Mom Socks

Another pair of socks finished! This is a pair of gameday socks for my mom. The blue isn't really quite right for Illini socks...really ought to be navy...but I dyed this yarn myself, so it just is what it is. I used Kool-Aid to dye the yarn and now that they have been washed, they have a faint fruity smell. For some reason, my old digital camera really has a hard time taking pictures of this yarn. Bless its old 2.1 megapixel heart, it does the best it can.





Yarn: KnitPicks Dye Your Own, dyed with various colors/flavors of Kool-Aid
Pattern: my own - 80 stitches on sz 0 needles, 3x1 ribbing, cuff down

Busy Bee

So I was a pretty busy little bee this weekend in the crafty department. I finished Fetching:



I started a pair of new stockinette socks, working two at once/Magic Loop (yarn is Regia, one of my first sock yarns and a gift from Rosemary):



And I even got out the ol' sewing machine and made a tote bag. No pattern, just made it up as I went. It's far from perfect, but it's functional. And a little retina-burning.





Today I finished my mom's socks, but they are drying so no pics yet. It feels so freeing to finish multiple projects!

Tragically Unhip

That's how I've been feeling lately. Blah? Yep. Frumpy? Mm-hmm. Not at all cool? Oh yeah. Wish I knew what the answer was. I've been wearing my funky scarf and got a new, cool handbag, but mostly I feel like a wannabe.

If anyone has the cure for the Tragically Unhip Blues, let me know.

Leftovers for a Cause

The power of the Borg has recently extended to charity knitting. Inspired by Rosemary and many others who are knitting for various non-profits, I decided to make good use of my Ribby leftovers and knit a small sweater for Children In Common. I had nearly 2 skeins of green Cascade 220 left, as well as most of a skein of black.

I ended up using the numbers for the toddler-sized pullover from the book, Style Your Own Kids Knits (a very handy book, by the way). I think it is close to a 2T size. It went together very quickly and I'm happy with the result. The second picture shows it in it's true drop-shoulder state.





In other news, yesterday I went to the lys and got buttons for my Ariann sweater. I had seen these before I bought the yarn and to my surprise, they do actually fit through the buttonholes!

The Borg is Back

Check it out: Episode 10

WIP's and a Fun Find

As usual, I have several works-in-progress. Since I've been posting pics of finished objects lately (rather than WIP's), I thought I'd give a status report.

The Ariann cardigan...going well. I'm almost finished with the waist shaping increases and have two buttonholes.



Father & Son socks, from the current issue of Interweave Knits...the yarn is KnitPicks Essential in Pine.



Fetching...I'm using acrylic for these *gasp* because my sister is allergic to wool. I've started the 2nd glove and am currently halfway through the cuff.



And finally...my fun find...clearly, these are storebought socks - but I was totally powerless to resist. Candy corn argyle. Perfect. :)

Ribby Cardi

I finally finished my Ribby Cardi. I started early in the summer and have worked on it here and there until I finished on Friday. It wasn't that it was difficult - I just got distracted with other projects. All in all, it is actually a fairly simple sweater to knit and I could certainly see myself knitting another one sometime.

The picture isn't great - it's hard to get something really good when you're having to take it yourself with the tripod and the timer.



Pattern: Ribby Cardi by Bonne Marie Burns
Yarn: Cascade 220
Needles: US sz 6 & 7 circulars
Modifications: none

My Funky Scarf is here!

My Funky Scarf Swap package arrived yesterday and I am pleased to report that I am thrilled with what I got! My pal was Kristin, aka BongoMama and she did very well. According to her note, she started my scarf five different times before she was satisfied (funny, that sounds awfully familiar to what I experienced with my own FSS project...). From what I can tell, she knit the scarf length-wise and put fringe on the ends. She didn't list what the yarns are, but I really like them. I rather fancy it to be sorta Death Eater Glam. (Non-HP-fans just smile and nod as that will mean nothing to you.)





Kristin also sent me a set of very cool magnets, adorable knitty notecards and best of all, my very first Moleskine notebook! It is the 3.5x5.5" size and has "squared pages" (like graph paper) and an expandable inner pocket - perfect for a knitty notebook!



Thank you so much, Kristin!!

A Quick Little Project

So I've wanted to make a needle case for my dpns (double-pointed needles, for those non-knitters) and just haven't gotten around to it until this week. Lots of people make very simple ones, which was really all I needed. I had bookmarked these instructions by Grumperina a while back and even purchased a placemat to use for the project. I finally decided to do it a few days ago and am quite pleased with the result!





I already had the elastic in my sewing stash and decided to use ribbon for the closure instead of narrow elastic (which I did not have in my stash). It is so nice to have all my dpns in one place now.

Ariann

The lure of the Borg was too strong.



Pattern: Ariann by Bonne Marie Burns
Yarn: Ultra Alpaca
Needles: 24" Inox circular, US sz 7

I'm ready for the 2nd of 4 decreases for waist shaping.

Spiderific

DISCLAIMER: I feel obligated to say that if you have spider issues, you may want to close your eyes and scroll down to the end of this post to see actual knitting content.

OK, now that we've addressed that, I'll get on with it.

This morning Natalie wanted to color, so I hooked her up with paper and crayons and she produced this, which she informed me was a drawing of Happy, Friendly Spiders:



There is, of course, a reason for her drawing spiders. We have this at the bottom of our deck:



We have to pass it whenever we go up or down the steps of the deck.

On it, lives this rather stout spider:



I'll admit, it does creep me out. A lot. But I really don't have the heart to tear down the li'l fella's handiwork.

Now for some knitting content! I played around with a new stitch pattern last night...I'm potentially frogging the old cabled scarf I started (last winter) for my dad and going this direction instead. (thankyouverymuch Barbara Walker and your Treasuries)

Swallowtail

A lovely knit, except for those blasted p5tog's. Hooray for pointy needles!

Pattern: Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn Clark, from the Fall 2006 Interweave Knits
Yarn: Schaefer Anne fingering weight
Needles: KnitPicks Options, US sz 6