One down...

Here's DD on Christmas morning - he and Boo both got alligator mittens, but without the teeth, so they instead were "snakes". The two of them went hissing around the living room. Funny kids.

Pattern: Later Gator Mitts from Stitch 'N Bitch Nation
Needle size: US 5 / 3.75 mm
Yarn: Cascade 220 in color 906, Knitpicks Swish Superwash in Hollyberry

These were ridiculously easy and quick, and the kids loved them. In fact, I think they only took them off to open more presents, and then put them right back on. That's always a good sign. :D

Next up! Stalking my sister and brother in law for pics of their mitts!

Wait - I did what?

So I just realized that I did all this mad crazy knitting for the holidays and I didn't take a single picture. Not one. I knit five pairs of beautiful gloves, and not one picture. I'm sure at some point I had a brain in my head, but it must've fallen out somehow. Think there's a lost and found for that?

Sometime over the next week I'll hunt down my family members and take photos of their gloves. I promise.

In the interim, I hope you all had a good holiday!!

Missing in Action...

Hello! I have not forgotten you! I have been working an unbelievable amount (think 16 hour days) which leaves me little time for anything but sleeping, working, and *ahem* getting the flu. Which is particularly nasty this year. I don't typically advocate flu shots, but if you haven't gotten one yet, I HIGHLY recommend it. I was down for three days with a fever and it took me two full weeks to get back on my feet. But wait! Lest you think I had sick days to knit! Oh no! I worked through all that -it was working from home, but working none-the-less. Ugh.

On the upshot, I am going on vacation soon, and should have plenty of plane time to knit. Yarn is ordered*, patterns picked out, and soon I will have FOs!!!

*I know, I know, I'm on a yarn diet. But I discussed this with my husband and we decided that ordering yarn to make gifts with is not really ordering yarn. It's ordering gifts that need assembly. :D

FO: Bass Gloves

Finally! An FO!

It took me ages to finish these - partially because I have no time and partially because they were originally meant for me... but my husband liked them so much that he wanted them for himself. So. Rip and reknit in a larger size.

The Bass Gloves

Pattern: Cigar from Knitty, Summer 05
Yarn: Daelgarn Falk in Green and Brown - Sport Weight
Needles: Size 3
Mods: Chopped the pinky and ring fingers to make knucks.

These are perfect for sitting around on the back patio playing bass. Or insulating against a cold beer whilst watching football. Or protecting the hands whilst raking leaves *ahem*. Actually, they're just great all-around gloves, and I'm going to have to make myself some post-haste. Although... I have a skein of black superwash leftover from my CPH - I'm thinking "Dashing" would be rather... well... dashing. Given that I should have more knitting time in the near future, perhaps I will cast on for Dashing instead...

Bountiful Harvest...

I have been unbelievably busy. To the point that today was the first full day I've spent with my husband in over a month. And it was wonderful. Weird how life kind of gets away from you... until you stop and realize what blessings you have.

We had coffee and pancakes, we watched the Broncos' appalling performance, we spent the day outside, picking tomatoes...

(that's a LOT of tomatoes. and we get as many about every other day...)




chopping the last of the broccoli...

and harvesting the lavender and sage for wreaths. Though that project might go out the window - I have just learned the hard way that I'm desperately allergic to sage. :(














We made dinner and while it was cooking I made floral arrange- ments with a bunch of the cuttings from the yard... but I'll post those tomorrow. Oh, and lest you think I've forgotten about knitting... I have managed an FO! I just have to get the man to model for me....

Such a wonderful day. Such unbelievable blessings!

FO: Print O the Wave (kinda)

Hello my lovelies! I have been neglecting you all atrociously, but I've been so busy that I've hardly even had time to knit! *gasp* I did manage to finish a birthday present for my grandmother, and so I present to you my Nana, with her new kinda-print-o-the-wave-stole:

Happy Birthday Nana!

This is knit without the edging - the request was for more of a scarf than a shawl and my gauge ended up being bigger than I thought. It finished blocking maybe half an hour before we left, so I have just one other rather terrible picture...

If you're planning on making this, it's a fairly easy knit, if time-consuming. I highly recommend this pattern as a first time lace!

That's all I have for you. I have many things in the queue - I finally caved and cast on for the gathered pullover in the Pakucho Organic Cotton. I had planned on making another Hourglass out of it, but you people and your beautiful knits! I'll make some adjustments to the pattern a la YarnHogSV, this version was really the deciding factor for me. Plus it's lots of stockinette, which is about all I can handle with the current craziness of code releases and such. Ahh, Ravelry. How thou doest help me find such beautiful items!

Camera shy

Unfortunately, I have little knitting to post. Instead, I have a rather amusing set of circumstances that I will relate.

I have two dogs. A husky mix and a lab mix. Typically they are pretty excited about everything. The camera, on the other hand... well, as soon as we take the camera out, they run like we're going to beat them with it. Weird, right?

A long discussion over many glasses of wine made us realize that it's the flash they don't like (duh, but it was the wine). I would assume they associate flashes of light with thunder and thunder is kind of scary. So I embarked on a healing process.

Soon they will associate cameras with yummy treats.

The camera comes out...

Hey - TREATS!

Yum yum yum yum yum yum yum...

Aaaaaand, we've made excellent progress today.

What, no more?

Summer lovin

Do you ever go through your wardrobe, only to find something in there that you totally love, but totally forgot you owned? I did that this morning.

The pink polka dot shoes. My grandmother, who has a collection of crazy shoes herself, would be very proud.

My nephew calls these the "ice cream cone" shoes. I suppose they kind of do look like ice cream cones, but I think at "almost 5" just about anything can remind you of sweets. I think they're pretty sweet myself. And even sweeter? They go almost perfectly with my pink indigo ripples skirt.

Too hot to knit?!

Blasphemy, I know. But I am just too hot to knit. I feel like the witch in Oz - "I'm melting! I'm melting...." Of course we have air conditioning, but we're those crunchy tree-hugging types that prefer not to use it unless we absolutely *have* to. Although, lack of knitting probably counts as *have* to. I wonder if my husband will agree?

Before my downward spiral into meltitude, I managed to get this done:

It is the Print o' the Wave stole by Eunny Jang. I love how straight forward and easy this lace pattern is! It's from some wool my grandmother gave me - it was given with the agreement that I'd knit her a shawl. I'm hoping to have this done by her birthday in August - this is the product of only a few hours, but at the rate I'm currently going...

Ugh.

I will have to resume knitting at some point. There will be more baby knits coming up - my cousin just had a son (congrats!) - and I'm thinking of some nice cotton tops - such as Ophelia, Megathy (ravelry link), Dayflower Camisole, Beaded Cami...

Anything to cool me off.... hey - maybe I'll knit myself a itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka-dot thing and run about town in it. HA HA HAHAAAAAA. Seriously though. Any votes? Anyone made these tops yet? :D

A Cheer for Cherry

Pattern: Cherry by Anna Bell

Needles: US 5 / 3.75 mm
Yarn: Berocco Touche
Mods: None.

I have to give some MAJOR love to Ann at Yarns at the Adobe. First off, her shop is brimming with the yummiest yarns! I can usually walk into a yarn shop with somewhat admirable self control, but ohhhhh, not this one. After hours of drooling and pawing at the skeins, Ann finally sold me this gorgeous Berocco yarn with the comment that if I needed more, I could just give her a call. Well, I ended up needing more, and when she didn't have the proper dye lot, she tracked it down from the manufacturer and had it in my Colorado hands within a week. Not only that, ladies and gentlemen, she also helped me get my mother in law into knitting, which is beyond cool. If you are ever in San Luis Obispo, CA, you MUST stop by.

On to Cherry - this pattern is up there with the hourglass sweater in my book. Unbelievably flattering, ultimately comfortable, and absolutely adorable, you really just can't go wrong. It's the type of pattern that you think "oh yes, that's cute, I should make that", but it's not til after it's done washing and blocking and you put it on that you realize you never want to take it off.

I might make another one of these to sleep in. Yes, I love it that much.

:D

Quick meme

I was reading Sassenach's blog and saw this - thought it would be a fun break from the monotony of work...

1. Where is your cell phone? desk
2. Your significant other? babe
3. Your hair? curly
4. Your mother? Dory
5. Your father? Dilbert
6. Your favorite thing? music
7. Your dream last night? weird
8. Your favorite drink? coke
9. Your dream/goal? peace
10. The room you’re in? cube
11. Your ex? forgotten
12. Your fear? death
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? happy
14. Where were you last night? sewing
15. What you’re not? outside
16. Muffins? banana
17. One of your wish list items? vacation
18. Where you grew up? alaska
19. The last thing you did? lunch
20. What are you wearing? shorts
21. Your TV? off
22. Your pets? dogs!
23. Your computer? new
24. Your life? hectic
25. Your mood? happy
26. Missing someone? no
27. Favorite store? garden
28. Your summer? fast
29. Like someone? smile
30. Your favorite color? blue
31. When is the last time you laughed? today
32. Last time you cried? dunno

Please to welcome...

MacKenzie June. Born on June 20th, 2008.
I am an Auntie to the third power!
Squee!

Knitting on pins and needles

Good morning cherry! We are just about finished with you! This is the second sleeve, and for you lovely readers - do you see that bedraggled little skein to the right? Yeah. That's how much yarn is left. I can hardly stand the suspense... will I have enough? Will I have to hunt down another skein in the same dye lot? I am torn between wanting to go home and knit obsessively or put the dang thing away because I can't bear to run out of yarn. What's a girl to do!?

Sometime last Wednesday, I decided I couldn't deal with such unadulterated stress, so I turned to something else - the sewing machine. In the intervening time frame, I have rediscovered a passionate love for my sewing machine. Or maybe just discovered, since I don't remember ever loving my sewing machine this much. Usually there is much swearing and gnashing of teeth and "what the hell?!"'s but this time? Just love. And here's why:

The fabric of yore has become... the flirty skirty!
Pattern: McCall's M5390
Fabric: Cotton pretties from hobby lobby

I can't even tell you how much I am in love with this skirt. It's comfy, it's cute, it was super easy, and it was CHEAP. Love love love. I'm going to wear the crap out of this thing. Especially on hot days like today. If any of you have some cotton pretties in your stash, or even just $5-$10 and a local hobby lobby with fabric on sale, I highly recommend making this skirt. It is di-VINE.

The unfortunate part of finishing this skirt is that I am being inexorably drawn back to the stress of Cherry. Will she make it? Will she run out of yarn? Stay tuned!

Sumpin's up...

Ooo - yummy...

For a little flirty skirty? Definitely.

Cherry's on her way! Just have to finish the sleeves and the edging and she'll be wearable!

Goal!

Some close friends of ours are having a baby and as we are all avid hockey fans, I figured the little one might as well get a head start...

Pattern: Raglan Sweater by Debbie Bliss (The Baby Knits Book)
Needles: US 5 / 3.75 mm
Yarn: Knit Picks Swish Superwash && Andean Silk
Mods: Sewn on hockey patch (purchased through proper channels. :D)

How freakin cute is that thing? I wanna stretch it and wear it myself. But since that patch would only cover one small part of my chest *ahem* I might just go ahead and knit myself an avs sweater in the proper size. Sweet. :D

I have no other knitting for you. I'm finishing up little red cardigan for another friend of ours (due very soon) and Cherry is still sadly staring at me from the knitting bag. Never fear, I will finish her in short order!

I leave you with a view of the sunset out my back door last night:

Little Miss Ladybug...

... has been keeping me busy. Last year for my grandmother's birthday, I made her a knitting needle roll with some ladybug fabric. My niece B was quite taken with the little bugs... they were "very cute". When I found this fabric, it seemed too appropriate. As you can see, little B is quite pleased, as am I. She is also pleased for another reason (not the least of which is the fact that she had just had some candy).

Some time ago, we were perusing Ravelry, looking at toys, when my darling niece cried out "OOOOOOO! Auntie! Look at THAT!"

What she was pointing to, my dear friends, was a duck. Not just any duck, it was a *waddle* duck. For many months now, I have been hunting down this waddle duck in his natural habitat... and today I think... I *think* I've found him. Hiding out in my plants, he's knit entirely from stash and though it took me a while to actually capture him, he now seems quite content to be in B's possession and the recipient of many kisses and hugs. I was the recipient of many hugs and kisses as well, which makes me a happy Auntie.

It's something in the water.

Cherry has been set aside to accommodate all the baby knitting I'm doing. Within a two month span, four of my friends are having babies. Five if you include the March baby . Needless to say, I've stopped drinking the tap water... it's all bottled water for me from here on out. :D

However! The baby knitting is coming along swimmingly, and I've even been able to knit entirely from stash!

A little pink pair of booties went to my co-worker for their new girl. I have no picture, but suffice it to say, they were very cute.

My sister's shower is coming up this Sunday, and since they are not going to find out the baby's gender before it's born, I went with purple.

Pattern: Classic Cardigan (ravelry link) by Debbie Bliss

Needles: US 5 / 3.75 mm
Yarn: Knit Picks Swish Superwash DK
Mods: None.

A quick, easy knit and entirely from stash. Superwash too, which is great for baby!

I have a wee Colorado Avalanche jersey in the works, and the last project has yet to be started... perhaps a little "Mabel" style dress (it's a girl) or maybe another little cardigan in red? I will keep you posted. :D

All the pretty flowers....

Pattern: Indigo Ripples Skirt - IK Spring 2007

Needles: US 7 / 4.5 mm
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Pink
Mods: None.

I love how it turned out, but it's a bit too big. I have to keep that waist band tied tight to keep the skirt up and still it has a tendency to ride down. I might have to throw it in the dryer full heat - has anyone dried brown sheep cotton fleece before? Tumble dry style? Will it shrink? Even if it doesn't, I'll still wear it. I'll just have to buy cuter underpants.

Incidentally - spring is in full bloom. Welcome to Colorado.

The joys of spring

I must admit - this earlier daylight savings time shift has me a bit... shifted. It feels like it should be summer already, doesn't it?

*sigh*

I have been chomping at the bit to get my garden done.... and so despite Colorado's tendency towards spring snowstorms, we built our garden and planted it.

Tomatoes, peppers, basil, spinach, broccoli, strawberries, thyme.... yummmmmm. I cannot WAIT for all this to grow up. We also planted a raspberry bush in a whiskey barrel, and some other, more flowery plants to complement. So exciting! Our new landscaping is also starting to flourish - plants are coming up all over the place. I can't wait to see it all put together - it's like my birthday every day!

Despite my deep conviction that it should be sunny every day, it is not. It has been raining off and on, some snow (which I still love, because it melts the next day) and today is wet and dreary. Not that that's bad - because it has allowed me time to work on some nice spring garments - well, only one really - but I'm very excited about it....

please to welcome Cherry. :D

Absence makes the heart....

Hopefully you will all forgive me for my long absence, I have been rampantly trying to set a new software industry record by putting out four new releases in three months. Ergo I've done nothing lately but work.

Well, that's not entirely true. I finished my indigo ripples skirt.

:D

But YOU will have to wait until next post for pictures. I need to either gain weight or shrink the skirt first. And get my husband well enough to take pictures (he's currently lying on the couch watching soccer and moaning - why are men such babies when they are sick?!).

In the interim, the lovely Yarniad has tagged my with a seven random facts meme! So!

Seven Random Facts:

1. Caffeine makes me go bonkers. I can have limited amounts, but after that I run around in circles and twitch.

2. I used to have a black thumb. Then I discovered that if you water plants on a regular basis they don't die. I also discovered that the plants in the room where I sing the most (the music room) are doing much better than the plants in the rest of the house. My husband says that it's because I'm full of hot air.

3. Once I tried to go vegetarian. I got sick. I was sick until we added red meat back into my diet. I wasn't anemic - I even lived with a nutritionist at the time - but to no avail. I am definitely a carnivore.

4. "The Tao of Pooh" is the book that brought me back to the Catholic church. Don't laugh.

5. I am a closet sci-fi fan. At the moment I'm hopelessly hooked on the Serenity/Firefly series by Joss Whedon.

6. I love to read. I also read very fast. When I was a kid, I was always the first to finish the book lists in the summer - I must've had to replace my library card once a year simply from being worn out. I'm still an avid library-goer, but I don't allow myself to go into old bookstores any more... partly due to allergies, but also in part because I'd never come out.

7. Puzzles fascinate me - I love figuring out how things work and how all the pieces fit together. I've been known to take apart expensive pieces of equipment, just to see how the guts worked. In my defense though, I put it back together.

I'm fairly certain most people have been tagged, but just in case you haven't...

1) Fuzzy Love
2) Peaknit
3) The Brown Berry Chronicles
4) Team Knit
5) Tiennie
6) Knit Along the Way

:D

Tweet tweet!

Happy Easter Everyone!

Zen and minimalism

Pattern: Minimalist Cardigan by Ruthie Nussbaum
Needles: US 7 / 4.5 mm
Yarn: Austermann Inka Color in Burgandy
Mods: I dismissed the ribbing around the bottom edge of the sweater and sleeves, as well as lengthened the arms. I ended up using the hourglass sleeve pattern to the sleeve cap, then the minimalist pattern from there on up. Not as kimono-y as I was thinking, but I really like how they turned out!

I wasn't sure if I'd quite hit zen with this sweater, but I wore it today and I LOVE it. It's warm (which is good) and snuggly (also good) and not nearly so itchy as I thought it'd be (very very good). I think I need to find a proper closure for it, then it will be all good. Closure is good for zen.

What to do now?

Believe it or not, there's nothing that I'm dying to knit at the moment. I started the Indigo Ripples skirt from IK in a nice springy pink, but it's a LOT of stockinette and there's nothing good on tv right now.

So instead I went to the fabric store and found some bad-ass 70s print stretch cotton twill that will become a nice spring/summer skirt. A *wee* bit heavy, but that's not entirely a bad thing considering how freaking high my office turns up the AC in the summer. What's this about saving the world? Greenhouse effect? Bah. Let's keep the office at 67 in the summer.

Despite my renewed love of 70s print cotton twill, I can't have only *ONE* project on the needles. As I perused Ravelry with my 2 year old niece (babysitting time), I managed to find my way to the pattern browser for toys, at which point Baillie started pointing at patterns saying "Ooo! Look at that! Auntie! I will knit this, you will knit this, I will knit this... "

So much for only one project on the needles. :D

The Yacht Club

Pattern: Drops 100-32 Short cardigan with ¾ sleeves knitted in moss sts
Yarn: Elann Peruvian Baby Silk
Needles: US 7
Mods: Many. Primarily for gauge, but overall I just loosely followed the pattern above and made the rest up as I went.

I do love this little sweater. It's going to be perfect for those little summer evening chills. I even found little flower buttons for it - they're so freakin cute that even my husband likes them. It needs to be washed and blocked, but I think this will become a summer favorite. I'm thinking of making one in black... though perhaps with proper gauge this time. Not only was I translating between centimeters and inches the whole time, I was also trying to adjust for my gauge, which was way off. In the end, though, I'm happy. Quick knit too!

As for Glee - well, I'm sad to say that I think Glee will have to be completely frogged and restarted. I finished it to just below the bust and finished the sleeves to try it on... no dice. It's tight across the neck (which is a deal-breaker) and it's a bit stretched and tight across the shoulders. So it's going to go into the "redo" pile. It will eventually be an adorable little cream colored top, just not right now.

Which leaves me time to work on my minimalist cardigan! I have slated time tomorrow to work through the sleeve pattern and try to figure out what I want to do. I'm leaning towards the "kimono" look - loose and floppy - though not too loose and floppy. Like the hourglass sleeves. What do you think?

Soooo.....

The fabulous thing about knitting entirely from my stash is that I feel absolutely no guilt when buying knitting accessories. For example - the spring 2008 IK? Yup. Bought that with no problem. Need size 7 dpns? No sweat. Buttons? Hey - splurge a little and buy the glass ones.

I am DEFINITELY a fan of this. I wonder if I can find yarn gnomes to keep me all stashed up?

Bah.

The cropped cardigan needs sleeves, but the main body is done. How freaking fast did this go! It's knitting up as fast or faster than my sad little minimalist cardigan - who at this moment is peeking out of my knitting bag sighing *sleeve me! sleeeeeeeeeve me!*

I shall be knitting nothing but sleeves for a week. THEN I will wear cardigans galore.

Aren't there drugs for that?

I appear to have the common but painful disease startitis. My Moss Stitch Cardigan sits sadly on the back of my chair, Glee stares mournfully out of my knitting bag as I cast on for yet another project.

Last summer I realized that I had not a single "daily-wear" dress in my wardrobe. No - they are all formal occasion/wear to wedding type dresses. Say what!? How could this be?! I don't know how it happened, but it did. And since this discovery, I have been determined to rectify the situation. So!

During the recent family visit, I was fortunate enough to purchase an Anthropologie dress on mad sale. I got a thumbs up from my husband (who's picky as hell), a thumbs up from the brother-in-law (also picky as hell) and the ever-important thumbs up from the sister-in-law (who has fabulous taste). So out came the checkbook, and out I walked with this little number. As I admired the lace sticking out of the bag, I realized that an adorable little dress needs an adorable little cropped cardigan for those potentially chilly spring/summer nights. Who could argue?

Ergo, I have cast on 100-32 Short Cardigan with the 3/4 sleeves.

Despite my poor, sad little already-started projects, this is somewhat of an occasion for me. The sweater is cropped (which I typically hate) and 3/4 sleeves (which I typically hate even more) but it's perfect for this dress.

And so I embark on a new clothing experience.

Although I did finish knitting SOMETHING.
Booties for baby B. Knit whilst watching Blades of Glory and trying not to laugh beer out my nose (this is a very painful experience. avoid it if you can).

Where's Waldo?

Bwa ha HA. Do you see me? Lookit lookit... there I am!


Dave's brother and his wife are in town and so we took a holiday to go ski. We couldn't have asked for better weather. It was gorgeous... sunny, warm but not too warm, and we had nice fluffy snow to ski on. Plus - no lift lines, the chutes were open (as you can see from the photo above) and my darling husband finally caved as I egged him on to do crazy and ridiculous things. On this particular jump he was a little wobbly mid-air, but he stuck the landing beautifully! On another jump he got about four or five feet up, totally biffed the landing, and some teenage snowboarder came up behind us saying "Dude - are you alright? That was GNARLY!"

I haven't laughed that hard in a long, long time.

One more gratifying picture (the camera was somewhere down by his knees to get this shot... nice and steep. MMMMM)

And now on to knitting!

My friend Gena is having a baby soon. For her baby shower I figured I'd try my hand at baby knits. The result? They ROCK. So quick! So freakin CUTE! I will knit many more baby things in the near future. I love them. Love love love love love. Next I think I will try booties. Maybe a cap. Maybe other yummy patterns I happen to find. Even better... they don't take up super lots of yarn... so all those orphan skeins I have in my stash? Yeah. Baby items. Fortunately, I know plenty of people who are having babies soon (my sister being on of them) so I have much fodder for cute baby knitting. YAY!

Finally!

A nice sunny day with husband home and no pressing business. May I present:

Pattern: Perfect Turtleneck by Paton's
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Superchunky in a cream color
Needles: US 10
Mods: Obviously there are no sleeves and the turtleneck is not so turtle-y. I knit the main body mostly to pattern. For the arm area I picked up about 80 some odd stitches and did a k2p2 for edging. The turtleneck is also to pattern, just made shorter.

I *LOVE* this yarn. It is soft and squishy and super warm. Once spring hits this is going to be a big time addition to my wardrobe.


The minimalist cardigan is coming along. The body is done... I'm just trying to sort through how I want to do the sleeves. I've got super long monkey arms and I've spent most of my life with sleeves too short. So I prefer full length sleeves, if I can get them.

Once I sort through the sleeve pattern, the minimalist cardi will probably be done in short order. I can 't believe how fast of a knit this is - particularly since this moss stitch seems to go SO SLOW. But whiz-bang, you've suddenly got the front panel, and whiz-bang, there's the back. So far I've spent maybe four evenings of knitting! A sweater in a week? Not bad. Not bad at all.

:D

Minimalist thujas

Just got an email from my in-laws with this photo attached... too cute. These are the Thuja socks in cascade 220 superwash. I've also knit these for myself and my husband... they are great for puttering around the house on a cold day. Yum yum yum. I love me some toasty feet.

I am knitting away fast and furious on the Minimalist Cardigan. This thing seems to be flying off my needles! Although - I must admit that the back is taking a bit more effort to get through. So. Much. Moss stitch. Now I remember why I always do the back sections of sweaters first... enthusiasm is the best medicine for a long and moss stitchy road. After the back piece is done, the rest is chump change, right?

And I really have finished the sleeveless turtleneck - and worn it even! - I'm just waiting for a good day to take pics when my photographer (hubby) is actually here. I promise - photos are coming soon! I love how it turned out. *love* how it turned out. And it's soft and squishy and made out of yarn recycled from my monstrous arm cozies... remember those? Yeah. Those were too big. HA! You KNOW they're too big when you can frog two arm warmers and make a sleeveless sweater out of them! *giggle*

I'm not sure what's next on the knit list. I have loads of stuff stashed up. I could knit up Glee in either black or cream, I could knit either the indigo or lovely leaf lace skirt, the Gallery jacket, beaded cami, I could go on. I'm pretty sure I want something with lots of stockinette and NO MOSS STITCH.

Any votes? I'm leaning towards the Glee shirts... I have some mods in mind and it's still kind of winter-y...

To knit or not to knit?

That is the question.

Do you ever look at a pattern and think it should be cute and conceptually it's cute and the model who's wearing it is cute, but then realize that you just can't quite wrap your head around the end product? Yeah, I'm feeling that way about the tilted duster. I *like* the tilted duster, and the ones I've seen have been cute, and it's a very nicely different pattern... I just can't get my head around it. And I feel like it's cute enough that I *should* want to knit it, but really, I just don't. Not for myself. And not really for anyone I know. And yet, I still kind of do, and I can't figure out why. I've spent hours pondering this pattern. What is the mysterious allure of the tilted duster?

Of course, I've solved the problem quite nicely by deciding to knit only from my stash this year. That means I have a whole YEAR to ponder and decide whether I'm going to knit the tilted duster or not.

:D

The sleeveless turtleneck is being washed and blocked now. Pics next time!

Giddyup

Dude.

I made my father in law a pair of socks to match the ones I made for my mother in law... check out how much yarn is left.

Yeah. I'm feelin pretty damn badass right now. :D