What I brought home from my LYS

Today I made a new friend at my LYS.




Isn't he a cutie? While shopping at my LYS today he scurried across the floor, and the owner said she had already taken another of his siblings outside, but the poor thing had died only a few hours later. It's still way too cold outside for mice, especially baby ones, so I picked the little guy up, put him in a cup, and with the blessing of the owner, brought him home! I've been feeding him, and he seems to be doing very well.

Isn't it amazing what you can bring home from one short trip to the LYS? ^_^

The evolution of my first felting project

As a blob:


As a hat:


As a pumpkin basket:


Excuse the random crap popping out; I'm still blocking it.

Felting? Absolutely amazing.

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.

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 otoño/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!!!

It's down to days

With only three more days left on the Hill (as Hamilton College is known) this year, I'm pretty happy. Things have been hectic – thus, the lack of pictures – but I have been knitting. Not much has been accomplished, though. I think I've frogged more than I've knitted this week. Ugh. Pictures in a few days, hopefully!!!

A New Kind of Stash

I am powerless in the grip of the 75%-off Easter-candy aisle at Target.

All this:



$13.30. That includes the ridiculous 10%-tax here in New York.



On the knitting front, things are getting done little by little. I'm skipping around on projects, so there isn't much visible progress on any of them. My plan is to finish both scarves by Friday, so I can start making lace purses for both Tanemura-sensei and Yang-lao-shur. The squirrel mittens are getting put away until this summer; there's no time for them now! I designed the purse pattern myself last night – in theory it works out, but I'm curious about whether it does in process too. Wish me luck!

And the obligatory Teddygraham picture:



Aww.

Splurge

After signing up for a free three-month trial of Amazon Prime (i.e. free two-day shipping!), I ordered three new knitting books: A Gathering of Lace, Folk Mittens, and Christmas Stockings: 18 Holiday Treasures to Knit. Amazon says I'll receive them on Tuesday, and I can't wait!

I cast on for my professors' squirrel mittens today (see the pattern at Hello Yarn), but I had to put it down after only the first few rows of ribbing. Classes sure do get in the way, don't they?

Perhaps some new knitting pictures will appear Saturday... Wish me luck on accomplishing something (anything, really) tomorrow!