Projects!

Hello! Happy Friday! Guess who has some projects to show you? :D The first is my most recent finished object; Swirls Socks in Fleece Artist (Cedar).

They were a nice, busy-work sort of knit. With everything that's been going on you could say I've needed easy thigns. :)

My current project otn is Carrie's Scarf (rav link). It's inspired by the new Sex in the City movie-of which I've never seen the prior or the show. But I got it as a lovely gift from my friend and it's in MALABRIGO! A bunch of us are doing it at knit night as a pseudo KAL. The color is Ravelry red and I'm well into the second ball of the 4 I got. The picture was taken when I was still working on the first ball so imagine it way longer! And sadly, the second ball is NOT the same shade of red despite begin in the same dye-lot. Way to go Malabrigo. Ah well. I'm really not that picky and also, so not willing to rip out the work. :)

(but longer) That's really all I'm working on currently, I've packing and school to attend to as well as deployment (ah, yes, that's coming up again) and COLLEGE GRADUATION! :D

Finished Sweater

(Back to the old template because the new shiny one doesnt let my full pics show).

I participated the the Sexy Knitter's KAL 3rd Quarter Challenge (designers) and so I finished my Indigo Playmate Jacket by Wendy Bernard (Rav link of course). I used 4 of the 8 balls required out of Cascade 220 Superwash. What to do with the other 4? Bah.

It's the smallest size and the mods are only that I didn't knit a belt nor used short rows on the collar-because I don't know how and wasn't all that interested in figuring it out. LoL!





Photo's thanks to my mom. :) So now, I've some plying to do and then I get to wrestle with some lace. Ciao!

FO'S!

Salve! (Hello-pronunced sal-way. in Classical Latin V's are pronounced with a W sound).

Good heavens it's been quite awhile hasn't it? Sorry about that. Latin class swooped in and I didn't knit for a VERY long time. Very. I am taking a break from Latin to type this up then it's back to translation ectera....(or ect...) WHICH, I've learned, is Latin (duh) and mispronounced. It's eh-ket-tra. In case you were wondering. I did however manage to finish up some knitting:

Kai-Mei by Cookie A is FINALLY, FINALLY done!


It's finally summer here so I can't wear them but they are pretty aren't they? I also finished my Shetland Triangle Shawl in Sundara Yarns Aran silky merino. I used to skeins and so i still have enough to make a hat or some such for when it gets colder. Not that I have the time per-say. And sorry about the picture, I don't have the time to take pretty ones. :)



I've knit 4 dishcloths (two are a gift so i can't mention it yet) but these two were for a RAK (random acts of kindness) in my Reclaiming the Home on Ravelry group.


And so now currently, I've got Domus Aurea by Fiber Dreams OTN, but haven't been able to work on it very much. I've a st-st felted striped tote that's almost done (primarily due to not working Friday night) from the book One Skein by Leigh Radford- I'm trying to get that finished up so it can be felted and then I'll only have two projects OTN. The Last one is a mystery KAL I'm doing through the Unique Sheep (I love Laura's stuff). I started that on Friday and it was a small clue but since it's a Pi chart, well, it'll get bigger. It's in her gradience yarn and it's heaven to work with. Go. Go buy her yarn. It's so lovely and the color- caelum! (heaven)

So that's it for me for now. I've more translating to do. If you'd like, I can always put up some fun sentences for you to say/write in Latin. Leave me a comment and I'll put some up in a post. Otherwise, I'm afraid the next one will be more of the same. Have a lovely week or month or summer and I'll do my best to be more interesting. :) Vale! (bye! "wal-ay)

Knitting

Well then. Knitting. I've done it.

First up: St-St Socks in Cashmere from Zen Yarn Garden:


Lovely stuff to work with. However They didn't ease the pain of the Kai-Mei socks so I then grabbed some hand spun and knit a scarf.



I think it's Lorna's Laces Roving. Anyway, that also fulfilled my 101 in 1001 to knit an item from hand spun. Not sure what to do with it per say. it's not really my style or anything but It's short (yet wide) so I don't know that it'll fit any adult I know. Ah well.

I've also fixed the kai-mei socks but I'm getting to the toe bit and really don't want to mess it up (again) so I'm going to have to wait until I can go to Monday knit night and get some help there. So for the duration, I've started on another pair of st-st socks in a forgotten colorway by Yarn Pirate. It's all blues, grays and silvers.

Oh! And I didn't get a picture at the time but I finished sewing a needle roll for myself when I did the star quilt. :)


I've had that material for years with the specific purpose of making a needle roll and I finally finished it. :) All projects of which are stash busting. How awesome is that?

Where TIme Drags on

I've not too much going on in my life, it's all sort of fallen into a rut. Get up go to school, com home, do homework (knit night if I'm lucky), go to bed, Get up and so forth ending the week with work and then starting all over again.

School has been kicking my arse and I'm sad to say I'm still not nearly caught up in some classes. 9 books for one class if that's any indication for you. There has been a little bit of knitting on the Seeded Cables Cardigan (I've finished the back and front left part) and a pair of st-st socks, as well as a quick knit beanie. I'm at school however so I can't do much more than show you the back of my Cardigan and I will hopefully get a reprieve soon:

Distraction

Nothing has been going on really on the knitting front so allow me to distract you with a quilt top I finished and sent off to be quilted this weekend:



That is draped over my parents sofa. I had pieced the blocks 2 years (ish) ago and was planning on adding sashing to it but since it was supposed to be a gift for someone I'm no longer friends with and they aren't my colors, I said "Screw it", and sewed it as is. It'll make a great throw to snuggle under, take to the park or let guests use. But I'm pleased it didn't take too many hours of my life.

Here's a detail shot of the material.



Other than that I've been spinning a little, and will have to up that since I got 8oz of roving from my mom for xmas of one type of colorway and 100 grams of roving of another as well as 8oz bats from my lovely Loopy Ewe swap partner. Anyway, I have tons of idea swirling through my brain so I need to get going. Have a good day everyone!


AND!!! Speaking of the Loopy Ewe, I got into the Spring Fling!!! I'm so excited! I get to meet so many people I've become friends with and I can't can't can't WAIT to go!

Beanies.

So my husband has two beanies I knit him and his friend was saying how "lame" it was he wore them and how much of a loser he was. My husband comes to find out it's because he's jealous HE doesn't have one, so Matthew (hubby) tells him he'll get me to knit Brennan(his friend) one-but that it'll be pink. Brennen replies with, "I'd f-ing rock a pink beanie" So I knit him one...but added little ears to it. :D He gets our type of humor.


(ETA: The general Consensus is he does, in fact Rock a pink beanie.)

The guy in read is their Coreman (Naval Doc assigned to the Plt) and he said how he'd maybe like one so I knit him up one as well.


And here's a group shot with my Husband in the center (who is a cashew addict).


And now, I have a knit list for 5 guys who want beanies. 3 want a specific color (black, red/black, MC green) one is good with whatever, and one, *snort*, one wants a beanie with dog ears ("but pretty please not pink?"). And I'll do it cause I'm told there are even funnier pictures and the boys are sleeping in them (even the pink one). That makes it all worth while.... Now I need to find some good wool brown yarn. :D :D :D

Quick Style

Quickly now, because I've things to do today, all my most recent FO's.(in no particular order)

First up, St-St socks Colorway-Purple Rain by Chameleon Colorworks.


Next we have my brother's x-mas gift. The pattern is Sugar Push by FiberDreams (SP for the Rav Link, FD for the blog link). The detail on my pic is a little hard to see but it's an easy pattern! These were my 1st pair of Fingerless mitts (ok, my first-anything to do with hands project).


Then, one of many Beanies (3 in total but I didn't get pictures of the other two) of Matthew's fellow Marines. This one has a great story behind it. His buddy was teasing him for wearing the beanies I made him (every night) saying how lame it was etc. Well Matthew finds out it's because he's jealous he doesn't have one so Matthew tells him I'll make him a beanie (Thanks for asking hun) but that it'll be pink. He was all, "I'd f-ing rock a pink beanie". So I knit one. Then last minuet (no pic yet sorry) I added cat ears. *snort* Luckily the guys since of humor matches ours and I think he'll fully appreciate it. (That and I offered to knit him a real one once he opens it). He promised me pictures.


And finally, I scored TWO skeins of WOLLMEISE LACE! Details later, cause I have no clue what to knit with them! (And really? I don't need 3400yards of the same colorway. I"d be willing to trade for a different colorway if you've got one).


Have a lovely day! (and help! I've no WIP's AT ALL!!!)

Done Done Done!

It's Done!




Now what do I knit?

Almost Complete

I've been knitting madly away on my Minimalist Cardigan (ravelry.com link)from IK's Spring 08. I'm currently on the last sleeve and then I'll be able to block and seam it all together. I had set the goal to knit 2 sweaters this year and this one will be my 2nd! I did do the shrug but that's more 1/4th a sweater I think. Once I get it all sewn up I'll post a picture. Other than that, all I've been working on is my spinning. I've hit a snag at the moment where the yarn/roving keeps breaking and i try to adjust the tension but still!!! I tried it for 10 minutes twice today and it's still being crap. Sigh. I'll go back to it soon since I want to learn to ply on Monday because Matthew comes home this week! I want to be able to show him finished yarn and say, "Look Honey, I made *YARN* from the gift you bought me! I love it so". It'll make him feel good I bet. :)

So my sweater is almost complete and my roving is almost complete. And now, my tea is done seeping so off I go. Have a lovely night/day/etc..

I'm almost done with the Two Toned shrug (in one color) that I CO on friday. Yea! Pictures as soon as I can get it done!

Quick Quick Quick

Hello! I've got a zillion pictures to edit and post so hopefully sometime today they'll get up, unless I get sucked back into my lace knitting....Then mabey tomorrow.

Conquering the Lace

SO I was working on clue 4 of the Secret of the Stole 2 by nautical Knitter and managed to drop a stitch a few months back. I didn't have the mental fortitude to deal with it but tonight, I rocked that pile of knittings world! I tinked back 6 rows and re-knit and am well into the 4th clue (finally) after two months of avoiding it. I suppose I have my husband to thank. He has to be at work an extra hour earlier and went to be before I could grab my sewing stuff. I don't want to wake him up because tomorrow will be a long day for him (ahhh, the idiot LCpl's-thanks AlanaMarie and kathryn for your comments, they were *much* appreciated) so had to keep myself occupied somehow.


And volia! I'm back in business baby!

Lots of pictures!!!

This past week was a good mail week. First it was the Wollmeise, then my Lace weight from Sarah's Yarns, then Yarn Pirate (a GORGEOUS color way) if it were not for Barnes and Noble's weird shipping policy I'd have 2 books too but that means something to look forward too on Tuesday. :)
Here are the icky socks of doomy doom and my cat. He's about as impressed as I am...More so perhaps:


The yarn was so bad that I threw the rest away and I had allot...see?


The new Yarn Pirate color is amazing. It' reminds me of antique lamps and Victorian Homes. I don't know if I can knit with it!!


I'm in the Secret of the Stole 2 KAL right? I got my yarn on the day the first clue came out and cast on...3 hours later had a mistake I don't know where and ripped it out. Saturday evening after frogging it I re-cast on and worked for another 3 hours before crashing into sleep with my husband (I wish I could say I sleep better when hes home but he snores too loud-lol). Today after breakfast (IE: noon) I started working on it and didn't stop until I finished the clue (IE: 5 hours later). The yarn is JaggerSpun 2/18 Silk/Wool Blend. It's adream to work with! Here you go!



And finally (I'l wrap this up quick) I finally finished the Split-Neckline Cap Sleeve Tee from the Fitted Knits book. Here it is:


Have a lovely night/day/afternoon or what have you. Now, I'm off to claim my knit wars points!

Sweaters, Alpaca and Dressers

So today my best friend and I went to Ikea to look for bedroom stuff for her so she could change around her room. I needed a dresser ("I" being "we", "we" being "Matthew and I"-anyway) so we picked one out and naturally, couldn't find anything for her. We brought it home (because Ikea makes you put the damned things together) and spent the next 3 hours putting it in place. Here she is modeling the lovely thing:


Hopefully Matthew will like it. Oh! Here is where I am after ripping back 4 hours worth of work on my Cap-Sleeved tee:


I'm actually further along now but you get the general idea yes? Turns out there was no problem with the ripping back and so I have been blissfully knitting along while watching Sailor Moon the first season (oh my god the memories).

So here is a question for you all: I have a ton of Alpaca yarn I have no clue what to do with:
2440 yards of the small green one, and 1000 yards of the grey one and 332 yards of the brown. Any suggestions?

Finished Projects and Frustration

So I am working on Stefanie Japel's Split-Neckline cap-sleeve tee from her book Fitted Knits. I've just finished 4 hours of work and come to find out that despite reading the directions obsessively carefully, 4 times, I still managed to read them wrong (I checked the errata for it) so I have to frog 22+ rows of my sweater.

Naturally this means I'll finally update with all my FO's and counters.

First up: 3 Hats from the Holiday Knits Kit. One for me (made from handdyed from MissVicki), my husband and his friend from training (debbie bliss Cashmierno aran):






And then we have 2 gifts a-la Miss Violet from LimeNViolet for the in-laws:Both made from noro silk garden).



And once again I frogged the madder sock-this time because it was too small. WTF? Sigh. I'm a bit nervous about ripping back on my Fitted Knits shirt because I've never ripped only to a certain part before. >< Gah and I was sooooo close to only having to do the st-st for 16 inches! (I love me some mindless knittin') I'm also doing that one in the Cashmerino Aran from Debbie Bliss too. The Top/light color is the main color and the bottom is the lining.


I'm off to stare depressingly at my sweater and pulling out some scrap yarn. *sigh* Wish me luck!

Knitting, Hubby and New Skilz!

I am officially now Alexis Tabor!! I went down to the SS office and got my named changed. How exciting!!! And to amuse you with pictures of the happy couple (1/2 of which was off learning to throw grenades and DIDN'T CALL HIS WIFE TO LET HER KNOW HE'S ALIVE-not that I'm bitter or anything):



This picture makes me smile. :)
Moving onto knitting:

So I finished a bag for an x-mas gift and i'm less than pleased. The whole thing just seems so unfinished and really, kind of blah. Which means I'm going to have to add something to make it a good gift since it's for my brothers fiancee. Espically since she's painting me a picture in exchange. I hate when I give what I feel is crappy gifts.




Looking at it more and more I dislike it more and more. Damn.

But for good news!!! I learned a new skill tonight! I learned how to kitchener a toe on a sock!!!! I'm using Sheepaints Briar Rose and finished hte 1st sock of the pair. I've also cast on the 2nd sock. (I'm of the mind set that if you cast the 2nd sock on within 20 minutes of casting off the 1st oyu can avoid SSS *knock on wood*).
(These are true colors by the way. Isnt' it lovely!!!??)


And now my New TOE!!...Er...Toe Cast off...ahem.


I'm waiting for my new lace weight from The Loopy Ewe to make a shawl for my best friend for Christmas. :)I'll let oyu know if the hubby survived Grenade throwing 101 as soon as I find out. (not that I'm bitter or anything).


Edited to add:They wound up not tossing grenades thanks to rain. Whew. Glad to see he's alive.

And so it begins again

I'm driving my wonderful husband (still makes me smile to say it) down to Pendleton for more training. He'll be living on base most of the month (although he'll get xmas and our wedding date off-the family hooplah-) and he may get a few weekends here and there off. However, it's still two months of him basically being gone and I've really enjoyed living with him again.

Although I've got to say it kind of feels like this month has been a dream. A very lovely dream.

Knit wise (to make this somewhat related) I've re-cast on the Briar Rose socks and have made decent headway on the old boring purse (39 inches of garter stitch).

Have a great day everyone.

Drink the Night Away

So the hubby wants to go see Saw 4 and some other movie I would absolutely hate, and loathe after he gets off work. Since he has my car and I won't be going anywhere until 10pm at the earliest- I've whipped out the wine to drink while knititng on this "purple bag of boring doom that I really didn't want to make in the first place but it's a christmas gift dammit and I have to do 11 inches, INCHES of st-st TWICE!!!" and listen to Lime and Violet (click their names for their blog-as if you haven't already heard of them. If I've heard of someone that means EVERYONE on the face of this planet already has). It should prove to be amusing. :D

In other news, I've donated a ton of yarn to goodwill (single balls and some cotton I had laying about) and feel much better about the whole stash thing. (as in "the crap is gone" and not "I have too much").

Finally

Well the husband has just left to see the movie Beowulf with a friend (I was invited but it's so not my thing) so I am alone after 16 wonderful days of not alone-ness. Hazza.

Not too much knitting has been done. I frogged the Mad Crazy sicks from Fleece Artist (cry) because it was jsut too think of a yarn for my size 3 DPNs. I did however receive 2 skeins of self-patt yarn from a Fall Swap I did:


So I started that one. Currently the damn this is on hold because the "frickin dag-gone" stitches kept committing knitting suicide and hurtled themselves off the DPN and I've not had the patience to pick up the 9 or so stitches. Buggers.But the color way is neat: reminds me of the cotton candy vendors at the summer Fairs.

I did a K2P2 scarf for my cousin (male) for x-mas out of alpaca yarn (no pictures because I'm a lazy wench)...do you think that's enough of a gift or do I need to add something to it? Let me know!

My sock yarn club for Yarn Pirate just shipped on friday so it ought to arrive on Monday (yea!) but have I knit with the first shipment yet? No.
I also have Lisa Souza, STR medium weight, Ocean Wind Knits, Fleece Artist and lots of pretty sock yarn I'd like to knit up but my problem is this:

Some of the sock yarn is lightweight. I've only really knitted with medium weight (Jitterbug, Cherry tree Hill) and so always cast on 48 stitches for my sock patterns. When I did this with the Fleece artist (Madder) the stitches were too loose. SO!! If i knit with smaller needles and lightweight yarn: DO I NEED TO CAST ON MORE STITCHES THAN MY 48?!

If not I'm good to go, if I do I'm so screwed. Math and I are not friends.