Hey there!  It has been a while!  When was my last post anyway, June?  Sorry!  The summer and early fall have been wreaking havoc on my schedule, and whats worse, severely limiting my knitting!  About the only knitting-related activity I’ve had time for was swelling my Ravelry queue by at least ten more projects!  I’ve just managed to finish the Endora baby blanket, and a pair of matching booties for my cousin that is to be delivered on Friday!

Despite the extremely long period of time that took to complete them, they turned out quite well. 

The Endora Blanket was extremely simple, and perfect for those like me, who are just setting out on their first cabling projects.  I used Cascade Cash Vera (color 001) for the center panel. I loved working with it, even though it easily split, and it was worth the splurge for the soft warmth it imparts.  For the border I opted for some multi-colored fun, that was still obviously blue (for a baby boy).  Muench Tessin (color 65808) is not as soft as the cash vera, but has a fun chunkiness and little spurts of rainbow.

I did the Greemies in the same yarns (leftovers), and they turned out great.  I think they’ll be just right (I really had to knit tightly to get them to be baby-size).  I’m sending them both off tomorrow, and even if they don’t get there on Friday, I think they will still be well recieved.

And they’re SO cute too!  I really wanted to post a pic or two, but darn WordPress decided they would eliminate all photo-posting sanity.  Now, I can not put space in between photos or wrap words around them.  PLEASE let this end soon, or I’ll probably be forced into the same fate as rachelhknits was, moving to blogspot.  So, in conclusion, if you would like to see my pics, check out my flickr photostream.  I’m also leaving on a vacation with my parents soon, so hopefully much knitting will be done, although there are no guarantees on blogging, I’m starting the Endora blanket.  See you in July!

 

 

So the other day, well, the day of my last post, I get home and there is a package waiting for me!  Exciting, no!  I love getting things in the mail!  Well, I opened it and low and behold, yarn!

And much of it, let me tell you! (Yarn: Aran by Gaeltarra Yarns Ltd.)  Even more intriguing was that this yarn was ancient (practically).  (All though the label clearly proclaims FULLY MOUTHPROOFED! So no worries there.) The tape holding the mustard-yellow tags on was brown and peeling, and the pattern that was hurredly stuffed inside with it showed some odd people with seventies (?) hair styles and wearing heavily cables sweaters. I couldn’t even find a picture on google!

So, after unpacking all 21 balls (!) I found a little note at the bottom.  So, apparently my aunt, you know, the one the socks are for, found all of this at an estate sale in California, and figured I would want it.  Okay… That’s a nice gesture, but here’s the clincher, is she subtly requesting this sweater? Should I feel bad stashing a deceased person’s Aran?   Oh the confusion! 

On a lighter note, Father’s Day was here this Sunday, and my dodecahedron was well received once he figured out what it was… (Before the first cup of coffee)

Oooh, PS: I joined Ravelry, all the rumors are true!   I love it! (I’m thepugmaven there too.)

 

You know you have been away from your blog too long when two projects you started after your last post are 60% done.  Ooops!  Prepare for a barrage of (badly lighted) photos, that of the new projects first, and those pics I promised of the other projects last.

                 

These are those Juju pants I was starting way back in May!  They’ve come pretty far, I must say, but I had to put the needles down when I realised I had no idea how long the recipient’s legs are.  Yep, I missed that crucial bit of information, but, no worries, currently my Grandmother is deployed with a tape-measure (because the family knitter measuring someone’s legs is too suspicious). Yarn: Cascade Cherub Collection in Delphinium (kind of a periwinkle)  Pattern: Knitty (Tangy)

Did you pay any attention to your Geometry class in middle/high school, because if you did, I probably don’t need to tell you what this is going to be… However, I sympathize with those who have forgotten their mathematical training, so I present to you, the Dodecahedron!  My Dad finds these shapes pretty neat (weird, huh) so I figured since Father’s Day is coming up and all…  It’s surprisingly easy, same pattern with all the points, you just pick up stiches from the first points! Yarn: ONline SuperSocke (color 1024)  Pattern: Celestine Sox by Berroco

Now then, on to the first few projects!  Starting off is that little shrug, which, has somehow managed to evade posting since Easter! (Stuffed on the floor for easier photo-taking, as opposed to on me.)

Fuzzy, yes, dark, yes. Please try to keep in mind that these last two pictures were taken late at night. (I woke up and remembered I needed pictures.)  Sorry! (Oh, and check out later posts for the story behind the yarn I stuffed it with)

 So maybe I DID say socks, but a sock is better than no socks, and besides, they’re for Christmas!  (PS: the yarn is the color of the yarn in the shrug picture in real life)

Now that finals are finally over (no pun intended)  I’m off to Texas to visit relatives with my Dad.  I’ve been voted navigator/in-car-knitter, so it should be a great trip, especially because I’m stopping at Arkansas’s Diamond Crater State Park to pan for diamonds!!!  Whoop!  More pics of the shrug I finished but never posted about, and the socks I completed when I get back.  To add to the fun, I’ll be experimenting with my first cables with the crazy-cute pattern from knitty.com, juju, for my almost one-and-a-half year old baby cousin!  Here’s the pic from knitty…

Happy Memorial Day!

Mother’s Day 2008
Originally uploaded by thepugmaven

Yes, my mom isn’t what you would call bland.  Chocolates are good, but she has more of a tast for salt, even on that special day where we celebrate mothers putting up with us. (For the mostpart)  Naturally I was thrilled when I came upon this pattern!
Oh, olives have been around from practically the beginning of history!  And now, they will live on, not in smelly jars of brine, but in fuzzy, felted glory!  Yes, that’s my idea of felted olive future, reminds me of some local legislature campaign speeches lately. *snicker* They were rather fun to create, but be careful of the directions, because they don’t exactly fit the number of stiches on your needle at any given time.  I don’t recall now how exactly I implemented, but if you have knitted for a while on dpns, you shouldn’t have any problem fitting the pattern to the stiches.  The end is a bit tricky though, I made five olives before I realized I forgot the last decrease round!  (To keep the pimento in)  It made it a whole lot harder when while hand felting in the kitchen sink, you have to juggle acrylic pimentos so they don’t make swan dives into the garbage disposal.  Over all, a great last minute gift!  (I never have patterns done even a day before deadline.)

Excuse the bits of desk/computer that are showing please.  This was definitely a last minute pic!

Well, spring finally is getting a bit warmer, and ‘the camera crew’, as I’ve taken to calling my ever-present (while taking photos) cat is ‘letting her hair out’ literally and figuratively. (Shedded puff-balls of fur have taken to floating lazily through the house.)

PS: If your feeling cynical (or not) check out the Panoptican today.

Saartje’s Bootie
Originally uploaded by thepugmaven
I FINALLY see that Bootie!

Or, two booties, and…

a bear to be exact! 

      Yes! They’re finally here for you all to see, I wasn’t procrastinating, see?  Anyway, they turned out fabulously, and Saartje’s Booties just flew by!  My Mother Bear Project bear’s legs didn’t turn out the same size on the back. (oops) But, that’s the magic of knitting, it’s stretchy!  That and the insanely soft stuffing it’s filled with helped, even if it gave it a bit of a pot belly. 

       I strayed a bit from the pattern for attaching the arms, instead of just picking up stiches when the bear wasn’t sewn together yet, just folded, I sewed it up, and picked up the stiches afterwords.  It gave it the desired effect, thankfully, and allows for a bit more arm movement.  Can anyone see the diamond on the sweater?  Yeah, it receded into the other stiches, but I learned, next time, I’ll keep the side with the triangly-stiches (right side?  Sorry, this always confuses me) on the inside, and make the diamond in the triangly-knits with a purl background.

       In other news, Finals are fast approaching, and everything is in bloom!  It feels like the Cherry Blossom Festival in my front yard!  I hope the newborn baby boy who gets these enjoys them, and plays with/wears them, because they definitely deserve it!  I’d wear them, they’re so soft, if my feet weren’t 10.5’s!

Sorry I haven’t been on for so long!  Life has been hectic.  I caught yet another cold that incapacitated me for four days, and I have been working madly to prepare for Spring auditions for orchestras.  Baby stuff is happening, though, a teddy bear from the book ‘Knitting for Peace’ (the Mother Bear pattern) and Saartje’s booties, for a neighbor that is due pretty soon!  So, yeah, that’s my link-crazed month in a nutshell, hopefully this weekend there’ll be pictures!

It’s killing me not being able to post any pics of the shrug! ARGH! I’ve had so much to do lately! Hopefully when I get home tonight, you’ll get another post with the pic’s that I PROMISE will be there!

Easter was great, if a little stressful. As you might remember, I had a little over half of the shrug to complete before Easter dinner. What I thought was going to be fun and games turned into an OBSESSION. I knitted everywhere, even the movie theater when I went with my mom to watch “The Other Boleyn Girl”. SHHH! Don’t tell, she didn’t know, I stashed the sleeve in my purse. You get the gist. Anyhew, I knitted till I got blisters, slapped on a band-aid and knitted some more. And here it is folks. I STILL didn’t get it done. I was blocking frantically 15 min before we were due at dinner. So, no it didn’t get finished. Yes, it is now. (I finished on Wednesday. ) Oh well, that’s what you get for procrastinating, isn’t it?

NO IT’S NOT! In the words of Monty Python, “I blow a raspberry in the general direction” of the last sentence. I have procrastinated with knitting many times and still gotten away with it.

And on a GREEN note. Help reduce your carbon footprint! Go here to check out Earth Hour, one hour of no lights to make a point.

I will now step away from the computer and stare angrily at the blisters earned in vain. Argh!

It may have seemed that I abandoned you all for my spring break, but in fact, knitting was happening…

 Yes, kat-knits’ Easter Peeps happened, and five of them at that.  After scouring the toy and grocery stores for Easter toys that weren’t made in China for the small children in the family, I came home determined to put together Easter baskets if I had to knit for five hours straight.  Normally that would have been heaven, but I promptly got the flu.  Just my luck.  So, instead of the enjoyment I anticipated, what I got was three days of being half-lucid on the sofa, living on a diet of orange juice and soup, with my knitting needles in hand.  So, considering the circumstances, I think they came out rather well indeed.  My mother sure liked them, so I made one for her basket too. I definitely recommend the pattern, it is very easy, and nicely repetitive.  (I almost had it memorized by the time I was all done with these little guys!)  Fortunately, I’m feeling better now, with just a lingering cough, and I managed to complete the sleeve of the shrug! YES!  My new goal is to wear the shrug for Easter Dinner, so I’ll be sure to get knitting!  On another springtime note, for all those people still stuck in snow, here’s a  pic to give you all hope that spring is coming! (Officially it’s here on the 21st!)

And the sprouts I’m starting…