I have a picture of the beige cardigan, which has grown two fronts and just needs a back and trim.
And I have a picture of Toby enjoying his heater last night.
(And I have good news about the Twilight mittens: I finally blocked them and I was able to get them more of the same size, so they might not be a total loss. No picture of those, though.)
knitting
Tuesday Project Roundup: Ending Badly, Like All Twilght-Related Things In My Experience
I finished the “Bella” mittens, as inspired by the film Twilight, but they’re kind of a flop: Because I knit the first mitten while traveling, its cables weren’t even, which meant they didn’t match the second mitten. The first mitten’s top I had to extend to accommodate my fingers, but because of the cable length on the second one, that top worked OK–giving me mittens that are fraternal twins, not identical. But I’m not happy with my work on them, and overall, they’re a little snug.
Obviously, this is all my own fault, but it’s easy to blame Twilight itself. And the sort of “Was that it?” feeling I had when I finished these mittens is very, very similar to the feeling I had when I finished the book/movie. So I’m blaming Twilight.
Tuesday Project Roundup: Patterns
Today I mean patterns as in the designs formed from repeating groups of stitches, not the schematic for making an object.
There’s a popcorn pattern on the beige cardigan:
And there’s a horseshoe cable pattern on one finished Twilight mitten:
The cables got a little off on this one because I had to keep stopping and starting on the plane, and I had to fudge the top to make it longer to accommodate my fingers, but I’m actually kind of liking it. Maybe it will gaze at me in science class and make me flustered.
Tuesday Project Roundup: Plane Knitting
The beige cardigan is coming along, but I decided it was too big to take with me on the plane. So I started some mittens with some leftover yarn I had and am working on those on the flights. However, they are mittens inspired by the movie Twilight.
Yes, I saw the movie. The can’t-look-away-train-wreck part of me even had to go and read the book after that. I am thoroughly embarassed to be boarding the Twilight Mittens Train. But these will be plum! And will look good with my coat! And I left the first page of the pattern that shouts “Bella’s Mittens” at home, so maybe no one will know.
(Top photo from the movie; bottom photo from the pattern.)
Or maybe when I’m finished, my mittens will sparkle and declare their undead love for me. We’ll see.
Tuesday Project Roundup: Project Schedule
I don’t have anything finished this week, but it’s not for lack of trying. I’m adhering to a very productive crafty schedule:
On the nights when Mr. Isbell has school, I sew the quilt binding and watch my Masterpiece Theater miniseries. (He doesn’t share my love for British period dramas.) I’m halfway through the binding!
On the nights when we’re both home, I usually knit. I’m almost to the point where I start the fancy stitch pattern on the beige vest.
And on the weekends, when we’re not going to car races or open barn days, I’ve been working on a fall dress with that black gingham.
So statistically, I should really have something to show soon.
Wednesday Project Roundup: One Step Forward, One Project Back
So I start hand-sewing the binding on the quilt tonight (while watching the Masterpiece Theater Little Dorrit, inspired by Kara). I know I’ve been talking about the steps involved in this for nine months now, but this is seriously the last one. The LAST ONE!
But with all progress comes some un-progress: I stopped working on the turquoise sweater for now. The more I worked on it the more I realized I wouldn’t wear that style of pattern, and the more I saw the yarn the more I thought it was a spring color. (Pantone tells me that it is, too.)
Instead, I’m working on this, in beige. Beige is always in season.
(From the Interweave Knits magazine, in lieu of anything elaborately cabled, because I still can’t decide.)
Tuesday Project Roundup: One Down, Three To Go
I’ve been working away at my sweater this week and have made some good progress. (It helped that I knit in the car while riding to the motorsports park last week. I guess I’m pretty comfortable with my coworkers now.) I’m almost done with the first hank of yarn, which puts me just past the shoulders:
Three more hanks of yarn and it will look like this girl’s lovely sweater (more of her photos of sylish knitwear here):
I wish I could find a floral print like that dress to wear my sweater with, too.
Tuesday Project Roundup: Winter Projects, Just In Time For Summer
Here are pictures of that chunky knit cowl top I knit when it was so cold and rainy last week. I did get one good wear out of it and now it can wait until the fall.
And I’ve made progress with Thing #7 of the 29 Things: Knit Christmas stockings, starting with Toby’s. Here’s Toby’s stocking.
He is not aware that it’s a Christmas stocking, as those concepts are hard to explain to a cat, but he does know that it’s wooly and he’s allowed to lay on it.
He also is allowed to help with photo shoots–actually, we can’t stop him.
Because I Know You Were Wondering
I finished the sweater discussed yesterday and am wearing it today. I’ll have to wait to block it before I put it away for the summer, but I got a sweater in a week and a chance to wear it–not too bad.
Tuesday Project Roundup: My Window Of Opportunity Is Rapidly Closing
I blame the rain for this project. I was going absolutely crazy by Tuesday, so started looking for a summer sweater to knit, despite my history of finishing summer sweaters in time for fall. Then I saw an extra-chunky project that could, in theory, be finished over the weekend and worn while it’s still cool and rainy.
(This is not me, as I did NOT finish over the weekend. The pattern’s from this book.)
I’m not sure why anyone needs a turtleneck with no sleeves made out of really thick, really warm wool, but it looked cool, gave me somewhere to put my nervous energy, and the yarn was on sale.
I’m so close to being done, but I only have about two more days before the weather is going to turn nice again and I won’t be able to wear it until October. I’d better get knitting.