Mixed feelings--Finished Project

Here's a picture of my finished baby kimono after it was blocked on top and before it was blocked on the bottom (I think). To me it looks a little disproportionate--wider than it should be. Oh well. I haven't seen Kristin's baby yet and have no idea that it will fit.

My First Swatch/dishrag

Here's the first thing I ever knitted. It's so very ugly! It was supposed to be a rectangle but somehow it has managed to be shaped like my home state, Missouri. I've had a few people comment that I'm a meticulous knitter, i.e. slow. Now people can see what happens if I'm not careful.

Handbag--In Progress

My knitted bag project is coming along well. I've finished the first side of the bag and only need to repeat the front side as the back and knit the gusset. I've also have been thinking of lining the bag with some cotton fabric; I just need to find some. Boston seems to be rather lacking in fabric stores.

Roar! Grrr!

Lion Washcloth

Lesson Learned

You really need to read a pattern BEFORE you go to the store to buy your supplies. This I learned today as I was swatching for my new knitted bag project. I didn't have the called for No.9 needles so I picked up some new bamboo ones at Windsor Button along with the called for yarn in a beautiful deep purple. I was watching tv and knitting my little swatch on my 9" No.9's. All was going well, I had doubled my yarn so that I was knitting two strands at a time. I finished, checked the gauge (which was ok, but that's another story), ripped out my swatch and looked at the pattern.

Ooops! Yeah, CO 126 of double stranded Ultra Alpaca. 126 stitches! I went ahead and started to cast on my stitches, squishing them tightly. I could only get on about 70 stitches. Looks like I'm heading back to my LYS.

Project Collaboration, II

Have you made any mitred squares yourself? From the sounds of things over on the Mason-Dixon blog, they're really addicting. Once you start making them you can't stop. And since I already can't stop making the MD ballband warshrags, I'm not sure I'm ready to take on another addiction at this time.

But I am intrigued by the collaboration idea. It would be cool if we made individual squares or something and then sewed them into an afghan or something. If we just made sure the finished squares turned out a certain size, then we wouldn't have to worry about gauge and all, right? (Unless we were doing all mitres--if the gauge wasn't consistent the stripes wouldn't match up.)

In a sort-of unrelated note, I've been wanting to make another zig-zag pattern "ugly blanket" for a couple of years now. The one you gave me is so great looking that I fantasize about making another one in hot pink, yellow, orange, and red. Or in crayola colors: pink, yellow, light green, regular green. And turquoise should be in there somewhere too. And in wool this time, instead of the original ugly blanket acrylic.

WIP update

Argosy scarf--done. It's a little itchy. I like the pattern so much that I want to make another one.

Giant dishcloth baby blanket--frog? Very boring. May be OK if I add a crocheted ruffle around the edge, but I don't know if I can stay awake long enough to get there.

Leaf-pattern scarf--too hard/wrong yarn? I have about 6 inches completed in pink malabrigo. It's very soft, and the pattern is beautiful. Maybe malabrigo is too soft and fuzzy though. A yarn with more of a twist would produce better stitch definition. Since the pattern is so slow-going, I want everyone to at least be able to see the pattern better.

Ball-Band Warshrag--in progress. How many of these things have I made already? 10? The one I'm working on now is hot pink/varigated hot pink-white-lilac. It will scare the food off dishes.

Mittens. I have one cuff done. Hmm. The Misti Alpaca yarn is so nice I don't know what to make out of it. Maybe I should use a rougher yarn for the mittens and use the Misti for another scarf? Since I wear a scarf every single day here, I can't really have too many scarves.

Socks for mom, socks for dad. Don't ask. At least I finally found the directions for the socks for dad.

Project Collaboration

So I've been doing much brainstorming about what projects I want to do in the future. I've been spending more time browsing the web for ideas and inspiration, and while looking at the Mason-Dixon site, I remembered the beautiful log cabin blankets that they have. So my proposal is that we (Aidan, that includes you) would knit one together. We could each either collaborate on the colors or one person could start with a few colors and the other one would independently pick matching/contrasting colors. What do you think? One of us would knit a square and then send it on to the other. In the end we could give it as a gift (or, not) to a third party or one of us could get it (but then we might be obligated to make a second one.)

I personally don't know if I have it in me to knit an entire blanket myself. Let me know your thoughts, Aidan.

P.S. This is also a test to see if you're even paying attention to the blog anymore. I have doubts about your commitment to Sparkle Motion, er, Load of Knit.

Wheel Rental?

Oh, oh, oh! I just found that Adrian Bizilla of Hello Yarn has a spinning wheel that you can rent for $10/week and you can take spinning lessons for $30/hr including materials! Even better, Hello Yarn is based in the Boston area and is accessible via the T. Maybe not what I need now since I'm not even managing my current knitting projects very well, but maybe I'll be more ready in the fall.

Shooting for...

I've just linked a fabulous blog, BrooklynTweed, under links to the right. This blog is awesome! I'm very, very jealous of it. This is the form of the knitting blog. The knitting blog qua knitting blog if you will. I find it both inspiring, beautifully laid out, informative, and a great resource for links.

For example, I'm finishing up the baby kimono for my friend Kristin, and then I found BrooklynTweed's baby sweater, which came from Elliphantom Knits. Yikes! It's so beautiful.