Bottle Sweater

I finished my hot water bottle sweater tonight and have to say that I absolutely love it. It was a fun, quick project with (I think) great results. I ended up using a ball of pink heather Wool-Ease I had in my stash.





It feels good to be using up yarn that I have. I really have been wanting to reduce my yarn collection before I buy more.

Something else new for me is that I am having trouble working on more than one project at a time. I used to have three or four or twelve things on needles at any given time but now starting even a second seems like too much. Huh. At least I am finishing things instead of having a dozen unfinished objects!

Such a heel

I have turned the heel on both of my broadripple socks, and am working on the gusset decreases:





They are going a little slower now than when I first started. I don't think they are going to be "finished in record time socks" anymore.

That's all for tonight folks; I am not feeling too well so I am going to curl up with a fleece blanket and my new hot water bottle until I have to go to work tomorrow.

Brrr...

Is it cold where you are? I'm always FREEZING in winter. Partly because I will not turn the heat up - our gas bill is so high already that I'd rather suffer than pay any more.

I had to get a prescription refilled at WalMart today (see note below) and saw this in the pharmacy area:





Oh yeah. My lap is nice and toasty as I type this. Of course, now it needs one of Rachael's awesome cabled covers: BAWK Hot Water Bottle Cover

I also found this on clearance for $5.00:





Looks kinda fun. Everything is included and the fabric is pre-cut into strips.

I've been working on my broadripple socks. Loving the two socks at once thing right now. They don't feel like they are going slower because of it - actually this might be the fasted pair of socks I've ever knit. I think I'm motivated by the fact that they will be finished and wearable at the same time.

Note: Do any of you girls out there hate that you have to go to the pharmacy each month to refill BCPs? And you can't get them if you are a day too early for your insurance? I mean really,what would I do if I had more than one pack at a time - sell them on ebay?

Yarn Sale

I'm having a yarn sale! Check it out:


Sarah's Yarn Sale


It's not much; I really just want to make room for new yarn that I will actually use, instead of having things that I won't sitting around taking up space.

Movie knitting

Although I am not usually a movie person, I have seen a lot of them recently. (Probably because I have not felt too fantastic and have been crashing on the couch after work every night.)

Since I can't just sit and stare at the TV, it is a perfect time to knit. This week I started (err... ummm...cough...) Broadripple socks out of Lion Brand Magic Stripes.





In case you are interested, the movies I have watched include:

The Great Escape
Apollo 13
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Ocean's 11
I Love Lucy season 2


(I watched The Great Escape and Apollo 13 on TV complete with commercials even though I own both on DVD. Does anyone else ever do this??)

bits and pieces

First off, I successfully (eg. it actually fit) finished Steve's hat - and he even let me photograph him with it on.





I used Wool-Ease Chunky with size 8 needles, so it is nice and thick. As I made it, I thought how I'd like a pair of mittens knit the same way. Add another project to the list.

I am having a color dilemma. I finally have a new winter coat after wearing my old one for over six years. But now my pile of purchased and handmade winter accessories in purple, blue, and pastel colors will most definitely not match the new one:





So what's a girl to do? Get some new stuff of course! To start, I bought this ball of Plush at my yarn store for a hat. Upon showing it off at home, Steve is convinced that I "bought a cloud." It's really soft.





Luckily the neckwarmer I finished a few days ago looks good with it. (Well that wasn't really luck...more like good planning.) But of course I love some of my purple things, especially the Silk Garden seed stitch scarf, so I am going to have to find a way to work them in somewhere.

I have one more small finished object to show you, my "starlight swirl" dishcloth:





I made this up while watching TV the other night. I wrote up a quick little pattern and will post it here sometime this week.

(It also flys well - Steve and I were throwing it around the apartment like a Frisbee novelty flying disc. Maybe this is what I should write the pattern for; it sounds much more interesting than a dishcloth!)

It's (not) an illusion

I have been wanting to try my hand at illusion knitting for a while now. I want to make the alien scarf from S&B, and have looked at the new Shadow Knitting book, but figured a little practice couldn't hurt.

So I found a chart for illusion hearts online and had a go at it using some red and while cotton yarn. I had a hard time wrapping my brain around the concept at first (as in why it works and what makes it work) but I think I get it now. I guess I need more practice; I found lots of mistakes as I was going along that I didn't want to rip back and take out (besides the zillions that I did take out) but the illusion is kind of there.

from above:





and at an angle:





Now the background was supposed to be white and the hearts red but the chart I used was not very specific on which was the main/contrasting color. If you tilt your head and squint you might be able to see a heart or two! I'm going to have a go at it again and only put one heart in the middle - less to keep track of until I know what I am doing!

It's not a sock!

I am very excited to report a non-sock finished object. I really needed to knit something different. It was actually fun again, and now my mind is swirling with project ideas.

I had two balls of Lion Brand Landscapes yarn (50% wool, 50% acrylic) in a fab dark rainbow color from my secret pal last summer. There was a pattern for a two ball neck wrap/scarf thing on the back of the label, so away I went.





(Yeah, the photo is really bad. But it would have looked worse if I wouldn't have cropped out the rest of my head. I was cleaning all day and hadn't taken a shower yet. Blech.)

I have to say, this yarn is fantastic. Really soft, with beautiful colors. I am definitely going to make something else with it in the future. I bet it would make a great sweater. Hmmm...

What's next?

So as for future projects, Steve requested a new winter hat. (This would be the third so far.) He has very specific ideas of what he wants this time, so we need to sit down a tape measure and pad of paper for a design session. He has to wear a baseball cap to work every day, and wears one just about everywhere else afterwards because of the hat-hair issue, and wants a knit hat that can be worn over it and cover his ears. I'll let you know if I come up with anything that looks decent. =)

I have a feeling the second Making Waves sock is going to be sitting for a while. Oh well - I'm not going to let it make me feel guilty!

Is anyone still out there?

I'm embarrassed that I have been such a bad blogger lately. If I were going to make excuses... holidays and all... but never mind that. Is there anyone even reading this anymore?

I have done a small amount of knitting in the last month or so, but nothing fantastic. Here are a few finished projects I can finally show:



Mom's Christmas Sox


These socks were a surprise for my Mom. They are made from Regia yarn (color?? I'll get back to you with that), toe up with a short row toe and heel (on 60% of the total stitches). They fit! I am so pleased. Of course it helps that our feet are practically the same size...

I also finished the first Making Waves sock, in blue Bernat Sox yarn.





This is only my second ever cuff-down sock, and I have to say I am very pleased with the toe. I think it might look better than any of my toe-up toes. Of course, looking good spread out nicely on the floor and fitting well are two entirely different things.

I really want to do some more knitting. I think I need a new project to get me motivated. Maybe something besides a sock, since they take me forever on size 0 or 1 needles!