Bear Parts
All the bear parts are finished. Tomorrow there should be plenty of time to lightly block and seam the bear. Then it’ll be in the mail on Tuesday. Good thing the bear has a little stripe action going on. I have just enough yarn left to do the seaming. Hmm, what kind of ribbon should I use?
Sock Envy
Check out all of these socks! I think I’m jealous. I only have my one pair of handmade socks. But there’s good news. I heard from my sock pal yesterday. My socks are in the mail. Oh boy.
Stranded Bag Update
Here’s the bag in all its floppy glory. I may even finish it before my Sunday class. The puckering isn’t as severe as my first attempt.
By the way, my very basic business website is up. And I’m now listed in the NAPO membership directory. I even got my first NAPO referral inquiry today. Yeah.
Scary Wings
I took the kids to Magic Wings today, a lovely butterfly conservatory. Unfortunately, I have a bit of a bug phobia going back to childhood. (I’ll post some photos of my little Junebug book about the development of my phobia in the next week.)
I finally got myself psyched up to go into the conservatory. But there were some not so welcoming hissing cockroaches in the entry. This did not set the mood well for me.
Once inside, the panicky feeling continued. I guess I must of let a few yelps out since an employee approached me. She said that some patrons feel more comfortable holding a butterfly predator. She came back with this.
Do you think, a grown woman, would carry this around with her for the next hour, holding it up to her face every time a butterfly appeared to be swooping in? You betcha!
At some point the employee came over to the kids and said if they wanted butterflies to approach them, they should get away from me. Here’s a visitor that Ella named Cream.
The kids had an amazing time. And we learned a lot about butterflies and their eggs and how Ella could make a career of tending butterflies.
In knitting news, the stranded bag is coming along. I think I have at least 30 rows of the pattern knit now. I’ll show progress photos tomorrow.
Finished Project: Misti Neck Gaiter
Project Specs:
Pattern: My own. CO 60 sts. 2 x 2 rib for 3 rows. 3 x 1 rib for 2 rows. Then shift rib over 1 st ever other row. Knit diagonal rib pattern for 6 in. Finish with a 2 x 2 rib for 3 rows.
Yarn: Misti Alpaca, color 643
Needles: 16″ Addi Turbo Circular Needles, Size US 9
Size: 16″ around and 7 1/2″ long
For being the softest yarn ever, this neck gaiter feels kind of scratchy around the neck. But when you touch it with your hands, it feels buttery soft. Confusing. Maybe Ella and I have sensitive necks. Or maybe it’ll feel better when the weather is colder.
Finished Prjoect: Branching Out Scarf
Project Specs:
Pattern: Branching Out scarf by Susan Pierce Lawrence from Knitty.com
Yarn: Filatura Di Crosa Ultralight
Needles: US 4 straight bamboo needles on the ends and US 6 straight bamboo needles on the rest
Size: 6 inches x 56 inches
This fuzzy yarn does not rip out easily, making it difficult to unknit mistakes, which there were many. Once blocked, the skinny ends evened out with the rest of the scarf (you can’t even tell I knit the ends two needle sizes smaller) and the yarn softened. Blocking rules. I do love the leaf pattern, but I could not get the lace pattern in my head and had to constantly refer to the chart. Next time I would make this scarf in a lovely non-fuzzy green yarn. Check out the knitalong for this pattern.
My Blog Links: More Frogging Than Knitting, Update on Projects, Not Enough Yarn
Projects on the Needles
I picked up my office yesterday and discovered I have five knitting projects currently on needles. Funny how my initial idea of only working on one project at a time went completely out the window.
Misti Neck Gaiter-This is almost done. I’m just reworking the bind off so it matches the cast on edge better.
Misti V-neck Pullover-I’ve done a few rows of the sweater, but I forgot to incorporate the cable pattern in the middle. Oops! I just haven’t gotten excited enough to redo that provisional cast on edge again. It’s not as easy with three strands of yarn.
Dino Sweater-The back is done, and the front is done up to the beginning of the dino chart. I’m all ready for my class next weekend on intarsia. I’ve also begun the sleeves. I’ll be doing them at the same time.
Felted Stranded Bag-I’ve ripped out the bag and reworked the chart more to my liking. I hope I like it more this time around. But at any rate, it needs to be finished by class on Sunday, love it or not.
Brown Striped Bear-I’m working up the body of the bear. There’s a chance I may run out of yarn. I sure hope Webs still has some of this closeout yarn left.
And by the way, where are my Sockapaltwoza socks? Now that the weather has turned and I’m wearing socks again, I sure am getting anxious for their arrival.
Now off I go to New York to see The Pixies with my friend Johanna. Am I ready to rock? Yes I am.
Knitting Books from the Library
I came home from the library yesterday with a pile of books, most of them knitting related of course: Baby Knits for Beginners, Scarf Style, Derek, The Knitting Dinosaur, Mosaic Knitting, Simple Knits for Cherished Babies, and Felted Knits. Of these, I’ve added Felted Knits and Scarf Style to my wish list. These would both be great additions to my collection. I love being able to check out knitting books in depth before committing to buying them.
I’ve decided to knit the bear from Simple Knits for Cherished Babies for my friend who’s having the baby. I’m using the Desert Garden that I tried to make a NBaT out of. I still hate knitting with this yarn. It’s splits constantly, like knitting with eight separate strands. And it has no elasticity, making it more challenging doing all of those increases. But once it’s knit, the yarn feels really nice and has excellent stitch definition. I’m using the brown and cream colored yarn and there will be some stripes involved. Once the bear’s finished I’ll add a set of CD compilations of my favorite lullabies and off the package goes.
And FYI, there’s a new KnitCast available.
