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.

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:

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:

Another FO

Just cast off on my scarf. I'm very pleased with how it turned out. What do you think?

Project:	Pink Dr Who scarf
Pattern:	The Corrugator
Size:	one size
Yarn:	Patons Classic Wool
Colors:	Rosewood
Needles:	US 8
Gauge:	none
Ravelry link:	Hop on over!

Now... do I keep this for myself, or gift it? *ponders*

Oh, and of course now I have to find another project to work on that doesn't require too much concentration. Time to scour patterns and yarn, I suppose. ;-)

WIPs

Gah, I hate when I run out of yarn before I run out of project. Alas, it happened, so the gift for Jen is on hold until I can afford to get more of it. Oh well.

So, what's a girl to do in the mean time? Cast on new projects, of course. I actually started two. One crochet (the lace shawl I was going to make with the yarn Amber got me). Unfortunately, I botched it up already and have to frog it. I'm not sure I have the stamina today to do that.

Which is why Jen helped me find a pattern for the Rosewood yarn I got as well. I'd tried the One Rose Handspun by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, but it was far too busy a yarn to fit the pattern. Jen found me this pattern, instead: The Corrugator.

It's much calmer, visually, than the other one was, and the colors seem to be more gradient with this one. I'm enjoying the knit. It's simple, easy to memorize, but visually pleasing. Win/win, in my book. I'm all for mindless knitting right now.

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 ;-)

Progress!

I've finally gotten the hang of this pattern without constantly having to count my stitches, which makes me happy. What makes me even happier?

This:

I'd guestimate I'm about halfway through my skein right now, so it's looking to be a decent length scarf. And pretty! I'm loving how the colors are working up, and the pattern, too. So simple, and yet...

Showing Off WIP

Well, I frogged the first attempt at the Feather and Fan scarf (yes, scarf. I read the name wrong, earlier. It is, in fact, a scarf), but have made some good headway with it now.

The pattern itself is fairly easy to memorize. Less easy is not accidentally adding stitches. Oh well.

See? I know it's not easy to see, given the lighting and the backdrop of my laptop screen, but you should get a fair idea. I like how it's turning out. At first, I was iffy on the combination of yarn/pattern, but it seems to be working out well enough. The yarn itself is yummy to work with. So soft. *sigh* Love it. Almost don't want the scarf to come to an end. Lucky for me, I still have a ways to go before it's done.

Oh, I found a picture of the yarn pre-wind (though no longer all nicely rolled up. It gives a better idea on the colors, though).

Isn't it lovely?

It Sucks...

When you run out of yarn before the project is complete. It really, really does. I am using a new (to me) yarn for the shawl I'm working on. One that I've knit a hundred times (well, not quite that many, but I've made it a lot). I took into account that I would need a little more. Even went so far as to compare it to what I normally used and made an attempt at calculating the difference.

I went up a needle size, and reduced the amount of stitches in order to compensate for the difference in the type of yarn and how it was knitting up. Technically, this should have meant I was using less yarn than I'd anticipated.

Some more FO's

In no particular order, I bring you....

A cabled coffee cozy

A honeycomb coffee cozy




A trinity stitch coffee cozy



A long sleeved One Skein Wonder


A semi-long sleeved One Skein Wonder


The colors of the last two are way off, due to horrid lighting. The long sleeved is raspberry pink. The semi-long sleeved is a mix of orange, purple and red.

On the work in progress front, I've started on a Liesel using the left overs of Teresa's clapotis. It's acrylic, but there supposedly a way to kill the yarn so it stays in shape. I figured this was as good a way as any to learn about it.

Happy New Year

and all that jazz.... Well, since I'm taking pictures (slowly but surely) for Ravelry, I figure I may as well update bit by bit here, too.

And, since it's after Christmas, why not start out with some Christmas presents!

First up, Bethany's clapotis. This one is relatively on the mark for color. Not the best picture, but it's all I've got. Here's another, closer, view.








Then, we have Teresa's clapotis.


Treanna had, at one point, requested a set, similar to the one I had made Trina. But instead of green/yellow, she wanted it yellow/green. I made her a hat and scarf, with a slight twist to the Harry Potter style scarf she had asked for. Dustin was kind enough to sew on the patches (by hand!) for me.



Sorry the layout with the pictures is so horrible. I can't ever seem to figure out how to make it look nice on here :(. It's always wanting to be contrary, which sucks.

I finished knitting a Liesel yesterday. Haven't blocked it yet, as I have nowhere to do so, nor anything to do it with. So it'll remain like this for a while. The yarn is actually a lot more pink in real life.


I think that's about it for the time being. I'll make another post once I've got more pictures taken, of some of the older FO's.