Casting on the Dale of Norway Lake Louise Sweater

Well, it took a while. The yarn was very uncooperative for the cast-on: it insisted on un-twisting just 20 stitches in. I threw it. I had a beer. I undid it. I rewound a skein. I looked at it from the corner of my eye. I had another beer. I posted for help on Ravelry because THIS IS A BIG CAST ON!

The sweater is bottom up, and starts with just under an inch of ribbing. So I want it to look neat.

Here's what it is supposed to look like, finished:

Finally, I got them all on this morning at my Friday knitting group.

I'm not sure if it will take, I'm not the biggest fan of 1x1 ribbing. I might pull it all out and start again after a few rows in, and re-cast on using a tubular with waste yarn, and twisted rib instead of plain k1p1. But I am anxious to get going, so I do hope the first successful cast on is the last successful cast on ;)

378 stitches per row, on 47" circs. 

Springtime for Katja

I recently finished a sweater barely in time for my toddler's 2 year old birthday. I used the Springtime in Hollis pattern, which I think is perfect for the fickle spring weather around here. Good for evenings and slightly chilly days.

The knitting itself went quickly.

But when it comes to finishing, like button bands and i-cords... (I still haven't finished the i-cord!!! or sewn the buttons on!!) I tend to move on to something else, for some reason.

Anyway, here she is wearing it, sans buttons and i-cord.

And shoving a crayon up her nose.

The Eternally In-Progress Sock

I started the Monkey sockswith the best intentions. The plan was something vaguely realistic like a sock per week.

Shyeah.

I sidetracked myself with a Hollis sweater for Katja. And lots of ideas of other things. And I tried knitting another LTKA square with the evil orange acryilic that just won't knit up into anything, because it's evil. And orange.

The sock yarn (knitpicks stroll multi in hearth) are also oran

ge-ish, but a much nicer orange. Plus, it is not acrylic.

But I do wish I was making more progress. I love the way the pattern is coming out, but I am not necessarily enjoying the knitting of the pattern...

So far, I have turned the heel, and done a few decreases to get to the foot. I like straight knitting, so I'm not too sure if I will actually be doing a lot of pairs of fancy socks...

Missoni Hat finished!

I had to block it twice to get closer to the desired fit, but it's done and I think it came out all right!

poking along on the LTKA

I now have FOUR squares, woop de doo! Only 61 to go... o_O

Finally, Spring

I have finally finished the Springtime in Hollis baby sweater that will be included in a silent auction for a fundraiser being held by a friend's alma mater.

This pattern is Springtime in Hollis, a pattern written by Teresa Cole of Comfort Wool. I am a licensed seller for her Springtime in Hollis and Andalusia patterns. You can see all of her designs on her Ravelry design page: http://www.ravelry.com/designers/teresa-cole

I really enjoyed this knit, and the yarn I used for this project. I knit it for the 12 month size in Stonehedge Fiber Mill's Shepherd's Wool, a very soft worsted, in the Great Lakes colorway. (The photos really don't capture the color well. The closest-to-true is the photo with the darkest green, below.)

Puff Hat

Was fooling around with a nice girly colorway of Patons SWS and made this hat, sized for a 2 year-old. I love the self-striping yarn, and the shape is funny, but cute!

The Learn-to-Knit Afghan

Going to be picking this project back up this year. We are doing a Knit-a-long on Ravelry. I have just barely got through half of the first square. I will be stashbusting to use up all my acrylic.

The KAL is officially going to start in March 2011.

If you are interested in joining the KAL, just pick up a copy of the book and cast on!

Look, I made an elephant

This is the unforgettable elephant pattern from S.E.W. Everything Workshop

I think it came out not too bad. I decided against adding eyes -- the busy paisley print makes eyes a little too much. And I think my handstitching needs improvement (not pictured, but it's on the top of the elephant). I am thinking about gifting this to the yoga studio I started going to. They just opened, and elephants are all good luck and whatnot.

little hedgehog

This was made as an xmas present for a friend who is fond of hedgehogs. The pattern came from Amigurumi: Seriously Cute Crochet.
I thought he came out OK and with a funky little hedge hairstyle.

Duck and Baby Blanket

I made these two for a Secret Santa gift swap organized among a few women on the pregnancy forum I frequent.

The blanket came out all crooked, I thought, likely because I wasn't very vigilant about counting my stitches. But it looked nicer once I had finished washing it (to soften up the acryllic) and finished the edging and added the ribbon.

The duck was easier than I expected, only I wish I had used safety eyes instead of lamely attempting to embroider the eyes on.





The patterns were:
TiramisuBlanket
and
Smaller Ugly Duckling

both initially found on Ravelry