Oh mi gah!

I HAVE FINALLY FINISHED CLAPOTIS!!!

Pictures? Ha, you're funny, internet! Ok, ok, I promise (PROMISE) to have some up by this weekend. It is currently 16 degrees, not factoring in wind chill, and my mother categorically refuses to take my foto outside in the snow.

But yeah, the Clap is finally done. Thank the sweet, sweet baby Jesus. I ended up with 20 repeats of the straight section, as opposed to the 12 recommended. D:< And I still have the tiniest smidgen of Wollmeise left over, so we'll see what happens there.

I have the urge to finish that Artichoke Sock now. Hm.... we'll see. I'm somewhere in the short-row heel, I lost my place. Oh God, I don't want to have to rip it out.

UHLISSA, DARLING - I found my other issue of Interweave! And I have been promised a trip to Birds of a Feather in Avon, so I'm thinking some Mmmmmmmmalabrigo might be headed mmmmmmmmy way.

<3 Ambrrr, who kind of sucks at knitting things for other people

How I Spent My Winter Vacation

Ok, so the break's not over, but I can sum it up for you with one fabulous picture.














Me and my mom's dog spent approximately 95 hours in this exact position last week. I was cold, she likes to cuddle. It worked out. I did get some knitting done, despite any doubts you may have.

Finished all my Christmas knits! It's a miracle. Of course, there really weren't that many, but I did it.

Unfortunately there are no pictures of the two I finished while lying with the dog - my mom's ladder of life socks and my brother's balaclava.

But here's my step-sister's scarf. I'm in love with it. She leaves it hanging over the banister, and I almost take it every time I walk upstairs. It's just a simple one x one rib, in SWS. A beautiful purple color. There's also some sparkly stuff in the tassels. Pretty much, it's awesome. Ignore my chins. Yes, I know it's sideways. It's my good side.









In other exciting news, I finally got my own camera! There will be no more waiting for ambrrr to let me steal hers! I'm so excited. I've taken kind of a lot of pictures of myself, because there's not much else going on here, and it's 16 degrees outside, and there's no way in hell I'm going out there. I looked at a weather map a bit ago, and who would have thought colder in Tulsa than in parts of Washington, New York or Wyoming.

I also knit a quant. It's not very pretty, and I don't think I like it. I'll post about it more some other time.

Hope everyone's enjoying the new year and all that jazz.

<3 uhlissa
p.s. - look forward to some interesting activities for all you readers ( there are readers, right?)... And just for fun, here's me being a sassy knitwear model...








If today had a theme, it would be "new year. new camera. new contacts. new hair." As these are all the things I'm currently excited about.

Late/Early

Merry (Late) Christmas, and Happy (Early) New Year!

Also, Belated Happy Hannukah, Current Happy Kwanzaa, and what else happens this time of year? Ah yes, Whoops, Forgot Winter Solstice!

Knitting? Yeah, we've been doing that too. We promise!

<3 MUCH LOVE from the Black Heels n Purls Knitting Society

Longest Update in the History of the World, Part II

I LIVE!!

Dude, it has been a million billion years since our last update. I barely made it through studio again, and now I've got the pleasures of finals to wade through. Hurrahhhhhhh.

Anyways, KNITTING. LET'S DO IT.

1. Artichoke Socks



I'm still not done with these, I haven't actually worked on them since... uh... October? Awful.


2. Basketrib Headband



I slightly hate this thing. It's not to gauge, because I don't believe in swatching (the only swatches I'll own are the ones on my arm, etc). It looks interesting, though. I think a little blocking will do it some good.

3. Squishy the Jellyfish



I love Squishy the Jellyfish so so much. He's made mostly from random yarns in the stash, on the wrong size needles (as per usual), so he's tinier than the Jellyfish in progress, currently unnamed.



4. Moo's Bunny Hat



Here's a pattern I had to make up on my own, since I don't own the book the original pattern came from. It's for Marilyn's daughter, I think I was supposed to have finished this yonks ago. Haha, "yonks."

5. Wollmeise Clapotis



This photo doesn't do this yarn or pattern justice. And good LORD it is taking forever. I should have used size 6 or 7 needles, not 4s. BLERG.

6. Baby's First Noro



It's what I'm calling my first Noro scarf. I could probably knock it out in like a day, but I'm distracted as usual. D:

7. Dr. Who Fetching



Made for Sharon, who sent me Series One and Two of Doctor Who with the 10th Doctor. DAVID TENNANT! I love him. Ambrrr Tennant has a nice ring to it, yes?

8. Cottonease Funtime aka Bamboozled



This is a really fun and quick pattern. It's been through the washer quite a few times, and is still fantastic. Love it!! I actually took this photo with my iSight on my MacBook Pro.

9. Foliage



Here's Hott Steve rollin' and strollin' with my Foliage. I don't question what Hott Steve does.

Well, I think that's it. I could be completely wrong, we'll see.



WORD TO YO MOMMA.

PS - Squishy says be sure to check the blog these last few weeks of December, as we'll actually have time to update now!



(Project links and whatnot coming soon)

- Ambrrr

Longest Update in the History of the World, Part I

Hello blog-land.
I'm not quite sure if this will actually be the longest update in the history of the world, but I feel there are many, many wonderful things I must share with you.

Ambrrr and I have survived another semester of college. I'm not quite sure how we pulled it off, but I'm glad we did. Yesterday was our last day of classes, so today we finally found some time to have the photo shoot we've continually delayed due to school-related obligations.

We fought the ridiculously muggy 80 degrees that New Orleans has adopted this December and discovered a balcony of the business school that was more than willing to participate in our shoot.

I am proud to present "Things I've Knit This Semester But Haven't Really Posted About Yet Because School Owns My Soul":

1. Sock
I have only knit one of my Hedgerow Socks. I have utterly no motivation to knit the other one.
Here's ambrrr graciously modeling for me:

Details:
Pattern
Yarn: Katia Mississippi 3
Needles: US2

2. Rae's One-Row Scarf
I needled a mindless break from some more complicated knitting and tried out this one-row pattern. My friend Rae is allergic to wool, so I knit in acrylic. Vanna's Choice. Mostly because I'm beyond amused that Vanna has yarn. The color is pretty. I love the pattern. And anything with tassels has my heart.


3. Super Fetching
I made some fetching with a few added cable rows at the cuff and hands.

I also like to call them "fighting fetching"
I used Bernat Cashmere blend. I really like the yarn, but on the 6 DPNs, the fabric is so dense that they're almost too inflexible. They are effectively warm.

4. Ribbed Lace Bolero
This is one of my favorite things I've ever made. Unfortunately I've only worn it a few times, because it's either much too warm or much too cool. Silly New Orleans.

Yarn - Cascade 220
Pattern

5. Purl Bee Beret
This is my favorite thing ever. The color is nothing I would usually wear, but something about it is so wonderful.

pattern
Yarn - Knit Picks Palette
Needles - US2 Addis borrowed from Ambrrr. It was the first time I'd used Addis. I love them. I want them. It hurt me to return them.

6. Bamboozled!
I realized I really love headwear. I want nothing more than to have fantastic head accessories every day of my life.

Pattern
I clearly had to copy ambrrr and use Cotton Ease. I really liked working with it. Trying to come up with a new head band design for the left overs.

7. A Scarf Askew
I found this pattern on the Rav (my username is uhlissa. friend me!) and really liked the simplicity. I thought it was very sophisticated, without being complicated. In a fit of ambition I planned to knit all my Christmas presents. This is for my step-dad, who has the most intense blue eyes ever. I hope the color will be complimentary.

I used Wool Ease on US8s, and it went pretty quickly. I'm having some issues with getting it to lay flat. I left it pinned down while I was out of town for Thanksgiving, and sprayed it with some water, but the acrylic blend resisted the water. I'm going to have to try again with a greater quantity of H2O.

8. Diagonal Lace Scarf
This is for my step-mom. It seemed like a good opportunity to try out a yarn I would never really buy myself. It's Bernat Bamboo blend. It's one of the softest things I've ever felt. I'm not too wild about the color choices, but I felt like this pink is something my step-mom would enjoy. Knitting with the Bamboo blend was nice. I was apprehensive about the knobbly yarn texture for a lace pattern, but decided to go for it. I'm happy with the final result.


Gratuitous photos, because clearly I haven't posted nearly enough yet.

Scarves!

Ambrrr modeling my beret and my sock! She's pretty awesome.


That Is All!
<3 Uhlissa

Post #100!!

Hello World!!
Contrary to popular belief, I still exist.
And this is the 100th post to the Black Heels and Purls. I'm pretty excited about it.

In a much needed day of personal space and alone time, I finished off a few WIPs today. And by a few, I mean two.

The first is my purl bee beret. It's my new favorite thing ever. Ambrrr keeps trying to trick me into committing to wearing it every day until the end of the semester. I'm afraid to commit, but not convinced I won't wear it every day anyways. I made it out of Knit Pick's Palette in golden heather. I was afraid the color would be atrocious next to my face, but I'm so in love. I'm about to cast on for another one in some other Palette I have laying around. Purple and greenish-bluish stripes, I believe.

Secondly, I finally finished the second of my fetching gloves. I've had 1 1/2 done for over a month, and finally just sewed in my last loose ends. I'm not particularly thrilled by them, but then again they never had a chance being finished just hours after my new hat love.

I've finished a few other projects since my last post (September 27...whoops).

- ribbed lace bolero out of cascade 220 in a light gray( I love it so much I have cascade sitting around to make myself another and one as a christmas present for one of my roommates)
- one of my hedgerow socks in yellow katia mississippi 3
- a one row scarf in vanna's choice in a beautiful blue (for a friend who's allergic to wool)

Trying to get started on some christmas knitting, but I just want to make myself more berets.
Plans include worsted weight socks for my mom, maybe in the bernat cashmere natural blend, a ribbed lace bolero in turquoise cascade 220 for one of my roommates, a scarf for an aunt who has been asking for one for at least a year, and I'll have to come up with some more things, like knits for my two other roommates, and something for ambrrr, of course. For right now though, I'm about to dig through my stash and cast on for another beret....

Oh, and, ambrrr and I just ordered from knitpicks. I got a bit carried away. I decided I wanted to try my hand at some lace knitting so I've planned a few scarves and shawls. ambrrr's making jellyfish, I believe.

Ok, that's all.

Pictures coming as soon as I get around to taking them. Tomorrow? Ambrrr and I keep discussing photo shoots and then not having them. Whoops.

Happy 100th post,
<3 uhlissa

So, how's about that Halloween?

Yeah, that was crazy. Pictures this weekend? We'll see.

In other news, I'm running a sale at my Etsy shop Green Lotus - 50% off shipping and FREE SHIPPING for additional items for the entire month of November. Whoo!




Acting like a crazy used car salesman, Ambrrr