Ahhh…

After an intense semester, I am delighted to report that this is all I have on my plate right now:

(not exactly true – I really need to clean the house!)

I have a sense that I’ll do a lot of lace knitting this summer.  I’ve been drawn to lace weight lately, and specific projects in mind.  The orange one on top is for a design project I’m working on.  I think the teal will be either the Seraphim Shawl or the Peacock Feathers Shawl. The color is really perfect for Peacock Feathers, but I think it might be a bit much and that Seraphim is more my style. The yellow in the middle is actually already in use.

A very old friend is graduating from my alma mater on Sunday, so I’m knitting her an Ishbel in yellow. The yarn is Malabrigo Sock, which is divine.

I chose yellow because yellow is my alma mater’s main color.  Also, each class at my school is assigned a color on a four-year rotation, so 2005 (my year) and 2009 share the color yellow.  (Yes, I’m a nerd about school spirit.  No, I’m not embarrassed.  See here).  So really, yellow is the perfect color.  I’m not a huge yellow fan in general, but this is an especially pretty yellow and I’m really enjoying working with it.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there, especially mine.

My mom is a biology teacher who has a great sense of humor and appreciated the heart I made for her. There was really only one logical choice for what I should make her to mark the occasion.

My dad, when he realized what it was, said “well Em, I’m looking forward to Father’s Day.” LOL

I hope everyone had a great day!

(Womb, M. K. Carrol, Knitty Winter 2004)

In case you missed it – April 2009

Hi there! I’m in my law-school-finals cave, so posting will be very light for the next couple of weeks. But I can’t ignore the awesomeness I saw in April!

Cutest Felt

Most Awesome Mittens

Prettiest Purple

AWESOMEST Crochet

Cutest Hat (and hat model!)

Best Problem-solver

Brought to you by the color green

Inspired by my success after finally deciding to tackle exchequered, I’ve decided to celebrate Finish or Frog Friday once again.  

I know I’m double-dipping here, but I will note that these projects fit with Project Spectrum too!

The first is Wicked.

This picture was taken almost two years ago, right around the time I abandoned the project. Why did I abandon it? Well, for one thing I thought it was unflattering. The good news is that I’ve lost weight, so it should look better now. I also wasn’t thrilled with the pattern, which I guess I’ll save for another post.

The second sweater is Serrano, which I declared to be in the “home stretch” 18 months ago.

When I got to where I am with Serrano I was at the peak of my weight, 22 pounds heavier than today. I hated the way it looked on me, and I think now I just hated the way I looked in general. In these recent photos, it looks fine as long as I keep my arms down. 

The problem arises when I lift my arms.

The upper arms and armpits are all wrong, so it binds if I move my arms. So, I need to fix that and decide on what I want to do for a closure. I did hooks and eyes as the pattern suggests, but I find that they get snagged in the lace.

I know it’s “finish or frog” Friday, but I never really entertained the thought of frogging them. I’m too close to the finish line!

February 2009 – In case you missed it

I got a kick out of assembling my Best of January post, and I had intended to make it a monthly feature. Now that we’re a third of the way through March, let’s recap February, eh?

Best new people (In the third picture down you can see me chatting with Archiknist, shortly after exclaiming “I recognize you from the internet!”  I exclaimed “Nutmeg Knitter!“ when I met her, even though I know somewhere in my head that her name is Becca.)

Favorite Fair Isle

Best Recycling

Cutest Birthday Girl – rookie division

Cutest Birthday Girl – veteran’s division

Best Hat

Best You-Tube Link

Best Interweave Debut

Best use of Gimp

Best use of Beads

Not that we remember February anymore, but what did I miss?

I (heart) my mom

Pattern: Heart, Knitty, Winter 2008
Yarn: Cascade 220
Made for: Mom

This project was so quick I almost forgot to write about it! When I saw this pattern I immediately thought of my mom the biology teacher. It was a lot of fun, very easy and well-written. While this doesn’t really qualify as trying something new, I used DPNs, which I hadn’t done in years.

I’m told that it’s surprisingly accurate. I might make another one for myself, and think of a Halloween costume that would use it.

Week 9 – Waved-Ribbon Stitch

I knew I forgot to do something this weekend!  Hopefully you guys will forgive me, since this week is a two-fer.

I did Waved-Ribbon Stitch, both Version I 

and Version II

This pattern is a lot like Track of the Turtle, and again, I like Version I a lot better.  I’m just not a fan of patterns that have YOs and decreases on right side and wrong side rows.  They always look wonky and scrunched up to me.

Week 8 – Totem Pole

This week’s swatch is Totem Pole from the Second Treasury. I like this one. It’s written as a lace panel, but I like it as an all-over pattern too. I especially like the mixture of texture and yarn-overs. I think this might be especially nice for knee socks (but then they might look too much like the famous Monkey socks).

January 2009 – In case you missed it

Is it just me, or has it been sort of quiet in knitblog land over the last few months? Maybe I just feel that way since so many of my favorites had babies or switched jobs and put down the needles. Rather than rehash the old “Ravelry killed the knitblog star” conversation I’ve decided to highlight some of my favorite posts from the month of January. Here they are, in no particular order:

Prettiest braids of roving

Prettiest shawl

Most thorough FO post

Best use of handspun

Cutest toy

Most inspiring home improvement post

Best pairing of socks and shoes

Snazziest hat and coat combo

What cool stuff did I miss?

And the winner is….

Lucky number 13… Robyn of Robyn’s Nest and Knit & Purl Mama.  Congrats to Robyn!  If you haven’t been to her blog you should go today.  She has an impressive garden and two adorable boys.