First Cardigan

As many of you know, I'm on Ravelry a lot. A group of us in the main thread I'm in, decided to do a sort of knit-a-long. Not for any specific pattern, mind you, but to help spur us toward making a sweater or cardigan within a certain amount of time. Since I hadn't made any such garments for myself (or anyone, for that matter) in years, I joined, with the help of one of my dear friends.

Anyway, I actually managed to finish it within the allotted time, and I have to say I'm quite pleased with it. Maybe even a little proud. I've never in my life made anything like this before, and definitely not with this nice a yarn. I'm hoping it won't be the last time, either.

I chose to make the February Lady sweater, thinking I'd get the most use out of it, since I tend to run a little on the warm side these days.

Some Selfish Knitting

Project:	Sewanee
Pattern:	Sewanee
Size:	N/A
Yarn:	Roman Hills Gissing
Colors:	Dance Dance #1 Jungle Boogie
Needles:	US3
Gauge:	GAUGE USED
Ravelry link:	Hop on over!

I've done a lot of gift knitting this year, but some selfish projects as well. I'm showing these in no particular order.

I was gifted this yarn in the last swap I did on ravelry. I love the color, and the yarn's a dream to knit with. I had a few fits with the pattern, but I love the end result.

Old Song

This is getting to be an old song, huh? In all honesty, the fact that I let the blog go for so long and having so much to catch up on was a little daunting. It still is, as a matter of fact, and it didn't help matters that it made me procrastinate even more, making the gap that much bigger. I am here to try and rectify that, however, but we'll see how that fares.

I think, in order to make things a little easier for myself, I'll do groupings of things I've done. Like socks or shawls, for example.

Hats'll be up first, since I've made a few of them. There's one I'd love to share with you, but since it's a test knit, I'm not yet at liberty to do so.

Dusting Off And Starting Anew

*Dusts off and glances around* Well, I must say, things aren't looking too shabby for my having neglected this blog again. I do apologize, though. I keep meaning to post, and I keep forgetting! This makes for quite a bit of catching up to do, on my part, so I will stagger the posts a little, or they'd be way too long.


So let's start with the Dr Who swap I was in last year, since I can finally share all the goodies I made for my swapee.

Been A While Again

Yeah, yeah, I know, I've been MIA again a while. Partially because I've had another extended period of not being able to do anything, thanks for my fibro acting up, and partially due to the fact that what crafting I've done has mostly been for a swap. One that isn't done yet, so I can't share anything at this point. I will, though, once it's over and my recipient's gotten her package. ;-)

Deirdre!

I just finished binding off on my Deirdre shawl! The colors worked out so nicely, I'm quite pleased. The shawl turned out very differently to what I was expecting, given the image provided with the pattern. It's definitely a bit smaller than I was wanting, so I'm hoping it'll block out well.

Catching Up

Wow, I didn't realize how long it's been since I posted last. Life went just a little crazy (okay, a lot crazy) and I lost track of time. So sorry about that.

Anyway. Hubby took me to Black Sheep Gathering last month, and we had fun. There were a few things I missed from other years (no Angora bunnies on display, nor were there Alpacas, bar two out front). I noticed there was a huge increase in fiber for sale, compared to actual yarn for sale, which struck me as interesting. I guess spinning's becoming more and more the thing to do. Too bad I can't do it (no, really, I tried. My hands hurt like crazy when I use a spindle, and since I have neither room or money for an actual spinning wheel, I'm not likely to find out whether I can do it that way instead).

Hesitant

I just cast off on the Tongues of Fire stole, and I'm having doubts on the length of it. I'm hoping that it'll gain some length once I block it. I did try to see how much there'd be gained by blocking a small part of it, and I think it'll be okay... but to see it off the needles as it is right now, I'm worried... very worried.

Slowly But Surely...

I'm making strides on the crafting front, albeit very slow ones. I knit this Liesel scarf back in 2007, and I've only just blocked it. Yeah, kinda fail there, but oh well. Better late, than never, right?

the whole thing all blocked:

Almost Forgot!

I can finally show the second Elise shawl I crocheted, since I gave it to my Mother-in-Law last week for Mother's Day (okay, okay, a few days, late, but it still counts).

Here's a picture pre-blocking:

Blocking Away!

I just finished wet-blocking my At The Deep End shawl (aka the Elise Shawl I crocheted a while back). It was a little intimidating, because while soaking, a lot of dye seemed to leach out of it. Never had that happen to me before, but then again, I've never worked with that yarn before, either. Hopefully it won't do so again if it ever gets wet.

Anyway!

Here's a before picture:

I Did It... I Think

I took my first stab at blocking today. Not entirely sure if I did it right, but it seems to have worked.

Hey, MsKathy, I remembered to take before and after pictures, just so you could see. Hope it helps.

Before blocking:

Clever, I Am.

No, really. >.< I had my friend send me a copy of the HTML for the FO-tables, so I could have all the information together and stuff, and what do I do? I forget to add them to my FO posts! Silly me! So I just went and added them to the various posts, excepting the gift posts, since I obviously can't share that information yet.

Another Peek

Just thought I'd share another look at the shawl I'm knitting. I'm hitting a groove with it and have memorized the pattern (don't even need to glance at the chart anymore, woo!). I'm about 1/3 of the way through, from the look of things.

Also restarted the crocheted shawl, but I'm still trying to figure it out and don't really have much to share there.

Like I said, not much there yet. Also, may have figured out a way for me to block some of the FO's I have lying around, so will try to get around to that this week, hopefully.

Work In Progress

I'm nine repeats in already and finally feel like I've got the pattern down. It's not too hard of a one, really, but it took me a while to get into the swing of it.

I'm loving how it's working up, though. Check it out:

Have quite a way to go before it'll be finished, but I'm hopeful.

Casting On... Again

So I needed something to do, as I'm not feeling well and I am in no mindset to write. I found a bag of yarn I'd forgotten about, and I know there's enough of it this time, so I cast on for the Tongues of Fire again.

This is the yarn I'm using. So far, it's looking okay, but it's early days yet, as I'm only on the first row of the actual lace. So I'm back in the knit-a-long, which is cool. Still need to re-start the crocheted shawl I'm doing, too.

Good times. Good times.

Slugging Along

Well, sort of. I finished of gift # 2 for Jen the other day, and cast on for #3. This should be the last of the knitted items (at least, that I had planned). Then I just have to figure out what else to do. I have ideas, it's just a question of means.

I haven't had the heart to look at my shawls yet. Kinda got burnt on that after the yardage fiasco. Do want to pick them both up again though.

Also, need to figure out a way to get the lace I've done already, blocked. Twice now, I've taken it to MIL's and not done it. Why? Because I'm worried they won't dry in time for me to take home again, and I do not trust them not to mess with it if I leave it (kids + dog = trouble). So home it is, just need to figure out a way.

Bah

So I got a PM from the designer of Tongues. All in all, I do appreciate her contacting me, but I'm still bummed as hell. The pattern page isn't very clear. The reason I chose that pattern was because the yarn I had was a little more than the minimum required, as stated on the page. The pattern itself says it used 2 skeins (but not how much yardage said skeins had, so for me that was no indicator at all. I don't know that much yet about yardage and stuff).

Turns out the minimum was added for people "wanting to make scarves". Well, it doesn't really say that anywhere. I wanted a shawl. Not a scarf. And apparently, the yardage I have is for... a scarf.

So now I'm bummed as hell. I'm not feeling the yarn, or the pattern. Hell, I don't even feel like knitting at all, which sucks. 

Eep!

Am casting on for Tongues of Fire. I'm a little intimidated, but it looks fairly simple as far as lace patterns go. There's a knit-a-long on Ravelry, so I'm hoping to be able to join in and get this done. Have no recipient in mind as of yet. I just want to see if I can do it.

Wish me luck!

Yippie!

I just cast off on my scarf! I love it! Now I just need to find a way to block it, so you can really see it pop. I'm so pleased with it, though. I'm almost sad to see it done, actually. Once I got the hang of it, it was a pleasure to knit, especially with this yarn! So soft!

Project:	At The Deep End scarf
Pattern:	Feather and Fan scarf
Size:	one size
Yarn:	At The Deep End       50% Superwash Merino 50% Tencel
Colors:	blue/green/yellow
Needles:	US 5
Gauge:	none
Ravelry link:	Hop on over!

Now to figure out whether I'm casting on something else, or working on one of my WIPs ;-)