can you believe it is almost a new year? i shudder to think of all of the projects i started this year that i have yet to complete, all of the promises i have yet to keep, all of the things i wanted to do and all of the sudden it’s time to make new commitments for next year-

a few of my completed project for 2011 that I have not shared...

my "i hate socks" socks. my most frogged item is by far is the sock. the day i started to give them another try i attempted 3 patterns and frogged them all. i like this one~ cant you tell by the name i gave them? at least it was easy to see where you are in the pattern and very easy to keep up with. my goal was to give socks for christmas this year.

i started them in july.

i did not give socks for christmas this year.

true pattern name: blueberry waffle socks by sandy turner
needles: us 5 
yarn: 2 skeins reynolds soft sea wool purchased from black sheep wool company

pattern notes:
1) 12 rows of rib
2) 8 pattern repeats before beginning heel
3) (oops) instead of decreasing every other round after picking up heel side stitches i decreased every round~ too far along to go back, will just have to make the second the same and hope they don't look like rejects.….
4) ended with 20 total pattern repeats before shaping for toe

what i actually gave for christmas this year was my 2010 cable and lace ornaments. knitting in the round, very much like a sock (small pat on the back) but without the dreaded gusset, heal flaps and other crazy unnatural knitting techniques and terms that sock knitters use. the pattern 'cables and lace christmas balls' came from patty mccallister.

i used louisa harding’s glisten in these beautiful jewel tones and plain 3.5in glass christmas ornaments.

i c/o 42 stitched and worked 4 cables with an additional 4 rows worked before the two decrease rows. they fit perfect, no need to measure anyone's feet.

i could not find a christmas red in glisten so found a substitute in berlinis new bejewel (looks exactly the same only a heavier weight). the red is beautiful and the ornaments cable details show up better with this yarn but on the first ornament into the skein i have found 3 knots and about 8 inches of frayed unusable yarn mid way through. because the gauge is different i kept the needle size the same and knit 4 cables and then jumped right into the decrease rows.



note if your interested in the yardage for purchase~ one skein bejewel makes 2 ornaments.
one skein glisten makes 2.5 ornaments

the newest project on my needles is to make a cosy for the beautiful tea pot leigh gave me for christmas. i have never knit a tea cosy but this little guy is small enough that i am pretty sure it wont be too painful to design one through trial and error. i am using shibui knits sock yarn (in seaweed) and us size 2 needles. when i get it worked out i will post the pattern. 

happy new year everyone!

miss scarlett's new party frock

the pattern is "party dress by judith swartz published in dogs in knits.

the goods: 2 skeins louisa harding kimono angora pure.
us needle 4 & 6

here goes the story... well i thought i was off to a good start. little miss scarlett is nothing more than a peanut and i thought i would need to modify the smallest size (even though she has a healthy appetite and keeps a nice belly).

so i started off only casting on 183 stitches. when i was done with the dinner bell ruffle i went ahead and put it on her and it “looked” way huge. so i decreased the first round of garter stitch at every ruffle by one leaving me with 57 stitches (not working in the round).


when i got to the front leg opening i realized it was going to be too tight and decided to add the chest stitches and begin knitting in the round.. what a mess.

ended up knitting the ruffle around the bottom and increasing the front leg pick up stitches to 32 around the leg opening.

she loves it.

(showing off her belly)

my ravelry stitch marker swap japanese furoshiki/hello kitty

 

 the rules:
1. make 5 stitch markers reflecting any theme you choose.
2. one handmade furoshiki. size may vary.
3. a heart as part of the project

i chose a beautiful traditional silk fabric for my furoshiki and made it a 22" square with a finished edging. for my stitch markers i used 5 porcelain hello kitty beads each with 2 sterling silver beads on each side and a silver closed jump ring and long sterling head pins.

a picture of all my findings. and the finished furoshiki.


i hope my swap partner enjoys them!

happy thanksgiving everyone

funny to have a warm day on thanksgiving. our first frost isn't until this weekend. even our hibiscus are still blooming. the weather made for a good weekend to do the deep fried turkey thing. (yes on our front drive) we are truly texas hick now.

opal and oscar look to be considering to be friends~ even though i think it is just the same full belly coma we all go through on thanksgiving.

 

hoot! hoot!

its my birthday!
thank you to all of my friends and family for all the wonderful well wishes, cards, presents and flowers. i feel pretty darn special today!

its a party!

it's a party

a birthday party for miss mel

i could not help myself. bought a heavy fabric mardi gras mask to doll it all up with her flowers in her favorite colors (yes i am working on one for myself) 

 a trip to my local craft store to buy the flowers, floral glue, floral tape, super glue, and ribbon.

happy birthday melanie!

another day another birthday!

happy birthday melanie. i wanted to get this post in the day for the day but today has turned out to be another fiesta friday nightmare. (i know only you'd understand)...

here's the goods:
pattern- silk neck warmer
yarn- shibuiknits baby alpaca dk (by far the softest yarn i have used. just like angora)




pattern from luxury yarn one skein wonders
and the yarn from the fantastic blazing needles yarn shop in salt lake city i visited this summer.  

color: mulberry 229
needles:
us 6
us 8

finished pic on me with the beautiful scarf pin my sister gave me~

birthdays

happy belated birthday bex~ i know its a bit late~ i hope you like it!

the goods: 1 skein aysen by araucania (70% merino wool, 20% alpaca, 10% silk)
824 pink red
needle: us 10

pattern: elizabeth's wool- angora diagonal scarf from luxury yarn one skein wonders
its shorter than the pattern calls for because i did not have the necessary yardage but the length doesn’t seem to make much difference. i wish i could get a better photo of the colors in the yarn, its quite beautiful and warm & so soft.

get ready for the crawl...

woohoo. this is the week for the best little yarn crawl in texas. sadly it is the same weekend as ACL but i will endeavor.  :) lots of great shops in austin....
i bought my passport this past weekend from yarnivore. in addition to getting this bag i ended up buying some angora wool for a sweater for miss scarlett. the pattern came from the book i bought there~ dogs in knits by judith swartz. looking forward to a scarlett sweater soon!