With plenty of time to spare

I did it! It's finished! It looks pretty awesome if I do say so myself. I had wanted to do another yellow stripe at the top, but I ran out of yarn. I think the 3 stripes of each color works well though. Now I just need the baby!

Pattern: Ann Norling's Feather 'n Fan baby blanket
Yarn: yellow: Campolmi R. Filati's Baby Irrestringibile; green: Filatura di Crosa's Zarina

They match!

Hey, that wasn't so bad! The hat turned out not to be too difficult to finish. I really like the way the set turned out. I don't feel quite ready to tackle the mittens yet, but will definitely start wearing the hat and scarf now that it seems to be winter here (we supposedly got wet snow the other night, but I refused to look out of the window to check).

Pattern: Reynolds Accessory Set
Yarn: Plymouth Indiecita Alpaca

Before blocking I rinsed the hat and scarf with conditioner because I find alpaca extremely itchy. It seems to have helped a bit, though my neck was still getting scratched a bit. The yarn is so soft, but those itchy fibers just get at you.

The hat turned out to be a bit too big. Not a problem with my thick hair and big head, but it doesn't fit snuggly. Any suggestions on a way I could safely shrink it a tiny bit?

Off the back burner

About 2 years ago I got a pattern for an accessory set (hat, scarf, mittens) by Reynolds. While visiting my family in NJ for Christmas, I went to my mom's LYS and bought yarn for the pattern. It called for Reynolds Alpaca Regal, but the LYS didn't have that. Being a fairly new knitter at the time, I asked one of the workers what yarn I could substitute. I let her talk me into getting another alpaca yarn: Plymouth Indiecita Alpaca. I loved the colors and the softness of the yarn.
I soon found out while starting the scarf that I might have made a mistake as the gauge of this yarn was way off of what the pattern called for and the pattern for this is intricate. Knitting the scarf wasn't too bad, though it took me months to finish it. Then I couldn't face starting the hat until last Spring. I worked on it until June, when it finally got too hot. Now that I finished the sweater, I decided it was time to finish the hat so I took it off the back burner. Figuring out the decreases for the hat in the pattern is turning out to be a bitch. Sigh. I will finish it though!

All done!

Longwool is happy to annouce that we have project completion! I'm really pleased with how this sweater came out. The cables and wide ribs are a really nice touch. I think Dave picked out good colors too. And doesn't he look handsome? :)

Pattern: Boyfriend Sweater from Hip to Knit
Yarn: Valley Yarn Sugarloaf

Knitting gone too far

As the sweater for Dave lies blocking, I begin to ponder my next project. Inspiration came from my mom after she told me of a pattern she saw in her local paper. If you have long been wondering what you get when you cross a sweater with a poncho, the answer is now revealed:
That's right: it's a "swancho". I do believe this falls under the category of just because it can be done, doesn't mean that it should. Now, what if I decide to make one for Dave? We already know that a man's poncho is called a mancho. So what do we call a man's sweater-poncho? A swamancho? I think I may be on to something...

I'm a grownup now

Check it out! We ordered this baby on August 5 and it finally arrived yesterday. That's right: it's our first grownup couch. No more futon couches for us! The fabric is a micro-fiber that you can wash with soap and water. Between the cats and the baby, it seemed the way to go.

Here's a picture of me enjoying it last night while working on the baby blanket. You can bet that that is where I'll be all day today as well :)

There hasn't been much progress on the baby blanket of late. Last night I worked on it for the first time in a week. I'm so close to finishing the sweater that I've mainly been concentrating on that. I just needed a break from seaming last night. Yes, I'm up to the seaming of the sweater now!

It was all good

Despite all my predictions of foul weather, the yarn gods came through and Sunday was a beautiful day in Rhinebeck. This year my mom and sister came with me (and my husband too). I taught my sister to knit a few years ago and my mom just last April (she's wearing a beautiful shawl she knit). We met up with friends Bia (who taught me to knit) and her husband Matt. We had a blast fondling exquisite yarn and eating fattening food while the guys enjoyed activities such as Pumpkin Chucking. We even saw a Leicester Longwool sheep. It was for sale, but sadly, by the time I saw it, it was sold. Here's a picture of us getting acquainted.

As for the loot, well, I had to be good this year and not go crazy. I did buy this lovely apricot colored sock yarn and a celtic braid pattern. I'm very excited for this project. One advantage to having my mom with me was that she was looking to do some Christmas shopping. All I had to do was declare my love for some yarn, sigh loudly, and walk away and my mom would join me later carrying some packages. Thanks, mom! But of course I've already forgotten everything and it will all be a pleasant surprise on Christmas.

Rain, rain go away!

Man, the weather has been so crappy this week. Here I am all geared up to go to the Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival and it's going to be wet, muddy, and gross. However, I'm sure the fabulous yarn will make up for the weather. Still, after last year, I'll feel cheated out of enjoying the foliage on a beautiful Autumn day.
Here's a picture of me wearing the poncho I made from my Morehouse Merino acquisition from the festival last year. It was one of those love at first sight things when I saw a sample poncho being displayed. I knew I had to make me one. It is very warm and cozy and beautiful.
Sigh. I must remember that this year I am poor and cannot go crazy with buying yarn. While unemployment is nice (lots of knitting time), no paychecks sucks.
Well, I'll be in Rhinebeck on Sunday so if you're going too, maybe I'll see you there!

Sweater fronts and knitting dogs

So I saw the new Wallace and Gromit movie over the weekend. It did not disappoint. My only complaint is the obsession with cheese. I just can't understand it. I know people think I'm weird, but I find cheese so repulsive and disgusting. I have ever since I was a baby. But back to the movie, you definitely should go see it! There is even some knitting in it!

Aside from seeing the movie, this weekend I was obsessed with the sweater for David. I worked on it almost non-stop and the result is that I finished the front.
I'm really enjoying working with the Sugarloaf yarn. It is so soft to touch and fairly easy to knit with (it's not very tightly spun, so there is some danger of separating strands if you're not careful). Also, I'm not certain how apparent it is from the photo, but it has such a lovely sheen to it. Now just for the second sleeve (which I've started) and then the seaming and neckline to finish. The end is in sight!

Getting bigger

Blanket is getting bigger and so is belly. Right now it looks like blanket would be big enough to wrap around baby, but baby is starting to grow at an alarming rate. Will blanket keep up??

Progress update

Nothing too exciting to report, I'm afraid. That's the problem with working on 2 big projects concurrently. I did finish one of the sleeves of the sweater for D.

I also did some careful surgery on the baby blanket. I opted to go for the "weave it in" suggestion as I was afraid that laddering down would make things worse. Plus, I still cannot tell how the mistake happened. The fixed bit is obvious if you know what you are looking for, but I'm hoping that when you look at the blanket and see the repeating pattern, your eyes will skip over the flaw and just see perfection.

As you can see, I'm on the second green stripe now. I just started the third trimester this week. Suddenly December is looming and I'm freaking out because I will soon have a baby. If the blanket isn't finished in time, so be it. But there are a billion other things I feel like I need to do before life as I know it changes forever. (okay, enough drama)