startitis

New project alert! As if I don't have enough on the go, with all the afghan squares and socks-in-progress and unfinished tanks and tunics... I started the Betty Wrap from Knitting Little Luxuries by Louisa Harding.

My plan is to have it completed in time for my trip to Paris, at the end of September. I think it's doable, it's coming along nicely.

I learned to put in lifelines in the lace sections. The shiny yarn was so slippery and I lost stitches and had to rip back to the first garter section. Grr. But now I know!

The yarn is Trendsetter Venus, and it looked much better in the skein when you could see all the variegation. I'm not sure this pattern is the best use for it... I originally wanted to make the Infinity Wrap from Interweave Crochet, but decided to try this one instead. We'll see how it turns out!

This book is gorgeous, by the way. Beautiful art direction!

knit girl afghan swap - square #4

The super awesome square that I received from teejayhansen:

In her note, she wrote that she selected the colours to represent different jewels - ruby, periwinkle, sapphire, black onyx, etc. - to go with my jewel-tone theme. LOVE! She also sent a full-size Ghiradelli chocolate bar.... double LOVE!

knit girl afghan swap - square #2 part 2

Here is the square that I made and sent to metaljune13:

It was the first time I have done colourwork like that, and I'm very proud of how it turned out! The bird's legs are a bit wonky because I carried the yarn too tightly behind the work, but the rest of the bird is OK.

Pattern: #38 Bird Blanket by Jenn Jarvis, from the Summer 2007 issue of Knit.1 (Rav link)
Yarn: black is Mission Falls 1824 Wool, blue is Moda Dea Washable Wool, red is Naturally Hand Knit Merino et Soie 10 ply.
Needles: 4 mm

My plan is to make this blanket for my own house, and after working on the squares for the KG afghan swap it doesn't seem so scary anymore! I always think that afghans take forever to knit, but doing each square is manageable and then you just have to sew them together. (which will probably take me forever - I hate seaming!)

Oh, and the Moda Dea yarn is sooooo soft! and affordable!! (surprising, since I bought it at Romni)

knit girl afghan swap - square #3

Here is square #3, knit by bohoknitterchic:

It is a vine pattern in a lovely deep shade of green. She used Knitpicks Shine Worsted, and it is really soft and drapey.

Bohoknitterchic organized the Knit Girl Afghan Swap on Ravelry and did an awesome job!!! OK, this is my first swap so I have nothing to compare it to, but it's been great experience so far.

crochet baby blanket

I forgot to post about this one! It was finished a while ago and gifted on July 29 (baby shower). I was going through my photos and spotted it....

The pattern is from Family Circle Easy Knitting, Holiday 2002.
Yarn: Patons Grace in Snow, Blush, Purple, Blue and Ginger
3.5 mm hook
Started March 21 and finished June 28, 2008.
Ravelry link



Check out the nice edging! I'm very proud of myself. :))

The recipients, Greg and Kim, had a baby boy on July 22. Welcome Beck!!

knit girl afghan swap - square #2

This is the square I received from Clashfan77:

It came in the mail today, along with square #5 from jesshenshaw. I haven't opened that one yet - my plan is to open the squares in order, but it's so tempting! It's like Christmas!!

knit girl afghan swap - square #1

Here is the first square that I received in the swap, from ms. pixie riot:

She also included Pez (aka crack) and some cute little buttons from her online shop, Yarn Oddities.

Here's the square that I sent to hellcat:

Pattern: Elvish Leaves Dishcloth
Yarn: Naturally Hand Knit Merino et Soie 10 Ply in 110, about 1.5 skeins
Needles: 4 mm

It was fun to knit, but I couldn't memorize the pattern because each row was different. It kept things interesting but having to always look at the pattern in kinda annoying. Oh yeah, thanks to hellcat for the photo - I forgot to take pics before I sent it!