it out at least once.

In knitting, I attended a finishing class on Tues night with Devon at A Good Yarn instructed by Allison of The Blue Blog. It basically reinforced that I do know my finishing techniques. I just need to practice them. I try to never do any modular knitting because I dread finishing but I should give it a try once all of my WIPs are off the needles.

Speaking of WIPs, I have 3 right now. A baby hat, which I'm totally dragging my feet on, my Tree Jacket, and my sister's Juliet, which I've just short of abandoned. Right now I'm in sleeve hell with my Tree Jacket...sooooooo boring.

Hopefully, I can make a big push to finish all three up before Christmas so I can start a fresh project for my travels and stay with my family in NY-- I'm sure I'll need a mental get-away at some point ;-)

Juliet...take 2!

My Juliet is done done now. Buttons, blocking, wearing! I'm not in love with the fit but it is pretty.
Sunday night I cast on for my sister's Juliet. I'm knitting it out of Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora (double-stranded). The color is just lovely. This picture doesn't do it justice.
I'm also planning on knitting the Tree Jacket...when my yarn arrives. Hopefully on Wed. so I'll probably swatch and cast-on that night-- fingers crossed.

Juliet...So close
It's coming along though I have a feeling that it's going to be too big. This is sorta funny because I usually take a large but I thought that I'd make the medium size based on the experience of other having their's turn out too large. Then I even threw in some decrease once I separated the sleeves for some shaping because it seemed to be turning out rather large-- how is this when my gauge was perfect and the WIP is huge!? So then, since I decreased until just under the bust decreasing the number of stiches, I decided to knit the lace in the small size. It still seems like it's going to be a bit too big for me. Yeesh, I just can't win....my last sweater for myself was too big on me too :'-( Hopefully it will work out or someone will be receiving a nice gift.
Edit: Finished sweater 10/30/07....still need to block.

Oh Sad Day
So I got too busy this week and forgot to cast my vote for the SKC KAL. Oh well, I couldn't choose between the three I listed in my last entry anyways...not that any of them won.

It was decided again that the next SKC KAL would be a double KAL as the last two were. The two winning patterns are Fifi and the Red Carpet Convertible Pattern. Neither really interest my much. They're both a bit ornate for my taste.

I decided that I would have my own Sexy Knitter KAL-- even if I have to do it by myself! First I will finish the PSC and then I will cast on for Fitted Tank in Tomato.

Not much actual knitting happening here

So I haven't been speed knitting at all lately. I've been a little unmotivated and kinda tired. Work has been really busy between recruiting and interviewing and every project that had to be done yesterday, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. My job is annoying right now so I'm going to blame it for sucking the creative energy right outta me!

I CO for the Puff Sleeve Feminine Cardigan from Fitted Knits by Stephanie Japel. I've been holding off on CO this on but thinking about it constantly. So, here it goes. I'm only ~20 rows in but the yarn called for in the pattern is nice to knit with and the pattern seems pretty easy to follow so far. I can't wait until I'm at the point where I can go button shopping (at Windsor Button, of course) for this cardigan. I originally thought that I wanted to use pearl buttons but now I'm thinking that maybe I'll use cutely shaped plastic buttons in a bright contrasting color. We'll see-- I've only done the collar so far, so I have a lot to knit before the buttons need to be picked out.

I received my June non-wool skein of yarn from my secret pal from the No Sheep Swap. She sent me gorgeous HandMaiden Seasilk. It's amazing and sooo soft! The colorway is called Woodland. A pattern came along in the package for a scarf but I'm not sure if it's my style. Any suggestions as to what pattern works well with this yarn?






I decided to make a (tiny) swatch of this lovely cotton tape I received from my secret pal Sharon the Knitter's Treat Exchange a couple of months ago. It's Cherry Tree Hill Rainbow Ribbon in Sugar Maple. It's soft and light and reminds me of me of melting Popsicles. I have 262 yd of this beautiful stuff and I'm still not sure what to do with it. Has anyone knit with this yarn before?




The top 20 nominations for the next SKC KAL are up so go vote! I'm debating between three: Lillian, Fitted Tank, and Tulip. So many great choices! Ok, I'm off to rest for a bit and hopefully work on my PSC for a bit before supper.

Tiiiiin Roof...Rusted!
I finished Rusted Root and am proudly wearing it today. It turned out well. My only problem was getting started with this pattern-- and that had nothing to do with the pattern at all. But once I got into it I enjoyed it. The mindless stockinette wasn't too boring because once per round I'd have the lace panel to work. All in all, the pattern was an easy knit and easy to follow. Thanks Zephyr Gals!

Next up is the Lotus Tank. I will swatch the cream KnitPicks Cotlin tonight and hopefully get started soon. I'm going to Florida the first week of June and I'd love to have it done to take along. We'll see how much life gets in the way of my knitting.

My KTE Package has Arrived!
So my package from my secret KTE pal arrived yesterday! It is great-- I was totally spoiled! She sent me two magazines: knitsimple and Knit'n'Style, Cherry Tree Hill Rainbow Ribbon in Maple Sugar (lovely and cotton!), chocolate among other fabulous treats! Thank you Sharon for being such a fabulous KTE partner! Go check out Sharon's blog .Also, a bit of Rusted Root progress. I'm just about 45 rounds in and I'm finally liking what I see. The lace is starting to look like lace. Thanks to Hattie over at the SKC for her kind advice pertaining to the lace panel in the project. I'm knitting tonight after work with my JP knitting ladies (mmm, maybe an official name!?) so hopefully I'll be making even more progress.

Progress and Presents!
So there ya have it...I'm only 23 rounds in but at least I'm in!
So far I'm not really in love with my lace but maybe it's only
because I don't have enough done to see the full picture. I really
need to get going on this project because I really do enjoy the
process of knitting once I'm actually motivated enough to do so.
And I wouldn't mind having a new sweater to wear!


Also, here's are my KTE goodies wrapped and packaged and ready to be mailed out. I love the sense of accomplishment to have completed a task. I hope that my gift is well received by my giftee. My gifter sent my package out yesterday so it should be here relatively soon. It'll be nice to get a present in the mail.

Rusted Root

So I knit my gauge swatch on Sunday. Luckily, and to my surprise, I came up with the exact gauge called for in the pattern. But that was the end of my luck...

I cast on too tight at first. So I cast on again....too loose. Then I can once yet another time and started knitting the first round and made a mistake and ripped it out for the third time.

I don't know what my problem was but it just wasn't in the cards for me to actually start the sweater on Sunday. I did end up casting on (hopefully for the final time!) yesterday evening and I think I'm finally good to go. I just need some nice quiet knitting time to get it going.

You can't really tell from the picture but this green is actually a lot brighter...more kelly green than piney green like it appears in the picture. I'm really pleased with the color. Now I just hope that I can actually get knitting and turn out a fabulous FO!

SKC KAL
I just received my Holly Green Cotton Fleece for my rendition of Rusted Root for the SKC KAL, which starts today. It's the perfect grassy green I was looking for! I was planning on gauge swatching last night but I decided to finish up a few WIPs instead so I would be able to fully concentrate on Rusted Root today.

I finished Le Slouche last night. Cute, but who knows when I'll get to wear it at this point:

Also I promised the bf awhile back that I would add "thumbs" to his red VooDoo (from Knitty) arm/wrist warmers from last year. He begged for thumbs after he saw my Fetchings (also Knitty) completeted. Since I loaned out the correct sided DPNs needed for this project I had to go down a couple of needle sizes...I'm really not happy with how they turned out:
Maybe it's partially because they aren't in the best shape....he doesn't take care of his hand-knits like I would. And partially because of the gauge of the "new" knitted thumbs. Oh well. However, I do like how Isis's cute little head is in the pic ;-)

Ok, enough rambling....I need to go start on a gauge swatch. Yay...