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.