Sunday, September 10, 2006

Finished the blanket


Crying 1I finished the blanket last week, sorry I forgot to post earlier. But you know how life can get in the way some times. So I was only a few days past the end of August. I used TLC Cotton Plus in Mint, Kiwi, Yellow and White, on size 9 needles. The boarder is crocheted using the white. I really enjoyed doing this blanket.





Saturday, September 02, 2006

Bring on the Christmas Knitting!

Twisted Socks UFO August was a success for me - all but one project got off the needles one way or another. :-)

6 FOs: Stashbusting Log Cabin Lapghan, Absorba, the Great Bathmat, Twisted Socks (see photo), Patons Voodoo Legwarmers, Irish Hiking Wristwarmers, Panta

I feel I must confess than the wristwarmers only needed a little bit of seaming and Panta only lacked having the two yarn ends weaved in. I'd even worn Panta in public before with the ends hanging! I have a really bad habit of avoiding doing the finishing touches, something this KAL has helped me to recognize and, hopefully, make some improvement on in the future.

3 Projects Frogged: Turtleneck Shrug, Wool-Ease Legwarmers, Simply Soft Quick Shrug
1 WIP Remaining: Neapolitan socks

These socks were sacrificed so that the Twisted Socks could be finished in time. I hope to have them done next week.

Now that the slate is (nearly) clear, I can start the Christmas knitting with a clear conscious. I can't order the Esprit yarn I need for gift socks until Labor Day (end of Summer of Stash), so I'm spending the holiday weekend knitting up small stashbusting items such as Christmas ornaments.

-Manda

Friday, September 01, 2006

Final tally - not impressive, but it satisfies me!

1. Print O'The Wave Shawl from Eunny, in Kidsilk Haze, mossy green. The center is finished and the edge has grown about 1/3 around. It will be a Christmas present for my mother. No progress.

2. A Cardigan for my stepfather for Christmas, Filati Magazine Special Men, Model number 35, the Material is Lana Grossa Pulcino (discontinued) in chocolate brown. The pieces are finished, I just have to block them, sew it together and then attach all the facings. No progress.

3. A sweater for my brother for Christmas, Filati Magazine Special Men, Model number 12/2. The original yarn called for is Lana Grossa Numero Uno Tweed. I have changed it to Cool Wool Big (100% Merino), since I made him a sweater in the Tweed a couple of years ago. I'm halfway up the front. No progress.

4. A sweater for the love of my life, after Interweave The Ultimate Gift. I chose Yorkshire Tweed 4ply from Rowan in a lovely dark red instead of the cashmere. Front, back and one sleeve are done, the second sleeve is half finished. All knitted up, seamed and the collar is on the needles - another hour or so and it is finished.

5. Sunrise Circle Jacket in Alpaca Sport, 100% Alpaca. The color is a dark aubergine. This one is for me. The back and the left front/sleeve are done. All pieces finished. Needs blocking, sewing together.

6. Ruffles Scarf (Amanda Blair Brown) out of Scarf Style, in Lana Grossa Cool Wool 2000 print, color 725. This one is for Cathy for Christmas. So far, about 16" are knit. 42" now.

7. Berlin Bag (original design from me). 100% Wool from Dyed in the Wool in England, in cream and tan, aran weight. This one is for me. I just need to finish the handles and then felt it and insert the lining. Oh... and publish the pattern for sale! No progress.

8. Shedir (Knitty.com Breastcancer awareness special edition) out of Lana Grossa Numero Uno Tweed, left over from the sweater I made for my brother two years ago. (Stashbusting!) Half done.

9. Marshall baby sweater (Rowan Babies, Kim Hargreaves) in Rowan Wool Cotton in Rose, for Sophia for her Birthday. Front and back are finished. Finished!



10. I have also started and finished another pair of socks for the Mystery Sock KAL.

And started a pair of Pomatomus socks as well as another pair of Beaudelaire Socks. Still loving the socks.

Also new on the needles is theFaroese Shawl from A Gathering of Lace in 100% Lambswool on 3mm neeldes.

While I did not get to finish as much as I wanted (new job and all) I did make progress on a few items, finished one, started and finished another and naturally, could not help myself casting on for another couple of new ones.

So, now on to the two steps forward, one step back knitalong, for more progress in the way of FO´s from today onwards!!

UFOs - 6, WIPS - 1, Me - 0

Instead of UFO August, it was more of a Cast-On August. I finished five projects (except for the blocking!). I also started all five this month, instead of working on things I was supposed to work on. I got involved in too many a-longs and swaps.

Final list:

1. Mohair Sweater -Technically done, but I need to frog and re-do some of it. Has not yet happened.

2. "It's a Secret #2" - Needs the missing yarn to be complete. Yarn is still missing.

3. "It's a Secret #3" - Done, except for about 15 minutes of seaming and embellishing. Oh well.

4. Mug Rug/Trivet - I actually made a Mug Rug and a Trivet from my handspun. There was more than I thought. No blocking happened this month, so these are not technically done, as they are not yet blocked. The Mug Rug really doesn't need to be blocked, but the Trivet (I guess that's what it technically is) definitely does!

5. Autumn Gloves - Not yet frogged, but I do believe that they will be Knucks. Can't be 100% sure what they're going to be until they're done!

6. Autumn Scarf - Still not touched, as the gloves need to be finished first. Oh well!

Right now, I want to finish my Hederas, which were supposed to be done last night. As it was my last night in my current locale before I head off to college again, I did not get any knitting time in. Congrats to all who have actually made some progress in their UFOs!

FO!

Hey all!

Let me tell you all how fantastic it was to see many finished projects on this blog. Congratulations to everyone!

I personally had two UFOs to finish in August, but I only finished one. I'm very happy about it though. It's the Mariah cardigan from Knitty. I have a bad pic of it (without the zipper) on my blog. It now has a zipper but I won't have my camera for another week so I can't post a better pic right now.

As for my future projects, I have many. The one I'm most eager to start is a very simple cardigan from the Fall 2004 issue of Family Circle Easy Knitting. I'm hoping my order from Knitpicks will get here today.

Hmm ok, you won't believe this, but as I was typing that last sentence, the postman rang. I got my package! :) I'll be casting on for this new project today!

One more completion

I managed to get two of my three top UFO's finished in August. These were the Pi shawl, and a pair of socks in a yummy handpainted yarn. Kepler is close to completion, but not quite there. Starting back to Grad school this week threw a wrench in that one. Oh, I did rip out a horribly ugly abomination that started out as a shawl if that counts. Sometimes having the wisdom to know when its not working is as important as plugging along to the end. I hope everyone else enjoyed this as much as I have.