As promised, here she is--my Springtime Bandit. This is my #4 shawl toward 10 shawls in 2010. However, I think I need a lace break for a little while. I think my next project will be something that I can just pick up and knit and put down without getting lost in a pattern. I'm not done with patterns for good, I just need a breather.
This picture makes it look huge, but it's not. It's just a little girl model form that it's on. Trick photography. =)
First, let me start out by saying that none of the following shawls and/or pictures belong to me. I swiped them from the good knitters of Ravelry to show you examples of what I'm currently knitting but have been too lazy to take pictures of. So, with that said, I'm working on a new lace shawl (this would be number 4 of my 10 in 2010) called "Springtime Bandit." I've knit the whole body of the shawl already and now have about 25 rows of border left to do. However, the last few nights I haven't had any interest in doing so. I'm hoping to find renewed knitting interest this weekend.
I'm using a color from KnitPicks called "Autumn." The above color is "Sherry," but it's quite close. The Autumn has a little more golden flecks in it.
In my "race" for 10 Shawls in 2010, I completed my third shawl. I actually finished it more than a week ago, but I got lazy on taking photos. Laziness be gone, and here is the finished project. I'll be donating this shawl and my last shawl to a friend who is doing the 3-Day Walk for the Cure. She is going to have it for sale at a craft sale and then use the money made for her $2K+ entry fee.
This is a modified version of the Ulmus shawl pattern. It's modified because I only used on type of yarn instead of two. With the color change, I thought adding a second color would be too much.
Here's one close up of the bottom.
And here's another.
I'm knee deep in knitting another shawl, so I don't have anything to show right now. However, I may need to put said shawl aside in order to get going on a baby gift for my brother and sis-in-law's baby shower at the end of February. This is their first baby and they are over the moon about the new addition. It's a girl, and I couldn't be happier that they found out since it makes baby knitting a lot easier--and a tad more fun.
Here's what I'm planning for the new little miss:
And last...but never least...shoes! Every girl needs matching footwear, and I think these booties will do the trick.
Sky
MaiTai Heather
With my addiction to knitting lace and shawls growing each day (tune in tomorrow to see my latest finished shawl!), I picked up a new skein of yarn at my local yarn shop a few weeks back. It's called Harmony by Jojoland. I wish the colorway had a pretty name, but alas it's just called "HC06"...bleh. It's way to color-changing pretty for such a computer-generated name. Oh well. At least it'll be lovely to look at.
Disclaimer: none of the pictures below were taken by me. I just "borrowed" a few from online. ;)
Isn't she a doll. I love all the colors mixed together. I can't wait to get started on something...not sure what though.
Here is another shot. I only have one skein, since there are 880 yards to work with. Most of the shawls I've done have been under 400 yds. Maybe I can get two shawls out of this!
Here's an example of lace knit with the Harmony. The striping is so gorgeous!
And here's an itty bitty baby sweater that someone did using two strands held together. I'm not sure if the colorway is the same as mine, but I love how it turned out!
I told you that I had mad itch to get started on knitting more lace, and I wasn't lying! As soon as I got my new yarn, I got started right away on Jessica's swap shawl (a shawl made in exchange for new blog banner art...and another blog banner surprise coming in the future!). I miscalculated how much yarn I'd need when I ordered, so I had to add another yarn in. I used the alpaca cloud hank from the KnitPicks Sampler I bought last summer (a supply that sometimes seems neverending). I think the gray lace yarn actually helped to make the color-changing yarn pop more. I'm really pleased with how it came together. And as always, the Ishbel pattern is a dream to knit!
The other exciting part of this shawl is that it kicks off my participation in the Ravelry group, 10 shawls in 2010. But the joke with Miss Shelley is that because I knit so quickly and addictively, my group should be 2010 shawls in 2010....maybe if I didn't work. ;)
Ever since my three project break knitting ended, I've been antsy for new yarn and to get started on my next project--like, weirdly so. Luckily I have a little (and I do mean little) restraint, or else my big empty craft room (for now) would be filled with boxes of ordered yarn. On top of that, thanks to Ravelry, I've been completely overwhelmed by the number of products I could start. I knew I wanted to do something in lace (I swear, lace for me is like an itch that can't be scratched), but I wasn't sure which pattern. Then Miss Jessica saw Miss Shelley's new Ishbel and decided that she'd like one of her own to be her swap project for the blog banner she created (and the new fun addition that's coming soon to my banner!). Originally she thought she'd like me to sew pillows to go with her new bedroom quilt (which is gorgeous, by the way), but that was forever go, and lace is now her real request. Even though I've knit this pattern twice, I can't wait to get started on a third one. Why?
...just check out this lovely yarn I get to knit with! It's so pretty. I love how the color changes. It's from Wolle's Yarn Creations on Etsy.
Here it is all bundled up and waiting for me to break out my needles. So excited! I can't wait. Now if only Mr. Pups and the mountains of snow needing shoveling would cooperate to give me some free time. Guess I'll just have to sneak in what I can, when I can. ;)
I needed something to donate to the United Way Art Auction at work, so I decided to put the Honey Bun yarn to good use. I knit a big chunky scarflette using an adapted version of the Misti Ribs & Ruffles pattern. I left the ruffles off and I doubled the number of ribs going across (so CO 31 stitches if you want to make your own). And then I finished it off with two ceramic buttons that I found at Joann's. I really wanted to get antique wooden buttons from this shop that has great buttons. But then when I got over there, I discovered the store moved about 25 mins away. Damn! Oh well. Joann's did the trick.
Someone that I met via Ravelry asked to make a swap for old Anthro catalogs in exchange for some yarn. She lives in Australia and can't get them, and I had actually held onto mine. I was happy to send them to her without anything in return, but she surprised me with some yummy mohair yarn. It looks just like a honey bun to me. I'm knitting a small scarflette for a work auction with it, but I think I'll have plenty left to do something else as well. The yarn is from a local Australian mill called Bendigo Woollen Mills. I feel so lucky to have received such a nice gift.
And then there's the other honey bun...
OK, I lied a little. Even with a super cute puppy at home, I was able to get a bit of crafting done. My step-mom's birthday is today, and since I seem to be addicted to knitting lace, I wanted to make her a special shawl for her special day. I never seem to give myself enough time to make gifts, so this was a quick knit for me...about two weeks. I had to adapt the Eliina pattern to make up some time, but also save on yarn. I certainly didn't have as much as I thought I'd need. But now that I'm done and see the adapted size, I'm glad I didn't make it as big as it was supposed to be. It would've been a blanket!
And for those who are only coming for a puppy fix . . . =)
While I was crazed with worry about buying a new house, subletting our apartment and moving, I kept myself busy knitting the following little beauty. It's a shawl called Feather Duster, and the pattern is by Susan Lawerence. It's my first triangular shawl/scarf, and I really love how it turned out. The yarn is KnitPicks Shimmer in Cumulus. It came in my sampler pack.
Well after many, many patterns, I finally found one that was right for this yarn! The Upstairs Shawl pattern was a lot of fun to do and was easy to remember once I got into it. I'm really pleased with how this turned out. I think I'm going to save it to give as a birthday gift, but that's only if I don't get tempted to wear it first. =)
Here's a close up of the actual pattern. I love how wavy it turned out.
And here she is all laid out. It turned out to be about 60 inches. I did 11 repeats of the pattern instead of 10 (for those who want to knit this, too).
Depite my woes with my other lace yarn and not finding the right project, I couldn't pass up the deal the KnitPicks was offering on lace yarn samplers. Each hank below is 440 yards, and I got all of them for $24.99!
This is the "Riverstone" color pack.
There are four color packs you can get. The top left is "Atoll." The middle left is "Coral Reef." The bottom left is "Riverstone" (the one I bought). And the right is "Deep Sea." It was very hard to choose!
All of the hanks in one pack can be used to make the Chinook Shawl on the left, or one hank can make the Pyrifera Scarf on the right. The sampler packs come with the patterns for both. I'm not sure if I'm going to use them for that, but I'll have to see how my lace knitting is coming along. It takes great concentration...and I'm lacking that lately. 
Here is another look at the Chinook Shawl spread out. So pretty!
Yep. Down below is a picture of ANOTHER new pattern for the lace yarn I bought back in January. If this pattern weren't going so well, I'd think this yarn was jinxed. I think it would take two hands to count all of the projects that I've started and pulled out with this yarn. It's so bad that the yarn is starting to look a little fuzzy in the beginning. But, I'm not going to let that stop me from FINISHING this one! It's going to be a shawl...maybe a Xmas or birthday gift for someone. This pattern is working really well, so I think it will stick...then again, I thought that about the last pattern this yarn was raveled up in.
You may (or may not) have noticed the decrease in posting I was doing last week and the week before. Part of that was because I wasn't feeling great...stupid cold. The other part was that I was struggling with a project and could barely see straight. I think I'm out of the woods with it now (or I'm at least on a sunnier path out of those woods). To keep me motivated, I dangled a big fat carrot in front of me...in this case, yarn. I came across the cutest ever adult owl sweater pattern. As soon as I saw this, I wanted...no, needed!...to make this. My reward was getting to buy yarn with the sole purpose of knitting this lovely. Once the baby blanket is finished (another reason for a big carrot), this sweater is going on my needles...and then onto me.
My soon-to-be "hooters" sweater! =)
I was going to do a neutral color such as tan or grey, but it was 54 degrees out and sunny and wonderful when I went to the yarn shop. Spring took a hold of my soul, and I walked out instead with the most wonderful Cascade yarn in Baby Rose. Me likey a lot!
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