Vacation

Tomorrow, I will be going home to visit my parents for two weeks. During that time, we are going to go to San Francisco for a couple days. There are a couple of yarn stores I would like to see, but I'm not sure if I'll get the chance. I heard there's a store called ArtFibers in San Francisco that is rumored to have gorgeous yarn at very expensive prices. Not sure if I will go if I know I definitely won't buy anything. I'm also excited to finally go see a certain yarn store in my parents' city. They're holding a bottle of Soak for me to pick up. (I can't wait to introduce my parents to Soak and the joy of washing hand-knits.)

I'm going to bring some needles and patterns with me. Currently, I'm working on a Gretel (finally, the first one for me) and hopefully I can get it finished in time before I hit the cold streets of SF. I'm going to bring along the pattern for Ingenue from Custom Knits, but I'm not sure if I want to start a large project over vacation. I tend to do smaller projects when I'm traveling for portability. It also makes sense because I wouldn't have Internet and access to Ravelry. *Gasp*. Most likely, I'll make another Koolhaas and various dishcloths to show you when I come back!

FO: Gretel #3

Pattern: Gretel by Ysolda Teague

Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca in Camel Hair

Amount: 1 ball

Needles: US 5 and 7

Size: Regular
Mods: None

If this hat sounds familiar to you, it's because it's exactly the same as the Gretel I made for my boyfriend's mother. Right down to yarn and color of yarn. :-) My mom asked me to make a hat for one of my aunts that we will be visiting next week.

FO: Basket-weave Vest

Front

Side view

Back

Pattern: Easy Basket-weave Vest by Edie Eckman from Creative Knitting, September 2008
Yarn: Ella Rae Classic in color #33 (Cinnamon Brown)
Amount: a little over 4 balls?

Needles: US 8
Size: 44" chest
Mods: Had to fudge the basket-weave pattern after the armholes since I kept miscalculating. Also, I added 1 inch of 2 x 2 ribbing around the neck, armholes, and hem.

This vest is for my father that I finally finished in time before Christmas. Woo hoo! Originally, I had planned to make the Notting Hill vest but that was quickly frogged due to the difficult pattern. I'm a bit nervous because I'm not sure if this will fit him. I asked my boyfriend who is much taller and thinner than my father to test model and it looked good on him. I'm concerned because he is about a foot taller than my dad, but the length looked appropriate for him. Therefore, I'm not sure if it will be too long for my dad. I begged to take a picture of bf in it, but to no avail. He looked miserable trying it on. Sigh. Guess we'll have to wait until I can get pictures of my dad in the vest.

Sorry for the grainy pictures. I didn't have good enough lighting. If I can get better pictures later on, I'll update again!

FO: Koolhaas Hat

Pattern: Koolhaas Hat from Interweave Knits Gifts 2007 (I don't have that issue so I bought the pattern from the Interweave Pattern Store)
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca in Giada

Amount: 1 ball

Needles: US 6 and 8

Size: Man

Mods: None

This is the first Koolhaas I have made, and I was very relieved to discover that I was able to make it successfully. I only had to frog one row where I miscounted my cables, but afterwards it was smooth sailing. :-) This hat will go to my boyfriend's dad for Christmas. It looks pretty good on my boyfriend and fits him well, so I'm hoping his dad will have the same size head. :-P

I love the intricate detailing of this hat, and I can't wait to make additional ones in the future for my parents. The 1 x 1 cabling was a bit tedious, but it might have been because I literally spent an entire day from morning to night knitting most of the hat.

FO: Gretel #2

Pattern: Gretel by Ysolda Teague

Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca in Camel Hair

Amount: 1 ball
Needles: US 5 and 7
Size: Regular
Mods: None

This hat is a Christmas present for my boyfriend's mother. I thought it would be nice to make her a hat with alpaca content, especially since she drove us to an alpaca farm when I was visiting them in Washington in September. (Which reminds me, I still need to put up my Washington pictures! Sigh.) I love this pattern. It is the 2nd Gretel that I have made and I even managed to master tubular cast-on! Yay! I'm not sure how big her head is, but when I tried it on after finishing it, it came out too small on me. So I washed again and this time, I blocked it around a plate that was about 11" in diameter. Now it's a perfect fit (hopefully for her too)!

I love the smooshiness of the Ultra Alpaca, and the way it looks slightly hairy to give it a soft, muted look. This is definitely my most favorite yarn yet. :-)

FO: Opulent Raglan

My best friend, Maryann, came to visit me over Thanksgiving weekend and now I'm finally caught up on FO pics! Thanks so much, "Mackie"! :-) Readers, beware the flood of a FO parade...

Ever since I saw this sweater on Yarnhog, I knew I had to make one too. Technically, I finished this on Oct. 26 and have worn it at least a handful of times, but I finally got around to getting FO pics. This is my favorite FO ever, and the most wearable.

Pattern: Opulent Raglan by Wendy Bernard in Knitscene Fall 2008
Yarn: Ella Rae Classic Wool in colorway 11
Amount: ~ 4 balls
Needles: US 5 and 6
Size: 34"
Mods: I did an extra repeat of the cable pattern (~19 rows) before I started the waist shaping. It didn't seem right to me to start the waist shaping way up above my bosom. But I like it the way it is now. Also, I think I decreased 1 inch in length due to my fear of the yarn stretching too much which thankfully it did not.



Close-up of the front

Side
Back view
Trying to make the sleeves "pop"

FO: Rusted Root

This was also finished a while back.

Pattern: Rusted Root from Zephyr Style http://www.zephyrstyle.com/catalog/item.cfm/2367447/3289215
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Putty
Amount: 3 balls

Needles: US 6 29, and US 4 29" circulars

Size: XS
Mods: Lengthened by a couple inches

FrontSide
Back

I'm not sure I am completely loving it. Perhaps, it would have been better in a brighter color. This was using the extra yarn I had purchased for the crochet babydoll dress. If I was to make it again, I would go up to a size small as it is a bit too tight. The sizing threw me off because I was making this around the same time as Juliet, and even a XS on Juliet was looking big on me which does not happen ever! Also, there's a place in the lower back where I dropped a stitch and later picked up that annoys me because there is a tiny hole.

FO: Green Gable

Pattern: Green Gable from Zephyr Style
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Peridot
Amount: 3 balls
Needles: US 6 29" and US 4 29" circulars
Size: S
Mods: Added a few inches more of length and single crocheted around the neckline to minimize it from drooping. Sadly, the neckline still droops, but I heard this is a common problem among other Green Gables out there too.



Front


Side

I'm not sure what to say about it. I think it fits better than Rusted Root in terms of size, but I'm not exactly loving it. I'm a bit disappointed that none of the Zephyr patterns came out as I pictured them to be. But, these are all my first knit sweaters, so hopefully my FOs will come out better with experience. The sleeves aren't as pretty as they could be because I didn't know how to use DPNs back then, and I basically stretched them out on a 16" circular to work in the round. Yeah, not so good. The pattern recommends using 2 circulars, but I couldn't understand how to knit small circumferences w/ 2 circulars.

FO: Juliet

FO parade!

Pattern: Juliet from Zephyr Style
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Candy Apple
Amount: 5 balls
Needles: US 10.5
Size: XS
Mods: None really, except for making the longer version so that the garter stitch section ends right below the bust. I also used 4 buttons on one side, instead of 3 buttons on alternate sides.





Front

Back

I am very proud of Juliet because she is the first knitted sweater I have ever completed. And this is coming from the girl who hated knitting when she first learned it because it stressed her out too much. But I am a bit disappointed with how flared it came out. My friends tell me I'm crazy, but I don't like the flare because it makes me feel like I'm wearing a maternity top. So I'll probably only wear this once in a while with my 4 inch platforms to balance the really wide look.

Basket-weave back completed

I completed the back of the basket-weave vest last night. The vest was started last Wednesday, so hopefully if all goes well, it should take me another week to complete the whole project! Right after I started the armhole section, I was beginning to get a bit lost on the basketweave pattern. It just didn't look right. So I decided to stop following the pattern to a T, and instead fudged it to force it into a basket-weave pattern. It's not too noticable unless you stare at it closely and intently. Not too bad because I didn't exactly stray from the pattern, but my math might be a bit different.

I won an award!

I was really surprised to see that Suzanne of Yarnhog had nominated for the I Love Your Blog Award!

Whenever, I receive a comment I always get so excited to read them. It really makes my day to know that there are people out there reading my blog posts and sharing their tips/advice with me. Thanks so much for being awesome readers!

The rules for award acceptance are as follows:

1. The winner can put the logo on their website/blog.

2. Add a link to the person who gave you this award.

3. Nominate at least 5 other websites/blogs.

4. Provide links of the nominated websites/blogs.

5. Leave a message at each website owner that you've nominated.

So in no particular order, here are my nominations...

JasMom at Amateur Craft Mom - She always makes her FOs look wonderful on her. I love checking out her blog because she tends to make sweaters/tops that I am also considering at the same time! Also, she knows how to crochet too!

Sue at Good Yarns - Besides posting pictures of her knit and crochet projects, she also has lovely anecdotes about exploring interesting places around the Bay Area. It appears recently that she is also getting into sewing and quilting. I must say that I am extremely envious of her wonderful bag-making skills.

Sway Knits - I'm afraid I don't know her real name, but she also has an amazing blog filled with gorgeous cardigans, shawls, and berets. It's becoming quite apparent that I adore fellow bloggers who are also sweater knitters.

Philigry - Unfortunately, I never caught her name either. She is a mother who truly amazes me with her home decorating skills, recipes, knits, and sewing skills. Check out her post where she transforms a leather jacket into a beautiful handbag that seriously rivals the $200+ bags at Nordstroms!

Eilene of Ei Knit - I was blog-hopping one day when I inadvertently stumbled upon her blog. She has a wonderful backlog of gorgeous sweaters and cardigans. I adore how her every FO looks amazingly finished, and to top it off, she looks like she could be a professional model too.

In other news, I've been working on the basket-weave vest. I am up to the armhole section and hopefully will finish the back with another 5 inches or so to go.

This weekend didn't go very well because I found out that the apartment mate I was trying to contact for the past 2 weeks had evidently given notice to the manager that she was moving out. She only comes home once a month to pay the rent, and the rest of the time she is at her boyfriend's place. I can't believe she couldn't spare 2 minutes to respond to my multiple phone calls/emails to let me know. It really angered and saddened me to know that these 2 people could be so selfish and so ready to screw an innocent person over. And the other roommate is moving out too so I'm suddenly stuck with the rent for the entire apartment. When I had moved in 4 months ago, they had confidently assured me that they were going to be there for another year or so, but I guess they just intended to screw me over. They're both pretty messy people so I'm praying that the other roommate will come back to clear out her stuff by the end of the month. I've heard horror stories from a friend whose roommate suddenly moved out and never returned to claim any of her furniture, clothes, or belongings. Sadly, my friend had to clean out all her stuff right before finals week.

Sigh. So I am really grateful for my knitting and crocheting. It helps keep me from panicking about finding a new roommate, or possibly having to move again. :-(

Casting on for Basket-weave Vest...

I finished Opulent Raglan a couple nights ago. She is already dried and ready to wear for FO pictures, but that will depend on when I see my photographer (read: bf) next.

Notting Hill was depressing me because I felt like I was making too many mistakes. So I frogged it and casted on for Basket-weave Vest from the September issue of Creative Knitting instead.

Hopefully, this pattern will work for me. *crosses fingers*

FO: Munny

Here's a FO that I finished over the weekend. Due to his ears, his name is Munny since he is half mouse, and half bunny!

From the front

From the back

With his new girlfriend, Garlands

Pattern: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Jessica Spencer
Hook: Size E
Yarn: Lily Sugar 'N Cream - Cream and Light Blue, also some pink felt for his inner ears
Amount: Less than a ball each of both colors
Mods:
1. Since I couldn't find any brown Sugar 'n Cream in stores, I made him with my cream-colored stash yarn.
2. Placement of ears (sewn on for a more floppy shape, vs. pointy bat-like ears)
3. 1 row shorter and narrower on the legs as my gauge might have been off
4. Thicker overall straps


I can't sew very well, (and perhaps lack the patience), therefore my wonderful bf did all of the sewing. I'm truly amazed he could do that considering he's never seamed amigurumi before. :-)


I love Munny so much! (Hehe.) Now that I've made my first amigurumi, I'm really interested in trying other patterns. My boyfriend recently bought a new video game called Little Big Planet that stars a little hand-knit looking character. One of the games' creators' mother can knit, and look what she made for him below!

Hello. I'm Sackboy!

Sackboy celebrating Chinese New Year

Don't you want one? Unfortunately, there's no pattern for him on Ravelry, or if there is, it's not public. I'm going to try to see if I can recreate him, wish me luck! The hardest part appears to be his mouth. I can't tell in the picture if it was simply embroidered on, or if it is actually indented and open.

Opulent progress report

So I took a 2 week break from this project, but I'm almost done! Half a sleeve, and the neckline to go!

FO: Gretel

After admiring countless Gretels online, I have finally made my first one. And yes, there will be many more to come. The pattern is beautiful, clear, and very easy to understand. The only thing that stumped me was the tubular cast-on which took me a while to grasp. However, I didn't realize that Ysolda had a pictorial for tubular cast-on on her website, so I will try to use that next time. I ended up using a different tutorial that left me skeptical as to whether it really was a tubular cast-on, or plain 1 x 1 cabling. My Knitting Answer Book clearly explained the 1 x 1 rib tubular cast-on, but there were no specifics on how to convert for 2 x 2 rib.

Pattern: Gretel by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Patons Classic Merino Wool in Cognac Heather

Amount: 1 ball

Needles: US 5 and 7

Size: Regular
Mods: My cast-on was too loose so I added a round of crochet slip stitches to tighten the brim up

This particular hat will go towards my mom. I plan to make more for her, and as Christmas gifts for other people. It's funny I find it so satisfying to make hats for others, but I don't own even one for myself. Wait, scratch that. I do have one hat - the last lacy beret I made that came out a bit too big. It's beautiful but it doesn't fit me well enough for me to love it.

Footnote: And those are my new glasses! First glasses that I've had since I was 8 that did not have round and/or pink frames! :-)

Look at those huge balls!

Anthropologie sends me their periodic emails from time to time, and I literally squealed when I saw this picture.

I love those huge balls of yarn! And the hand-knit looking beret, and hand-knit looking sweater! Sigh. I am a yarn addict, and a sucker for anything that looks hand-knit.

I could use a yarn stool too.

I wonder how much that ball in the background weighs.

How do I make a slipknot?

I went window shopping at Anthropologie last night, and every time I go in, I secretly yearn for this mouse door stopper. This picture is borrowed from somebody else's blog, but the color in real life is actually more bronze and darker. Doesn't he look so cute? *No, I can stop...you...heavy...door!* If you know me, I really love mouse figures and anything to do with cute mice, especially because I was born in the Year of the Rat.

On the knitting front, I finished the waist shaping for Opulent Raglan last night and realized one side looked wonderfully shaped whereas the other side was not. I knew I should have gone with my instinct of decreasing evenly among both sides, instead of taking the pattern literally at its word. So it's back to frogging tonight. Honestly though, I don't feel too sad about frogging with this pattern. Can it be I enjoy it so much that I actually want to prolong the knitting progress? *Gasp* Besides, I need to learn to get out of my lazy habit of not frogging and then ending up with a product that ends up in the back of my closet unworn.

The Good News and the Bad News

When posed with "Would you like to hear the good news or the bad news?", most people choose the bad news first. (If you want to see the good news first, then scroll down to the second paragraph.)


Bad news:

Notting Hill is not going the way I want it to, and I am seriously considering frogging it. I was loving the pattern until I reached Row 30 where I was supposed to bind off for armholes, but Row 30 was only 5 inches above the ribbing where the pattern said it should be 12.5 inches above the ribbing. Was I way off in gauge? I don't think my gauge was that far off since I made a swatch, washed in Soak, and laid flat to dry before I started the project. So I went for another 90 rows before I reached 12.5 inches. Afterwards, I got a bit lost on the underarm shaping due to the "when there aren't enough stitches to complete a cable, work in rev st." This happened in Talia too, but somehow the scroll lace pattern worked itself out. Here, my cables are looking pretty wacko since there are 2 different types of cables. Sigh. I don't want to give my dad a vest that isn't at least mostly perfect. But I've spent so much time knitting on it last week. I know it was only a week's worth of work, but somehow I really wanted to power through and finish it. Now I'm considering ripping and finding another vest pattern, perhaps "Peter Easy" by Berroco or "Skye Tweed Vest" (another Kathy Zimmerman pattern). Notting Hill was designed by Kathy Zimmerman. Has anybody knitted her patterns before? In general, are they clear and straightforward? Maybe I'm spoiled because I tend to knit patterns that are very clear and concise.




See the cables at the very top that are going wacko? :-(



Good News:

Out of frustration from Notting Hill and excitement over the Fall Knitscene, I casted on for Opulent Raglan last Sunday. I made at least three different swatches using different needles before I could finally reach stitch gauge. Row gauge is a different story, but I don't mind it being smaller as it would mean my neckline would get raised (yay, for no cleavage showing at work!). It's only been 2 days and it's growing really quickly! My only minor concern so far has been the waist shaping. I reached the waist shaping part last night, but my work so far had only reached the top of my bust! Maybe I'm short-waisted (one of these days, I need to go measure and find out), but it's quite alarming to shape for my waist when I haven't even gotten past my boobs yet. After consulting Ravelry (oh, how I love that site), I decided to add in another 19 rows before I start the waist. Hopefully, by then, it'll fall right below the bust.

I'm using Ella Rae Classic in Colorway #11 which looked like a pastel peach online, but it really is more of a dusty rose. It doesn't bother me at all since the yarn was deeply discounted, and I still love the pink color. The other wonderful news is that I bought a couple more balls of yarn from yarnandfiber.com from their Spooktacular Sale they're having this month, and they all arrived yesterday. But wait for it! The best news is that I had ordered 2 extra balls of Berroco Ultra Alpaca in Woodland Mix to add to the 2 balls I bought in April from the WEBS anniversary sale. I figured it would make a good 2nd Opulent Raglan should I be successful with the first. Or perhaps the Backwards Cabled Pullover in Custom Knits. Here's the best part...THE LOT NUMBERS WERE THE SAME!!! Wow, talk about luck! I really wasn't expecting the lot numbers to match considering the yarns were bought 6 months apart from 2 different companies, and I hadn't even put in a request for it. Yup, that really made my day. :-)

FO: Toni Ribbed Hats

Pattern: Toni Ribbed Hat
Yarn: Patons Classic Merino Wool
Amount: I used leftover yarn, but if I had to guess, probably around 220 yards/hat
Needles: US 8 24" circulars and US 8 DPNs and/or US 8 12" circulars
Size: The blue one is for a man 24", and the black one is for a woman 20"-22"
Mods: Instead of knitting flat and seaming, I joined for knitting in the round and switched to DPNs for the blue hat, but I got lazy and switched to my 12" circulars for the black hat





I really loved this pattern! It was so simple, easy, and quick! It literally only took me 2 nights to finish one hat. The blue one will be for my dad, and the black one for my mom. It's rather funny that the yarn was from the yarn leftover from the crochet newsboy hats I made for them. And I still have yarn leftover! It's the never-ending balls of yarn! I'll probably make one more in the future that will have black and blue stripes.

A Meme...

Well, I've been tagged by juicyknits for the "six random things about me" meme.

Here are the rules:

Link to the person who tagged you.
Post the rules on your blog.
Write six random things about yourself.
Tag six people at the end of your post.
Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
Let the tagger know your entry is up.

1. I have keratosis pilaris which is really a fancy way of saying I was born with rough, dry skin with small red bumps. Luckily, they only occur on the tops of my arms and on my legs. Some people even have it on their face and chest. Elsewhere I have pretty normal skin. When I was a kid, I was pretty depressed with this condition, and I would spend hours online researching what lotions could cure it. Unfortunately, there is no cure but the good news is that by the time I reach age 30, the bumps might diminish in appearance. Also, they're not as prominent in the summer.

2. My left eye is weaker than my right eye. I also have astigmatism. (Just learned this 2 weeks ago from my optometrist.)

3. In all the jobs I've ever had, I've always been the youngest person among my co-workers.

4. My favorite actress of all time is Audrey Hepburn. Favorite movies are My Fair Lady, and Breakfast at Tiffany's. (I think she even knits in a scene in Breakfast at Tiffany's!)

5. The first thing I had ever crocheted was a multi-colored tea cozy. 16 years later, my mother still uses it everyday. :-)

6. My oldest UFO is probably around 15 years old. It was a pair of pink, knitted slippers. One was completely finished with a furry pom-pom. The other was technically finished, but somehow I couldn't muster up the will to make a second pom-pom.

I'm not going to tag people, but feel free to tag yourself if you like.

Casting on for Notting Hill Vest...

Last year, when I started seriously taking up crochet again and whipping out warm hats for my parents, my dad asked for a vest. I told him I wasn't advanced enough at that time to attempt a vest, but now a year later, I think I'm up to the task.

Which is why I casted on for Notting Hill from the Fall 2007 Knitscene two nights ago. This pattern was available a while back on the Knitting Pattern Central website, but it has been pulled off the web since. I was making pretty good progress on it last night when I noticed the right side was looking a bit wrong. After staring at it for a while, it dawned on me that I had forgotten to cross a couple of the cables! Grr. What a dumb mistake! I skipped breakfast this morning before work so that I could carefully frog, and hopefully start going again tonight. And I rarely ever skip breakfast. (Can you tell that I am totally obsessed with knitting? Sigh. This is a disease, I tell you!)

If all goes well, it should look somewhat like this...

Here is what I have so far...

I am a bit scared because after reaching Row 30, the pattern states that it should be 12.5" above the rib. I was coming out at 8 inches, and that was including the rib!!! On Ravelry, I've heard that this pattern has mistakes and I'm not sure if this is a mistake or if my gauge is totally off. I made a swatch and got gauge, but I'm always paranoid that my real gauge will change once I start knitting the actual project. I think I'll remedy it by adding another repeat of 10 rows to the right length, and then start binding off for the armholes. Also, I don't know my dad's exact bust size so I'm winging it and hoping he can fit into a 44" (size Large). This is also my first project that is knit into pieces and then sewn together. Wish me luck!

I learned DPNs!

Being inspired by the number of beautiful Gretels I see on Ravelry and others' blogs, I took it upon myself to learn DPNs. After all, I can't cheat forever with the 12" circulars I recently purchased in Washington. (Which reminds me, I need to get around to posting about my vacation...) Last Friday, I sat down, looked through the Knitty tutorial of using DPNs, and taught myself to use them in 10 minutes. Yay! The prospect of finally getting over the fear of DPNs have opened me to an entire world of knitting that I had previously believed would always be closed to me. Hats, sleeves, mittens, fingerless gloves, toys, socks, oooh the possibilities! I think I will start with hats first.

To memorialize this momentous occasion (well, at least for me), here' s a picture of the very first thing I made with my new DPNs. It's really just a tube that I seamed up at the bottom, but I will be calling it my Bag Hook Cozy.

Hello there. I am warm and cozy.

Crochet and alpaca dreams...

My fall issue of Interweave Crochet finally arrived yesterday. There are several gorgeous sweater patterns that I would love to try. The one that caught my eye immediately is the Northern Dreams Pullover. It looks just like a crochet version of a Fair Isle sweater! Sigh. If I was to make the smallest size, it would still require 13 balls of baby alpaca. Looking online, that would bring the total to $91 before shipping! Even looking at cheaper substitutes would still total $70 if I want a sweater that is at least partially alpaca. Sigh. Maybe this is why I don't crochet sweaters and have turned to becoming an obsessive sweater knitter. Talia was amazingly budget-friendly. She only took less than 3 skeins of Cascade 220 that I bought on sale for $4.79, so even after shipping and buttons (that I got in Vancouver), the vest only came out to $20 total!

Northern Dreams Pullover

The other cardigan that stood out to me is the Stepping Stones Cardigan. It would require 12 balls for my size which would total $84 before shipping! Yikes! But so classy and beautiful.

Stepping Stones Cardigan

Besides my lovely magazine, my Custom Knits book arrived yesterday too! I was so happy with both book and magazine arriving on the same day. Custom Knits is the new book by Wendy Bernard whose blog Knit and Tonic I read religiously. She also designed the Opulent Raglan in the Fall 2008 Knitscene which is absolutely gorgeous. In fact, every time I go to B & N, I drool over the latest issue. I am majorly tempted to buy the issue just for that pattern, but I haven't made up my mind yet.

I have stopped work on Shalom Cardigan for a couple weeks. Frankly, she will probably get frogged as I am not completely loving working on it. To me, the pattern doesn't excite me and I really shouldn't work on projects that I don't LOVE. Lately, I've been very undecided on which major project to start next. A pattern from Custom Knits (there are too many beautiful ones to choose from!), Back to School Vest from Fitted Knits, Bluebell Pullover, Central Park Hoodie, Lush and Lacy (am I really advanced enough to make this?), arrghh...too many choices! I have decided to start the Easy Basketweave Vest from the September issue of Creative Knitting for my dad once the yarn arrives. They have the pattern for free on http://www.knittingpatterncentral.com/. I'm also considering the Notting Hill Vest by Kathy Zimmerman, but it looks harder especially with all the cables. I don't know what my dad's bust size is, so I'm going to wing it and hope he's around a 50". He usually wears size Large in shirts and sweaters.

At the moment, I am currently using up my leftover yarn from a Newsboy Hat I crocheted a couple months ago for my dad. The pattern I'm using will look like this when I'm finished. (Of course, it won't be pink. Hehe.) I had to frog 6.5 inches of ribbing (which was nearly 60% of the hat) when I realized this hat should be worked in the round, but the pattern didn't specify. Technically, it can be knitted flat, but then you'll have to sew up the side seam, and it might show, especially with the turned-up brim. Plus, I love knitting in the round as my seaming/finishing skills are still very rudimentary. It looks like a very simple and generic pattern, even like a hat you could buy at Target or the mall.

Also, I bought a beautiful ball of Patons Classic Merino Wool at Michaels last weekend. I don't know if it's a new color, but I have never seen it in other stores. It's called Cognac Heather and I think it would make a wonderful Gretel for my mom (once I learn tubular cast-on!) My parents and I are probably going to San Francisco over my Christmas break, and I really want to get started on providing warm and stylish accessories. I don't know why, but fall really makes me want to jumpstart all these projects. Sadly, it's still in the 80s here in San Diego. I admit I wore Talia to work last week and turned up the A/C so that I could "enjoy" wearing her. Does this make me a bad person? So many projects to work on, and so little time!

FO: Lacy Beret

Quick post:

I finished this tonight, and haven't blocked it yet. I'm so excited to have made my first knitted hat!
I tried this because it’s an unconventional pattern that didn’t require knitting in the round or dpns. I didn’t check my gauge, but knitted looser so it came out slouchier.

Pattern: http://knittingdivine.blogspot.com/2007/07/lacy-beret-free-pattern.html

Yarn: Patons Classic Merino Wool in Bright Red

Amount: 1 ball
Needles: Size 4 24" circular (knitted flat)

Mods: Omitted Rows 63-64 so the band didn’t turn out too tight at all. In fact, it could stand to be a bit tighter. Instead of seaming side, I single crocheted with wrong sides together.