FO recap

It has come to my attention that I may be numbering things incorrectly. Or maybe I've just missed out on a few projects I've done this year. I'm actually up to 15.
1. The Friday Scarf--I never wear this and I kind of hate it. It's just an awkward size and is not something that I ever reach for. I probably should take it out again though. The air conditioning in our office is just out of control.

2. Purl Beret--too freaking small. I wonder how it would look now with my crazy, curly mop of hair? It would probably just fall off. Sigh.

3. Veil--I can't believe ten people have already favorited this. Y'all know how I feel about it. I tried to wear it to the play when my nieces were here, and it just ended up in my bag. The arm holes are just too freaking small. I think it might have put me off Norah Gaughan for good. Or maybe I just have to be a little more self-aware about the knitting. Oh well. So far, the knitting isn't so auspicious in 2010.

4. Hemlock Ring Blanket--And then there's the Hemlock Ring. I use this blanket all the time. It's so cozy. I keep it folded up on the back of the couch so the cat doesn't notice it, but when I'm cold, I just wrap it around my legs. It's so nice. I love it. I love the Eco wool too.

5. Little Daisy Swing Coat--this is another abject failure. I swear, if the thing had been made in one piece, it would have turned out normally. Since it was in pieces, it was so easy to get wrong. And I did!

6. Bertoo's cowl--I used the leftover Eco wool to make this warm, luscious cowl. I wear this all the time too. It's really warm. And the color looks good with everything. This is part of my cold-sheeping effort to use up what I have.

7. Hip in Hemp skirt for Isabella--this was a success! After getting so sick of those colors, and almost running out of time, I pulled it out! I think she likes it, and my mom assures me that it fits her (I had to leave before we sewed in the elastic--get the no roll kind if you do it!).

8. Easy Garter Stitch Baby Sweater--This one I consider a mixed success. I love the way it turned out, but I'm not sure the recipient did. I made it for a friend of Amy's, and I wasn't there to explain the different weight of the bottom band. I hope she uses it...

9. Little Pumpkin Socks--These were a complete success! (after I fixed them) But, I needed a present for my mom, so I gave them up. She loves them, though, so at least they're getting used.

10. Traveling Woman--I love this one too. And I'm not giving it up! I wear it all the time, again because of the air conditioning. My office is freezing. I took it with me on vacation to Europe, and when I got home, reblocked it, with points this time. It curled last time, but I loved it. I think I really like the triangular scarf look. Much more practical than a shawl.

11. Clementine Shawlette--Oh, I guess up until this point, I DID have them numbered correctly. Look at that! It's weird--I think because I waited so long to talk about the Clementine in my head I got all the projects out of order. Right on! Well, this, as you know, is one of my favorite FOs so far in my knitting career. I like some of the other things too, but a LUV this one. I wore it the other day as a scarf and got a lot of compliments.

I'm not sure I talked about the next few things yet, but I'm just going to go through them all here. None are super big or impressive, and then we'll just move along with a clean slate, ok?

12. Cabled Raglan Baby Sweater--I made this for my friend Suzie, and I did blog post about how the first baby sweater I tried with this yarn left over from Isabella's skirt didn't work out. This cabled raglan worked perfectly. I think Suzie liked it a lot. Of course, I was a complete idiot and didn't take a picture before wrapping it up and giving it to her, but maybe she'll send me a pic of the baby wearing it later.

13. & 14. Umbilical Cord Hat and Booties from Louisa Harding's ubiquitous book--these were extra presents for Suzie, basically because I wanted to use up the yarn. They're both really cute, but I had to send them to Suzie, because she'd already left by the time I was done. She really liked the booties (and she said they were her husband's favorite). I hope she comes back to work after maternity leave. I miss her.

15. Oz vest--This was for Angela and Brendan, two ex-co-workers. I really like Angela, and wanted to give her something to celebrate her baby, but she doesn't work with us anymore, so I sent the package to her home address, but I haven't heard boo about it since. I don't know if she ever got it. I loved that little vest too. It's really easy to put together, and it makes a baby look kind of sharp, in my opinion. I used some leftover yarn for this too, with good results. It doesn't always work out using leftovers, but when it does, it does!

Ok, that's it. I'm now up to 16, which I hope someday will be the cami that I've been working on during my European vacation. It's getting too big to lug around now and I just have to finish the damn thing. I need some more time! Srsly.

FO #11: FINALLY

I'm back! I have so many vacation posts to do. Europe is awesome. But before that, I feel like I'm losing track of my knitting progress.

I never talked about this beautiful wrap, and I love it! I've worn it several times already, and I can see using it as a scarf as well, once it gets colder.



FO: Clementine Shawlette

This is one of the few times I've actually used the yarn called for in a pattern. I remember exactly how this came about. I was in Minneapolis and saw the Alpaca and Silk in a yarn store, and for some reason, I remembered that this wrap called for three skeins of this yarn, and I'd wanted to make the wrap when it came out in IK, so I bought the three skeins. I just love the chocolate brown. It's so warm and rich. I don't know how I remembered the number of skeins for the project, but once I had it, I really wanted to use the yarn for the wrap. I really love the shape of it.



Yarn: Blue Sky Alpaca's Alpaca & Silk, color I35, 3 skeins.

I love, love, love this yarn. I want to knit everything in this now. I can't afford to, but I want to. I think sweaters would be lovely (but warm). It is so soft! So soft.



Needles: Size 4US straight aluminum needles I didn't know I had. Crazy how that happens, you know?



Notes: I emphatically did NOT do the grafting. I did a three-needle bind off on the wrong side, and I think it looks great. The trick is doing it on the garter row. Otherwise, I knit the pattern the way it was written. I still have a tiny ball of the yarn left, because three balls is hard to figure out, but what I ended up doing was each half was a ball and a half of yarn. When I got to the desired length of the first half, I just left the stitches live and didn't cut the yarn. Then I started the second half, until it was the same length as the first half, working from the outer edge of that third ball, and then I went back and forth from the first to the second half, doing one repeat on each, until I got close to the end of the third ball. Then I finally cut the yarn and did the 3 needle bind off. It worked like a charm.

Gosh, this is one of the most gorgeous things I've made, and it doesn't have ANY mistakes! I'm so proud of it. Ahh. And I must get more of that yarn sometime. It's divine!