Current projects

I mentioned in my last post that I had started a Lizard Ridge blanket. I'm now over 2 blocks in. I realized that I only did 3 of 4 repeats on the 1st block, so I need to un-bind off and do another repeat, but I will do that at a point when I run out of yarn to start a new block, I think. I'm loving doing these blocks and feel fairly optimistic that I will actually have enough to make a blanket by August. It may not be as big as the pattern dictates, but at least big enough for a lap blanket.

I also am working on a crochet project for a Ravelry swap. I don't want to give that away, though! I'll post pictures after the swap package is received!

At work, we are doing a traveling scarf, and I am supposed to have my first portion ready to hand off to the next person on the list tomorrow. I have about 3 inches done and need to have 5-7. I'm using size 10 needles and only have 24 stitches/row, so I think I can get enough done to pass it on.

Soon I'll post pictures of my finished Lizard Ridge blocks!

Let's try this again

My last attempt at picking this blog back up was an utter failure, as is evidenced by the 6 month lag in posts between now and then. I'll give it another shot.

I've finished many projects since my last post. Here are some pictures:


I made this pumpkin bag as part of a swap on Ravelry. It's modified from a pattern on the Lion Brand website.


This iPod cozy is my first ever design! You can't see the details very well, but I used Noro Silk Garden and created ridges using the front-post stitch. I finished it off with a picot border.


You can't see this scarf all that well, but it's a Boteh scarf. I used Berocco Ultra Alpaca Fine, and the scarf is very delicate. I recently made another one (pictures to be downloaded still) using Plymouth Happy Feet that I think I like better.

I could have sworn I had more pictures to share. What else have I done? I knitted a scarf for my husband for Christmas. I knit an Edgar scarf.

Aha! Found a picture of the Edgar:

I crocheted a cute little birdie and egg for another Ravelry swap. I knit a Flirty Neck Warmer from the One Skein Luxury Yarns book, which is very pretty. I bought a gorgeous shawl pin from a seller on Etsy for that project.

Currently I'm learning to knit socks (not much progress so far, but I'm getting the hang of it), and I started a Lizard Ridge blanket. I'm hoping the blanket will be a gift. I'm very proud of having learned to do short rows for this project! It's so much fun and very addicting. I had to order myself 3 skeins of Kureyon online so I could continue, since I knew I wouldn't be able to make it to my LYS anytime soon.

Hopefully I will remember to post here more often now. :-)

Picking this back up

I've neglected this blog for several months now, but I'm going to try to post regularly again. I need to get in a better habit of taking pictures of my WIPs, so I'll have interesting content. Currently I have 2 real projects going and one sort of going.

Project 1 is an amigurumi dragon. It's going to be very cute when I finish. It's a little slow-going, since I'm keeping it at work to work on over lunch. Oh yes, since I last posted I have started a new job and actually have people to knit/crochet with on a more-often-than-weekly basis!

Project 2 is an amigurumi wolf. My friend is working on a terribly cute red hooded cape for her little girl for Halloween and was wishing for a wolf for the baby to carry. I found the perfect pattern, so I'm working on that at home. I'm almost done with the head; today I sewed the ears on and sewed the muzzle to the head. I just need to embroider the eyes (I don't trust the safety eyes for such a young one) and stuff the head before moving on to the body. The head is the most detailed part, so it shouldn't take me to long to finish from this point.

Project 3 is an afghan. I'm calling it my "weight loss" blanket, because the idea is that I will do stripes, changing colors everytime I lose 5 pounds. At this rate, the stripes are going to be very wide...so I've slowed down on crocheting it. Not exactly working how it was supposed to!

Broken twigs

Branching out has been relegated to the frog pond for now. I got screwed up and don't feel like tackling it again just yet.

I finished the elephant in time for the baby shower, and it was cute. Pictures will come eventually. I'm a lazy picture-uploader.

I bought yarn to make a Mondrian blanket (I'm also a lazy link-finder right now), but, because I liked the colors best, I bought Lion Brand Vanna's Choice, which is acrylic. After doing part of two rows, I determined that acrylic won't work for this blanket. The stitch is too tight (it's only single crochet throughout) and it feels plasticky. I'm going to have to find some inexpensive cotton or super wash wool for this project. I think I'll try either Swish or Shine from KnitPicks. Or Comfy might be nice, too. I petted some a friend's Comfy recently, and it was very nice. The problem might be finding the right colors. I need white, and I'm not seeing white in any of these yarns. I'm between real projects right now and feeling antsy.

I also tried to do this stuffed dodecahedron using Berroco Sox, but that yarn and a small crochet hook aren't really friends. Too splitty. So, I'll stick the sock yarn away for a while until I'm brave enough to actually try socks.

Lace

I've successfully completed two row of the lace pattern on Branching Out, and oh, am I loving doing this scarf! This is so much fun! I'm loving the challenge of learning new stitches and watching the pattern reveal itself. So great!

I'm resigning myself to the fact that, yes, after all my reluctance, I do think I enjoy knitting more than crochet...

Finished!

I finished my super secret project, and I'll post pictures sometime next week. Yay for making deadlines!

Meanwhile, I'm still working on the elephant, which, unfortunately, seems to be a bit wonky. Assuming it's presentable when I finish, it's going to be a baby shower gift for a coworker.

I got my yarn order, and that Ella Rae Bamboo Silk is sooooo soft. I've cast on frogged twice now Branching Out from Knitty.com and am pleasantly surprised by how easy it is. I can now ssk, yo, and k2tog. Go me! Of course, I keep screwing up and having to frog, but what's a knitting project that's never been frogged, huh? I think my problem is with counting. I'll think I'm following the pattern and then suddenly run out of stitches. But I did manage to fix a dropped yo, which is quite impressive, even if it was before I frogged for the 2nd time.

The dodecahedron I'm going to crochet with the Berroco Sox may prove too tedious, and I may just have to attempt socks with that yarn instead. It's just so thin and the crochet starts out big and then decreases instead of the opposite, which is what I'm used to. I'm not sure how to join a chain of 25ish stitches without it twisting. Trial and error, I guess. Socks are sorta calling my name now, though, since I thought of it... I could always by more Berroco Sox... yeah...

Yarn order!

I haven't yet become a true yarn addict, but my habit is definitely taking hold. Books are my crack, though... Anyway, I saw this pattern for this really funky dodecahedron in someone's Ravelry queue earlier this week (http://www.berroco.com/exclusives/celestine_crochet/celestine_crochet.html) and had to buy the yarn for it. I just had to. And of course, since I was already placing an order, and WEBS was having a sale, and I might as well get more for the same shipping price (you know the drill here, right?) I ordered 2 balls of Ella Rae silk bamboo and am going to attempt to make Branching Out from knitty.com. This will be my first foray from pretty straightforward knitting and purling, but it's a challenge. I'm so excited because the yarn is shipping today, so I'll have it next week! Yay!

(I'm sorry that I can't post cool pictures and links, but I'm posting via e-mail and am not sure how much formatting I can actually manage...)