Mardi Gras and a little knitting

I have been neglecting most of my projects and housework lately while trying to recover from Mardi Gras (see link below). My husband's very large family comes to town and everything else gets put on the backburner. I usually don't participate in it very much on account of our children, but this year I decided to get out and take the kids. We all had a lot of fun!

Here is my sister in law and her husband and little girl dressed for Joe Cain Day:

Lots of people like to dress up and walk in a parade through downtown Mobile. Below, my father in law is holding my little girl. As you can see, she loves beads!

Oliver mostly snoozed in his stroller during the parades. He got his moonpies second-hand, if you know what I mean!

Mardi Gras was a lot of fun this year. I was definitely glad to see it end and have a chance to get back into the normal routine.

I have a couple of projects going on right now. When don't I??!? Much to my displeasure, I completely screwed up my Gallery Jacket. I have decided to set that one down indefintely. I was just knitting away watching House and forgot I was supposed to be doing twisted rib. I got so frustrated with myself that I realized it wasn't worth frogging and re-doing. Maybe I'd be more excited about it if I restart in a nicer yarn. I loved the color I was knitting, but I'm beginning to hate wool-ease.

I hate when that happens! I was really looking forward to this sweater. I guess it happens eventually to everyone.

Anyway, here is my progress on the Leaf Tee. This pattern is yet another reason why I truly love Ravelry. It has been a huge source of inspiration for me. I'm about halfway done, but I need to get with it if I want to be able to wear this one. Our summers here in Mobile make wearing anything wool downright impossible.

The yarn I chose for this sweater does not photograph well - Euro Yarns Peru Luxury DK. It either looks too violet or too brown. It's actually a plum/eggplant shade. It's very earthy and feels exquisite! It's probably one of the nicest yarns I have knit so far. I may pick up stitches around the neckband to eliminate the rolling. But I think I like it that way.

I am happy to say that I've recently added a few goodies to my stash, but I'm fearing a knitting slump as the season changes. I've been looking for more spring/summer pieces to try. It's a gamble though to order yarn sight-unseen. I miss having a real yarn store here. Business venture?!?!

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.

Back to work....and still knitting

Ugh. After 5 weeks of maternity leave (the 1st of which I was still pregnant), I went back to work on Monday. I definitely wasn't ready for it, but then again I probably would never be really ready to go back. But, I'm not a stay at home mom, so therefore, I work. It's just the way it is. At least I get to bring Oliver with me. I can't complain about that! Not to mention it was sweet to go back on a short week - we got off for the week at noon Wednesday.

In knitting news, I have embarked on a bit of a sweater-ama. I have so much going on right now in the way of projects.

I'm really excited about this cropped sweater jacket:

It still needs sleeves (duh). It's my first "saw it, loved it, didn't want to pay 88 bucks for it" design (see pic in a post below). They say necessity is the mother of invention. True, true. Hopefully this invention will be the first of many successful attempts at such.

A few notes about this sweater:

• I based my pattern very loosely on the Tilted Duster from IK Fall 2007. You can see that the shaping of the front is different and it's longer. I also picked up stitches along the bottom edge to pull it in toward the body.
• I am using Lion Brand Homespun. Except for the color, I can't stand this yarn. I bought it super cheap and it's a pain to knit (typical 100% acrylic shit). Maybe I had such a hard time because I used small needles, but I wanted a thick fabric for the jacket. Anyway, I paid for it and I couldn't take it back so I used it. But I won't buy it again. It's a shame too because it comes in so many sweet colors, but never again.
• When I finish the sleeves, they will be long, hitting below the wrist. I'm calling them extended sleeves.

I'm looking forward to this sweater fitting a little better when I lose my pregnancy fat and boobs. Who knew that I'd hate them when I finally got them!?

I'm also b r e e z i n g right through the Cherie Amour from Knitty. http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall07/PATTcherieamour.html

Here she was as a tiny baby:

She has grown a lot since then! I'm working on the midsection now. I'm using Moda Dea Tweedle Dee. Ironic, because I used to hate it. I actually decided it wasn't too bad after finding another version of this sweater on Ravelry that had been knit with it.

Anyway, it's knitting up very nicely and I think it is a perfect yarn for this sweater. I will probably finish it tomorrow. yay! Talk about instant gratification. I love that.

I have also casted on for the Gallery Jacket:

Pattern by Cirilia Rose, whose blog is here: http://skrillaknits.wordpress.com/

I am knitting it in Lion Brand Wool Ease, cranberry. I know, more cheap acrylic shit. But I loved the color, especially for this jacket. I'll post a pic when it takes some shape.