26 October 2006

2 colors, what fun!

First off, here's some pictures of finished projects that I just seem to forget posting. The felted bag:Yarn: Paton's SWS
Pattern: an original Buli design!
Needles: Size 10.5
Knitted for: the annual charity auction to benefit the Jasmine Charitable Trust
Yarn: Mango Moon alpaca
Pattern: Clapotis from Knitty.com
Needles: I don't remember, but I think 9
Knitted for: the charity auction

And the completed puppy quilt. I'm still not sure about the yellow binding, but it does keep with the outrageously loud color scheme for this quilt. Now if my neighbor will just have her baby already!! Although I still have to make a label, maybe the little boy will hold out for that. Amazingly, this quilt was finished before her due date, which is this Sunday. I think that's the first and last time that will ever happen! Fabric: all cotton (of course!) - most from my mom's fabric stash (Thanks Mom!)
Pattern: ripped off from a quilt given to my brother when he was a baby
Sewn for: My neighbor's soon to be new born son.

I've been having tons of fun today with my first ever attempt at fair isle knitting (using more than one color, 2 in my case). This is a kit my mom and sisters got for me at a fiber festival in NH. The yarn is an amazingly soft alpaca. It feels like there is lotion in the yarn, I love it! The only problem is there were lots of places in the skein where they tied the yarn together. I untied the knots (since they were barely holding together) and now I have a million ends to weave in. I guess it will just make the gloves thicker and warmer. I can't wait to finish it! A potential problem is that I didn't do a gauge swatch. It uses 2 different size needles and the pattern didn't state which size needle the gauge is for. I'm just going with the suggested needle size and seeing what happens. I've got pretty normal size hands and I'm usually spot on with the gauge with the suggested needle size, it shouldn't be a problem.

Next up:
-Finish the fair isle mittens - shouldn't take long with it being so much fun
-Work on some holiday knitting
-A sweater for Josh. I forgot to take pictures of the yarn, but it came in yesterday and I can't wait to start his baseball sweater. He's gonna love it! Hopefully I'll get it done by next winter, but who knows!