Thursday, February 21, 2008

OK, so I've been a bit busy with work, so I haven't posted lately. But, I will report on progress:


HP scarf - rocking along!! It's starting to get to a healthy length, although I still have WAY farther to go. What's driving me nuts is that my yarn is problematic. I was very careful to buy balls from the same dye lot, but the texture of the yarn itself varies. I have one ball that was way bulkier than the rest! So, the width of the scarf varies a bit, hopefully blocking will help this!! As for the stripe weirdness (see last post), my friend Adele pointed out that I'm knitting in the round and because of the 'spiral' knit that's why the stripes don't line up quite perfectly. This makes total sense and was my thought as well, but for some stripes it's worse than for others?? Maybe my technique is just not very consistent?? I don't know, not worrying too much about it.

berry stitch knitting bag - about 75% complete! I have one side done, both handles done and the last side about half-way done! YIPPEE!!

So, I've thought about my upcoming projects once the bag is done. I have a few hats I need to make for some friends, but then it will be on to the Phiaro Scarf!! I can't wait to try this one, I LOVE how it looks. I bought this yarn to use for it, it's a silk/rayon blend:

YAY, can't wait to knit with this yarn!!

I know I won't make much progress this weekend because I'll be out of town, but there is always next week!!
In the meantime, I just got the CD of my wedding pictures! Enjoy a few of my favs & have a great weekend!!

Sunday, February 10, 2008

BOO for imminent Monday!

Man, this weekend has flown by and I don't want Monday to be here. So, I'll remain in denial until my alarm goes off in the morning, hehe.


So, I had a big weekend!! First, here's the update on the HP scarf. It's a little bit longer and has another set of stripes:


But, what the heck is this??!

For whatever reason my stripes are not lining up quite right. It looks like the rows above and below are lining up right, so I'm probably just doing something ignorant. If anyone knows what said ignorant thing is, please let me know!! Anyways, I'm plowing forward on it because this is where the join is and the tube scarf will fold so I don't think it will be super noticable. Hopefully I'll figure it out before I get to the next set of stripes.

Second, I started another porject, SHAME SHAME I know but I couldn't help it. It's the knitting needle knitting bag by Pam Allen (http://www.knittingdaily.com/freepatterns/bags/Knitting_Needle_Bag_252-1.html?ET=knittingdaily_blog:e812:63084a:&st=email). I've never done the berry stitch, so that was interesting to try and wasn't too bad once I got the hang of it. Here's where I'm at:



This will be the back side and as you can see I'm working on the first strap (wanted to get the full effect!). Also, instead of knitting needles at the top I just got wooden dowels in the same diameter. I probably won't get to really work on this anymore until next weekend, so it will take me a few more weeks to finish it.
And lastly, I finally got my Ravelry invite. So I'm heading there to play around a little before signing off!! Happy knitting everyone!

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Almost the weekend, WooHoo!

Boy, this week is flying by!! I've been working on my Gryffindor scarf the last few nights. (Pattern from http://knit.atypically.net/scarves/azkaban/pattern.shtml) I actually started this a week or so ago, but got about 10 inches in and ended up frogging it. My gauge was off ::hangs head in momentary shame:: My 9 inch wide scarf was coming out at 12 inches wide, YIKES! So first I calculated how much more yarn it would take to finish the gigantor-scarf, then I promptly and happily tore it up, balled the yarn, and restarted. I recalculated the stitch number based on my actual gauge and I've managed to fix it, ah-ha-ha!! Now my scarf is right at 9 inches! and I am past the first set of stripes. Here is what it looks like at this very moment:


Also, here's a few pics of my knitting 'toolbox.' I'm so proud of this bag because I got it for a steal and I LOVE a bargain!! It's too large to carry around everyday, but it's GREAT at being a portable workstation in the house.

Outside View: You can tell the bag is in use by the adjacent ivory satin slipper, leftover from my wedding reception, that goes oh so beautifully with the plaid flannels I'm sporting at the moment. Obviously, my husband married me for my snazzy style :)


Inside:


YAY for organization ::wipes proud happy tear::

Now, time for my evening coffee dearies! And my needles are calling!!

Friday, February 1, 2008

The hat pic!




Super quick post just to show off the pic I promised of my hat!
This was this evening just before I dashed off to the grocery!!