Happy New Year!

Hello? Is anyone still out there?

Hi! I've missed you! I can't tell you how many times over the last 6 months I've thought with excitement: "Maybe I'll have time for a blog post!" Now's the time. Perfect timing, actually, because the knitting bug has really returned with a vengeance in the past few days.

I'll return with a bang: a finished project! A pair of socks, in fact. Now that I'm looking back, they seem to be just about exactly two years old! I started them on a plane ride home a couple years ago. Charted socks aren't exactly easy to carry around and work on, so they saw little knitting time, unfortunately, despite the stunning pattern and the amazing colorway. I'm wearing them right now (again). They are amazing! Forgive the futon shots (it's where I've been parked since the semester was over mid-December) and the Kylo Ren lounging pants. :)

If you are a Harry Potter fan and haven't snagged the Interweave Harry Potter Knits special issue, go get it! You can get it as a book now, too, if you aren't in the States and couldn't get it. It has been wiped of all HP-specific names and references, but I think most of the really good patterns made it. I can't wait to knit a few other patterns out of the magazine, but I have loads of other projects I need to finish or make first. :P

Here's the Raverly project page with all the details. Unfortunately, the Etsy shop where I got the yarn closed up. :(

It feels good to be back! I'll ease myself back into the blogging routine slowly and show you a couple of the things I've been working on next time. How have you been?! What are you working on in the new year?

Miniature Projects

For me, the hardest part about blogging lately has been photos. I either forget to take them, am too lazy to take them, take bad ones I don't really want to share, or can't remember to take them off the camera. I've been pretty busy this summer, but also pretty lazy. The knitting is picking back up after a few months of just not really wanting to. I'm also learning how to share knitting time with the other hobby I've picked up and not talked much about: my dolls.

At some point I told you there were more than the one. The first one is gone, living with my step-mom now as a special thanks for all of her work on our wedding. I have four total, two I often forget to count  because they are small and unfinished. I think the important ones are complete enough to share now, though.

Lenore arrived in December. I painted her face and gave her gorgeous eyes and full eyelashes this spring. I've acquired a few bits of clothing for her, but she's a really odd, not terribly popular shape, so I'm looking forward to sewing things for her.

Aileen came to me in February, I think. She was pre-owned, so she came painted. I might redo her face at some point, but it suits her for now. I've had her in a few different wigs (I made this one myself out of the suri alpaca from a previous post), but haven't quite found the right one yet. I'll make another one out of a really neat wool that I think will be just about perfect. These aren't the eyes she'll keep either. I have a couple pair on order and I hope one is just the right green.

I also knitted her a sweater last month. I'm really proud of it! It has pockets! I hope to make a me-sized one someday. Her wig here is my favorite yet, but I hope I can get just a little closer to what I want.

They have been a lot of fun. I have so many projects planned for them, but everything takes time and sometimes research. Some things, like the wig and Lenore's face, I was able to do in short spurts. I'm hoping small sewing projects will be a bit more gratifying and more instant than the weeks and months other projects have taken me. Knitting the sweater only took a couple days. I can handle that. :)

Friday, I'll share one of those photos of me that I don't like just so I can bring the blog back to life a bit. I just finished a gorgeous sweater that needs photos and I need to show you the sweater I'm working on now as well! I'll just schedule photo-day and take care of all my blog picture woes in one fell swoop.

How have you been?! How is summer treating you?

The Good Stuff

As you might have noticed Monday, I got post-writing happy last week and started scheduling posts, (but forgot to put pictures into Monday's...oops). Lack of blogging is largely due to wanting to talk about things in a certain order but not being the least bit ready to do it that way, so I'm tossing order out the window and going for topics I've got the photos for.

That said, here's what I'm sure you've been waiting for: the knitted wedding dress!

Complete with me-made crushed tulle underskirt and me-crafted ribbon belt. "Crafted" is maybe too strong a word for the belt. I literally pinned two flowers to a piece of ribbon. It looks gorgeous, though.

Yet, that is not the limit of my craftiness! Oh no! Naturally, we needed a personalized cake-topper. I whipped it up super quickly, super last-minute with the help of the clay stash of my friend Ali.

Aren't they the sweetest? We think so too. :)

And that is as far as I've delved into our wedding and honeymoon pictures. There are a lot of them. :P I can understand why photographers charge so much to take, evaluate, and edit photos. It's going to take us years at the rate we are going....

Coming soon: what I'm working on and a new FO!

Ocean

My vision was to finish this top in Oregon and model it on the beach and make a video with those pictures set to the song I named it after. Alas...I stood at the sort of yucky, artificially blue pond near our house amidst the gnats and only got two decent photos. Just imagine how great the vision was as you read.

Ocean

Pattern: Hélène by Veronik Avery
Yarn: Knit Picks Lindy Chain in Sagebrush
Needles: US 4
Project Page

This is one of those rare instances where I am sort of glad patterns age in my queue much longer than I anticipate. This pattern was released in 2011, when there was one color of Quince & Co. Sparrow, which also happened to be one of the very few linen yarns on the market. Now, in 2015, I had the choice of many Sparrow colors and also this much cheaper, much more colorful, Lindy Chain, among other various linens and linen blends. Naturally, I had to go with a minty green. It's sort of been my jam since last fall, though I don't know if that's shown in my knitting or not....

The pattern is a piece of cake and (I know there are sleeves but) NO (knit separately, then attached) SLEEVES. No sleeves might by my jam for a while too, she said after already starting one or two sweaters sleeves first, ignoring the pile of sweaters without sleeves >.>. In fact, this pattern is so great that even after swatching and half-checking my gauge, I knit the whole thing at a gauge that was entirely too small (row-wise, the only gauge that matters and the only part of my gauge I didn't check) and it still fits me perfectly. Magic? I think so.

I really want to recommend the yarn to you. I do. I mean, I knit a top out of it and it's great. It hasn't fallen apart, didn't spontaneously combust, or anything. But, it's a chain construction and it snags sometimes, even with dull needles. The snags are pretty easy to fix with a bit of tugging, but it's obnoxious. It also didn't soften like I expected. I might toss it into the washing machine, but I don't expect that to help much. It's an alright yarn. Great for the price, really. I can't give it 5 stars, though.

Have you knit anything with linen? If so what? Which yarn(s) have you used that you would recommend? I'll probably give Sparrow a go. People talk highly of it. What do you think?

Ah! Almost forgot the music link. Named for one of my all-time favorite songs. It's by a country duo no one has ever heard of that I still think is absolutely genius. It's one of Spike's favorite songs too. :)

It Ain't Easy Bein' Green

At long last, here's what I've been referring to as my Slytherin sweater (Caligula would have been Slytherin, for sure!):

A Viper for the Roman People

Pattern: Grace by Jane Richmond

Yarn: Countess Ablaze Viscount of Spark in "Caligula always found some cause for envy"

Needles: US 4

Project Page

I tried to be really smart with my yarn-buying last year because I'm trying to destash quite a bit. I've been largely successful, but I have to buy up yarn from time to time. Just have to. Last year, one of my favorite indie dyers, Countess Ablaze, was dying special monthly batches based on the 12 Caesars using quotes from Suetonius' biographies of the Caesars as inspiration. I'm a classicist, so I can't turn something like that down. I jumped at the chance to grab some Caligula-inspired yarn and matched it to Grace, which had been in my queue (and in a book on my coffee table) for a while.

At first, I was a little apprehensive about making myself a sparkly green sweater, but if one is going to have a Caligula sweater, one must absolutely go nuts and embrace the insanity! I'm glad I did! I'm also a Slytherin through and through, so green and silver is a necessary wardrobe staple, eh?

I will never wear this buttoned. The bands are too flimsy to sustain that kind of wear. If I ever change my mind (it is kind of cute), I'll have to sew some ribbon to the bands for stability. In all other ways, this is the perfect sweater! If you haven't made yourself a Grace cardigan yet, you need to! I'm going to wear this thing to death!

If you are interested, this year's journey with the Countess is through Homer's The Odyssey. The yarns have been really, really stunning. I haven't had the opportunity to get any, but I plan to. :)

I don't think I've mentioned, but I am getting married very, very soon! That's part of the reason for my blog flakiness this year. It'll be the reason I may go silent for the next month or so, too. I'll try not to! I have lots of freshly finished things to show you. :) If I can find the time in the next week, I'll get those lovelies scheduled. Then, when I come back, I'll be able to show you the wedding dress and lots of other cool things!

Ranting and Rambling

We are well beyond the bounds of the "Friday-ish" sweater and still no post! Until yesterday, it needed three more buttons and some ends re-woven in. I had an argument with a button and its placement in the promised week, which ended in undoing the bind-off of one button band and binding off a tad looser. Turns out, it wasn't the poor button's fault, but a problem I've always had with yarn-overs paired with directional decreases.

They are smaller paired with one than the other, which means the lace detail across the top of the cardigan doesn't match up when I button it because it's lower on one side than the other. Aggressive blocking might do the trick, but it takes a hell of a pull to get them to line up, so I'm skeptical. The worst part is, it will never matter because I don't intend to wear it buttoned, but I still care SO MUCH! In any case, it is officially done and ready for pictures.

In other news, I have in my possession quantities of yarn for two coveted summer tops (i.e., sleeveless, a nice break after the Winter of Sleeves) and it is KILLING me that I can't cast anything new on until I have finished a significant number of works-in-progress. It's supposed to be motivating me, but it might be having the opposite effect. I haven't knit much in the last couple of weeks. Only 2.5 sleeves left.

I broke down and swatched the minty stuff last night. I'm going to start that top tomorrow, in-progress sleeves be damned.

I basically wrote this post to rant about all the stuff I'm not doing. I feel better about it. Your turn! Rant here or forever hold your peace! You can rant on your blog and I'll happily go read it there too. :)

Happy Easter!

I love Easter! Not just because bunnies, but because you can celebrate religiously or not! It can be about Jesus or chocolate and Peeps. How ever you choose to celebrate (if you do), I hope you have a gorgeous day.

Love Is...

Pattern: Meridien by Joji Locatelli
Yarn: Sundara Yarn Petite Sock Yarn in Cool-Mint
Needles: US 2.5 and 3
Project Page

This sweater, like all the sweaters you will see in the coming weeks, was a bit long in the making. I started it about 11 months ago. It worked up quickly enough, I simply got hung up on a few things (you'll see that sleeves are a theme). The first was that I couldn't get the armholes and back neck to fit me comfortably, so had to keep taking the thing apart to add short-rows. Once I got it mostly figured out, I then started the sleeves, found they were way too big when they were almost done, and put it in time-out for a little bit.

In any case, it's done and it's really lovely, isn't it? I adore Sundara Yarn. I loved this color when it was a monthly color two years ago, I think, but I didn't get it for some reason. I lucked out and it reappeared at the end of the year in just enough quantity to eek out this sweater! I have a skein in aran too, destined to be a Rosebud.

Besides the short-rows I added at the back, I don't think I changed much. The sleeves and the peplum are a bit shorter than called for because I was a little worried about the yarn situation. I shouldn't have shortened the sleeves. Twenty inches seemed too long, but after wearing it, the current length is more like 3/4 sleeves. I don't mind it, but they aren't full sleeves. I used German short-rows on the sleeve caps. I gauged, via Instagram, interest in a video on how to do that. It will happen! The next short-row sleeve cap pattern I have uses a different (better even, perhaps) method, so I'll demonstrate both.

The details are so gorgeous. Joji outdid herself! I can't believe how pretty it is. It has to be the prettiest sweater I own! Will any other sweater ever measure up? Well, I guess I'll just have to keep knitting to find out. :)

I named it for the lyrics in this lovely song by the one and only Kenny Loggins. I'm curious how many of you my age grew up on his lullaby album too.

The buns, John, and I wish you a very, very happy Easter!

Knitting Again!

Hey all y'all! I've missed you! Yesterday I checked off a major box on my to-do-list, which is a load off everyone's mind. That means we can breathe for a second and I can update the blog. :) Then it's back to the grindstone. :P

I've been knitting, but it's all been so slow-moving, there hasn't been much to share! I think I do still have a pile of FOs to show you from way back in December and maybe beyond, but I promise they will appear soon!

I've been finishing lots of WIPs from years past. It feels amazing to finish the things, but working on them has been nothing short of torture. This is mostly because I'm also trying to be monogamous(ish) with the projects and they are almost all stockinette sleeves. Ugh!

This week marked the end of endless fingering weight stockinette sleeves and the beginning of some worsted lace ones. The difference is magical! I can't believe how fast this sleeve is working up! If you have an amazing memory, you might recall that I frogged these sleeves about a year and a half ago in the interest of a well-fitting sweater. That sweater should be realized as soon as this weekend (you know, 6 years too late...)!

Friday, I'll reveal either a newly finished minty sweater or a finished-a-couple-weeks-ago flannel dress. Or both! The sun has decided that staying up later than 5:30 is the cool thing to do, which I really appreciate. :)

What are you guys working on? Are you snowed/iced in? I've enjoyed many knitters' Instagram photos of snowed-in knits. I'm hoping for a snow day tomorrow myself, but it will take more than 6-9 inches to get the university to throw in the towel.

My Go-To Sweater

I've been so busy trying to keep all of my resolutions this year that I haven't had time for any of the blog resolutions! It has me fuming, really. I'm working my butt off and I'm still behind on everything. :P I owe you some knitting FOs, my sewn dress(!), a video tutorial of German short-rows on short-row sleeve caps (we have to wait until the next short-row-sleeved sweater, but it won't be long! And the sun will exist by then!), and more teasers about the up-coming not-so-hard-to-figure-out special event in May.

So in the interest of curing my angst and not disappearing completely off your blog feed, I'm posting a midnight post with pictures you've probably seen before. They are weird ones too. Sorry about that. :S

This is prompted by a blog post from Karen Templer of Fringe Association. She wanted to know earlier this week what knit her readers couldn't live without. It was a particularly timely post because that very same day I was wearing a sweater I never thought I'd wear much. I didn't particularly like knitting it because the wool was super unpleasant and the sweater pattern isn't especially drool-worthy, just functional and clean. I'm a bit of a knitting show-off sometimes, if you haven't noticed. I need some pizzazz!

Yet I wear it all the time. I often stand in my closet and think, "I want to wear a hand-knitted sweater. Which one?" And it wins probably 80% of the time. It isn't fussy. Some sweaters I'm always tugging or fluffing the collar or adjusting the sleeves but this one just...fits.

As terrible as the wool was to knit with, it's absolutely comfortable to wear even without an under layer (it's too hot for a layer). It is scratchy, but not uncomfortably so. I am not particularly sensitive to scratchy wool, though. Except when knitting with it, I guess.

Here's the original post with the Ravelry project page linked if you want yarn and pattern info, though the pattern is heavily modified, if memory serves.

What is your go-to sweater? Did you know it would be your wardrobe staple or did it just happen to grow on you?

Happy New Year!

I know it was a week ago, but still..I'm hoping it's a great year for you. :)

This is where I would normally do a year-in-review type of post, but last year wasn't really my proudest as a knitter. Something weird happened last summer and, despite my May KAL, I doubled my WIPs and the number hasn't diminished much even now. This year it'll all change. I turned 29 yesterday and I'm looking to shape up in many ways this year, get myself in order before I turn 30. There are lots of things I need to check off the list this year, so here are my resolutions (knitting first, then personal):

Finish the WIPs!
Become a monogamous knitter again (a little cheating might be allowed)
Continue stashing-down
Get rid of the knits I never use

Get into a religious blogging habit
Extend the blog to either a podcast or YouTube account
More knits and more bunnies on Instagram (tie it to the blog better)
Work before play (a.k.a. take care of business, as John says: T.C.o.B.)
Get in shape (run/work-out)

This is going to be a big year. I know it in some sense, but feel it in other ways. I want to step up my game to reflect the bigness I feel. I hope I can rise to the occasion. :/

I've been off to an awesome start this year as far as the knits go. I've completed four projects (all monogamously knit) since the first and I should have a two-year-old (and two-year-old's) blanket finished by Monday. The momentum I've built just in those small victories really has me amped up to finish things and finish them quickly. I do want to start some new things, after all. :)

Only a skein and a half left now!

Monogamous knitting will help me manage all the other hobbies I've picked up and juggled poorly in the last few years: blogging, the dolls, sewing, photography, and (most importantly) school. I'll need the extra time to organize a big surprise John and I spontaneously decided to schedule in May. :)

I can't wait to continue sharing the making with you all this year and to share the rest of my big year with you all! Thank you all so much for your continued support over the last and previous years. It really means the world to me. I hope any enhancements I plan make for the blog will make Bunnies and Bettas a really great place to visit moving forward!

Here's to the new year!

The Sun Came Out

Hello friends! Long time no blog! I've written a few posts, but it's been so dark and cloudy, I haven't been able to take any pictures to go with them. :P It's like we live in Mordor over here! I've seen the sun twice in the last three weeks! Christmas was one of those days, so that was a nice gift.

I hope you all had a fabulous holiday, whichever ones you observed. Ours was quiet and relaxed. I'm still knitting Christmas presents like a little elf, though. I have a lot left and a deadline that's creeping up fast (nope, it wasn't Christmas!).

Today and yesterday, I conquered the monumental task of moving my yarn stash around. John's been on a shelf-building kick, which wrapped up with new yarn shelves for me. Yay! I don't have as much unused yarn as I thought I did. I have a ton of partial skeins, but those are living somewhere else for now. :S

I like the idea of getting up and plucking the yarn I want from the shelf instead of having to recall my weird organizational system (and the exceptions to it) and digging through boxes and tubs of yarn. I'm hoping to continue my destashing in the coming year. This will help me keep track of it. Though I'll have to find a new use for some of the shelves when I begin to run low on yarn (HA!).

I'm sure (I hope) after the gift-knitting season you are all diving into selfish knits! What are you working on to keep you warm in this burst of cold weather?

Sweater Stacking

Hello, dear readers! I hope my American friends had a fabulous Thanksgiving last week and that my international friends had a great week!

The lack of sunlight is hindering my blogging a bit because I'm not typically home when the sun is available for photos. :P I have been knitting and working on various things, though.

My in-progress knits have been unceremoniously dumped in wretched a pile next to the futon since this summer. It was really starting to wear on me, so I thought I'd do something about it. My first thought was to neatly fold the projects and stack them so that the least finished were on the bottom and the closest to finished were on top. That way, I can glance to my left, think, "Hey, this sweater just needs a neckband," and pick it up to finish it.

Turns out it works! As I was stacking the projects (sweaters, mostly), I thought those very thoughts and I finished a couple of them. I have a large order of Christmas knits, all the same item, so I know I'm going to be glancing longingly at this carefully arranged stack and wanting to knit on anything but those items from time to time. :) I'm hoping that desperation for anything else will result in lots of finished sweaters! It's ridiculous to have so many so close to being done. It's cold, dammit! Let's wear these things already!

I've had a bit of wrist pain as of late, so I've refrained from knitting, even though I don't think it is knitting-relating. It's feeling much better, so I'm going to do some housework now and then cast on a Christmas present for one of my brothers to knit when my Wednesday tv shows come on. :)

Are you making holiday gifts this year? What do you watch while you holiday-craft? If you are interested in some good company and some good holiday movie recommendations (some are wholly unrelated to any holiday, but still fabulous), pop on by the Christmas Movie KAL thread in the Very Shannon group and join us!

Socks for Sock Weather

I got totally mixed up in my days last week, which resulted in a total failure of my blogging schedule, haha. So, that means my posts this week are going to be a bit mixed up too! My Friday FO on a Monday:

Summer Breeze

Pattern: Earlybird Socks by Cassandra Dominik from Knitty, Winter 2012
Yarn: Hedgehog Fibre Sock in Gust
Needles: US 1
Project Page

I would imagine just about all of my American readers witnessed some snow last week. I hate snow. It does mean, however, that I am more apt to pull on some cozy hand-knitted socks when there is white stuff on the ground threatening to freeze my toes off. I finished these guys just in time.

The yarn is amazing, as always. My favorite fabric for hand-knitted socks! As last time though, it did pill quite a bit while I was knitting, this time more so because the pattern required quite a bit more manipulation and yarn abuse. No pilling in use, though. The color is unimaginably beautiful, like the scent of flowers on the wind (hence the name, though spring maybe would have been a better choice...I had Michael Buble on the mind a bit).

The pattern was also pretty amazing. It's memorable in it's simple repetitiveness, but I did find that I couldn't muster the stamina to work on it for very long. It's not exactly mindless and there was some stress in nearly dropping stitches a few times that I could have lived without (which could be avoided with a cable needle, but I am a rebel). The smocking of the pattern does make it a touch tight to pull the leg over your heel, but they fit great. OH AND THE HEEL! It's a flipping toe-up flap that is genious! It starts under your heel and continues up the back, so your heel is protected from all the important angles! I'm going to start doing this on all my toe-up socks.

All in all, great yarn, great pattern great socks. :) I redid the bind-off after these pics so they no longer cut off circulation to my feet. Forgive my marked up legs. My skin has an amazing memory for my pj pants (especially when I'd been lounging in them all day ;]).

I promised to alert you to my Blog Hop choices. Lindsay posted hers already and keep an eye out for Constance's. I still have one invite out, but I will let you know when that pans out one way or the other. I know she's pretty busy right now.

Got any socks going? Dreaming of any in particular?

Blog Hop

Sorry I sort of fell off the map last week. This fall has been a busy one, though I don't have much to show for it. :P

I was invited by Ine over at a picture book mind to take part in a blog hop. Thank you so much of thinking of me, Ine! So... here goes!

1. What am I working on?

Knitting, as ever, but I thought maybe I'd let you know a couple other things I'm doing, too. Knitting first: I just cast on this pair of socks in perhaps my favorite Hedgehog Fibres colorway I've been fortunate enough to get my hands on so far (which has been too few!). It is called Windbreaker and I'm pairing it with the dyer's own pattern Vestigial. I'm also still working on a sparkly green Grace. Just needs sleeves (like all my other wips ;))!

I'm also working on a couple of art projects. One is repainting my doll again (this is the third and final time--for a while--I pray), this time painting her whole body instead of just her hands and face. The other art project is one that's entirely in my head at the moment, but I intend to storyboard it soon. It will be a graphic rendition of The Decemberists' album The Hazards of Love. Every time I listen to it (which is often), I have vivid images of the characters and settings that I feel I should start putting on paper pretty soon. It will likely be a looooong term project since I've already been thinking about it since the album was released a couple years ago, but I think it will be fun.

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I don't know if this question is answerable concerning my knitting. I tend to pick bold colors, but many other knitters do too, so I don't know if that makes it different. It's interesting to think about knitting as a genre. There are definitely designers whose designs I can pick out instantly, but I don't know how we can differentiate between those who knit others' designs besides the color palette each knitter gravitates too or her chosen alterations. I'm sure there are distinguishing markers, I just haven't sat down to think about it....

My art is a little easier to make out as my own. Granted, I haven't done it for nearly a decade, but I assume my style hasn't changed much. :) I prefer to work in pencils and I strive for super-realism. That doesn't necessarily differentiate me from other super-realist pencil artists, but I tend to have a very light hand, which does make me a bit different, I think. In the last couple of years before I set the art aside, I really took to working in pen. This helped a bit with my light hand so it didn't get too lost. My goal is to return to that with The Hazards of Love project, though I might sacrifice the super-realism.

3. Why do I write/create what I do?

This is an easy one. I've always been an imaginative person. I daydream and I'm easily distracted. I get hung up on images or ideas and want to explore them. I knit because it keeps me grounded. I listen better with knitting in my hands and I can focus on what I need to focus on--like lectures or puzzling through my dissertation--without tumbling into a passing thought. I used to doodle extensively as an undergrad. My notes contain more art than substance. :) Art and the doll give me the chance to exercise my imagination. I need to do it more often now that the stress of grad school (finishing it, specifically) is piling on. It's so nice to not think about all the stressful stuff 24/7 and to create something that won't be criticized or graded or otherwise evaluated. I leave school at school and think about what color my new doll's eyes should be or how the Fairy Queen will look: like a person or a tree?

4. How does my writing/illustration/creative process work?

I don't know how much of a process it is, but it's true for knitting and for drawing: I plan for ages and ages, then finally, one day, sit down and start on it. Knitting I work on endlessly, ripping back for mistakes or measuring for alterations. The art is pretty much the same, except I have to work on it in spurts. I typically focus on one area at a time until it's perfect. Super-realism takes it out of me, so I can't stare at it too long or work on it as vigorously as the knitting. I actually have a lot of unfinished or really weird-looking works because I just never found the time to finish them (see above). In the end, I either like it or I don't and I move on to the next thing, having enjoyed the process thoroughly, if not always the end product (if there is one).

Because I've been busy the last couple of weeks, I'm behind in inviting the three bloggers I have in mind, so I'll have to update this post and alert you next post when I've asked them and they've participated. This has been an interesting brain exercise, so I encourage you to take the questions to your own blog whether invited or not and let me know you've posted so I can learn about your creative process.

Please hop on over to Ine's post here to read her answers. She's an incredibly talented artist and knitter (though only a beginner! I can't believe it!).

Told You it was a Quick Hat

I promised you a hat and this time I'm delivering on my blog promise. :)

Stovetop

Pattern: Stovetop from Road Trip by tincanknits

Yarn: Swans Island Natural Colors Merino Worsted in Teal

Needles: US 6 & 8

Project Page

I knit this hat in 2 days! It was easy and fun, something I haven't had in a knitting project for at least a month, haha. I had the amazing luck of winning the ebook during Very Shannon's Summer Sweater KAL (during which I managed to finish zero sweaters :P). There are a lot of really fantastic patterns in the book. This one looked like it would provide me with instant gratification and I was not disappointed.

I could have made it a size larger, I suppose, but I don't think I'll have to worry about it falling off my head at the size it is now. I do wish it were a touch longer because I love my hats super slouchy, but it's cute. The yarn is an odd skein that didn't match the dye lot of the three others I used to make Jules recently. It really did a number on my fingers. They were so blue from the dye that they looked bruised! For as soft as Swans Island is, I'm not sure I love it enough to put up with the blues bleeding on me that much again (this was the third go-'round). It rinses out in a snap and I haven't noticed it leaving any other traces around since the wash, so it's fine now, I hope.

Happy Halloween! John's been comping for the last couple weeks, so we haven't carved our pumpkins (yet). We're hoping for a chill night getting those pumpkins carved while watching a (not scary:P) movie. :) I dressed up because my students insisted. I don't have any costumes, so I improvised:

I'm a ghost! I guess. :) John said maybe the ghost from The Ring, but he thought I was stretching it. I was, haha. Have a great weekend! See you Monday!

Quickly

I started a hat on Monday. I feel like I haven't started anything new for ever, but I think it was just last week I started a pair of socks. Really, I haven't finished anything in forever. The hat is going quickly enough that it should be done by the end of the week. I like small projects!

A couple of pictures of the hat and socks (that aren't much larger than they were last week :S):

And that's all I've got for you today. I scheduled too much for class tomorrow and didn't get started on prepping it soon enough, so I've got a lot of lesson planning to do tonight! Hat for you Friday? Deal. Or, if time magically slows down (I know it will, but not before Friday ;)), maybe I'll finally get John in his smashing new cabled sweater. :)

A Sock Start

Last week kinda got away from me. I have the finished knits, though! Have knits, will share. :) I've sort of lost my knitting mojo recently. It makes me sad. I don't know if it's just because I've got a lot to do around this (midterm) time, if it's because I have a mind full of things I want and need to do, or if after 7 years my maniacal knitting speed has just finally caught up with me and I need a break. The overwhelming number of works-in-progress certainly hasn't helped. :S I'm working on it very slowly. :)

I started these socks over the weekend, hoping that my love of the yarn would jump-start my mojo again. It didn't work as well as I had hoped, but I am knitting and mostly on them, so that's a start.

And for a promised FO: a little black bunny. Nothing terribly special, just a fun little yarn-eater that we had way too much fun photographing!

Ophelia doesn't like him. Who can blame her? He's eating her food!

I hope you guys have a fabulous week and I'll try to get pictures of John's fabulous new sweater before Friday so you can see it then. See you soon!

A Deer

All right! Enough! I'm going to make up for my ridiculous, repeated failures to post FOs by giving you one today, one Wednesday, and one Friday. Then, I promise not to drop the ball again! First up, a fella I finished in June and mounted in July:

A Deer

Pattern: My Dear - A Deer Trophy by Claire Garland
Yarn: Berroco Vintage in (Natural) and Knit Picks Simply Cotton Organic Sport in Toffee
Needles: US 4 and 6
Project Page

Isn't he just the cutest! One of my aunts got married over the summer to an avid hunter. He has at least four deer heads hanging in his basement and I thought my aunt might appreciate having a prettier deer of her own hanging in the house when she moved into the man cave. :)

The pattern is great! The yarns I used were probably not the best choices, but they turned out just fine. I was more concerned with the colors and what I had in my leftovers bin than fiber content. I washed the head on hot in hopes of a tiny bit of felting and I think I achieved enough to give its head a slightly firmer shape.

The antlers were awfully fiddly and probably needed wire to make them more stable, but they'll do! I stained the mount and bought the flowers to glue on. I think he looks very chic. ;)