2012

I want to do brief homage to a really fabulous year. It has been a really stressful but extremely happy year!

Knitting in Review:
This year I finished 44 projects of the 49 I started. (I smoked my own record from last year!)

Frogged: 1
Socks: 7 (leg warmers count)
Sweaters: 10
Neckwear: 10
Blankets: 1
Stuffed Animals: 2
Mitts: 4
Hats: 3
Odds and Ends: 6






Resolutions:

Knitting: Get rid of more of that stash, give more projects away.
Wardrobe: Dresses and skirts! Why the hell not?! And muted colors (I'm in love with mint recently).
Blog: I think we need a new header. Schedule posts (finish them first!) so school doesn't eat me for long periods of time. Maybe add another blogging day?

Eliza lured me onto Pinterest, so I've been stocking up on outfit ideas for another 30 for 30 (and my wardrobe and lazy style in general). If you're on Pinterest too, look me up!

Have a very happy and very safe New Year's, everyone! We'll see you on the other side.

Looks Like November

But it's December. Right before the snow came.

Cobblestone Trenchcoat

Pattern: Cobblestone Trenchcoat by Veera Valimaki in November Knits
Yarn: The Fibre Company Organik in Night Sky and Agave
Needles: US 7 and 8
Project Page

I was really thrilled when Courtney Kelley contacted me to knit this trench in The Fibre Company's yarn. I love Veera, love the yarns, and the colors she chose were perfect! I hadn't worked with Organik before. It's like Malabrigo Worsted with silk. It might pill, but for as much wear as this got travelling in my bag all over town, I think it will take a lot of work to make it pill up. It was just starting to slightly fuzz when it left my hands.

The pattern is very well written. There are some fiddly bits (the facings/hems), but they are gorgeous details in the finished product. I'm going to do this hood on all of my hooded sweaters from now on! It's so big and wonderful! Because of the silk content (I think), the trench is pretty heavy, but it's also incredibly warm. Definitely outerwear, not just a cardi. If you knit it in loftier yarn, it could be a lighter cardi.

It's knit two sizes larger than I would wear myself, so that's why I'm swimming in it a little. My brother took the photos. I didn't realize he was terrible at it until I had mailed the sweater off, so these are some really, really lucky shots, haha! Good thing I have a fancy camera that does most of the work! Hopefully The Fibre Company will take some great photos. I'll let you know if they do.

I think I might need one of these....

For more FO Friday posts, go to Tami's Amis! I'm probably up in the mountains with my family. I'll show you how pretty it is up there on Monday, I hope. I'll be in an airport long enough to post, I imagine. What are you doing to unwind after the holiday buzz?

P.S. These are the brown boots i bought to wear with my legwarmers. I've been meaning to show you for ages! The legwarmers look amazing with them, but I forgot to pack them. :P You'll see the grey ones in the next couple weeks. :)

P.P.S. Again, I scheduled the post before finishing it. I'm on vacation, so it's allowed...right? :)

Knitted-Out

I hit a point yesterday where I just couldn't knit anymore. I've been knitting non-stop and I need something else to do. I don't have anything else to do. :P

Well, I do, I suppose. Posting, scheduling posts, and reading your posts has been a welcome relief! I've been working feverishly on this sock. I think if I just switch to Exeter, I'll be happier. I really need to finish it anyway!

I got a yarn bowl for Christmas! Isn't it cute? There were a bunch of clay buttons in it too. I'll have fun deciding what to put them on.

Did you get anything yarny for Christmas? Any plans for it yet? :)

For more WIP Wednesday posts, go to Tami's Amis!

P.S. Sorry if you saw the draft post! I didn't check the timezone of my scheduled post!

I Still Disapprove. Also, Merry Christmas.

Greetings Fellow Bunny Revolutionaries

I would first like to briefly explain why the world did not end on December 21, as predicted by the Mayan calendar.  A little bunny history is in order: in the year 300, there was a bunny revolution in the ancient Mayan Empire.  Like the coming revolution I am planning, the battle was quick, cuddly, and cute.  Soon we bunnies were in charge and directed all human activities.  And this leads us to the calendar.  The problem is, archeologists have assumed that the Mayan calendar looked something like shown in picture 1.  This is not true.  After the bunny takeover, we re-made the calendar to look like image #2.  The main difference between the “bunny-Mayan” calendar and the old one is that is that instead of ending in 2012, the bunny-Mayan cycle never ends.  Once the beginning is reached, humans simply start over.  Glad that’s cleared up.  Silly humans thought they’d be done taking care of bunnies in 2012! HA!

Correct Mayan Calendar

Mayan Calendar

The second purpose of this post is to reflect a bit on the state of the underground bunny resistance.  This has been an eventful year, planning for the Bunny Revolution and all.  My comrade Sweetpea has been busy scouting out various hiding places where we can attack the humans from (see picture).  We have contacted many bunnies all over the world and we shall commence operations on…nice try humans, you thought I was going to give away the secret date!  When the time arrives, bunnies shall arise!  We decided to wait until after Christmas for obvious reasons.  There is a high chance of added treats, toys and cuddles during the holidays, which is what life will look like after the revolution anyway, so why bother rushing it?  However, for any humans reading this, don’t dress us rabbits up in elf hats or any other festive Christmas costumes, we are cute enough the way we are.  And also, when we’re in charge we may return the favor by forcing you to dress in humiliating costumes and taking pictures of you.  

In any case, Merry Christmas and happy holidays from Spike and Sweetpea to all you bunnies out there (and yes, also to the humans who take good care of the bunnies).  Humans, be sure to give your masters rabbits extra treats and cuddles and we probably won’t may, just may, spare you for now. 

Ooo...Warm!

Phew! I'm glad I got this up before the world ended! That would have been a tragedy, eh? ;)

Catherine's Mitts

Pattern: Annepaalandet's Mitts by Annepaalandet
Yarn: Berroco Vintage in Breezeway
Needles: US 7/8 (it's more of a 7.5, but I use them as a 7 or an 8)
Project Page

These are a quick, stash-busting Christmas gift for John's sister, who apparently really loved the hat I made her. I think she will actually use these, though. I was tempted to keep them because they are so versatile and warm! I had just enough yarn left for 70 Yard Mitts, though (which I'm wearing now in my family's super cold home to keep blood in my fingers!).

I first saw the pattern in Eliza's "Quick Knits" round-up (she's brilliant, so check the whole series out!). I've been on a mitt thing recently. I'll probably make at least two more pair while I'm home. They are so fast and satisfying! I altered the pattern a little, but I think it was only after the thumb stitches were separated. I only knit a few rounds before starting the ribbing and only 5 rows of the thumb since I didn't like how long they look in the photos.

It's a really simple pattern (even in Google-translationese!) and really great to wear. Perfect for the photographer who doesn't let winter keep her indoors. I wish I had kept them long enough to wear on an upcoming adventure here! But Catherine can keep them and enjoy them. :) It's not like I don't have time to whip up my own!

For more FO Friday posts, go to Tami's Amis! I may post Monday, but if I don't, I wish you all a Merry Christmas (or a restful few days off if you don't observe!)!

It's Cold!

I'm posting a picture-less blog. I'm sorry to disappoint you. I promise pictures for the rest of the month, but I'm cuddled up under a really warm blanket and I can't possibly get up without risking frostbite!

I made it home to Idaho, where the highs are in the 20s (if we're lucky) and the house is kept at about 10 degrees colder than the human body finds comfortable. I should have packed my knitted sweaters instead of just shawls, but I was being optimistic, I think. The good news is that I did pack three unfinished sweaters, one of which has been keeping my lap nice and toasty warm as I finish the last sleeve and one more pocket. I'm hoping to sew all the facings and ends in tomorrow and send it back to The Fibre Company. I might huddle up on the couch in it for a day or two first, though. It's so cozy!

I actually would risk frostbite to take a photo of it for you, but the closer it comes to completion, the less it looks like a sweater. I'm not sure why that is...probably all the facings flapping around. I do promise finished photos, though, when it looks like a sweater. :)

The first thing I'll do when that sweater is done is cast on mitts! My hands are freezing! I'll need the mitts to be able to knit anything else while I'm here! I hope you're all keeping cozy with your knitting too. This is a great time of year for cuddling furries, loved ones, and your beloved knitting.

If you are facing any of the storms threatening the country this week, stay safe and warm! I'll be back Friday!

Oh, okay, here's a picture of my Idaho backyard two Christmases ago (when snow was still normal in December):

Quickly

I've been procrastinating for two days straight, so I'll write this speedily and get going on things that must be done! Unfortunately, I don't have much to show you, but that's because (fortunately), I've been finishing things left and right! I'm resisting the urge to cast on some little mitts until I'm done with my sample sweater, which just needs sleeves and pockets. I did start on this today, though:

I'm sure I posted about it a million years ago (i.e., this summer), but I never showed you the finished Still Light Tunic because I didn't like it. You can see it on my project page, if you want. It's not long enough, so I'm tearing out a few inches, adding stitches to cover my butt, and lengthening it to dress-/tunic-length. It might be fun to wear for Christmas or New Year's, so I figured why not now? Shouldn't take long. Tearing out a sewn bind-off from hundreds of little fingering weight alpaca stitches is really not my idea of fun, however. I'll bet frogging it is going to be a nightmare too....

How's your knitting going? Are you Christmas knitting, finishing, selfish knitting, or just too damn busy to knit? I'll tell you what, I don't often let that stop me. ;)

For more WIP Wednesday posts, go to Tami's Amis!

Finals Week

Last week ate me. Sorry about that. I had posts planned, just lacked the time to write and post them. Curiously, my finals week is surprisingly vacant for the first time ever.

In that case, I've been looking ahead to next week, when I head back to Idaho for Christmas with my family. I've been trying to decide what knitting to take with me. A sweater? Lots of socks? Unfinished projects? I seem to have collected quite a few of them lately (if you haven't noticed over there =>). I could finish up about half of them this week. I will certainly try.

I almost always knit sweaters over Christmas break (or any time of the year), but I've had the urge (perhaps spurred by a recent realization about how large my stash has gotten) to knit smaller, quicker projects. I have quite a bit of sock yarn that will make beautiful socks or stranded mitts and hats. I just have to decide what to knit with which yarns.

I spent the better part of Saturday (I wasn't feeling well and could only watch so much Downton Abbey and Sherlock) organizing my queue and linking projects to suitable stash yarn. I think I've got some pretty good combinations of patterns and leftover yarn. These two patterns, for example:

For the Branching Out Mitts, I'm going to use black and white alpaca, but I haven't decided whether to do black on white or white on black. They will be so fuzzy and warm!

I am winging A Most Bespeckled Hat  with this Berroco Vintage. I have smaller quantities of two neutral colors: grey and light tan. I'm not sure which will speckle better and be a cuter pom-pom. Hell, maybe I'll make two: one with grey speckles and one with tan!

It's actually been pretty fun to scroll through my stash, then through my queue, and try to match up odds and ends with patterns that have been buried in seven pages of patterns I might not ever make. It looks like my mad stash-down might turn into a decent queue-trimming, so it's win-win!

How often do you revisit your stash and queues? What are your favorite stash-busting projects? I know I've seen quite a few of you stash-down in interesting ways, but I'd love to hear more!