Don't get "chic-y", Mr!

Sleeve number 1 is done. Mr Catty narrowly avoided bodily injury via an Addi Turbo when he commented, "But it's a little short isn't it?" I showed him the pattern pic and clearly indicated what "bracelet length" sleeves are. Men. Can't live with 'em, can't bury 'em the backyard.

The yarn shows up here truer to the actual color. Plymouth Sunsette is a 60 Rayon/40 Acrylic blend. Since I wanted more of a 3-season garment and didn't want cotton ( I'm putting a lot of effort into this sweater - I want something that will look good longer than one season), this seemed like a good choice. The yarn is very soft but knits up into a substantial weight with a well defined stitch pattern. However, it is loosely twisted and splits when you look at it cross-eyed. This is definitely not a yarn I want to knit with when I watch "24" or any other show demanding my full attention.

Sitcom Swatching

Yes, I decided to do this sweater right! And the swatch? Came out perfectly to gauge. The body of the sweater will be this taupe color (coffee with cream, not this greeny!), with black tipping on the sleeves and hem and the yoke.

Look Ma!

"A picture is worth a thousand words." Wish I had remembered that when I was telling Mom about the stinkin' purses. Think of the money I could have saved on the phone bill! Here is the first set of 3 completed. The pen is for reference.

Odds 'n' Ends

I've decided to put "Splash" cuffs some of the purses. I also may do some poppies as shown here . Speaking of the purses - 3 of them have been felted three times now and still have not reached felted perfection, though they are close. A word to the wise? Knitting one strand of wool with one strand of novelty puts a serious cramp in the felting time.

Still crocheting those granny squares - wow, does it feel good to get rid of some of those remnants that have been sitting in my stash box for...um...ever? There is some wool I finally used up that I knitted into a cardigan for my nephew...when he was two...and he's now 16. Ayep.

And the car project this week was a Sizzle scarf for Fran and Ev's mom in Snapdragon . I did the scarf on #9 bamboos, cast on 18 stitches and have almost 1/2 a skein left over. Note to self when I use Sizzle - go up 2 needles sizes. This scarf felt like it took forever.

Crossing off the list

Items I can cross off the WIP list-
Dad's polar fleece blanket with the crocheted edging is done. Finished it tonight while watching my favorite all time movie "French Kiss".

Stinkin' purses were felted a second time today. I'm thinking that I should do the novelty/wool ones one more time - they aren't as tight as I would like them to be. I have to pick up the yarn for the novelty trims, but I would count this project as 85% done.

I also started attaching the crocheted granny squares. I am really at a point where I don't want to start a new project until I feel the other stuff is done. By done I mean "put in the closet awaiting the Christmas wrapping". (Can you say "linear"? I knew you could.)

So once I finish the stinkin' purses, I think I will either start Sitcom Chic OR I may make this ribbed chunky Turtleneck pattern which I found when I organized my knitting patterns. And I'm thinking Chinchilla or similar yarn in a root beer color.

The "Other" Knitting

What do you do when you have more 1/4 skeins/remnants than you know what to do with? Me? I make granny squares. Ok, ok - I know it's not knitting, but it's a darn pleasant way to use up those loose ends and give my knitting muscles a break.

I've been doing double crochet squares which I learned just a few weeks ago at the "Crafty Women" group I belong to. While the interiors of the squares are every different color and style yarn, I've been edging them all with a black wool blend. It' gives them a "stained glass" appearance and unifies them. My plan is to just keep making them as I have yarn and eventually sew them together into a large afghan. It's a perfect 'car' project (because really, how many scarves can one person make and own?) I can usually finish 3-4 squares per round trip.

And no, I'm not driving.

Organization is the key to success

Here's a picture of my journal and a tag I made for finished goods. The label has space for the person's name, item, yarn details, needle size (and cast on number if something simple like scarf or hat). I then attach a strand of the yarns I used. This journal really helps if I need to go back and reference any details. The tag is just a business card I created on Pagemaker with a cat graphic (which I love. Alot.) I printed them out on pre-bordered business cards.

Stinkin' Purses

So the purses? The purple/green one and the black/purple one have gone through one course of felting. They haven't yet achieved "felted perfection". And stink? Hoo baby! Dead sheep in the washing machine! During the felting process is the only time the CatMan hears me say "Get dirty so I can do laundry". Gotta have those jeans for felting agitation!

I finished the dark/light green purse except for the bottom seam and I completed another purse during one day's commute back and forth to work (don't worry, the CatMan was driving!) I really like this 4th purse - it's a combo of Chinchilla Colors and an ANCIENT skein of "100% Virgin Wool" by Bernat called "Blarney Spun" in Chestnut (a deep rusty brown). It was a freebie skein from a yarn swap a few months back. Though I wasn't too crazy for it when I first touched it (very very coarse), I thought it would make a good felting project. Knitting it with the Chinchilla transformed it! The chestnut color is a great backdrop color for the Chinchilla rainbow. I can't wait to see how it felts up!

Off to get the CatMan to play in some more mud!

Making a Splash

Here' a companion hat I finished for my friend Karen. Back story? I made myself a super long winter scarf in Plymouth Splash. Karen fell in love with it and wanted one in Red (Splash equivalent is "Flame"). Once I finished the scarf, she thought it would be cool to have a matching hat. The hat is knit with a second strand of Encore DK to get the brim to roll. The color is a deeper red than the picture. Splash is a great yarn to work with - very interesting color variations, soft, and forgiving of boo-boos. 

Enough with the scarves already!

On the left is the "Vanilla Sugar" scarf in Plymouth Eros and Crystal Palace Fizz (10 stitches on #17 bamboos). It's very fuzzy and narrow! On the right is an experiment in Fonty Serpentine Ribbon Yarn (a citrus green color) with Eros Glitz in blue/greens. I've been cautious about ribbon yarn (too slippery on the needle?), but the Serpentine was a dream to work with. 

Christmas is when?!?

These are two of the purses I'm doing for my nieces - prefelted. These were knitted using Lamb's Pride worsted in Amethyst and Limeade (top) and Amethyst and Onyx (bottom) on Addi Turbos #13 (24") 

Baby, it's gonna get cold outside

Remember the friend who is moving? Well this is his scarf in Berroco Chinchilla (deep sage green which doesn't show very well in the pic) and his wife's scarf in Plymouth Firenze in shades of turquoise. I figured Frankie and Ev are gonna need some cuddlies to keep them warm in the damp, chilly Northwest! 

6 of the 7. And you thought I was making it up?

Scarves, scarves, and more scarves

My WIP list got put on hold as I worked on a scarf for a friend moving to Washington State. He's sort of a funky fellow (climbin' bud of MrCatty), so I used a dark mossy green Chinchilla on #9 bamboos and worked thru almost two skeins in a garter stitch. Loved it.

Mr Catty and I carpooled this week, so I started and finished the Vanilla Sugar scarf. Ended up frogging it the first time thru since I cast on too many stitches and didn't like the width. (Nah, nah, nah - I can't hear any of you yelling at me "DO A FREAKIN' SWATCH FIRST!) The revised scarf was 1 skein each Eros and Fizz on #17 bamboos. It's long and skinny, but looks way cool wrapped multiple times around the neck.

And in a side note. Bamboo straight needles are my new favorite thing. Slowly but surely (or more quickly if I come into a large sum of money) I'm switching over all my metal needles. Except for my Addi circulars.

Current Works In Progress (WIPs)

Small knitted bags for my nieces' Christmas gifts using up wool remnants.
Edging a polar fleece blanket for my father's Christmas gift.
"Sitcom Chic" cardigan for me in a tan and black cotton/acrylic.
A vanilla sugar scarf for me in Eros and Fizz 

Pics to follow when I figure out how to load them.

The accountability factor

I knit, therefore I blog.