Busy girl

I've really enjoyed being able to knit again. I don't think I realized how long two weeks without knitting was, until I had to live it. I always thought of myself as a "product" knitter. I enjoy knitting, but I never considered it therapeutic and I certainly never considered the "process" my reason for knitting. Okay, I'll admit it, I was D-E-A-D wrong. I really missed the process and the peace of knitting.

Anyway, I started my first real lace project...which honestly, was completely impulsive and a little dumb, because my first year of lace project and yarn will be arriving sometime in March and there is NO way I'll have the Celtic Knot Stole Done by then, but oh well. I had some BEAUTIFUL lace weight from Handpainted yarn that Bex gave me in the PERFECT shade of green for a celtic themed wrap. Okay, I'll stop justifying. If I ever get over my project ADD and work on it enough to take a decent picture, I will.

Anyway...last week I decided that I needed to stop procrastinating and make Bex' Christmas present. I know!! I know, okay? Anyway, she picked her yarn forever ago, so I gave her a the choice of a couple of hats from her queue for me to make for her. Thank you Bex, thank you for not making me make another Odessa. I would have...for you...but I'm glad you didn't make me hehehehe. Ain't she cute?



Aaaaaand I finally got the right combination of needle size and row omission to get my first Harlot hat done! Okay, so it must be love, because this is seriously the 5th time I've made this hat. This is the first time I made it to the end with enough yarn. Go me. And guess what...I don't love the white on me. It's pretty, I love the hat...just not on me. *sigh* Oh well, I guess it goes into the box. Hopefully I'll like the teal one better. It's cute though isn't it?



Hmm, what else...OH my Greece hat!!!! I did my first project using the yarns I picked up in Greece. I was browsing Ravelry (shock) and found a couple of people who used the Mille Colori for a SUPER-cute chevron hat. I couldn't resist. I made one and it is GORGEOUS. I think it might be my favorite hat...even more favorite than my ponytail hat, which I hold in very high regard. It's just so PRETTY. So, though it's more than I usually pay for yarn, I need to pick up a couple more skeins in this color way to make a matching scarf...and maybe mitts too. I really love how it knit up. It's just amazing in person.



Other than that...I got lots of yarn hehe It was my birthday present to myself, so I refuse to feel bad about spending the money...

From HandpaintedYarn.com (both are lace weight and GORGEOUS)



I also got a bunch from Boucle's Yarn sale.

I think this is going to be a Jeannie from Knitty


I think this is going to be a tank top for summer, it's pima cotton and SOOOO soft



And I dunno what this is going to be...but I couldn't resist buying some frivolous pink yarn...



Okay okay, I'll end the novel, but hey, at least I've been keeping myself busy! I think if I don't finish my gloves soon Bec's gonna kill me hehehe Iyayooooo!

The FO report

Short and sweet - since all the people who care can see the info on Ravelry:

1 - Gram's Nautilus hat in Merino Bulky from Handpaintedyarn. A Christmas knit!
2 - Amelia's Koolhaas in Cascade 220. Another Christmas knit!
3 - Celtic Cable Hat for Trevor, which is GORGEOUS. I recommend this pattern to anyone who wants to learn more about cabling. This is also a Christmas knit!

So, yeah, I'm totally busting out the Christmas presents right now.

I'm about to start the specs on a faire isle hat that's going to be for Logan's dad and my uncle. And maybe my brother in law too, since it seems like something he would like. We'll see.

I are SUPER-KNITTER!

Well, I suppose. Maybe a little?

Wednesday night was very productive on the knitting front. Despite being one of those days when I can't seem to do anything right, I managed to finish Amelia's Koolhaas. It's really nice, I'm quite proud of it.

Since it was Girly-TV-Bonding-Night I cast-on for Gram's second Christmas hat too. I finished that up at about 1am. Now, I'm not saying this was a super complicated pattern, but GO ME! A hat in what, maybe 5 hours? Yay! hehe Anyways, I think she will totally love it, so I'm stoked.

Pride

And now that I've got that out of my system, I AM SO PROUD OF MYSELF!

I finished Logan's IHS yesterday. It's gorgeous, I love it. It also means that 1 of the 2 large projects for Christmas are done. YAY! I have a lot of stuff left to knit, but they are all smaller 2 - 4 DAY projects instead of 2 - 4 WEEK projects :) Good thing since there's not man weeks left to Christmas.



I've also got my head in the clouds because I completed my first Daring Baker challenge yesterday. I really, really want to give more details, but I am sworn to secrecy. Suffice it to say that I feel like I completed something that was quite possibly impossible for this simple little baker. I'm very very proud of myself. I want to make more and maybe next time I will let myself be a little more adventurous.

FO - Calorimetry

Yarn - HandpaintedYarn.com "Amatista"
Pattern - Calorimetry from Knitty.com

So, I'd had this fantastically GORGEOUS purple yarn from Handpainted yarn and I knew I wanted to make something different, not just another beanie. So, I went with a headband and scarf set. This is the headband (duh).

So this pattern is er...weird. The gauge is just...off. The first time I knit this, I used the prescribed needle size and hit the gauge with no problem. Unfortunately, I got half way through the pattern and realized that the knitted fabric was HUGE. Too huge. Bigger than my head huge. So I frogged it and walked away for a while.

A few weeks later, I picked up again and just decided to haphazardly drop 3 needle sizes. It was size perfection. I still have to add buttons to it, but I really love how it came out.

FO - Camo Stripe Hat

Yarn - HandpaintedYarn.com "Rivera Sands"
Pattern - My basic beanie pattern

This was another stash buster hat. I made Logan a hunting mask out of this gorgeous yarn. The colors are totally camo and beautiful. So, to get rid of the tiny little ball that was left, I made a beanie! I actually really like the way it striped instead of pooling. Yay for happy accidents and for stash busting!

FO - Voodoo (to the third power)

Yarn - HandpaintedYarn.com "Shells"
Pattern - Voodoo from Knitty.com

Yes, this is my third set of voodoo. I also think it's my favorite. I love the way the pink spirals around the wrist. I actually got my first chance to wear these the other day and they are so incredibly warm. I'm in love. There will no doubt be more voodoo in my future. Love this pattern.

FO - Lace Skull Cap

Yarn - HandpaintedYarn.com Buotone
Pattern - Modified " Halley's Comet Hat from Marnie MacLean

This is a hat that I've wanted to make forever, but could never find a yarn that made me happy. Well, after I made my Wisp from knitting, I had enough of the buotone yarn left over for a hat or two, so I used part of the leftover ball for this. I love it. The pattern is pretty much verbatim, I just made it a lot shorter so that it could be more of a spring hat instead of a winter beanie.

Here's a closeup of the lace - I really like it. I would like to try and make a circular shawl out of this petal pattern, but I don't know if I have the energy (or the skill) to manage that.

FO - Ponytail Snowboarding Hat

Yarn - 1 skein HandpaintedYarn.com "Geoda"
Pattern - Free pattern from WoolyWormhead called "Tea Cozy Hat"

So, I found myself with a dilemma. I went snowboarding for the first time last year and I really liked it. But, I'm from California. I'm used to wearing a ponytail on the slopes and not having to wear a hat...so wearing my hair down was just...unnatural.

When I saw this hat I was ecstatic. It was perfect in theory, but I was a little skeptical that it would actually work out the way it's supposed to. But it does! I love the color of the yarn against my hair too. I couldn't be more happy with this one.

I've got more of this same yarn and I'm going to make a scarf and possibly wrist warmers to match.

FO - Sk8er Gurl Hat

Yarn - Less than 1 skein HandpaintedYarn.com "Noches de Otono"
Pattern - Just a basic beanie pattern I created/divined from multiple patterns

I love this yarn. It's gorgeous. Logan and I both have a hat in this yarn and pattern. It's the perfect skater gurl/boy beanie. Yup.

FO - Nautilus Hat

Yarn - Less than 1 ball HandpaintedYarn.com "Granate"
Pattern - Marnie MacLean's Nautilus

I've admired Marnie's patterns for a long time now, but until recently, I've not had great confidence in my knitting ability. It seems that since everything, I've decided there's nothing I can't do, and this applies to knitting too and I've been trying patterns that I never would have tried in the past.

Obviously, it was all in my head, because I had absolutely no problems with this pattern, it's not difficult, I was just intimidated. Not anymore!

FO - Tweed Hats

So, I had this leftover tweed wool from forever ago (I made a purse out of most of it) well, I decided to make a hat out of it and get rid of the little balls ... except I didn't expect it to make two hats, sooo, Logan and I have gross couple semi-matchy matchy hats now. Shuddup. This one is mine. It's okay, for a stashbuster hat, but it's not fantastic.





This one is his. His is better..I know