Updates

I guess I wasn't kidding when I swore that Bianca was my last FO for 2008. At least it was the last I'd blog about. I did whip out a baby blanket and beret for a couple of Christmas gifts, but I was too caught up in the madness to take proper photos and share them. Oh well!

My family had an awesome Christmas, and as always, once I finally allowed myself to stop fretting over shopping, I enjoyed it to the max! I know that these precious years of us having young kids who still believe in every bit of the magic are limited to a handful - and I don't want to remember them being stressed!

Now that the holidays are over and I have officially settled in to the new year (thank goodness my kids are back in school!), I have had a hard time lately coming up with something that I am craving to knit. This seems silly, but I almost feel like I am letting myself down if I knit something that a ton of other knitters have done, and more than likely done better than I could hope to. I feel like I spent all of fall being in a knitting frenzy, as I hardly got going on one project before I was already planning the next. Maybe that's why now I feel like I'm in a slump. I'm also trying to force myself to come up with something practical that I'll wear over and over. I am absolutely open to suggestions, anyone?!

Despite the fact that we have had ridiculously high temps for this time of year, even in Mobile AL, I have decided that I would love to finally knit a hoodie. I'm pretty sure that I have decided on the Pebble Hoodie from Knitscene winter 07/spring 08. Of course, I already have several mods in mind (cables??). I came across this sweater (ravelry link) that sold me on the idea.

Altough I've had a rough time committing to a large project, my needles have definitely not been idle! I knitted a third Gretel, in Plymouth Tweed:

I'm not exactly thrilled with the yarn I chose. Actually, I'm not thrilled with the way it photographs. It looks so much better in person. Tweed is difficult to knit precise cables, I've found. But after knitting this hat twice previously, I knew that I wanted something a little more casual. I couldn't bear to look at this yarn for another moment without knitting something!

Well, I'm off to bed to do a little reading before I stay up too late. More news soon ~ and hopefully some progress shots!

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.