First Completed Project of 2007!

So, I didn't realize it until I tried to title this post, but this is my first completed project of 2007. That's pretty neat, right? Well, anyways, my friend Karissa's birthday is tomorrow and I wanted to make her something, so clearly mittens were the correct choice. I used the same pattern as I used to make my mom's christmas mittens. I changed a few things, such as the color of Mission Falls 1824 Wool (I really didn't consciously decide to use the same type of yarn, I just like it a lot), and made fewer, larger cables.Here are a few pictures. The color is unfortunately way off. In reality, these mittens are a gorgeous dark blue.

I'm pretty pleased with the outcome, and hopefully Karissa will like them too. I think this project only took me two evenings, which is pretty nice and only a little more than a skein of yarn. I hate making pairs of things though, becuase after the first one's done, I just want to be finished. I'm toying with the idea of making a pair of striped mittens from the wool left over from this pair and the pair I made my mom. I think the colors would be complimentary, and I really like working with the yarn. I know I need to get to work on my Gryffindor scarf, but I bought a lot of cheap yarn yesterday at Hobby Lobby, and I've decided I want to make calorimetry. I actually picked up several yarns that I think would work well. We'll see how I feel when I go upstairs and take stock of my stash and re-organize my yarn box.

<3uhlissa

New Years Knitting Resolutions

Happy 2007!
I came home from school with big goals for the knitting part of my life. I've recently realized that most of them won't be achieved. It's not for lack of motivation or desire, but simply time. I've been travelling a lot, and unfortunately cannot drive and knit simultaneously. And now that I'm home, I'm working full time, and there's already a list two pages long of other things I need to accomplish before I go back to scool in less than two weeks. So, I've decided to make knitting resolutions. Goals for the whole year, not confined to a few particular weeks. In no particular order, the goals are:

- knit a sweater (perhaps from this awesome book called Vintage Knits that I picked up on my recent trip to Dallas.)There are several gorgeous sweaters to choose from

- knit something with the lace skills I recently taught myself

- sell a piece of my knitted work. this will be accomplished if I finish the Harry Potter scarf I just started for my brother's friend

-finish at least 1/2 of the projects that are sitting in various stages of partial completion in my knitting box. this would entail just sitting down and finishing four or five simple scarves, I believe. Here are some of the scarves I've started that I located earlier:

- make something as cool as Ambrrr's doggie sweater, without making a sweater for any of my dogs, as they are all large and would look ridiculous in sweaters

- donate at least 3 scarves to Stitches of Hope, an organization that gives hand knit scarves to cancer patients in our university's hospital. Here's an article about the group

I think that's all for now. I think those are reasonable goals, which can absolutely be completed within the next 12 months without getting too much in the way of my academic career.

And now an update of the current knitting situation:
1. My Hufflepuff scarf has been put on hold about a 1/5 of the way done to focus on the Gryffindor scarf that I've been commissioned to produce.

2. The Gryffindor scarf was begun this weekend, after the most ridiculous quest ever to find the right shade of red yarn. It's only a few stripes long, but it's looking good. Like my Hufflepuff scarf, it's being knit flat in stockingnette, and will be sewn up and have tassles (my favorite part of scarf knitting!) added.

3. I have a good friend who's birthday is next week. I'm considering whipping up some mittens over the next couple of days. I think she'd enjoy them, as it's damn cold here (well, compared to New Orleans), and I recently taught her to knit.

4. I have had one wristwarmer sitting around completed for over a month now. Maybe I'll get around to making the other one. it's based off fetching, but I made various parts of it longer and added more repitions of cables.

<3uhlissa

Merry Christmas

hello! i just read ambrr's latest post, and apparently she has been reading my mind. I am dying to try Eunny's Endpaper mitts. I printed the pattern and drool over it frequently.
Anyways, I've returned for a holiday journey to Tennessee to see some family. I was fairly productive in the knitting department. I finished the mittens in time to stuff them in my mommy's stocking. Sadly there are no pictures of the completed pair because I finished them at the last possible moment (surprise, surprise).
I also started on my very own Harry Potter scarf. Let me tell you how big a dork I am. I wanted a Harry Potter scarf after I knit my brother one last year, but of course I've recognized the fact that I could never be in Gryffindor. I'm just not that cool. So, after careful consideration and a few too many online quizzes, I decided I'm most definitely a Hufflepuff (How lame is that?) so I started my Hufflepuff scarf. It's black and yellow, and I have hopes of acquiring a patch to put on it. I'm pretty excited.
Speaking of excited, I've been comissioned to knit a Harry Potter scarf for a friend of my brother. It's going to be very cool. Time consuming, but cool.

<3 uhlissa

Oh Winter Break

Hello! So, I'm back home in Tulsa for winter break. It's cold. Well, not really I guess, but colder than New Orleans for sure. Well, anyways, I've been here for a little over a day, so of course I've accomplished something knit related (while accomplishing nothing else that I needed to). I realized earlier today that I needed to make my mom something for Christmas, so I headed to a yarn store I had never been to before. It was nice, but I think nothing compares to my love for Garden District Needlework. I picked up some wool in a beautiful turquoise. It's Mission Falls' 1824 Wool. I really like it. I was knitting with some Mission Falls cotton a couple of weeks ago, and I really liked that too, so maybe the brand is just awesome or something. Well, anyways, I bought some beautiful wool and decided to make some beautiful mittens for my beautiful mommy. I have this really easy mitten pattern that someone gave me when I learned mittens this summer, and I added a simple cable down the middle. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I've used the mitten pattern/ cable combination pattern before on some really cute mittens I made for one of my suitemates. I wanted to do a more complicated cable, but I wasn't in the mood to try and fine one. Oh well. I love it the way it is. I'm not so excited about making the other one tomorrow. That tends to be my problem with making pairs of things - I never want to do the second one. I need to get it done tomorrow though, so I'm sure I will. I'm pretty excited about the knitting I'm anticipating doing over the rest of the break. I might have an offer to sell a scarf, so that might be the first thing I have to do, but it's not for sure yet. I'd also like to start something big and complicated to test out my skills. Either a sweater or the most adorable baby dress I've ever seen from the awesome "Knitting for Babies" magazine I purchased at the grocery store and have since been in love with. It's a tough choice. We'll see what happens. Be sure to look for frequent updates, as I have nothing more important than my knitting for the next four weeks. <3>