FO: Ingenue

It just occurred to me today that I forgot to blog about my finished Ingenue! And Ingenue was finished 2 months ago. *hangs head in shame* I have posted them to Ravelry, but forgot to update here too. So here you go...

* Front

* Back

* Artistic sleeve


* Collar


* Trying to look happy wearing a mostly wool sweater in 80+ degree weather

Audrey Hepburn is my favorite actress of all time. In fact, I have a poster of her posing as Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany's on my wall. So when I saw this pattern and it made me think of that scene in the movie where she's knitting and wearing a similar, turtle-neck sweater, I knew I had to make it.

Pattern: Ingenue from Custom Knits by Wendy Bernard

Yarn: Rowan Soft Lux in Amethyst

Amount: 7 balls

Needles: US

Mods:

Added extra 10 rounds before shaping waist,
Did extra 8 rounds before increases,
Did extra pair of decreases/increases,
Did extra 3 rounds before beginning Ridge Stitch,
For sleeves, I worked the Ridge Stitch another repeat longer since I wanted to maximize my yarn. In the end, I had only a little bit of yarn left!
Instead of sewing down the collar, I was lazy and crocheted it down. It looks much better, is invisible, and provides a very strong seam. :-)

FO: Backward Cabled Pullover - The Sequel

I loved my first Backward Cabled Pullover that I knew I had to make a second one. While the first one was made from Karabella Margrite (a wool/cashmere blend), I decided to make this one appropriate for spring and summer. I'm a bit sad that the yarn I used for this version, Ella Rae Silkience, is now discontinued! It feels so nice against the skin and I love the shiny gleam that the silk lends to the yarn. Even sadder that I can't even find this colorway online anymore either. On the bright side, I did pick up a bag of Silkience in a lilac shade from Little Knits a while back, so there's enough for me to make a cardigan with that one day.

* Front

* Sleeve

* Collar

Pattern: Backward Cabled Pullover from Custom Knits by Wendy Bernard
Yarn: Ella Rae Silkience, Colorway: 12
Amount: 6 balls (I had literally less than a yard left from the last ball.)
Needles: US 6 and 7
Mods: None that I can recall except for adding an inch or two in length, and of course placing the scoop in the front

FO: Cupcake

* Final cupcake for Christine

* Shocked and Pawed: I can haz cupcake?


* No, really?

* Omgomgomgomgomgomgomgomg

I haven't crocheted in a while since the Weighted Companion Cube (which technically is still missing her corners.) But I whipped up this cupcake last week for my friend Christine's birthday. She loves cupcakes and I thought this would be the perfect, fat-free gift for her. There are two cupcakes pictured. The first one came out a bit lopsided which bothered me so I made a second, better one which ended up going to her. The first one was filled only with polyfil, while the second one was filled with brown rice in a plastic bag for the bottom and polyfil for the top. I also added a round cardboard bottom for both of them.

Pattern: Cupcake by Ana Paula Rimoli

Yarn: Lily's Sugar 'N Creme - Cream for cupcake bottom, Lion Brand Vanna's Choice - Pink for icing, Lion Brand Micro Spun - Cherry for the cherry :-P

Amount: Minimal. I didn't measure.

Hook: G
Mods: None for the original cupcake. For the 2nd cupcake, I decreased one bottom row and increase one icing row.

In other news, I finished my 2nd Backward Cabled Pullover, but I still need to take FO pics. They'll be up soon, I promise! Also, I'm still working on the Leaf Yoke Top which I started the same day as the Backward Cabled Pullover. I finally buckled down and forced myself to not be scared of short rows the other night, and it's finally coming along. I can now do short rows! :-)

FO: Woodland Collar

Here's another late FO to blog about. Technically, I finished this in March but never got around to taking FO pics until earlier.




Pattern: Woodland Collar by Hanna Breetz
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk Aran in Black
Amount: 2.5 balls
Needles: US 9
Mods: None

It makes me a bit sad that I haven't actually worn it out yet. It's 78 degrees in San Diego today, so it's far past the season for neckwarmers. Maybe it'll be good for my trip to San Francisco next Christmas? Speaking of trips, I just came back from a 3 day visit to Las Vegas for the first time. But more on that in another post...:-)

Summer Knitting Goals

Wow, has it really already been a year since I entered Skeins Her Way's knitting blog contest? I remember last year my goals were to complete Juliet, Rusted Root, and Green Gable. They were all completed and I remember how proud I was of Juliet because she was my first knitted sweater ever. :-) Even though I rarely wear her since it flares out too much at the waist, I still enjoyed making her.

This year, I have quite a few summer knitting goals but I'm not sure if I'll be able to complete all of them by summer's end. I guess it won't hurt to hope?


Goals:

1. Complete 2nd Backward Cabled Pullover (I haven't blogged about it yet, but I'll take a progress pic soon.)
2. Complete Leaf Yoke Top (same as the first)
3. Start Printed Silk Cardigan (I have started swatching, but at the rate I'm going, I highly doubt this will be completed.)
4. Start a vest for Dad's birthday (or Christmas present if I can't finish in time...hehe)
5. Finish crocheting and sewing up Sackboy

FO: Koolhaas

Just in time for Father's Day!

Pattern: Koolhaas Hat from Interweave Knits store
Yarn: Ella Rae Classic in colorway 33 (cinnamon brown)
Amount: 1 ball
Needles: US 6 and 8
Mods: None

This is the matching hat to the basketweave vest I knitted for my dad last Christmas. I made the woman's (smaller) version since my dad and I have the same size head. :-P

FO: Talia

The following was what I had drafted in a post in October 2008. Yeah, it took me a while to post FO pics. *sheepish grin*

Technically, Talia has been finished quite a while ago. To be precise, I remember weaving in her ends on 9/14, the weekend when I was recovering from my wisdom teeth removal.

*Front* Back

Pattern: Talia from the Spring 2008 Knitty, also available as a downloadable PDF at the Sweaterbabe's website
Yarn: Cascade 220 in Colorway 2401 (Burgundy)
Amount: Almost 3 balls
Needles: US 9 24", and US 9 12" circulars for the shoulder straps
Mods: None really, if you don't count the fact that I had crocheted the shoulder straps (right sides together) instead of seaming.


All in all, I'm quite satisfied with Talia. The sad thing was the yarn stained my needles and even after using rubbing alcohol, my needles will forever have a pinkish tint. :-( My only concern was that it stretched out a lot after washing because I had probably knitted loose. If I make another one, I will shorten the length and knit at a tighter gauge. My boyfriend actually picked out the buttons for me in Vancouver when we went to a huge discount yarn/notions store called Dressew. They were on clearance, and all 4 buttons cost me $2.00 total! (Not sure what that comes out to in USD, but it can't be too different.) Aisles and aisles of inexpensive yet beautiful buttons, and I only came away with these ones and 12 black ones. Yes, I am still kicking myself.

Pocky

I love Pocky and after bf and I discovered a Japanese market in the Convoy area that we've never been to today, I loaded up on a lot of Pocky and promptly had a photo shoot.

Here is my family of 13 different Pocky's!


And here's one with the bastard child, Lucky Stick, at the bottom.


Now I'm almost afraid to eat them...