A Long Post with Bad Photography
That giant sucking sound you're hearing is actually me, trying to catch my breath after J's birthday and the holiday. My sister Lisa left this morning, and although it looks as if a tornado has been through my house, things are getting back to normal. Oh wait...a disaster zone for a house...that is normal.
Anyway, I am proud to say that in the last week I have, in spite of holiday madness, finished a number of projects! I did finish that second Snowy Triangle Scarf, at about 6:30 AM on December 25, while the other adults slept and I tried to keep the kids away from the packages under the tree. Unfortunately, I have no pictures, but trust me, it was beautiful. It too was made of Trendsetter Dune, but in red. It is such a rich and pretty combination of gold, pink and red -- it made me think of the gorgeousness of this movie. One thing -- while it took only 2.5 balls of Dune to make the first scarf, I needed three plus a tiny bit of a fourth to finish the second. Aaarggh!
Mr. A came through for Christmas, and I got an iPod! Whoopee! It is nonstop time-sucking fun! So my second FO of the week was a little cozy for my baby, made of some leftover Rowan All-Seasons Cotton. (Maybe the giant sucking sound is my Ghetto Knitter cred slipping away.) It's just a silly little trifle and no one really needs another iPod cozy pattern, but I'll post how I made it on Affiknitty Patterns when I get a chance.
In really exciting knitting news, my sister absolutely gave me two of the best knitting related gifts. First, she said the magic words: "You can make me all the socks you want." I've been thinking how lucky Grumperina is, to have in her grandma such an enthusiastic recipient of handknitted goodies, particularly socks. And now, I have my own--yay!
The second gift was, she stated emphatically on the first day that she was here, that she wanted to knit during her visit. I had taught her last year, but after that first garter stitch scarf she put the needles down and hadn't picked them back up. But she was raring to go this visit! Woo-hoo! We did a lot of knitting--she actually finished an iPod cozy and not one but two pairs of fingerless gloves from Weekend Knitting. Pictured is the second pair. She made them a couple of inches longer than the pattern calls for, so she could do that cute scrunching thing around the wrists. I also made a pair, and we used Wool-Ease, so there was stash reduction to boot. I sent her off with the rest of the skeins she used and my copy of Stitch n' Bitch. I'm hoping that she will keep up with the knitting.
Finally, the KepLaura is done! I am so thrilled to have it off the needles before the new year. It looks like a tent in this picture, but actually it fits very nicely. Here are all the details:
Pattern: Emily's Kepler, heavily modified
Yarn: About 4 skeins of Cascade 220, color #9341
Needles: Addi Turbo circs, size 9
Gauge: About 4 sts per inch
Size: Small and a half (to fit a 35-inch bust)
Modifications: Many--converted it to a knit-in-the-round raglan; eliminated cable bands at sleeves and hemmed them instead; added cables at the decrease lines on the yoke.
Coulda, Woulda, Shouldas: Would have made armholes very slightly deeper and sleeves a tiny, tiny bit longer. But generally I am very happy with it.
Next Thursday, there will be blogs. I swear it.
Anyway, I am proud to say that in the last week I have, in spite of holiday madness, finished a number of projects! I did finish that second Snowy Triangle Scarf, at about 6:30 AM on December 25, while the other adults slept and I tried to keep the kids away from the packages under the tree. Unfortunately, I have no pictures, but trust me, it was beautiful. It too was made of Trendsetter Dune, but in red. It is such a rich and pretty combination of gold, pink and red -- it made me think of the gorgeousness of this movie. One thing -- while it took only 2.5 balls of Dune to make the first scarf, I needed three plus a tiny bit of a fourth to finish the second. Aaarggh!
Mr. A came through for Christmas, and I got an iPod! Whoopee! It is nonstop time-sucking fun! So my second FO of the week was a little cozy for my baby, made of some leftover Rowan All-Seasons Cotton. (Maybe the giant sucking sound is my Ghetto Knitter cred slipping away.) It's just a silly little trifle and no one really needs another iPod cozy pattern, but I'll post how I made it on Affiknitty Patterns when I get a chance.
In really exciting knitting news, my sister absolutely gave me two of the best knitting related gifts. First, she said the magic words: "You can make me all the socks you want." I've been thinking how lucky Grumperina is, to have in her grandma such an enthusiastic recipient of handknitted goodies, particularly socks. And now, I have my own--yay!
The second gift was, she stated emphatically on the first day that she was here, that she wanted to knit during her visit. I had taught her last year, but after that first garter stitch scarf she put the needles down and hadn't picked them back up. But she was raring to go this visit! Woo-hoo! We did a lot of knitting--she actually finished an iPod cozy and not one but two pairs of fingerless gloves from Weekend Knitting. Pictured is the second pair. She made them a couple of inches longer than the pattern calls for, so she could do that cute scrunching thing around the wrists. I also made a pair, and we used Wool-Ease, so there was stash reduction to boot. I sent her off with the rest of the skeins she used and my copy of Stitch n' Bitch. I'm hoping that she will keep up with the knitting.
Finally, the KepLaura is done! I am so thrilled to have it off the needles before the new year. It looks like a tent in this picture, but actually it fits very nicely. Here are all the details:Pattern: Emily's Kepler, heavily modified
Yarn: About 4 skeins of Cascade 220, color #9341
Needles: Addi Turbo circs, size 9
Gauge: About 4 sts per inch
Size: Small and a half (to fit a 35-inch bust)
Modifications: Many--converted it to a knit-in-the-round raglan; eliminated cable bands at sleeves and hemmed them instead; added cables at the decrease lines on the yoke.
Coulda, Woulda, Shouldas: Would have made armholes very slightly deeper and sleeves a tiny, tiny bit longer. But generally I am very happy with it.
Next Thursday, there will be blogs. I swear it.
posted by Laura at 4:29 PM
10 Comments:
Fabulous! I love the knits...and the ipod. I had no interest in one until my nephews showed up with them...I need one now. How about an after christmas gift to me?
Keplaura looks beautiful!
Glad you had such a fun and busy holiday. Have a fun and busy New Year as well!
let's see a pic of you in the KepLaura! looks great on the hanger--probably looks even better on you!
Ooh, an iPod, how awesome!! Too funny on the giant sucking sound!! I'd forgotten about that one. I LOVE your KepLaura!! You did such a gorgeous job on it! And I really like your modifications, especially the cables on the decreases- very pretty. I really like how you eliminated the cable bands on the sleeves, too. It really does give it a much sleeker and cleaner line. Can't wait to see a modeled shot, hint, hint. ;-) Congrats on finishing all your peer-pressure induced holiday knitting, too, haha! ;-) That's so fantastic that you got your sister hooked- she did mighty good with those fingerless gloves, too- I'm impressed! Take care and Happy New Year to you, Laura! :-)
I third that motion...let's see a modeled KepLaura! It looks beautiful, babe. Good job!
Oo, your Kepler looks lovely, and I think your modifications turned out great! I would love to see you modelling it. Have a nice New Year, Laura! :-)
The Keplaura is great! The color is so rich, and I love the alterations you made. I must agree with Mintyfresh, however, and insist upon a photo shoot.
The other FOs look great, too, and I'd love to see the ipod pattern, as mine needs a warm and cozy home.
One caveat about the ipod -- you will need as much free hard drive space as you would like to store on the iPod -- so if you have 30 gigs of music you want to store on the iPod, you need 30 free gigs on the hard drive. My friends have all suggested the easiest, most worry-free solution is to buy an external hard drive and dedicate it to music. Did I mention I hang out with a lot of computer geeks?
Did I miss a birthday post for J? Because if I did, then pass along many birthday wishes from Isabelle (another December birthday) and the rest of Casa Ackery.
Love, love, love my ipod. Almost as life-altering as tivo. Keplaura is lovely. I love the color too. Happy New Year!
Yay, Kepler est fini(e)!! It's gorgeous. Congratulations on completing such a lovely piece! I'm so impressed and inspired by your skills of fearless modification.
Umm, someone (as in me) waited until the week BEFORE Christmas to look in stores for an Ipod for hubby and ended up gift-wrapping up a rain check. . . .
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