Before I Learned to Knit

I have always loved making things. Ever since I can remember I have been called "crafty". My husband, bless his heart, has dealt quite nicely with having a house full of everything from paint and fabric to yarn and beads. Before I learned to knit (also before I became a mother of three) I was obsessed with jewelrymaking. One summer I even earned a pretty good bit of money making custom jewelry.


To be honest, I have been so into knitting lately that I had forgotten how much I loved my beads. They got relegated to the top of my closet (right beside a plethera of faux florals). Knitting became an easier, less cumbersome hobby for me and I just rolled with it.


I don't exactly recall why, but at some point in the last few days, I started jonesing for some new necklaces. So, tonight I decided to pull down those boxes and look through my stuff. Isn't it the greatest feeling to rediscover your treasures after long forgetting exactly what they are?!?! The hubby and two oldest kids went to Mardi Gras tonight so I had some peace and quiet around the house. Here's what I came up with:






That's the pendant anyway. The goal was to be able to match pretty much any color. Honestly, it had been so long since I'd looked at any of it that I wanted to use a little of everything. It's so hard to find good lighting in my house at night. So I whipped out the old "flip the book open" backdrop. It's a Webster's dictionary opened to a random page.


Here is the necklace on:

I wish I could've gotten a better shot. Maybe I will try during daylight to get the detail of it. I love it!

Okay, now I have to get dressed and go somewhere tomorrow so I can wear it!

Here's one more look:

Yay for rekindling an old relationship, and a little change of scenery!

Happy New Year!

A couple of projects later...





In true fashion, I'm only a couple of weeks late on that one! That's me though. Anyway, I'd like to share my first FO of 08 - Gretel. I was working on her right after Christmas, but I didn't officially draw up the last stitches until after the first of the year. This was quite monumental for me since I don't even wear hats. I've worn this one though! I love it.

















Yay! A hat for me. I knit it in Lion Brand Wool-Ease, Oxford Gray. Cheers to a few firsts: first project of the year, first hat for myself. Cool.

Now, on to the second FO of the year, Juliet.

Let me begin by saying that I have a rather large stash of yarn that for some reason I buy and have a hard time using because.....um.....God only knows why. Anyway, I have resolved to cleanse myself of it, so I am working or planning projects right now so it can serve its purpose. I mean, yarn is intended to be knit, so knit it!





Back to the subject at hand:


I did my research on this one. I searched every Juliet on Ravelry. I found a couple that I absolutely loved. For some reason, I had a feeling going into this that the bulkiness of the yarn would cause me to have a hard time with it. But in keeping with my stash-busting mentality, I had to do this. I casted on for the small, not sure whether to do the XS (still trying to lose baby weight). Then I had to decide whether to do the shorter yoke, or have it fall right under the bust. I chose the latter because it didn't do much for me at the shorter length. FAT!





I was so excited to finish that it only took 4 days total, which is pretty damn good for me. When I tried it on, I immediately decided to wash it in Woolite on gentle cycle to try to soften the yarn a bit. It was pretty stiff coming off of the needles and I wanted the lace to be more flowy. I suppose I can't really hope for "flowy" with a bulky yarn. The washing did help as well as a quickie tug or two during the drying process. Before adding the buttons, I tried this:






Cute, but I'm not sure if I pull it off well. I may go back to the buttonless look after its all said and done. Here it is with the buttons:




See that terrible look on my face? I'm thinking, "Why did I knit all those garter rows on the bottom hem?" That could be another reason that it's not draping the way I want it to. I'm going to rest on this for a couple of days then I may decide to frog a couple of the rows to see if that helps. If I decide to stick with buttons, I may move them over about 1/2 an inch to make the top fit tighter. You can't really tell from the pics, but its a little loose. Guess I should have done the XS!




I do have two other projects (stashbusting!) on the needles that I'm hoping to finish soon. First off, the Gallery Jacket that I started in November hoping to have done by Christmas. Needless to say that didn't happen. I am about halfway up to the armholes. Maybe I can get some of that done over the weekend.


Also, I am about halfway done with the Leaf Tee, a super-easy top-down raglan t-shirt with a lace panel down the middle of the front that adds just enough interest. I have about 9 balls of this really pretty wool/alpaca/silk blend that I got dirt cheap. Here's a peek:


I'm not sure what's going on with the coloring here. I was trying to take advantage of some natural light (hate the flash!). The yarn is not nearly this blue. It's more of an eggplant or plum color.

Hopefully I can post some more finshed goods before the end of the month. I guess I have been lazy about this blog since I post all the details of projects directly on Ravelry. I am so addicted to that site.