socks and pets

Here is the beginning of my first sock!! Yay! I love knitting things on DPNs. The little beginning tube is so cute. I'm knitting Thuja from the Winter 05 knitty. I like that they are on size 6 needles... I don't know if I'm ready for size 2s! Since they are rugged man socks, I think I will give them to my sweetie.

Oh and out of the 6 days that the hoodie has been finished, I have worn it 4 days. I heart it!
I also forgot to mention my pets... so here is a picture of my dog and company.
This is Bonny. She is a Cardigan Welsh Corgi/Jack Russell Terrier cross and I have had her since she was about 6 weeks old (her mom's milk dried up). She will be 15 in June! Her hobbies include: eating, sleeping, snoodling around on the carpet, watching the world go by and eating.


This is Jonis. He is about 6 years old, though he doesn't look it, and has a little nubby tail. He was born to a feral cat colony in some blackberry bushes. His hobbies include: hiding from people he knows (but rarely me), hanging with his favorite pal Bonny, playing with my roommates dog, hogging the food dishes, posturing around outside, playing in the toilet and sleeping.


This is Ezekiel. Ezekiel is a shelter cat, is about 7 and thinks that I am a goddess. I am allergic to his saliva. His hobbies include: sleeping, trying to sneak outside, trying to get my attention by maowing and pawing at me, wiping his drool on my face, ignoring the dogs and harassing people (esp. my roommate) into feeding him.


This is Schwinn. He belongs to my roommate and is a labra-doodle. His hobbies include: chewing no-no things in an attempt to channel puppyish energy, running around like a maniac when he gets to go to the dog park, barking at the mail man, smashing himself into small spaces and showering the world with love.

Finished object!!! Hoodie love!!

This is how it looked in the beginning... Like a placenta that would burst out of my bag occasionally to mock me. After it was seamed and I was knitting the hood it looked even more like a placenta. Then when I was finishing the ribbing it looked like a really ugly lumpy bag.


But now the placenta has blossomed into a beautiful hoodie!! hurrah!!



I love the length of the back.


And with a stylish pin option for those days when the girls need a little extra love!



I tried the kitchener stitch on the hood. I really liked it. I ran into a couple problems so it isn't perfect, but from a reasonable distance it looks fabulous.

blogging is hard

I don't know how people blog about knitting more than once or twice a week. The hoodie is progressing. I ran out of yarn about 2.5 inches into the hood. I managed to find the last skein of that dye lot at the LYS. I think it would have been okay though, the colors don't show that much difference. Hopefully I'll be done soon.

I'm teaching a student to knit right now. It's funny to see a guy wearing a Slayer shirt get so excited about learning to knit. I hate sticky acrylic yarn. I don't know how anyone learns on it.

Bleh.

seaming is horrible

So did I mention that the hoodie is my first seamed project? Yeah. So I didn't do it quite right and now it is really hard to get the arms on... I guess it looks okay though. I had to seam the one arm though to make sure it fit, so it seemed (heh) logical to just attach it in it's seamed state.
It looks okay. The teacher from the fiber arts class says that the seams look "great". The only picture I have so far is the whole mess lying on the floor in a pile after I threw it away in disgust. But I have hope.

I'm also working on the Dream Swatch from knit and tonic using some hand dyed, hand spun that the fiber arts teacher gave me. It has lots of texture so it doesn't look like the picture, but still quite lovely.
I need to start a pair of fetching mitts from knitty, but my roommates dog the entire set (hers) of Clover size 6 double points. And I haven't had the $$ to buy another set. :-P I need to get started on them though so I'll either cave and buy a set or go around to thrift shops this weekend.

yay

Sleeve the second is completed!! I will seam everything this evening and hopefully everything will progress perfectly. This is my first truly seamed piece so I'm nervous about the sleeves getting set in properly.
Will post pictures when I can wear it's hoodless trimless self.

OSW

This is what the OSW looks like on a charming model. A co-worker was nice enough to model for some pictures. I still love the color. I'm going to make this co-worker one despite her protests, probably in the same color. I need to pick a color for myself.


Work continues on never-ending sleeve the second. I have about 2 inches to go until I can begin the decreases. I feel like I'm racing the weather now. I want be able to wear it when I'm done.

And some pictures of the dogwood. I've been remiss in my goal of posting interesting pictures of Eugene, but it is pretty so I feel like posting spring wonderfulness. I love that dogwoods blossom before putting out any leaves.

sleeve the first of hoodie the first

Never-ending sleeve the first is done!! And looking much better I might add!
(notice the lively ornaments in the background)



I also like admiring the fabulous seaming on this sleeve, hopefully it goes that well for the remainder of the hoodie.


I'm also working on the "one skein wonder" from glampyre knits. The Knit Shop didn't have the yarn asked for in the pattern, but they steered me towards Crystal Palace Yarns "Bamboozle" which is 55% Bamboo 24% Cotton and 21% Elastic Nylon. I choose rainforest and I love the way it is knitting up! What I don't like is how loosely it hangs together as yarn. It kind of unwinds all by itself, so I tied a knot in the cast-on tail to keep it from continued... unraveling? It behaves pretty well after you start kniiting it, but it tends to catch if you aren't careful, and the yarn shop ladies said they wouldn't suggest wooden or bamboo needles because it snags.

Luckily I started off spring break with a nasty cold which gave me a good reason to sit on my butt almost all day working on this little beauty. I need to get through it quickly, because I need my pair of 8's to begin never-ending sleeve the second. Do I have the patience for a full size sweater I wonder?? The hoodie is taking FOR. EV. ER. I guess the secret may be sprinkling in lots of smaller projects during a large project?
I need to learn to knit socks.

sleeves in progress

My latest exciting project is a cropped shrug/hoodie from craftster. I loved the look and even bought yarn in a similar color. Everything was going swimmingly until the sleeves. I finished one but it looked a little small, so I stitched it up. Well it fits... but I wouldn't be able to wear anything under it... ever. My gauge is the same as that on the pattern, so maybe I just have hulk-ish arms (I think, but gauge swatches are not my forte). If you look at the picture on the pattern, she even has some loose fabric around the elbow, I did not.
So I'm starting the next sleeve but cast on an extra ten stitches. If that is better I'll frog sleeve number one and re-do it. Wow. Modifying a pattern. I feel like a real live knitter. I think I might do three inches of rib instead of the two inches called for in the pattern also... hmmm.
I'm using budget yarn (Plymouth Encore worsted weight 75% acrylic 25% wool) which is kind of hairy so frogging is going to be a pain in my butt. My dream yarn would have been Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, but then I would have a $60 sweater rather than a $20 sweater. And who can afford that stuff!!