Raising the White Flag

I tried. I tried very hard. But I don't believe it is possible to make the Claudia Hat pattern into a pair of mittens. At least not with that ribbing pattern. Working thumb increases for the mittens is possible, but it just doesn't come out looking good at all. So I frogged the whole thing. I'll make a matching scarf instead. I wasn't sure I had enough yarn for that though since A.C. Moore doesn't seem to carry it anymore, but then I had the thought to make it for my little cousin Courtney who is always asking me to make her a hat.

You might be wondering, why am I posting at such an absurd time? The Boy is driving up to his grandfather's house and I'm trying to stay awake as long as possible in case he needs help staying awake/to know when he gets there. That and I just drank a huge coffee so make sure I stayed awake driving home from Long Island/ease my sore throat (not a good sign by the way!). At least now I'm caught up on all my blog reading, found some nice patterns on Ravelry, and edited my OTN bars on the blog.

Also, Happy Turkey-Pasta Day! And Happy Thanksgiving to all the non-vegetarians out there!

Lots of Exciting Updates!

I started writing a post yesterday at school about finishing The Boy's Hat. Stupid computer though wouldn't save my post (I was planning on adding a picture when I got home) but of course as usual, everything happens for a reason... I cleared off my bed so I could take a picture of the hat before The Boy came over only to realize the hat isn't actually finished- none of the ends are woven in! So that'll just have to wait for another day.

On to the news!

This weekend I received two knitting related packages...

This one is from Jacey for winning a giveaway on her blog. Thanks again Jacey! She sent me 2 back issues of Interweave and 2 skeins of Malabrigo yarns. These are officially my first issues of Interweave. I don't usually buy many knitting magazines (though I do like to look through them at the book stores). I've also never used Malabrigo before so I looked up some current projects using it on Ravelry and found lots of people using it for the Star Crossed Slouchy Beret. Funny story about this hat... I saw this pattern on Ravelry and thought "hmm this looks an awful lot like the hat Julia made for Jackie. I'll need to remember to ask her about that." At the same time I printed out the pattern for a someday project. I asked Julia about the hat...it's the same one and she's made it for herself (she was wearing it Friday night which is what reminded me to ask her) and for several other people. So now it's on the queue because I have the perfect yarn for it! Now just to decide which color...or both!

My KnitPicks order came! The needles have already been put on my cables and are working on The Boy's Surprise Scarf to match his hat and sometimes alternating to a pair of mittens to match a hat I recently made (so fast that there wasn't even a chance to photograph it!).

This part of the package is the Craftsman Afghan Kit. It's going to be a Christmas gift (hopefully if it's done in time) but not sure for who yet. I'm thinking for my Aunt Cathy and if it knits fast enough I might get yarn in more appropriate colors for Mom. The yarn it uses is Suri Dream and let me tell you that name is not lying! Touching this yarn is like a dream come true to the sense of touch. It looks and feels like the softest hair or fur ever and I can barely see the strands through all the fuzziness. Luckily the pattern calls for a size 11 needles so the stitches will be big enough to see on the needles through all that fuzziness. This is one of those yarns that you just have to hold up to your face and rub your cheek against :o)

This one is the Cheery Cup Cozies Kit. This will also be used for Christmas gifts (again, hopefully). They'll be nice small but interesting projects for the subway rides . The yarn is Wool of the Andes which I've never used before (this is actually my first KnitPicks yarn order ever!) but I see it used in soooooo many patterns. The only thing I'm worried about with this project is the felting. I've never done machine felting and I don't really want to do it by hand in the sink again plus it has to be made the right size to fit a coffee cup. We'll see with that one. There's enough yarn in the kit to make a lot of cozies though so there's room for experiment.

I can't believe I haven't mentioned this yet, but I will be starting a 4 year long knit-along this coming January. The Knitting on Top of the World Knitathon was Mary's idea. You can find the whole backstory on her blog, but here's the condensed version: Mary saw Julie and Julia and was inspired. She decided to do something similar with her knitting idol, Nicky Epstein. She chose to knit every project in Knitting on Top of the World, one pattern a month, over the course of the next four years starting January 1, 2010 and has invited the world to join her. I jumped on the bandwagon pretty early on and have had several little convos back and forth with Mary over email. But today's message through the Yahoo group was the BEST! Mary is having a kick-off celebration in NYC just after the new year's holiday. She and Nicky will both be at Lion Brand Studio on January 3rd for a knitting and book signing session. Lion Brand will be offering discounts to those who come. But wait, it gets better. The last thing Mary says in the email... "Anyway, I'm sure hoping I'll get a chance to meet any of you who might be in the New York City area (that means YOU, Steph!!!)" Yup, that's me :o). Boy, don't I feel special today!

HeeHee...Fun Stuff

Let's start today's post with some fun! This was RXP's Random Picture of the Day on facebook yesterday and I had to share it with the knitting world!

I hope when I knit on the subway I don't look like this lol. I'm pretty sure last week actually that the girl sitting next to me on the subway took a picture of me. I was wearing my glasses to the peripheral vision wasn't great but I thought I saw the digital camera's red light go off... maybe I'm next! But i guarantee to you that I do not wear granny square style bright crocheted clothes like this!

The Boy's Hat

This hat is knitting up so quickly! And oh my gosh the yarn is amazing. I forgot to mention last post that it's Berroco Ultra Alpaca. The colors I'm using are Brown Rice and Gordoba Grape (his picks). Makes me jealous because these colors perfectly match my polka dot peacoat! I might have to think of something to do with them for me but that doesn't make us look matchy. My needles haven't come in the mail yet, but as you see in the pictures there are two Harmony Options tips connected. Yea...I'm using a size 5 as the left needle and correct size 6 as the right. It's working for me for now and since it's a hat gauge isn't that important, as long as it fits his head (it does...we tried it on last night).

Owls are Here!!

The hat and one mitten are 100% finished! I gave them to Grandma on Sunday and she loved them! I made her try the hat on and it was a little big but she didn't want me to change it. The mitten fit her well which is good because the finger part wasn't long enough for my hands...phew. The only thing left on the second mitten to be done is the thumb, which I didn't feel like tackling on the subway yesterday.

I see an owl with some spooooooky eyes :o)

Starting Over...

I started blogging about knitting over two years ago, but I never felt a real connection with my blog. It bored me, and probably everyone else. It wasn't ever very me. So here I go, attempt #2 at a knitting blog. Coming at a perfect time seeing as how everything in my life has been shifting (all for the better!).

This blog is so me now though. Somehow, everything relates back to being crooked... Physically, my entire body is crooked due to one leg barely being shorter than the other. I of course blame all my other crookedness on this. My knitting seems to come out crooked too. Which really isn't a problem I guess if I'm knitting for myself of course, but tends to get in the way often. The same often goes for my sewing and crocheting too.

Let's start here with what I'm currently working on...

Project #1: Who? Hat and Mittens

Set

This project was going to be for me, until I realized that tomorrow is Grandma's birthday and I have no idea (or money) for a gift...so I guess another me-project goes out the window. The pattern for the hat can be found here on ravelry and the mittens are a combination of these and the owl from the hat pattern. I'm using some random Wool-Ease I had laying around from a Michael's clearance forever ago (literally...I think I used some of this yarn for Mom's Christmas gift 2 years ago). I looooove these little owls...just need to find some small cheap buttons to sew on for their eyes.

***About pictures for this blog- I only have the camera on my cell :o( please excuse the horrible quality of the pictures.

My other OTN project is:

Project #2: Turn a Square Hat

This one is for The Boy's Christmas gift. He picked out the colors

yesterday at Stitch Therapy with me. Seems like it'll be a fairly easy project, oh maybe if I didn't step on my KnitPicks Harmony Interchangeable Size 6 needle and break it last night! Yup, just my luck.

So when I should have been sleeping, I was ordering from KnitPicks a new needle and then some Christmas Project supplies because, hey, why not make it to the $50 order for the free shipping?? Exactly, there is no reason not to. So now I patiently wait while trying to knit with half of the KnitPicks circula

r and a cheapie too-short circular of the right size. Please come fast needles!!