More Me Stuff!

As I said earlier, I just couldn't help buying more yarn this week despite wanting to plod on and get some WIP's finished! Honestly, I just have to be in the right frame of mind to finish WIP's and if I'm not, then it's not even worth trying. Instead it's worth a trip to your LYS to find out that they're having a 25% off all yarn sale :-) AND there's still some cute stuff in their 50% off bins.

This yarn in particular caught my eye. It's a lovely shade of green that I like which is kind of hard to describe and isn't showing up in the picture quite true to color either. But I love it, and what you also can't see is that a thin gold thread is running through it too. I've never heard of this yarn before but it's just a blend of cotton and acrylic, with a little viscose too, and it's quite soft.

As you can see I've chosen to knit a bolero in it. This is from the Sirdar book 'California Girls'. I must admit the girls in the pictures look like teenagers and I worried when I got home in case I had picked up a book that fit only up to age 15 or something, but the sizes start at 32" and go up to size 42".

I also bought some Elsebeth Lavold Cotton Patine and have cast on for ANOTHER Soleil! I've tried over and over to do the crochet edge and it's still too big. I really do like the fit of the bodice so I will frog this back to the armholes and see if I can re-knit it to a better fit. In the meantime (again I just don't feel in the mood to do that just yet) I bought the Patine cos it was on sale (25% off remember) and it's one of the substitute yarns the pattern says to use. And of course I've cast on for a smaller size this time. I'll post pics of progress and yarn color soon.

Lastly, I have no idea WHEN I will ever wear this (we get very mild winters in Austin), but after seeing THIS last week, I just had to cast on and knit one. Ignore crappy lips 'sans' lipstick and the t-shirt that clashes!

I love the fan and feather pattern. Not so keen on the Patons Alpaca Blend that I picked up to knit it with, although I do love the soft pink color. This yarn sheds something terrible, and it was only after I bought it and knit with it did I think to check Ravelry - everyone else said the same thing. And I'd say what everyone else said too "don't buy this yarn". Apparently it doesn't shed after washing! I find that hard to believe but I'll let ya know.

Big day for me tomorrow - I'm having Lazik Eye Surgery. Will be back in a few days.

Well, I tried. . . .

Trying to take modeled shots while a favorite tv show is on, is not the best idea! Here's Kristen wearing the cute 'Honesty' for church today. I might try to get more interesting shots later, but for now this will have to do.

Despite the fact that I'd like to get on with some 'old WIP's' as mentioned in my last post, I found myself buying yarn yesterday and cast on for two new projects! I just can't help myself. I'll post about them tomorrow ;-)

Honesty!

This is Honesty from Knitting magazine supplement (April 08). I'm really happy how it turned out too, it fits Kristen really well. I went down a needle size to get better gauge, using 3 3/4 instead of 4mm.
The yarn is Nashua Cotton dk, colorway #258 (these ball bands never tell you a color name, but I'd call it a sky blue, although it looks a bit darker in these pictures.

I'm hoping to get some modeled shots of Kristen later this weekend, but she's out playing right now!

Next up? I think I need to get back to some 'old' WIP's! Two things I'd like to make progress on are for me, that being 'Spook' and 'Woodland (the cabled cardigan from Rowan).

I'm on a roll. . . .

. . . . another FO! I finished Soleil this week, well kinda. I have to single crochet around the arms and the neck. My problem though, is I can't crochet very well - and the armholes seem a little large. I have tried to crochet one armhole but I'm not happy with the tension of it. I've tried picking up the stitches around the armhole and then just cast off, but that seemed to make it look pulled at the v-neck?

I am hoping to pop along to my LYS tonight for their 'chicks with sticks night' again. My hubby is away in Denver this week so I will have to take my 7 yr old, Kristen. She is more than happy to go along as she likes to play in the toy box they have there, and I know kids are allowed because there was a little 5 yr old girl there last week with her mom. Oh, and can you believe that little gal was actually showing everyone how she could knit!!! Her mom had just shown her how to knit in the past day or so and she was doing an amazing job. Made me quite envious I have to tell ya ~ my daughter doesn't even want me to show her how! She's all about Wii and XBox right now (just like her Daddy!)

So, if I take 'Soleil' with me tonight I am hoping to ask one of the lovely ladies I got talking to last week for some help with the crocheting. And then if I can get that finished, I can take some 'modeled' pics and hopefully get some wear out of this thing, because I actually do like how it turned out and I actually like the color now too! Some pretty pearls and black capris? What do ya think?


Next off the needles? Should be 'Honesty' - more on that later.

How cute would this BEE!

The pun is certainly intended in the title :-) Ever since Susan posted her baby Bee hat pattern to go along with her Ladybug hat, it seems that little bees keep popping up everywhere! Not long after that I received my Simply Knitting magazine from my friend in England, and look what I found in there. . . . .

How cute do these look?! The white ribbon it says is to resemble little 'bee wings'!

And as if that's not enough to make a cute little 'bee set' I came across these little guys on Anny's blog this week. CLICK HERE to see what she just knit.

Too too CUTE! Now all I need is someone to knit them all for ;-)

Animated Bee Graphic courtesy of HomeSweetHome Graphics.

Photo Shoot!

(a bad one at that!) I don't like taking pictures of myself! But I do like sharing my FO's with you all, so I have to take the bad with the good - right!

Here's my attempt at getting some pictures of Summertime Tunic today (I would have gone out on my balcony and used my palm tree as a back drop, but the neighbors were sitting in their back yard and I would have felt very self-conscious setting up the tripod out there! - so my bedroom with plain walls it is).

First off, I tried to take one of those self-pics in the bathroom mirror like I've seen many of you do......

I'm wearing the top with a long cotton white skirt which looked pretty I thought....

.... then I tried it on with jeans and took a shot at that..... I liked this look (and the sunglasses? I just bought them last night so I was trying those out too!)

And just to prove I don't always look 'moody' ~ I smiled on this one :-)

And finally a close up of just the top. The dots on the ribbon are the same color blue/turquoise as the yarn. So there you have it - I'm happy with this FO and I shall be wearing it today to the baby shower that I'm taking 'Little Charmer' to :-)

An Unexpected FO!

I say 'unexpected' because I've been knitting this thing since January and I thought I'd never be done with it! 'IT' being the Summertime Tunic! It's a terrible picture and I will take some better ones soon (hopefully over the weekend), but I just wanted to share tonight:-)

This is the Classic Elite 'Classic Silk' that I bought last year to originally make 'Sahara' with. That started turning out too small so I frogged it then cast on for Lotus Blossom. After a few months of not knitting that very much I forgot where I was in the lace pattern and decided to frog that too. Sometime back in January I cast on for the Summertime Tunic and just took my sweet time with all that st st in the round! I didn't work on it for weeks at a time but over the past couple of weeks I've picked it up and took it with me to my daughter's piano lesson. While she 'tinkled on the ivories' I knit .... and knit.... and knit. And finally this week I realized I was at the point where I could break for the back and front.

Last night I went along to my LYS for their Wednesday night 'Chicks with Sticks'. I haven't been in over a year but now that school is out and I find myself without adult company ALL day I thought a little knit and 'natter' would be nice. I took along the tunic and finished up while I sat there. I just need some nice ribbon to put through the top and two nice beads for it and I'll get some modeled shots - I promise. Oh, and for some reason I knit the size 29 1/2" ?!!! I have no idea why I did this because I am usually a 36" chest (well I'm 35 so my bra size is 36) but guess what - THIS fits! And now I think I know why Jaden turned out too big!

OK, I'll be back soon with better pictures.

Spook!

I cast on for 'Spook' the same day I bought the mohair yarn. Boy is this some weird stuff to knit with. I feel like I'm knitting a cobweb. I don't think I've ever knit with such fine yarn. It also feels like it will take forever to knit because it is so fine, so I'm trying to pick it up every chance I get. I don't want this to just end up another UFO. Although I do have plenty of time before I can wear it I'd like to knit it as fast as I can.

It wasn't easy getting photos of this in focus either. Don't know why, the color perhaps, or just the crappy lighting in my kitchen?

Here is the model in the Simply Knitting magazine. Her 'spook' is in a very light cream. It looks a bit 'wishy washy' to me, I think I'm going to like the brighter color of my orange :-)

Also on the needles this week, another pair of Rainy Day Socks. My fav sock pattern thus far. These will be a gift for a friend, so I shan't say any more about them, just in case said friend reads this blog (not sure if she does!).

Yarn Goodies!

Thursday was last day of school for my 7 yr old - she graduated from 1st grade, so we went out for ice cream to celebrate (you can see pics on my daily blog). After ice cream I commented that I might like to pop to the LYS before we head home - Kristen was more than happy to go (because they have a basket of toys that she likes to play with!). I didn't need anything in particular (when do you ever?) but I came away with a few good buys that I thought I'd share with you.

First off this 'Lama Mohair' was on sale. At 50% off it was only $4 a skein. I had in mind to try the 'Spook' pattern with it and I've already cast on! I can see me now with a brown cami underneath it in the fall, with jeans and my brown boots on :-) If it turns out ok that is - and if it doesn't. . . . .well it's only $12 I wasted! It was THIS that urged me to try it, (I think Amanda's Spook for her daughter turned out beautiful) and when I coincidently got the pattern in my Simply Knitting magazine I knew I'd try it sooner or later. I must say though, it is the weirdest yarn to knit with, feels like I'm knitting a cobweb!

I also bought some Cascade Eco Wool. I recently bought the One Skein 101 Designer book but I have no wool in my stash (if you can believe that), I have a very poor stash :( So I bought this to put to one side for when I want to do something quick.

And then there was the Rowan Big Wool on sale, again 50% off. I recently saw this pattern again over at Susan's blog, so I bought the yarn to make myself a pair of mitts (or they might end up in the gift box, ya never know).


And with that, I'm going off to knit - it's a nice quiet Saturday afternoon around here!