Baby booties!

Baby Booties! This is my first attempt at making a baby bootie. They are pretty easy to do, but they take much more yarn than I thought! This bootie is made from the scraps from some fingerless gloves I made a few weeks ago. It's a merino silk blend and not very washer friendly, so I think that I'll just keep this one as a concept bootie rather than making a pair.

These are awesome gifts for baby showers! Just pick up some easy care yarn in a variety of colors and make a set. 

The final piece!

Almost done! Just this one little piece and  I have to sew everything up. I hope that they fit together all right. If they don't I'm going to be inconsolable for a few days lol.

I'm thinking of renaming this sweater from the ugly sweater to the forever sweater. Seriously this sweater has taken over a month to finish!

New iPhone!

Sorry I haven't updated on a while. The shell is taking a long time to finish and I haven't started any otherprojects although this will probably change soon because my friend just got me a whole book of do it yourself projects! Yay!
In other news; I thought it would be best to get a cellphone after all this time without one. I got an iPhone and it is great! I can even make posts from it!

Ahh hot chocolate

I love love LOVE hot chocolate. It is so warm and delicious I just can't get enough of it. I found this little place in Saratoga yesterday that has the best drinking chocolate! It is thick with a dark chocolate base and you can get it in 4 different flavors! Yum! I tried the chili pepper and it really hits the spot on a cold lonely night. It's aptly named Saratoga Chocolates and I will definitely be making a stop there before Valentines day.

In other news, my first comment! Yay! I am so excited that this blog is actually being read!

Oh sweater, when will thy sleeves be done?

I just finished the front piece and have started with the first sleeve of the shell. Of course because the project is nearing its end I am starting to feel an urge to wonder off to other things, lol. I just hope that I can finish this sweater by the end of February so I can actually start wearing it!

My First Ugly Sweater (okay, so technically it is a shell)

I have taken the next step in knitting; making a full size garment. NO longer will I be limited to hats and scarves, now I have the freedom and the experience to move unto more challenging projects.

For my first garment I decided to make this shell from Hot Knits. I am told that sweaters have buttons down the front so I guess this is a shell. I choose a nice bamboo /microfiber blend yarn that was on sale at Joanns. I bought 8 balls just in case I ran out of yarn but I think I will have 1-2 skeins leftover at the rate it is knitting up. It's fairly warm but not overly so. I was looking for something to wear over a regular shirt and this will do nicely as part of an ensemble for spring.

So far I have finished with the back piece and I am about 2/3rd's of the way through the front piece. I have made so many mistakes it's almost laughable but I thought that it was more important to finish the thing than to get every stitch perfect so I decided to power through until the end. It looks fine from a distance but up close some things don't quite match up if you're used to looking at knit pieces. I guess that's a secret we'll keep between us knitters, shhh!

More things are coming on the horizon. I have started making my own patterns and will be testing them out in the up coming months. In other big news, I am starting my own knitting shop! I have all the business paperwork finished with and am currently in the process of finding yarn and needles retailers! 

Homemade wash cloths

These little cotton washcloths are amazing! They are made from all organic cotton and feel so soft and lather so well. They are also a very quick knit which I really appreciate! They only take an hour to an hour and a half and only use half a skein of yarn!

I found a pattern on instructables for something similar but I really didn't like it. It was confusing; for example the number of cast on stitches really didn't correspond to the actual pattern. I tweaked it a bit and switched to a smaller size needle to make these little guys.  Hope that you enjoy them!

Doctor Who mania

Recently I discovered the new Doctor Who on netflix and I have been hooked ever since! I especially liked Chris Eccleston's portrayal of the Doctor. He just REALLY captured the essence of the role; a timelessness and an excitement for adventure. I'm watching season four right now. They don't have season 4 on netflix yet, but I bought it on itunes. It's a shame but I just couldn't wait. Actually I still have to wait because they have only released up to Silence in the Library.

I finally finished my scarf!

I have finally after what seemed like months finished my remainder scarf! I love Malabrigo merino wool and I have been saving up some yarns from other projects just to make this scarf. It took almost a month to get it to the right length but I am very happy about it! Kya!!! I love the colors. The only thing is that I wish that I had a little more pink to balance it out. I only had the tiniest bit and it is on one side of the scarf. It's funny because I don't really like pink as a color but it helps with the vibrancy of the other colors. I know, no pictures! I will take some and add them later.

I have actually been working hard on a lot of projects. I have just made a set of handtowels and I have finally started on my first sweater! Although, my mom says it is technically a shell because sweaters have buttons. Who knew? I will post those soon!

Instructables is Awesome!

Is anyone else addicted to Instructables? I LOVE IT!!!! I think that my first project will have to be the 5 minute Mug Brownie.

Sorry guys...

I have been really sick over the past few days. I'm starting to get better now but I still have really low energy. I'll be updating again soon! I promise.

While I was gone I made several knitted projects along with my very own homemade marshmallows! I took pictures for you to see but for some reason I can't find the cable for my camera. I remember seeing it a few days ago but I was way too tired to write anything then. I know! Lazy-lazy. Ahh here it is! Pictures will be uploaded in a few minutes.

Peek-a-boo!

This is a homemade tea cozy! They're not quite as popular here in America as they are in England, but the basic concept is that they are "sweaters" to keep your tea nice and warm! It can also double up as a beanie in an emergency, lol.

Whenever I think of a tea cozy I think they are haunted because of the short story the Haunted Tea Cozy by Edward Gory, lol.

I had the opportunity to drop by the local Japanese bookstore and treated myself to some beautiful origami paper. I really only remember how to make paper cranes and boxes. I was thinking about expanding my origami knowledge at some point. 
Now this little bracelet came out perfectly. Did you know that these knitted bangles are selling for as much as $180? They are so simple to make too! I found a guide online to make them but I ended up just winging it and it turned out fine. I really didn't like the stitch that the other pattern called for so I substituted with some cables and knit it in the round on some double pointed needles. I was using the remaining yarn from the fingerless gloves that I made a few weeks ago and did not have all that much yarn to work with. In the end I had to stretch to make it fit but the overall effect is quite nice.
Ahh... homemade marshmallows. I was inspired to make these after I tried the marshmallows the neighbor of my best friend from high school made. They are soft and oh so melt in your mouth! Now I had no idea that you could make your own marshmallows. For me, marshmallows were this bizarre confection that surely must be made with specialized equipment but that is so not true! All you really need is a hand mixer, a saucepan, and a couple of bowls and you are on your way to making your own delicious marshmallows!

New Years Resolutions

1. Blog everyday

2. Make a sweater

3. Exercise more

4. Cut back on junk food

5. Remember to take vitamins everyday

Christmas Message

Sorry for not posting my projects this time! I made a hat and  a tea cozy. I will add them soon. Right now I feel like rambling a bit. 

I have been too busy with holiday cheer, I guess. Actually my Christmas is quite a bit different than the traditional Christmas. You see, on Christmas 1997 my dad decided to leave the house. Now this is not when they decided to divorce, my mom actually had initiated that because she was afraid he was going to kill himself, this is when he left the house they had been living in.  Needless to say it has ruined Christmas for years. I thought our tradition was to watch one of the movies that just premiered and to have Chinese food but this year we didn't even have Chinese food. We did have ramen on Christmas eve and we did go see Valkyrie. The movie was okay. Usually I don't like Tom Cruise but he did a good job. I thought that the character could have been acted with a little more depth but this movie wasn't relying on character development at all. It was completely and entire based around the plot to kill Hitler. Actually it was funny because when we were talking after the film my mom said that while watching Valkyrie she kept wishing that the plot would succeed and that the Nazis would be overthrown. I mean really? Now that would have pissed a lot of people off! It's funny but this is the first movie of this kind that I have seen. Is this the first time they have made a film about any of the plots to overthrow the Third Reich? I do have a soft spot for WWII movies. Schindler's List, the Pianist, La Vite e Bella, Au revoir, Les Enfants,  Saving Private Ryan etc...

In any case, whatever you are doing, here is to a happy holiday!

Weird mood...but also some pictures!

Gosh I have been in such a funk all week. Holiday blues? Aww, I've wallowed enough! I've never going to shake it off it if I don't try to do something about it. 

Anyway, I have several projects for you all to see! The other day I went with one of my friends to this cute little yarn shop and picked up some interesting skeins. One is a 20/80 silk merino blend in a coppery brown, a 50/50 silk merino in a gorgeous shimmery blue that I can't think of a pattern nice enough to use it in, and a skein of superfine alpaca. 

The alpaca was the easiest to make into a pattern. I tried the calorimetry pattern once again with excellent results this time! I did run out of yarn at the very end, but I just used a scrap to finish it up and I don't think it it very noticeable. Also, I found a cute celtic knot button at Joanns.

The next thing I made were these cute fingerless gloves. The silk really defines the stitches well. These look kind of funny on my chubby hands but they are still very cute. I think that I will end up giving these away as a gift.

Know I just can't find a good pattern to use this Silkdream yarn in. Maybe I will use it in something with cables? It's such a beautiful color, and I know that it will have great stitch definition. I will have to keep it in the vault for a while, lol!

In other news, I am still looking for my Seacoast yarn. I have looked at the company website and found several shops that sell the yarn, but none that sell online. I might be able to phone one of the companies up and see if they will ship it to me. 

Why is it so hard to find an online retailer for Seacoast Handpainted Yarn?

I'm so frustrated. For the part hour I have been trying to find a skein of Seacoast Handpainted Silk and Ivory yarn. I can't find an online retailer at all and the only storefront that I can find in CA is in Santa Monica. Ughhhh....

I guess that the Horseshoe Pattern Scarf is going to have to wait until I can find the yarn. It's too bad, I really like the way that it looks.

I am going to keep trying to track this yarn down. If all else fails I can try contacting the store in Santa Monica and asking if they will ship it to me.

Finished my longest pair of Merino fingerless gloves

I've finished my longest pair of Merino fingerless gloves. They go all the way to my elbows! I will definitely post pictures tomorrow. I made these for my best friend's aunt who requested them at their holiday party. I hope that they will fit her. Apparently she has very thick arms. I thought that my arms were the maximum thickness that any woman's arms could be, so naturally I was not worried about the size when I knit them but now I am concerned. I also got a little lazy when I was binding off and weaving in the loose threads. What? I can't help it, I have made at least 6 pairs of these gloves the pattern just isn't all that interesting anymore.

Now I need to decide what to make next. I have been keeping some angora that I got from an estate sale. It's white so I will probably use it in something small and unlikely to be used all that often so it can stay stain free. I will have to look through my books!

My hand is feeling better and I am getting started on a pair of purple fingerless gloves

Okay! I am mostly healed. I still have a little blister on the pad of my index finger, but it doesn't hurt all that much anymore. Mostly it hurts when I accidently poke it while knitting, lol. I might just try knitting continental style. I've been meaning to practice continental more anyway. I want to try knitting two socks at the same time again and if I am used to knitting continental it will be so much easier.

Sorry for the lack of pictures. I will start taking some tomorrow. I also need to think of what I am going to do with a hank of very interesting yarn. It's hard to describe. It's an art yarn, in light shades of aqua and brown, and has a curly hair look. You have to see it to really know what I am talking about but I just don't feel like uploading a photo right now.

Update: Also exciting, I got the Sunset magazine Best Ever Cookies! I am definitely going to make some this year!

Ow I totally burned my hand

I burned my right had yesterday while taking a pan out of the oven. The stupid thing is that I was using a pot holder; it just wasn't thick enough.

Sorry but I am going to have to take a break from knitting for a day or two, or at least until the blister and redness go away.

All finished with the Serena Cashmere Cowl

Woah, I look like a redhead in this photo. Crazy.

Overall the Serena Cashmere turned out a lot better than I thought it would! It does feel soft, just not as soft as some of the fibers that I work with. I am such a yarn snob, lol. I am in love with the color! I like green in general but this shade is beautiful.

Although, maybe I like it because it's just so cold I don't care about style, stitching, anything else, hahah. I'm not sure if I am going to keep it or try selling it on etsy. Or I could give it to someone as a gift. I am not sure if the pom poms are very sturdy though. I would hate to have them fall apart on someone. That is probably a good reason to keep this piece.

Woah I think accident outside. I've been hearing sirens for the past 10 minutes. Hmm....

Almost finished with Serena Cashmere Cowl

I am so excited about finishing this project! I would really love a cowl to wear for December and January. I think that it is going to be really cold this year. Actually I have to admit that at first I didn't really like the design this pattern was making but now that I have finished a few rounds I've started falling for it. My mom said that it reminded her of peacock feathers. 

I have to admit that it is not as soft as most of the Cashmere that I am used to. It must be because I spun the strands a little to tightly. Or perhaps the quality wasn't all that great. Still. it is much softer than your average acrylic and it is a very nice color. I do love greens but this green in particular has a lot of depth.

Now what should I pick out for my next project? I would really like to make a shawl for my friend Lauren. A lavender or baby blue would look really good on her. Argh, how many days until Xmas? I better get to work!!