Saturday, June 10, 2006

Knitting World Cup!

And it begins! I've completed the first eight or so inches of my new cardigan from Katia 61. It's coming along slowly but surely, and so far I love it! The color, the yarn, the pattern... All great.

Two things are bothering me, though: I'm afraid of (1) running out of yarn (despite Niko being awesome and buying me two more skeins without a single complaint!) and (2) running out of desire to work on it.

I'll post a picture once I get the back completed.

Monday, June 05, 2006

I'm back...

...with both pictures and FOs! Finally.

I've really been into knitting baby sweaters lately. I've been working on the Trellis pattern from Knitty (only the one arm and the collar to go!), as well as this:



It's the Snow Baby hoodie from Lion Brand, and it's made out of Baby Teri, which I think is really great. It reminds me of a soft bath towel! Overall, I'm pretty happy with the pattern, although I was infuriated to see that the armholes did NOT match the arms at all. There was about a two-inch difference! I was right on gauge, and I reread the pattern five or six times, so I'm positive it wasn't my fault. I had to seam a little more than an inch down the "seamless" sides, which annoyed me, but it looks alright. Just look at the beautiful texture:



If the buttons appear crooked, it's because they are. I haven't sewn them on yet, and Teddygraham found the sweater irresistible the second I picked up my camera. He ran over it repeatedly and even sat down on it! So silly.

My newest knitting project is going to be the cover cardigan from Katia 61 (patterns for otoƱo/invierno). It's somewhat simple but interesting, and I'm making it out of the most beautiful 60% acyrlic/40% wool cranberry-colored yarn called Pittsburgh (which is where I bought it!). Supposedly it's Norwegian. I love it, though I'm in fear of running out because the store where I bought it is going out of business, and I couldn't find the yarn online at all. For a 34" inch cardigan, 7 skeins of 220-yd worsted weight is enough, isn't it? I sure hope so!

In other craft news, I went to the Boiling Springs Foundry Day Art & Craft festival, which was interesting. I'm considering possibly setting up a stand there next year with some knitted goods. It all depends how much I can complete this fall (as I'll be in Japan in the spring) and how much a stand will cost! I did pick up two adorable bracelets for $3 each. They're childrens' size medium, so they fit my wrist perfectly - very rare.



Don't you just love these horsies? :)



And as for Teddygraham, he's been quite active lately. I bought him a brand-new place to live, and he loves it! It's probably three times bigger than his last place, and it even has a second-story!





And here's one last pic to share: Last night Teddygraham became a little piggy and stuffed his cheek pouches FULL of food! He proceeded to run on his wheel for almost fifteen minutes before spitting it out in his hiding place. This requires a big AWWWWWW!!!