January 27, 2004
January 25, 2004
On the needles...
Well, the order from the previous entry has changed slightly... here's what's on the needles now.
First, lest you think I have completely forsaken Tanja, there's a progress photo! The perfect sweater if you only have one arm... But I'm working on the second sleeve, I promise. Actually, I think I'm going to take the first sleeve off of the body and lengthen the body by another 2". I did it according to the pattern, but I actually tried on the sleeve, and I made the sleeve 2" longer than the pattern called for, so I think I need to be consistent with that.
Then I went to my local yarn store (actually, I went to two!), and bought the new book "Stitch and Bitch" after reading such great things about it on everyone's blogs. Leafing through it, I immediately found the perfect scarf for Dan. I bought the yarn and cast on that night. I haven't gotten very far, but here's an in-progress Alien Illusion scarf:
While out at the yarn store, I also found a lovely skein of Noro Big Kureyon, and I finally convinced Paypal to let me download the Bucket O' Chic, so now I also have a Bucket on the needles:
It is one strand of the Kureyon, and one of mohair, so I hope it's a little fuzzy! I will be felting this version, so I'm making it on 11's. So far, so good! It's snowing right now (some forecasts are saying 4-8" tonight!!!), so a nice warm hat will be welcome.
Top Secret is on hold again, because I realized that it uses the exact same needles as Tanja. I downloaded the DNA scarf pattern, and I might start that at some point. But for now, 3 WIP's is enough!
January 18, 2004
Upcoming...
OK, I have been tossing around a few future projects in my head and I thought I'd write them all down... here's what I'm thinking about doing next:
- The Bed & Breakfast Pullover from the most recent Interweave Knits
- The Cottonwood vest from Folk Vests
- A Bucket O'Chic (assuming I can ever get #*(&%$ Paypal to work so that I can download the pattern!)
- Top Secret (remember way back when?)
- A scarf for Dan - need a bit more guidance on this one, as to colors/patterns/yarn/everything so that he'll actually wear it
- A DNA scarf for me (because everyone at the office will think it's cool - we're a bunch of biology geeks)
- bpt
- Grecian Plait (remember this one too?)
Top Secret is the leader, for a few reasons: I have the yarn already; it's cold here and I need another big comfy sweater; and if I don't start it now, I won't be wearing it until next winter. Of course, I'm also halfway considering joining the Banff along and using the yarn to make that big bulky sweater...
The Bucket O'Chic and Dan's scarf are also contendas, because it's cold here, we need some chicer (that would be more chic) outerwear, and I haven't made anything for Dan in a long, long while (then I could join the Men Along, too!). And they'd be fairly quick, which is good for instant gratification me.
Allrighty then. We'll see. For now, I'm still working on Tanja. Not cheating ... yet.
January 16, 2004
Site Maintenance
I updated my template a bit... First of all, I'm a year older! And have been for several months! I am actually not working on any of the previous "works in progress" anymore (although I left flutterby up there because I will come back to it!). And I thought my definition of "recently" finished objects was starting to stretch it a bit (um... July.), not to mention that it seemed like I hadn't finished anything in six months. Anyway, just a few changes. Nothing too major.
And now back to your regularly scheduled crafty posts:
Handmade books...
Yep, my obsession with letterboxing is spilling over into my crafty life (which, come to think of it, is kinda the point). First came the hand carved stamps; now I'm making the books to accompany my stamps. And I've dragged a few friends down with me... once they got over the sheer volume of paper that I have managed to amass (3+ file boxes, a giant gift wrap tote, etc.), we made some pretty cool books. Those two up there are mine. We used the coptic stitch binding, which is a little bit difficult to figure out at first, but once you get the hang of it, it flies. Here's a close-up of the binding:
New WIP... Tanja
For the new year, and to celebrate the end of gift knitting (not that I resent knitting for others, you understand, but that's pretty much all I'd been doing since early November), I decided to be a little selfish. And so I cast on something new. For ME.
I bought some Lopi-type yarn quite a while ago from elann.com when it was crazy cheap. I always meant to make myself a Lopi sweater, but all my great yarn just sat in a box. Then I found the book "The Best of Lopi" at the library, and that just seems like fate, doesn't it?
Anyway, I went through it and through it, and finally made my choice... Tanja (the one on the left). The main body is green, the accent colors are a medium gray and a burgundy. So far I'm done with the body... and have actually started a sleeve (not in the picture). This is my first attempt at two-color knitting with floats and weaves, and I think it's going rather well. I like the bulky gauge, too... instant gratification, that is me!
