I can't believe it took me this long to finish/photograph this....and really I'm not sure it's finished. Finally, I just sucked it up and took blah photos in mediocre light. And without further ado, I give you the Cloud cardigan.


Pattern: Cloud bolero by Ysolda
Needles: US11
Yarn: Cascade Pastaza bought at Article Pract
Started: April 4, 2009
Finished: Sept. 25, 2009
(ravelry link)

After seeing a bunch of awesome cloud cardigans on Ravelry (this and this are some of my favorites), I knew I wanted to make this adaptation of Ysolda's bolero. I had to rip this out and restart it once because somehow my placement of the stitch markers was off and I couldn't figure out where I went wrong. But once I started over it was smooth sailing. I'd read that the arm holes were really large as written so I only cast on 4 stitches instead of 12 as the pattern stated. The arm holes are still large and I easily could have gone without casting on any extra stitches under the arm. Also, I got carried away with the straightaway part and it turned out longer than I'd originally wanted. But I think I like it.





I'm not sure how much opportunity I'll have to wear this, but it is definitely one of the most wearable items that I've knit. The only thing I'm not sure about with this knit is the closure. In these pics I've just threaded a single blue ribbon through both sides and tied it together. But I also have two great buttons that I could sew on to close it from the top down. The pattern didn't have buttonholes written into it, so I'd have to see what I could work out, but its a fairly loose knit done on big needles so I think it would work.





OK, that's it. The Big Montana Tunic is close to done, so I hope to finish it before the end of the year. And the Milkweed Shawl is finally coming along (knock on wood). I've had to rip and restart this shawl three or four times already. But this time it seems to be going well.

Second verse same as the first

I made another unoriginal hat. This one is for a friend for her upcoming birthday. In fact it's for Katie, the mother of Nathan, the receiver of this quilt. (Word has it the quilt was well received and is the new favorite blankie...music to my ears.) Anyway, Katie's birthday is December 1st and I know she'll appreciate a handmade object and she lives in the mountains about an hour outside of Reno where it snows in the winter, so I figure this hat should get some use out of it.





Project: An Unoriginal Hat
Start Date: Sept. 30, 2009
End Date: Oct. 5, 2009
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Leticia in Ms. LaRock
Needles: 7.0 mm
ravelink

Soon after I started this, I recalled from the first Unoriginal that it takes pretty much all of one skein and that I might have even omitted some rows. Turns out I totally did. On this second version I omitted rows 6 and 8 in the second repeat. Good thing I did, cuz I had very little yarn left, even with the omissions. Also, this hat seems a little bigger than the first (although that could be because I blocked this one and I didn't block the first...that I can recall). Oh well, as long as it isn't flopping around on her head, Katie should be able to use this. She is coming down to visit the parents at Thanksgiving, so hopefully I will be able to get this to her then.

ps. I've also finished the Cloud cardigan, but have not been able to get my lazy butt to the fabric store to find some ribbon for the closure. I hope to get that and a photo shoot of it done before the end of the month. New pojects include the Big Montana Tunic (of which I am more than half way done) and the Milkweed Shawl. All of a sudden the love of triangular shawls wrapped around then neck in a casual hipster scarf kind of way hit me like a ton of bricks. Will I be able to pull the look off? That remains to be seen. Until then.

It's been a long time coming and I blew past my self-imposed deadlines more than a few times, but I've finally finished the baby quilt for Nathan.

Katie is my oldest friend in the world. We've technically known each other since before kindergarten. We went to the same private elementary school (therefore having to wear the same school uniforms day in and day out) and had the same baby-sitter. We both had the chicken pox at the same time and would stay at each others houses counting each others spots. And while we've grown up and moved on in many ways, she is extended family. So when she announced that she was pregnant, I knew I wanted to make something big for the baby. But then life got in the way. It wasn't until I started sewing semi-regularly again this last year, that I started to consider attempting to make this quilt. And I'm glad I did. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love the process of quilting. I love watching it slowly all coming together. Every step gives you a new image which in turn motivates you to see what the next image will look like. I love it.

So, here it is, Nathan's baby quilt:




This quilt pattern was taken and adapted from a quilt in New Cuts for New Quilts. I thought the quilt in the book was a little busy and so I simplified it. I love how this came out. The irregular nine patches. The pieced inner border. The quilting. I wasn't at all sure how to do the quilting. I knew I didn't want something straight-laced and uniform since the nine patches are all askew. So I thought stars would be good, but I wasn't sure about the color to use for the quilting. My dad suggested going with green to match the borders and that worked out great. I just followed the top seam of the nine patch and winged it from there. It took me a while to realize that I had to support the weight of the blanket while sewing the stars otherwise the stitches got all tiny and uneven. Here are some pics of a few of the stars up close:







Then again for the outer border I was at a loss as to how to quilt it. But again my dad came to the rescue (go Dad! who knew you had it in you?!) and suggested moons.



The moons were much, MUCH harder to do than the stars since they weren't soley composed of straight lines. I ended up making a template and stenciling it on and then trying to follow the stencil. Drawing with one of those quilting pencils on fabric is tough work! Not easy at all. I thought about using a blue quilting chalk but I did a test patch and it wouldn't wash out of the fabric! No way I was going to risk that.

And then for the back, I used this cute flannel dinosaur print, since Katie and David went with a dinosaur theme for Nathan's room. It's crazy bright and busy, but I love it.



And so, almost two years after Nathan was born, I'm finally going to gift him this labor of love. It's pretty big for a baby quilt so I think it should last him some years yet (hopefully). And I hope he loves it and thinks of Aunt Cece when he uses it. This kid has one of the best personalities in a kid, I've ever seen. He's a full on lady's man, mischievous, animated, happy little boy and I've got nothing but love for him. So time well spent. I'll try and get permission to post a pic of him after the quilt has been delivered.

First Comes Love, Then Comes Marriage,....

I don't know about you guys, but I guess I'm at that stage in life where all my married (and a few non-married) friends are popping out babies by the bucket full. Does anyone remember the next line to that nursery rhyme? Something, something in a baby carriage? Anyway, my good friend Tram (I've known her since junior high and we were housemates in college) announced earlier this year that she was due with her first baby--a girl. The due date was late October and the baby shower was scheduled for mid Sept. I knew I wouldn't have enough time to whip up something elaborate, but I figured something small...like baby booties...well, I just couldn't resist.



Project: Saartje's booties (ravelink)
Start date: August 14, 2009
End date: September 22, 2209
Yarn: Peaches and Creme in Pink Lilacs (barely broke into the skein)
Needles: US2





I could have and would have finished these a lot faster, in fact I was done knitting them a week or two before the end date--they just needed seeming and buttons--, except Baby Zoey decided to make an appearance six whole weeks early (one week before the baby shower even). So needless to say, the shower was postponed until who knows when. Baby and mom are doing fine. But this gave me the perfect excuse to procrastinate on my worst skill set in knitting: seaming. Ugh. I just can't seem to get a nice consistent seam for nothing. And these booties were no exception. My horrific seaming job made them a bit wonky and they won't stand on their own. But I imagine they'll sit on a baby's foot just fine. So I'll be shipping these out tomorrow; the sooner they get to Zoey, the longer she might be able to wear them, cuz these suckers are miniscule. Seriously tiny.

I also think that one bootie is slightly larger than the other and I think that has to do with me loosening up on the second bootie. It took getting used to knitting a such a tight gauge before I got the hang of it. And I'm not sure I will knit at such a tight gauge again--killed my hand and arms. But these turned out adorable and therefore worth it.

OK, that's it for now, but I also have pics of a finished baby quilt to post and I've finished my Cloud Bolero (which is not really a bolero); it just needs blocking and some kind of closure. I know, I know, I'm on a roll. Knock on wood.

Clap If You Love A Finished Object

So it's a month later than I said it would be, but I finished something. Technically I finished it two weeks ago, but it needed to be blocked and then it waited for some prime picture-taking-time.
And now on to the finished object...









Project: Clapotis (ravel link here)
Is it just me or do you cringe at the name of this shawl? Everytime I say it mentally in my head, I can't help but think of The Clap. This is like one of those baby names where you just know that the kid is going to be tortured for life...like Pilot Inspektor. Just sayin'.
Yarn: Brooks Farm Duet
Needles: US 7
Start Date: Jan. 6, 2009
Finish Date: Aug. 9, 2009

Yes, this project took FOR-EV-ER! I started it for a KAL in the Newer Knitter group on Ravelry...in January! And this again shows why I shouldn't join things like that; I never finish in time. This just dragged on and on. But in the end it was worth it because I love the look of it. Even if it doesn't get much wear (which might be the case, cuz this sucker sheds like a mother), I love it. Once you get the pattern down, it's super easy. And yet it produces something so geometric and yet soft looking all at the same time. (Yes, it's just a rectangle, but its got those lovely diagonals running through it.)

A couple of notes:
I bought this yarn specifically for this project, but in hindsight, another yarn would probably have worked much better. It turned out beautifully, but the mohair made dropping the stitches semi-difficult. That, and have I mentioned that this thing sheds. I mean S-H-E-D-S! It's kind of a tragedy really (and I use the term tragedy here loosely...it's not as if I'm comparing the tragedy of the shedding to freezing children in the Afghan moutains) cuz it's such a beautiful shawl and it deserves to be worn with nice outfits. But nice outfits don't look nice with pink fuzz stuck all over them.

Also, there were a couple of times when I forgot to twist the stitch after the drop. But I checked in a forum on ravelry (can't remember which one, otherwise I would mention the helpful peeps here) and it was deemed not to make that much of a difference. Which was good cuz there was no way I was going back and redoing it. And, honestly, I can't tell where those spots are, so good advice.

And that's all I have to say. But here are more pics of this blackhole of a time consumer. I tried really hard to get some decent pics this time and I think I did a decent job, so I'm posting them! :P So there.