Holiday Spirit

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Sunday afternoon my roommates and I hosted a holiday party, during which we encouraged our guests to decorate sugar cookies and to make ornaments for our tree with fantastic results! 



Top-secret X-mas Project!

These are some yarns that I may or may not be using for a top secret x-mas present/original design. Stay tuned for more info (after x-mas!)




Yarn Madness!


It was 50% off...with free shipping!

10 skeins Cherry Tree Hill Soft Twist Potluck (Supersock Potluck).

Work Shawl

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For the past couple of weeks I've been working tirelessly on a rather large lace shawl for myself. The pattern is very simple, a 4 row repeat of garter stitch with yarn overs and chevrons, but I just love it! Also, it has pockets!

I'm on my 4th skein of 6.

Silk Ruffle Scarf

This week's project: a one skein silk scarf. 

The Great Mitts Project

Wintertime at Thompson Chemists brings joy to some, and frozen fingers to most. The pharmacist loves the fresh cool air, and consequently, the door is open almost year round. This year I decided to undertake a massive mitt-making project to equip our entire staff with hand-knit fingerless gloves.

Now, we have a staff of about 16 people. I'm not making 16 pairs of gloves. My goal is to have four pairs for Thompson Chemists and two pairs for Thompson Alchemists (unevenly divided based on the number of employees normally scheduled at each location at any given time). So far I have two pairs for ThomChem and one pair for ThomAlchem.

The Grey Mitts


Made for (i.e. inspired by, she still has to share!) and modeled by the lovely Jazmin Cruz. 

An ever expanding collection...

So it's been a while, wow, a really long time, since I shared any of my stash. I've been very productive this fall, but I have also watched my stash expand at an exponential rate. Part of the reason is I now belong to  Three Irish Girls Stash Menagerie, which is basically a yarn of the month club. The rest is almost all due to spur of the moment yarn love...

Baltimore Yarns


When I was in B-more a while back, I stopped in at A Good Yarn and walked out with a shameful amount of yarn: seven skeins of Harrisville Designs New England Shetland and three skeins of the Highland. I love how squishy and wooly these yarns are, but so far I have no real plans for them.



Seaport Yarns

My eye doctor is located directly across the street from Seaport Yarns in lower Manhattan. After each appointment, and Ive had many as of late, I stop in for a visit. Until recently I had been very very good. I bought the yarn for my Fox costume there but had resisted buying anything else, though I was planning on buying some Joseph Galler Alpaca with my birthday money. 

But then, when I went in for my Alpaca on Monday, yarn love struck... 




I bought 6 skeins of Malabrigo Rios, four in the Primavera colorway and two in Zarzamora. I'm planning on making a HUGE beautiful shawl, with the Primavera as the main and the lovely purple Zarzamora as the border. 

Oh, and here is the yarn I went in for. Its the same yarn I used for Deidre's Blizzard Scarf and Ryan's Baby Sweater. Again, I think I want it to be a big warm shawl. Maybe something with cables. 



Three Irish Girls Stash Menagerie


July: A silk alpaca blend. This yarn has already been used to make one small item. It has not been posted because I plan on gifting it.




August: Wexford Silk. I am loving working with this yarn. Its on my needles right now! Images coming soon!





September: A lovely semi-solid blue on a superwash Merino.




October: Minimally processed Merino in a very festive colorway!





Other Random Additions




The above two were purchased at Knit-A-Way in Brooklyn. And the one below was a spur of the moment purchase at The Bay Window in Irvington, VA where I spent a lovely afternoon in the company of other knitters. 



This last one was a gift from the lovely Amy Madden. Its a gorgeous hand dyed cotton. I spent a solid hour untangling this skein (I have two, the other was fine) and just having it in my hands was...almost erotic. Ahh yarn love...





Imafoxnotacat! Halloween 2010

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Yes, Yes, I knit those ears...



Yup, and the tail.



Knit more or less on the fly with Gedifra's "Techno Hair Oro" (really guys?) and a smidge of Classic Elite's La Gran Mohair. I designed and knit this project on my Quaker meeting's yearly retreat last weekend. :) 

The ears are knit flat and then attached to a headband. They have wire holding them up in the proper shape. The tail was knit in the round from the top down. I stuffed it with a bit of pillow stuffing to  give it some body, but the yarn itself was so dense that I didnt use much. Just a wee bit to make the tail nice and round on the end. 


A fox in the city!


IM-A-FOX-NOT-A-CAT!

Happy Halloween!



Raggedy Raglan

A few months back I dropped into Purl Soho to get some needles and as usual I walked about for a few minutes squeezing things and smelling things and generally pawing at their yarns. And even though I was supposed to be on a yarn diet, I ended up falling so head over heels (love at first squeeze) with Imperial Stock Ranch's Tracie yarn that I had to come back the next day and buy it!

What's so lovely about this yarn, you ask? First, its minimally processed so it smells like lanolin. Its oh so very squishy (this is my new favorite characteristic in yarn) with lots and lots of bloom. It claims to be a fingering weight, but with all the squish and fuzz its more like a light DK I guess...I'm using size 5s. Its just wooly wooly goodness! Encapsulated. Or, skeined. Lol.

So this wooly wooly goodness is slowly transforming itself into my first ever custom raglan sweater. I'm loosely basing it on Elizabeth Zimmerman's percentage system, but because I want it to be very fitted I'm just sort of starting there and making other adjustments on the fly.

So far so good, I'm working on the sleeves at the moment. Here are some pics:



The sleeve I made on the addi turbo needles is a tiny bit smaller than the one on the bamboo needles so I have had to adjust my tension a little. I don't think it will be much of a problem though. 

Beautiful

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Got this pic in my email tonight from my best friend. Welcome to the world little one! I'm smitten already! 




Pssst! I made that hat! 





Daffodil Cloche Hat!

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Since the last hat was a little too big, I went down a needle size for this one. Also, I made the eyelet band but decided not to put anything through it for now. 







Watermelon under the Brooklyn Bridge!

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Some new pics of me in the Watermelon dress!






Its totally comfy, had a great drape and isn't too heavy/warm at all! Still having a bit of trouble with the top and hem curling, but I think a little pressing would fix that. Haven't done it yet because when I pulled out my rarely used iron it was rusted! :(

Two hats in two weeks

I've been a busy knitter lately! About to cast on for hat number three and a squishy raglan sweater. I think its safe to say I'm ready for fall!

Hat #1: 

Ribbed sailor's type hat (Käänteinen - Reversible Rib Cap by Pirita Hiltunen with mods by KnittingSM) in Berroco Ultra Alpaca, Durfee that I purchased in Denver last X-mas. Made for Josh.





Hat #2:

Bel Cloche by Carina Spencer in Three Irish Girls Springvale Super Merino, Cameron and Cian. Really liked working with this yarn and the hat knit up super fast! Its slightly too big though, it comes down low over my neck. The i-cord helps make it fit better but on my next one I think I'll either go down a needle size or take out one repeat. 






I was so excited to post that I took these photos in my PJs (yup thats my super sexy Coney Island Cyclones sleep tee..) and before I had even sewn in the ends!

End of Summer Harvest

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Watermelon!







Yup, my "Seedless Watermelon Smocked Top Dress" is finally complete! This is officially the biggest thing I've ever knit, and took the most skill. The smocking pattern wasn't so bad once I got it figured out, but this garment took more finishing (and consequently patience) than anything else I've made. There was a fair amount of sewing involved, as well as endless sewing-in of ends, endless stockinette for the skirt and it even has elastic woven into the top and bottom of the bodice to make it fit better (otherwise it sags, its heavy).  What can I say except that I'm delighted with the way it turned out and can't wait to wear it!