June 23, 2012

I totally don't have ADD...

Squirrel!

Or at least that's what I feel like I'm doing this week.  I think I'm overly excited about everything and when I'm working on something, I want to be working on something else.  So, the only progress that is being made is in fits and starts on multiple projects.  I'm not actually accomplishing anything.

I have these socks (yes, they are what's occupying my sock needles) that I am working on - I'm seriously about 1/4 inch from the toe decreases and I just can't find the motivation to keep working on them.  They should be done!
sooooo close!

Pretty twisty pattern!
Then you know how I mentioned a scrap-ghan?  And you know how I was attempting to make that woven blanket that got shelved?  Yeah, well, I took the colours for the woven blanket and started something else instead.  Does that count as a scrap-ghan?  No?  Ok then... still no scrap-ghan in progress.

I like the colour combo
... you know how there was a baby Bryce and he got a pretty cool baby blanket made for him?  Well, I decided since I had some time I would make a bear amigurimi for him too...

Nearly headless?
AND THEN - there's the ball winding.  I'm loving it...

SEE!  It looks red now!

And of course, when you're ball-winding and you've got little sample balls - since I bought that grab-bag from Yarns of Italy - you're looking for smaller patterns that will turn out amazing and allow you to test those single skeins of yarn, so here's where I've ended up...

Ready to go!
Really, all I should be doing is finishing those socks and starting on Mr. Pitt's socks for my husband - since I was SO gung-ho to make those for him when I brought home the black merino superwash yarn that I nicely wound (see above).

Oh well, at least it means I'm excited?

June 17, 2012

Wound and wound we go!

So, today I tried my hand at something that I thought was insane.

A friend of mine told me she bought a nostepinne (prompting a "what?"), which is a really cool thing for those of us who can't afford to / don't want to buy a ball winder.  Admittedly, I don't really want to buy a nostepinne either;  for one, because I'm only guessing when I pronounce it, and of course, because I have lofty dreams of owning a ball-winder at some point.

So, I used a toilet paper roll.

I started with a gorgeous ball of Cascade Yarns 75% merino superwash, 25% nylon sock yarn.  Like so:
I loves me this yarn.  <3
This skein should be black though?
Then I spent a couple hours winding and untangling and generally fighting with the yarn - I'm assuming this will get easier with practice - and ended up with something that I'm amazed at, but I'm sure is really just an ugly-duckling hand-wound center-pull ball of yarn.  I think it's pretty awesome though!  Socks !  I'm ready for you!  (Just got to free up my sock needles.)

So, I thought this yarn was burgundy.
Looks kind of more purple, eh?
VOILA!  I'm quite proud.  :)  Go go toilet paper roll!

June 9, 2012

Blankets are soft... and done. :)

So, while I was doing the 2012 Bernat Mystery Crochet along afghan - well more like before - I was working on a blanket for my sister.  Actually, what really happened was I ordered my yarn for the CAL and then got bored waiting for yarn and waiting for it to start, so I started another afghan.

It's a pattern I've been dying to try because it looked so pretty, but until now I've lacked confidence in my skills as a crocheter and thought it might be a little hard for me.  I love the colour combination that they put together in the pattern - the purple, blue and green - but when looking for yarn, I just couldn't find a green that went with my blue and purple, so I chose a grey instead.  I think it'll be more timeless with the grey anyways (or at least that's what I keep telling myself).
Pretty colours
I am having a lot of trouble getting the colour to come through in the pictures (I'm betting it's because it's spring, which means it's very very very grey here right now) but these are the best I've managed to pull off.  They're really very rich colours that go very well together, they just look kind of dull and grey in all my pictures.  :(
Nice big afghan!
Then!  My husband's cousin had a baby, so I started a blanket for him (the baby is a boy).  :)

I started a baby blanket with this pattern and ended up tearing it out because I hated it.  It was so boring!  The pattern does specifically say that it is meant for variegated yarn and I am using a solid colour.  So, I'm betting it was my fault.
dislike!
Then I found a baby blanket pattern that had cables in it.  That made me a touch wary, as I'm not a huge fan of cables, but I thought I'd try my hand at it anyways!  SO glad I did!  This turned out fantastic!  I was working on this a lot while in hotel rooms on our fantastic Utah road trip and there wasn't very much left to do by the time we got home - so WOO! I'm done!

VOILA!

All folded up and ready for baby Bryce!

June 1, 2012

The best laid schemes

Hey there!  We're back from our amazing Southern Utah road trip.  We put over 5500km on the truck, her odometer rolled over 100,000kms, we were gone for 11 days (we had 14 planned but came home a little early) and saw 4 National Monuments, 4 State Parks, 1 Tribal Park, and an annular solar eclipse.  Phew!  How on earth did we do that AND all that drving in 11 days?  No idea!  But we're home now.

I had expected to get a lot of knitting / crocheting done while we were gone, but no such luck.  My husband loaned me a book - oops.  Now I'm on book 3 of the series.  I can't stop.  BUT - I did finish the lovely spring cardigan (new yarn) that I made, didn't like, tore out, and redid.

I don't have a very good picture, but here is the one I do have for now.  I'll get a better one later.

Cute, right?
So, the cardigan didn't turn out quite how I had planned.  On the model in the picture from Mary Maxim, she doesn't have any ties on the cardigan and it doesn't make her look fat - probably because she is a stick - but it doesn't look like that on me.  I added a ribbon, which made it work quite well.  Without the ribbon, well, it looks just plain frumpy.  I just happened to have some pink ribbon on hand - it was supposed to go into a baby  blanket but then I made stupid mistakes and ended up cutting it all too short - and hey!  It's handy now! (thank god!)

More pictures!

Much better angle