Clapotis scarf

Clapotis scarf
Originally uploaded by Lady Nea Knitsalot

Well, I could only hold out on the Clapotis for so long. But the malabrigo was in my stash and perfect for somthing that would be worn right on my neck.

I have now realized how good it feels to knit with malabigo and I was totally excited when my mom asked for on in this yarn for Christmas, and with taking me a grand total of 3 days to knit (during school days) this is an okay exception to my whole no holiday knitting plan.

Finished WECY

Finished WECY
Originally uploaded by Lady Nea Knitsalot

There it is finished and beautiful.
Specs:
Pattern: Wheat Ear Cable Yoke from Summer IK 2007
Designer: Pam Allen
Mods: already been mentioned and listed on Ravelry

Now I must go and e-mail this pic to a friend who wanted to see how it turned out.

Hmm, I should probably also be reading some of my Phlebotomy text but I'll get to that after the e-mail.

Wheat-Ear Cable Yoke

Wheat-Ear Cable Yoke
Originally uploaded by Lady Nea Knitsalot

I'm done. The modifications were many and time consuming, but totally worth it as they make the sweater more wearable for me.

I've finally ripped out Lelah, I may try again next summer but just not now.

And I've also started a new scarf with the malabrigo I got from the Santa Monica Fiber Festival but that will be in next week's update.

(also this is sort of a test post from Flickr so we'll just see how this goes)

Sockapalooza 4 Socks

Are done and have been. I'll be mailing them tomorrow but here's a link to some of their photos should you be so inclined to take a peek. You can find one here and an even better picture here.

Yes I'm feeling better after a 4 hour nap. But if it happens again tomorrow I might be getting sick. (Well at least it's not during the school semester because then I'd be in trouble, cause I mentioned I'm taking 18 units this upcoming semester right? Eep.

Happy 50th Birthday Dad!

Well Happy Birthday to the guy who has really put up with a lot from me over the years.

And since he will see his present in just a couple hours anyway (let's ignore the fact that he watched as I was knocking out rows left to knit last night just to finish in time).



Ta Da! I'm very happy with these. P.S. to anyone complaining too much about second sock syndrome, try 6th sock syndrome. Yes, I've knit the same exact pattern for 3 pairs because this is exactly how he want's the socks and no changes. I've adapted it by starting with black, then brown, and this time deep olive. But what's a girl to do. It was either this or bending and getting a gift card that just doesn't feel the same.

However, I will beat the Christmas rush by ordering the yarn for the next 3-5 pairs now and starting them when I've gotten through my WIP's to get to monogamous knitting.

Specs:
Pattern: Mine located on the sidebar ->
Mods: None here, I made them all to the pattern itself.

Now if you excuse me, I'll be getting ready for a family filled day with the theme Hawaii 5-0 (credit to my Mom on the idea for the theme).

Finished: Ribs and Lace Tank

I know what you're thinking, three posts in one day? Well I didn't want to lump them together and I have been procrastinating on writing these up for some time.

So within the week of coming home from the vacation I finished the tank (the pictures were taken at night so I'm sorry that they're so bad.


It looked done right? Not too bad for only 3 days of knitting time.


Wait what it that bunched up piece I feel?


Oh sugar (expression borrowed from my knitting Grandmother), I twisted the strap before I KITCHENERED it together. Okay, not too big of a deal, but let me just tell you how much fun undoing kitchener stitch is, just about as wonderful as having a cavity filled.


Ahh, that's better. More of a fuss than I wanted but it looks great.

Pattern: Ribs and Lace Tank from Interweave Knits Spring 2007
Designer: Jodi Green
Size: 33 1/2 bust
Yarn: Cascade Pima Tencel 4 skeins (109 yds/50g per skein), I used every last bit of that 4th skein including swatches.
Needles: US 4 (3.5mm) and US 10 (6mm) 24 inch circulars (dpns for straps)
Mods: Much shorter straps and omitted rows 11 and 12 and one knit row in Crest of the Wave stitch.

Ta Da!

The Anthropologie Caplet is done.
Well so to speak, I cast on saturday afternoon and finished it saturday night. A quick and easy knit and now on to the gratuitous bathroom mirror pics.


That's all for today folks! And tomorrow (I think) finished singles and maybe even plied if I have a chance later tonight.

Pasha is done!

See, although I had serious doubts this morning when I was seaming up everything and kept having visions of stabbing myself with the needle that kept getting stuck and I would then have to force through.

In Sockapalooza news, I still can't decide on a pattern. I've debated over three different skeins and I did decide on a nice burgundy one but now I can't figure out what to make (I've already pulled out 4 differnt patterns, so Cherry Tree Hill makes great yarn since it has put up with this and doesn't seem any worse for wear.)

Yarn wise, well lets just say my wallet took another hit this week with getting the new IK summer issue and I already want to make three different things as well as the wedding canopy but oh the yarn requirements, it will have to wait until I do plan on getting married and in my current boyfriend-less state I doubt that will be happening anytime soon.
Then I also got some roving but I'll post about it when it gets here.
And I'm imposing a new yarn-diet rule here, no more purchases until June 17th because I need to save up the money for vacation yarn and that is the day my vacation begins.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend and remember not only our fallen but their families as well.

edited to say: the pattern info is in the previous post and off of Knitty.com

Okay so I joined another -along that I found through the Lime and Violet Message Board and the gist of it is that we hand spin our own laceweight yarn and knit a shawl from it. So I went digging in the fiber bin and came up with this:

It first appeared here from the wonderful Michelle and immediately when I saw it I wanted to make a shawl with it since there are 50g of merino and 25g of tussah silk and I think I can do it.

So here it is all predrafted and ready and what I've spun so far seems to be turning out well. My fear of it being a bit too orange when I predrafted it seems to blend in more once it spins up and should go away once I ply it up. (I'll show a picture of this later).

I tried some pastels for the first time in two years and I realized why I gave it up for knitting. Oh well, probably mostly since I'm so out of practice.

Gifts from Mother's Day for my grandmothers which were great and quick in a pinch.

Then I got my order from Elann, Did you know that for every $500 dollars you spend they'll give you a $50 store credit? Well only $400+ for me left.

And then after the yarn arrived I realized that my little stash wasn't quite as little as I remembered it so I put everything on my bed and reorganized it, plus I gave some acrylic away to my little sis who I just introduced to crochet and she seems to have gotten the obsessive bug. Well that's all for now I'll be back tomorrow with more conherent thoughts as I just took a test and turned in an 8 page paper this morning and my hand is beginning to tense up again from all of this typing.

Mother's Day?

Covered.
See...

Yup, the Monkey Socks from Knitty

These are super fast and easy to take everywhere. (Like math class when you need to stay awake)

I knit them on 2.75mm needles and I really liked the feel of the yarn.
Tofutsies is a great sock yarn but one problem I had with this skein is that there were a lot of tied off breaks in the skein and I was constantly joining so that was a little deterring.

So great pattern and I am most likely going to repeat this pattern for myself.
Also, the dogsitting is almost over so I should be back with my little tutorial next, but it should take a little time since there were 23 pictures in the set (sorry about how big this is if you are still on dial-up).

Finished! The Ice Princess Necklace

Ta Da!

Yes sir-ee it is done (as if it even took a long time to make). This project took approximately one evening to finish (not counting blocking time). The pattern was very clear to read and I had fun making it.

Pattern:Ice Princess form Crochet Me
Yarn: size 10 crochet cotton in Ecru
Hook: size 8 (1.5mm)

Hmm, this means it is technically my first finished crochet pattern. So I guess it is okay for beginners too.

When in doubt...

Knit washcloths.

I figure that if I finish a couple of these every month I'll have plenty of back up gifts and enough for Christmas so I don't end up in a mad rush, and pass out the fudge to the near-diabetics.
And hey, at least it supplies some mindless knitting without stealing time from my more complicated projects.
What do you knit for gifts?
Also, since in a little over a month I'll be finishing my first full year of college and was contemplating a giveaway, ideas on what? Like yarn, needles, book, stitch markers?

Not that it lasted for more than 30 minutes

But still, I thought I'd post it because one is still intact.

I included the 80-lb puppy for scale.

But since the 60-lb puppy still has hers I'll write down the instructions so you can make them too.

Puppy Pacifier

Need:
some scrap worsted weight wool yarn
size F/5 3.75mm crochet hook

Gauge: not important but mine was 16 sts for 4 inches (10mm) across

Chain 28
DC in 4th loop and DC across row.
Work in DC for 6 rows or until work folds over into a square.
Fold in half and SC all but one seam together
Stuff lightly then seam remaining edge.
Make sure all ends are secured and hand to puppy.

Mine took about 30 min each to finish but if you have a smaller dog you could make a smaller pacifier in which case it would take you less time to make.

Enjoy!

Edited to add: Please watch your puppy while they have this toy, if they do rip it they could accidentally swallow the yarny bits and it isn't safe for them.

Since I'm Lazy

I just took a picture of everything and didn't model since I don't feel like it right now.

Okay so first, the white/pink scarf was knit from the yarn here.
The second scarf was knit with Berrocco Touche and it feels really good against my neck, abd since it's a cotton/modal blend I can wear it during the summer.
The purple fingerless gloves are made from some stash yarn to which I have lost the label, I think it is Lang Jawoll superwash cotton, and the pattern I used is from GarnStudio although I left off the edgings.
Then there are another pair of ankle socks following my ankle sock pattern in the sidebar using Cherry Tree Hill in the "Birches" colorway.
And last but not least, the last skein of yarn that my Secret Pal sent, already in a ball waiting to be knit.
And now I will rest knowing that I can now post with pictures.

I finished a Christmas present!

Um, from last year. Yes I'm behind, although these socks were a test of endurance, could I handle knitting in Stst for so long without losing it? Apparently yes although I came close when last night I finally bit the bullet and I realized that I only had 33 rows to go, so I plopped myself on the couch turned on the tv and zipped through those rows with my new found inspiration. So here they are, sorry about the blurry photo, I was standing on a chair and I get a little dizzy and unsteady when I'm up higher than I can stand by myself.

They are a spin off of my Dad's Father's day sock pattern on the sidebar in the sense that I switched to plain Stst without any ribbing, and I put a short row heel in instead of a heel flap. As an afterthought now, I will put ribbing in any socks I make for my Dad because I just can't stand the miles of Stst that I had to go through.

Felted Wallet

Yes I have another finished object. It is this:

I found the pattern here and I already had a little left over Cascade 220 in my stash from a project long ago gifted. So I immediately cast on and finished it completely within 2 hours (including time spent going back and forth into my room for a tapestry needle and then a crochet hook and then looking for a button, and sewing it up. I felted it after the 2 hours were up and then let it sit and dry.
I love it and it is the perfect size to hold my driver's licence, anything credit card shaped and some money, it won't hold coins though so if you make it you're going to need a coin purse.

First Finished Object of 2007

I cast this on right before leaving for Las Vegas and finished as we got there, so it was a quick knit.

I used Classic Elite Yarns Imagine which is a cotton blend instead of the Merino it called for because I've been meaning to use up that yarn and it still isn't cold enough to wear wool for a full day. But I like it, and it keeps my ears warm too.
Pattern : Calorimetry form Knitty
Yarn : Classic Elite Yarns Imagine colorway 9203
Needles : US7