Being Green

I knit a hat to match my brother's gloves. I had an extra skein and I used every bitty bit of it to make this hat. The color was way off so I just made the whole picture green. It's very nice yarn; not even scratchy on my forehead. I hope Jason likes it. I hope he doesn't read this... ha. O well.

matching hat for the gloves!

I also found the The Ultimate Fantasy Entertainment Character Generator via marmalade.ca. It's fun to make my own superhero. I just saw the Incredibles over break and it has made me really want super powers of my own. Maybe super speeding knitting? ♥

Superhero!

Whirlwind...

Thanksgiving break was great! I ate lots of delicious food - all the traditional turkey day faire. I must say that there were some awesome pies and pumpkin puffs in attendance this year. Yum.

I had some second thoughts about the brown yarn I used in the swatch for my sister's felted clutch. It didn't seem to felt at the same rate as the lighter yarn. So during Black Friday, I went to JoAnn's at 7:30 am (!) and picked up (among other things...) a ball of grey wool. I knit this swatch in a different pattern. It's a herringbone! I rather like it. But I'll leave the decision to Kaylee. Hi Kaylee. :) The grey yarn seems to felt more evenly with the cream so I think I'll stick with the cream and grey combo.

pre-felt


post-felt

Below is a gratuitous picture of the completely finished poncho. I love how it turned out with the pompoms. I washed it and it fluffed up to be SO. SOFT. I was amazed. I wanted to keep it for myself. Maybe I'll pick up a more "grown-up" color of the boucle and knit myself one.

lovely pompoms

Some of the "other things" from JoAnn's include polar fleece remnants that I'm planning on knitting! I experimented with this bright pink fleece. I had to use US17 to get a loose enough fabric. I think the hat that I am planning will be super warm and soft. I have another thinner microfleece with a colorful pattern to make another hat with. It's fun to find different things to knit. That's the cool thing about knitting; it's so freaking customizable! Haha. Ugh. I'm such a knitting dork. Oh well. ♥

knitting with polar fleece

The birth of a pompom...

Now... Late-night Manda would like to present: How a PomPom Is Born.

One...


Two...


Three...


Four...


Five!!! How cute!

Some knitting done.

My poor cell phone gets dropped/kicked/scratched way too much. I decided to knit a little cozy for it and this is resulting doo-hicky. I rather like it. I used Cotton-Ease left over from a project, measured my cell phone, swatched a bit, and cast-on. I was finished in one evening of tv knitting. It's knit in the round with twisted rib in purple and baby cables in light pink.

Cell phone case.

Quick knitting, instant gratification. Ahhh...

with phone in place...

And this is my pretty Lush yarn. I'm going to design my own sweater from it. But it must wait in the stash until the opportune moment... Have a good day all!

Yummy yarn birthday present to self.

P. S. Christmas knitting continues... But I'm going to try to be sneaky about it? Maybe, maybe not. I'm so proud of my first glove! I want to show it off. Plus, my brother has already seen it... I had to make sure it fit!!!

Adventures in Fair Isle.

I've started to swatch my sister's Houndstooth Clutch. I was inspired by Bruxknits' pattern for Elle(pdf). However, I'm going to use the construction of the Floral Felted Bag in Interweave Knits Fall 2004. This was my first attempt at fair isle. It was SO awkward at first, but I think I have a method now.

Before.

I'm also going to felt the bag, so in to the sink my swatch went. I really like how it turned out. I have a feeling it will be a cute bag and I'm sure I'll want to keep it for myself... Hmmm... Too bad my sister has an awesome coat that it will match perfectly. Maybe I'll just barrow the coat, too. Isn't that what sisters are for? :p

After.

And finally, a pic of the glove progress. Two fingers down, three to go... on this glove atleast. I'm really having fun figuring this out as I go. You can see my Weimaraner puppy posters in the background. You can also see my Sophie bag and my Fiona bag(pdf) hanging up all pretty. They make nice wall decoration. Mike asked me this weekend, "Why don't you use these bags? Or sell them?" He doesn't understand that they make me just as happy to look at as when I use them. Fiona is a great summer bag, but Sophie is a bit scratchy. You win some, you lose some. They all get used in their own special way. Even if it's just decoration!

Peace dudes!

Ok, good night all! Peace out! ♥

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to Me! I treated myself to some yummy yarn. I can't wait until it gets here! Hurry Mr. Postman!!!

A start in the right direction

I have started my brother's gloves. I'm kind of winging this as I go... I hope it turns out. :) I've studied a couple other glove patterns, so I know the jist. Knit the cuff, then the thumb gussett, and then come all the little fingers. I've knit a pair of mittens before. Actually, they were for my mom last Christmas. I used a pattern, but it was nothing fancy. I have so much stuff that I have knit before I started blogging about it regularly. I should really start posting about all my "old" stuff when there isn't much to say about current projects. I would also like to set up a gallery of my finished stuff. I'll have to do that in all the extra time I (DON'T) have. Heh.

Glove cuff.

And just for my own purposes of making a matching glove: Gauge = 11 sts/2". CO 40 sts. Knit in 2x2 rib for 2". And I finished todays progress with 2 rows of knitting. *sigh* So tired. Good night. ♥

Fringe is fun!

Well, I'm back from the week of military h*ll. I spent many hours in chem gear and gas mask while "missles" and "small arms fire" surrounded the medical clinic that I was assigned to. Everything was simulated, of course. But it really hits you when you are standing with all this gear and shrapnel protective flak vest weighing you down that people are fighting and dying overseas in the very same uniform, so I really have no room to complain.

On a brighter note, I finished my cousin's poncho. Well, 99% finished. I still want to make two pompoms to attach to the drawstring I added at the neckline. I just wanted an excuse to make pompoms. Elizabeth is only 6 and is much smaller than me, but I tried to model it anyway. I will definitely add pics of Elizabeth in the poncho, cause I'm sure she will be super cute. I love the FRINGE! I fringed this baby during the Steeler's awesome game. Wee!

Finished poncho!

Then I had the awesome idea to have Libby, our chocolate lab, try on the poncho... Haha. Before she got hopelessly tangled up in the poncho, I got this shot of her trying to eat my camera. Libby is so crazy, but we love her.

Attack of the poncho wearing dog!!!

So that project can be put in the "Finished Christmas Gifts" pile. Now to the other three. How many days till Christmas??? ♥