It's never easy, is it?

I want to accomplish lots of knitting this year. It's only January, I know! But I would like to have knitted gifts for Christmas this year, everyone is pregnant right now (except me), and my DH and Pumpkin need hand knits, too! I updated my queue on Ravelry to try to get it all out of the jumble those projects were making in my head and get myself organized and prioritized. Trouble is, with as much as I want to accomplish, a baby blanket for a baby due in May seems like it needs to be done tomorrow when I have so many others to knit. But I'm excited about each and every project.

Ugh, except Anouk. No, I'm excited about the yarn, which is quite soft, and the finished look I have in my head which is going to be extremely stylish on my sweet Pumpkin Pie. I chose celery and chocolate and will probably duplicate stitch flowers in pink (later...) But I have come to discover that the Cascade Pima Tencel has changed since the pattern was written, and so the original gauge for the pattern is impossible to obtain. So now the sweet little dress that I ordered the yarn called for specifically so it wouldn't stress me out changing things--needs to be changed. Argh!

So now it's on hold and I'm starting a baby blanket for a baby due in May. It's simple and I want to work on something I can just get out of the way and off my queue. I have so many things on there I'm having a hard time just relaxing and doing them one at a time. Adding to it, my little baby has learned to walk and is becoming a little girl, which means I'm running out of time to knit her all the cute tiny things I want to knit her!...OMGIgottagogetbusynow!!!... :)

No Sheep For You!

I checked out No Sheep For You at the library last week and have pored over it. It is so amazingly informative about all the nonwool options out there and has patterns that capitalize on the properties of nonwool yarns. I am particularly interested in Eileen, Tomato, and the Drunken Argyle sweater (knit out of sock yarn!), because I just love argyle. (I really need to learn some intarsia one of these days so I can actually knit some...) I so want this book next Christmas!

Skinny scarf is all done. It is a freakish 5 feet long. I had no idea it was so long, all scrunched up on the circulars, OMG. It was a pretty stitch pattern and cotton yarn worked well, except the bind off was a little sloppy, I think. I'd like to wash it to see if it will lay flatter, but I'm afraid the navy yarn is going to bleed.

I just finished a class on Tunisian crochet, which I find much easier than regular crochet. I will be making the Stashbuster blanket using the technique. It was a more rustic, hand-made look to it than I normally like, but what a godsend project to use up (most of) the bucket of yarn I got from my mom & grandmother. It's really clever.

Prettier than Storebought Sin

I did it! I took pictures of some of my old projects that actually make them look a little nicer than they really are.

Project 1


Exhibit A:Looks a bit wonky laid out on an uneven surface like that, doesn't it? Or maybe I just knit it wonky.

Exhibit B:

Now isn't that nicer? It's very 3-dimensional, draped over the edge of the sink. It's in natural light and in context, so it doesn't look like a fledgling knitter's first attempts at purling.

Project 2
Grandaddy of all ugly projects to try to make look nice (I believe I said it was "uglier than homemade sin")

Exhibit A:

Ouch.

Exhibit B:

No amount of photo editing would have erased all the "love" that's been put into this thing, but I think I did a good job showing it off to its best. First of all, I draped it so you can't see the odd shape as my tension got looser as I went. Secondly, the cute kitty cat distracts from really looking at it anyway. :)
I win!