Don't worry...

...I haven't forgotten how to knit or anything. It's just that I have nothing very exciting to write about. There are lots of potential projects lying around the apartment waiting to be made into something. And there is some more secret knitting going on (hey, if you're a slow knitter like me, Christmas knitting must start now).
I did start this Nothin' but a T Shirt with the leftover Tatamy Tweed yarn from the baby wrap sweater I made. I think it will work well with this project.



My friend Bia also brought me this lovely gift when she visited recently.


It's a skein Interlacements something (forget the name, but used to be Kansas). It's a linen/rayon mix. She was a making a picovoli out of the skein she got for herself. I think I'll make one too as I've been meaning to make one for a while now. I just have to wait until my size 5 circs get freed up before I can start it. They are currently be used for more owl washcloths. I decided that I needed to make one for all of my college friends, not just to two whose baby shower I'm going to. Luckily they are quick knits. I've done 4 so far and need 7.

What a hoot!

I recently got an invitation to yet another baby shower (this is definitely the year of the baby) for some college friends. The theme is "time of day", as in each guest is told a time of day to buy presents for. I got bath time. Having seen the cool warshrags Bestitched and Dearest Cupcake recently made, I started searching the internet for some washcloth patterns. That's when I found the owl pattern. Perfect. As I said, these are college friends and we all went to Bryn Mawr, where the owl is the symbol of the college.
And here's a closeup of the owl. It's amazing what 3 rows of simple cables can make.
I ended up using the left over Reynolds Saucy Sport I had from my lace v-neck sweater. It worked fine. The pattern calls for size 8 needles and 100% cotton yarn. The Saucy Sport is 100% cotton. I used size 5 needles as it was sport weight. The pattern never said what the finished dimensions were supposed to be. I got a 5.5 inch square, which is perfect for a baby's washcloth. Now to make some more!

Mittens

Hooray for mittens in July!

Yarn: "Jennifer", by June of Twosheep Handspun Yarn
Needle size: 8
Pattern: Ann Budd's The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns

Mittens are so much fun to make! I'm definitely going to make more pairs. Maybe I'll wait until it gets a bit colder though.

Stash therapy

What a week of knitting frustration. First I discovered that the Tosca yarn was self striping and completely wrong for the hooded pullover I wanted to make. Then the socks I started and restarted and restarted yet again were still not right. Then my mom calls and tells me that the capelet I helped her cast on for last week when she was visiting was way too big (a case of gauge changing between swatch and actual project). Yikes. Plus I need to get new DPNs in a new size before I can try the socks again and I need another skein of Encore chunky before I can make the baby sweater for Owen and both my LYSes are either out or do not carry what I need. Bah.

Needless to say, I was not feeling kindly towards knitting last night, but then I turned to my stash for help. Surely I had something in there that could make me feel better and get me out of the knitting rut I was in.

Opening up the stash chest, something immediately caught my eye! Remember this from last Christmas?

Hooray for the lovely handspun Two Sheep yarn my sister got for me!
A skein of it quickly turned into this:



Not bad for a first mitten (the color is a bit off in the picture -- will take a better one in good light next time). Now to make its mate!

False starts

Not much to report on I'm afraid. While there has been knitting, there has been an equal amount of un-knitting. Ugh. The knitting gods have not been smiling on me this past week. I've restarted a sock three times now and my gauge still isn't right. I've also tried a couple of different things with the Tosca yarn, but it is not to be. I just don't like it as a sweater.

That being said, it is great yarn with beautiful, albeit striping, colors. I think it will become a lovely hat and scarf set instead. However, I do not need 20 skeins to make a hat and scarf. Would anyone like to buy 10 skeins of Lang Tosca for $30 (the sale price I got it at)?



The first person to respond who wants it, gets it. If no one wants it, I'll try selling it on eBay.