Attempting Domesticity

love is a soft blanket

WELL!  I am extreeemely proud of myself because in just about one week of knitting, I am nearly halfway done with this baby blanket!

 I never would have anticipated how quickly it has come together -- or how enthusiastic I have been about working on it.  It's so nice to have a pattern that is easy enough to remember and memorize, but interesting enough to keep me going.  Renting a few Harry Potter movies and spending a lazy Sunday with a good friend, lots of pillows, and this project really moves things along as well... 

 

As I round out the 4th skein, I feel that I've fallen into a nice rhythm:  the knit rows go by so fast and then all of a sudden I'm slowing down just enough with the purling that my mind kicks in and I get excited about the fun row with all the yo's and k2togs. 

Best of all, though, is how nice the blanket feels on my lap.  The shine sport is a beautiful weight and incredibly soft.  Hopefully I'll be posting shortly that the blanket is finished and blocked...because I'm already getting excited about my NEXT blanket project.  More on that to come! 

blanket and cowl updates!

Cowl update:   yaaay it's done! and just in time for tons more snow to get dumped all over us.  it's not the most beautiful thing in the world but I finished it in two evenings and have really really appreciated its warmth these past few frigid days. 

In other news: My camera has arrived!  I'm very thrilled to have a functioning camera - my last was really a mess.  In celebration, I present a picture of my not-so-gorgeous- BUT -very-functional cowl.  huzzah!

mmm..warm. 

Also! I got my knitpicks yarn in the mail finally.  I spent an excellent Sunday morning (er, afternoon) watching PBS travel shows and casting on the blanket.  I made a last-minute change to a (very very slightly) different feather and fan pattern that looked a little more workable to me - and didn't require navigating around color changes I won't be doing.  It is "Janice's Easiest Ever Lacy Blanket" and is available on Ravelry.  I cast on additional stitches for 2 more repeats of the pattern because I wanted to make sure it was a usable blanket for the longest period of time! 

I cast on in the Willow, which is growing on me.  When I first saw this in the package, I realized that it was a bit more camel-colored than the soft beige I was expecting.  I photographed it against the blue practice swatch so you can get a better sense of the actual color. 

hmm, yes?  I think the thing that gets me is that there's more yellow/red in it than like, cool green (which is the beige I obsess over and have painted on nearly every wall in my apartment).  Fortunately there is also the divine Silver Sage skeins to pacify me...if I make it through this one blanket, there will be another in that color coming soon!

brrrr it's cowl'd!

Well, unfortunately I don't have pictures of this yet as amazon has apparently JUST shipped my camera (which was ordered like 10 days ago) but whatevs.  I have had the no-mail blues lately because in addition to my camera, my package of softy soft knit picks yarn hasn't arrived yet either! 

I was going cross-eyed and needed a break from the leaf lace scarf...combine that with the fact that it's been absolutely frigid here and voila:

I cast on my first cowl and confronted my fear of knitting in the round! 

All I can say is that learning to knit in the age of YouTube is pretty fantastic - one quick video and i was set to go.  I am using this pattern from Kelly at Kelly Wtihout a Net - found through Ravelry.  It's coming together nicely and I can't wait to finish it so I can wear it this weekend - what with our sub-zero wind chill and all.

brr!

pictures as soon as my camera arrives!

practicing a new pattern

hi!  I wanted to give you guys a little peek at what I've been playing with!

It's a little wonky, but this is a practice swatch of feather and fan.  It was actually quite simple, and after some more practice, I feel like I'll be in good shape to start off on a baby blanket in this pattern.  The only drawback is that it isn't a double-sided pattern - you can actually see the double-sided pattern that I tried out on top of the feather and fan but decided to not use because, obvs, I kept screwing up! 

So, feather and fan it is!  It has a nice, easy pattern to remember with just enough to keep my attention but not so much that I can't watch copious amounts of West Wing while I'm knitting (btw: where oh where is my real-life Sam Seaborn?). 

(don't you just want to smoosh your face on this??)

I used a random yarn in my knitting bag (totally can't remember when I even bought it!) but for the actual blanket, I ordered some Knit Picks Shine Sport - chosen because it is machine washable and made from natural fibers.  I had a lot of trouble picking out colors, finally settling on silver sage (after looking at a ton of pictures, it looked less minty green than I originally thought) and I also ordered willow as a backup. 

Now, I'm just trying my best to be patient while I wait for the package! Can't wait to get started...

leaf lace scarf update!

pictures!  here is the small amount i have knitted on the leaf lace scarf.  it's very delicate and gauzy and the yarn makes me think about those big spools of string they use to tie up little packages of happiness at mike's pastry. 

Here's a pretty hazy (oops!) close up of the scarf.  I think my meandering leaves are getting a bit more uniform and I feel like I'm finally getting the hang of this pattern.  I have learned a valuable lesson about noting on the pattern which row I just finished because a few times I would purl back and be totally confused about where I was in the pattern!  Ok one more picture:

And there it all is!  I didn't get a good picture of the scalloped edge, but I just bought a new camera and will be sure to post more pictures as this scarf gets longer, though I must admit that my attention has been stolen away by a new project.  I just ordered yarn for a baby blanket for some dear friends who are expecting a little one!  More on that next post!

lace knitting update!

SO! when I left off, I was just about to go fondle yarns and buy new needles to start a lace project.  That afternoon, I groped my way around Woolcott and found a lovely fingering weight yarn in a creamy white natural color and bought some size 4 lace needles (only slightly bigger than those bamboo skewers I was complaining about in my last post). 

I was a little worried that it would be WAY too fussy for me and that it would just basically not be fun after a few repetitions.  I'm pleased to report that so far this hasn't been the case!  I'm really enjoying the yarn and the pattern is so gorgeous - it's hard to believe that just a few simple k3tog's and yo's can make such an interesting pattern - I love it!  and i love the way this (tiny tiny thread-like) yarn is knitting up. 

Details:
Size 4 needles
Yarn: Alpaca with a Twist Fino
Color: Champagne
Pattern: Leaf Lace Scarf

I also have to say that I am SO impressed with ravelry!  If you're a knitter or crocheter you should really check out the site - it is an amazing resource for everything from yarns to patterns and there are so many experienced knitters on there who can offer advice through the forums.  So far I haven't even posted any questions because I've found so many answers just searching the forum topics.  It's incredibly user friendly as well which really helps when you're flipping out about something during a project. 

The other thing I'm really loving about ravelry is that it's an easy way to organize all of my projects so I can remember what I've been up to AND also makes me excited enough about knitting to really stick with it this time rather than starting a project in the winter and dropping it in the spring!

Next up: some PICTURES, finally! and a new project to start.