Saturday, February 28, 2009

February 365

I hate when work gets in the way of blogging. I'll get back to regular posting on Monday but since today is the last day of the month I'll share with you the pictures I took in February. There was a theme this month, "what I love about where I live" so there are a number of neighborhood shots.

View slideshow

Have a great weekend!

Monday, February 23, 2009

If it's Monday something must be finished

There's really no way I can keep this up but I will enjoy it for as long as I can. My latest finished item is the mid-month dishcloth and with batteries in the camera now you can almost see the true colors:



It's actually not the best shot but it is the closest to the actual colors so I decided to go with it.

I also finished the sleeves for my sweater:



I liked the way they came out. It makes me have high hopes for the sweater. I also solved my sock issues on the Buffy sock. That is what I'm working on at the moment. I need to borrow a cable for the Knit Picks needles from Maribel for the sweater. I'll ask her to bring it to knitting tomorrow.

I managed to get most of the housework done over the week so the weekend was pretty relaxing. If only I could be disciplined enough to do that all the time but that's a battle long lost. I'll just try to do it as much as I can and not get too upset when I fall back into lazy habits.

Guess I'd better get to work. It's a long week ahead.

Happy Monday all!

Thursday, February 19, 2009

What I'm working on

Julie asked now that I've finished all those things, what am I working on now? So glad you asked!

In December I won a Knit Picks contest for yarn. I had to choose one of three patterns from the most recent Knitty and once I won I was able to pick the size and color and they sent me the yarn. I choose Everybody Knows. As is my tradition when doing sweaters I started with a sleeve (the batteries are dead in the camera so it's cell phone shots for now):

It's Wool of the Andes Kettle Dyed in wine. I had major gauge issues at first but going up to a 10 1/2 needle seems to have me on track (it's supposed to be a 9).

I also have my second monthly washcloth:

It's impossible to tell in this shot but it's brown and yellow which go really nicely together. Can I tell you how much I look forward to this each month? I really enjoy seeing the pattern emerge and this one is a particular favorite.

I also finally cast on for the second buffy/nutkin sock. Unfortunately once the crazy ass cuff was done I started the pattern and twice I've screwed it up. My stitch count is right and I don't recall having any issues previously so it's obviously me. Once the dishcloth is done I'll revisit it as my "break from the sweater" project.

What's on your needles?

Monday, February 16, 2009

A Plethora of FOs

I didn't finish one project last week. I finished two even though one is kind of cheating.

These for example have been finished for months but I couldn't be bothered to sew on the buttons. On Friday I finally did:
Multimedia message

I also finished my February washcloth. It took a little longer than usual because I had a sinus headache off and on the week before. The idea of reading a pattern was a little beyond my means at that point. I did manage to finish it last week finally:

valentine washcloth

I also thought I'd show you how the hat looks on it's recipient. Mr. Ian loved it and wears it proudly:
Multimedia message

I've cast on for a couple of projects but I ran into gauge issues on one and pattern weirdness on the other. I'll show those to you Wednesday.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Yet another finished object and it's not even Monday!

I was ready to post on Monday but I was in meetings all day and never got it done. Then yesterday I had work to get done quickly because I was leaving early to go to...Avery's new high school! He got into the one we wanted him to get into. It's less than 400 students and is the only specialized high school to focus on the humanities, the others have a math and science focus. Avery says he has found his "tribe". We're all very happy. It's close to home as well and is housed on a college campus so he has use of many of the college's facilities. I think it's going to be great for him.

For your patience I will give you not one but two finished objects today. First up a hat for Ian:


It's the Turn a Square hat by Jared Flood. It's meant to be used for different yarns but I used just one. I also sped up the end decreases because it's for Ian and it was going to be too long. He has a big head so I normally do adult patterns for him but this one really needed to be shorter. This makes it a bit more gathered at the top. I haven't tried it on him yet so I've left the ends loose in case I don't like it and decide to rip back and pull an inch off the right way.

I also finished the Smallville socks:

The gauge on them is disgustingly loose if you ask me, due to my failed magic loop attempt but Rinaldo loves them and that's all that matters. They also fit perfectly:


Happy hump day peoples!

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

How did I miss Monday?

Maybe because I am sick. There is lovely stuff coming up from my lungs and I'm weak as a kitten. This lead to me missing my Monday post. I do have a finished object to show you. My star crossed cable beret is done.

Blocking:

Obligatory mirror shot:

and from the back:


That's all I got. I'm going to pass out now.