So, er, for what it's worth, Blogger didn't want to publish my last post, from March 9. I don't even remember what it had in it anymore, though I know I did have pictures. Blah. Well, I am going to try to update soon with pictures of things I've finished.

For now, I'll say that I'm very excited to be knitting a sweater from yarn and a pattern from ArtFibers, a truly unique shop in San Francisco (where I went with my family for spring break). All of their yarn is made for/by them, and they'll customize any of their own patterns for you. I'm making a hoodie out of a deliiiicious silk/mohair/wool blend, very airy and soft. Started it two weeks ago Saturday, and am nearing the neck. Still need to knit the hood - I've never knit a hood before.

Next up is Clessidra, which I've just found a knitalong for. I've never done a knitalong through Blogger before, but I'd like to, so we'll see how that goes. I'll be using Rio De La Plata Superwash Merino Sock in a lovely ever-so-slightly variegated olive green - I'm really excited about this yarn. It seems very nice for the price.

Oy!

So much for this updating-once-a-week thing!

Knitting...well... I finished the dress! I'm pleased with it! I got to wear it for Midwinter Ball. I don't have a close-up picture of the dress itself (forthcoming, I hope), but for now, I do have one in which I'm wearing it.



As for other projects? I actually haven't been knitting that much this term. I did finish the aforementioned socks.





And I am still working on my Grandma's mittens. Here's an in-progress shot.



I also made Fetching from Knitty for an online friend, in pretty much the same color pictured there.

So I guess it hasn't been that little knitting - but I've done very little recently. Oh, except that I'm also finishing up a pair of burgundyish alpaca gloves for myself...wayyyy too warm for how warm it's finally getting. Ah well. Grandma's mittens will, unfortunately, also be arriving too late for good use this season. *sigh*

Speaking of Knitty, by the way, I really like Clessidra from the new issue. Ooooh.

Another text-only post...

Thing is, I can't post pictures now because I'm dumb and left my camera's USB cable (and charger) at home. Hopefully I'll get those soon.

But yes. I am back at college. And I have been knitting.

The dress isn't going as well as I had hoped. It fits perfectly up to the hips...aaaand, I wish I'd tried it on before I'd knit 12" past the hip. Because I think I'm increasing too quickly. The flowy drape of the skirt doesn't really mesh with the fairly fitted top. *sigh* I'm also worried that with as quickly as I'm increasing, I'll run out of yarn too soon. But I only have 6" to go with the main color, so I think I might just try that and hope that it'll look okay, because if it does, that will be a lot nicer than frogging a whole foot and knitting 18".

The mohair shawl may never be. It's a little too small, and I also really screwed up the bindoff. Having never completed a lace-weight garment on bigger needles, I had never considered that a normal bind-off would end up way too tight. I don't actually know what the proper solution is for this. And this yarn does not like to rip out, so I'm not sure I'll be able to re-do anything. Yick.

In happier news, I'm knitting a pair of socks out of fabulous Colinette sock yarn (Jitterbug). It's rainbowy with a blue undercurrent. Beautiful. I'm on sock #2, which is exciting.

I still have my grandma's Christmas present to finish, which I intend to do soon. These are fair-isle mittens (my first attempt at a fair-isle project) of my own design, from two shades of brown alpaca.

Anyway, I should be doing homework now, so off I go!

Happy New Year!

Here it is, 2007. My graduation year. Eep. I've been at home in Kansas City for the past six weeks, and am going back to Northfield on Tuesday for my second-to-last term at Carleton.

No pictures to post at the moment, but I'll work on that. I now have a new camera (yay)!

Here's what I've been knitting lately:

• Christmas/Chanukkah presents up the wazoo (gloves/mittens have been the main thing this year...well, technically I mean last year!)
  
• A dress that I'm designing, out of Classic Elite's Wool Bam Boo (yes, Bam Boo is two separate words) - I am in love with that yarn. I'm doing the entire thing as a tube, except for the straps, which I'll attach afterwards. The main color is purple, and there's a lace section around the waist that's blue, which I'll repeat (in a variation) at the bottom. It will end a few inches below the knee.
• A mohair shawl. I must be crazy. I've never knit (or even worn) a shawl before, but I bought a dress recently that wants an outer layer over it (yes, the dress has desires :P), and this seemed ideal. I actually bought the mohair not thinking of the dress, though. I just fell in love with the color. It's Colinette laceweight. Purpley bluey tanny. Beautiful.

I think I'll make it a New Year's resolution to post here at least once a week. I mean, I'd be pleased if people read this thing, but how can I expect people to read it if I'm not ever updating?

hello again!

Wow. I am truly terrible at updating this.

Anyway, yes, I've been knitting. I do have some pictures. Not of the most recent stuff I've made, cause my camera has broken. But here are the "Anna" socks from Rowan 40...



Since then, I've made a pair of fingerless mittens (I guess mittens don't usually have fingers, but you know what I mean) with mock cables, out of a gorgeous purpley Mountain Colors mohair blend, and a matching panta. I also made a green Frog Tree Alpaca panta as a gift, and a multi-colored silk/merino one for myself. The last, I do have a picture of, though you can't see so well because of the angle. A friend took a picture of this mainly so I could see how I looked in it (hah) since I finished it while we were on the bus and there was no mirror. Hurrah for digital cameras and the ability to instantly see the results!



Oh yeah, and I'm wearing the purple mittens there, too, though again you can't see very well. And the cuff is rolled up; it's actually longer. Yeah, this really isn't a photo designed to showcase the knitting, but it's what I've got... Also, please note the awesome pink wristband I got from the science museum in St. Paul! Bodyworlds is a really fascinating exhibit, by the way, if you get the chance to go.

I also finally finished some Jayne hats I started a long time ago. Here are my dad and brother wearing theirs! :D



This post is hopelessly out of order, but I also just realized I spun some yarn that I could post a picture of.



I sold the orange one to a friend; the purple-and-green one is for sale.

I feel like I should make an effort to post more often in between posting pictures of FOs. I'm not sure why I don't, since I'm such a procrastinator...! Speaking of which, I'm supposed to be working on my comps ("comprehensive exercise"), which is my senior project. Yep. I'm in the library right now with my laptop. Wireless is both a blessing and a curse!

Well, I finished the hat!





The color's more true-to-life in the first picture than the second. The second, however, shows what I did to compensate for the lack of purple yarn. If I'd had more purple yarn, I would've just kept going with the pattern and made the hat longer, so the brim could be folded up. But with the amount of yarn I had, folding up the brim would've meant hardly any of the pattern would've been visible - and a huge part of the top of the hat would have been green. So instead I picked up stitches on the inside of the purple ribbing and knit downwards with the rest of my green yarn, after I'd already finished the main part of the hat. There wasn't quite enough green to make that brim as long, but it comes within about 1/4". I'm pretty pleased with it, and I hope it'll be warm enough for Minnesota!

general update!

Okay, wow, I'm bad at updating this! Sorry!

So, I'm at home for the last few weeks before school starts, working at The Studio (a yarn shop here in Kansas City), knitting, watching Firefly/Battlestar Galactica, and spending time with my family. My mom and I have started going through all of our yarn -- it's amazing! I've found some yarns I'd never pay money for anymore...yarn I bought before I became a yarn snob. ;) But I've also found some decent yarn I'd forgotten about or don't even remember buying. Among this is a huge, gorgeous dark blue skein of what's probably fingering-weight wool - there's no tag on it! Anyway, we're not even done getting everything out into the open. When we are, we'll do some swaps and see what we end up with.

I did end up making the Ballet Camisole from Magknits!





I've been toying with the idea of adding sleeves, but I'm not sure I want to take the time to figure out how, and I also do like it as is...though it's a bit odd that it's wool and sleeveless.

I have about a billion projects going on right now - including gifts for people that are long overdue, a crocheted afghan from yarn I bought a long time ago and failed to make an afghan from then, and yarn I've spun and am dyeing on commission for a friend. But the one that I'm actually working on right now - as in, today and yesterday - is my hat for this winter.



It's out of...oh, I don't know where the tag is, and I'm too lazy to go find it. But it's a worsted weight yarn called Waterlily and it's slightly variegated. (I realize in the picture it just looks like the sheen of chenille - but it's not.) It's 100% merino and soooo soft! The pattern is this one from knitting.about.com, which is super-easy and, in my opinion, really pretty.

To my frustration, the purple yarn is running out much more quickly than I expected...there are 100 yards per ball, so I figured I'd be fine! I should have made the brim a little shorter. I want to be able to fold it up to cover my ears in the Minnesota winter, but I didn't think about how that would use up a lot of the yarn I wanted to use in the slip-stitch pattern. I might have to get another ball, which is frustrating cause it isn't the cheapest yarn, but I think it'd be worth it. I really like how this is turning out.

In addition to all the projects I've got going, I have about a billion I want to start. I dyed some roving the other day, using these new instant-set dyes my mom got - meant for silk, but in larger quantities, they also work on other protein fibers. So there might be enough roving there for a pair of fingerless gloves, but of course, I have to spin it first. I also got 4 oz of roving at a shop in Columbia, MO (where I went to meet a friend on Wednesday) that's merino/nylon - obviously meant for socks! I also want to buy some sock yarn, probably from Knitpicks, for some knee-high lacy socks...something like the ones in Rowan magazine #40 (shown in black, with a ribbon at the top). I've also got a hankering to make a lot of fingerless mittens...so quick, and so handy! As it were. I've put some yarn on layaway at the Studio for this purpose. Now, I just need to find the gift card Aunt Marie gave me for my birthday so I can put that towards my purchases...