I finally felted

Behold-





I could have felted it longer so that the stitches would be completely gone, but I like the texture of it and it would have been too small if I had felted it any longer.

I can finally Cable Knit!!!!!

Hooray! After months of yearning, I finally got up the gumption to buy some cable needles and give a cable pattern a whack! I'm using the double-cable scarf pattern from One Skein by Leigh Radford. It is nowhere near as daunting as I had thought it would be. There's not even really any "getting the knack of it". It's a little like using DPNs, only you only have three needles and one of the needles only gets used for a few stitches every 6 or 7 rows. It's actually quite easy. I'd love to show anyone that wants to learn from a human being (not everyone's a "book learner").

The pattern wants it to be a "quartet", or a half-length scarf. I'm altering the pattern so I can make it into a full-sized one. I can't wait to try some other cable patterns.

Emma

This and that and the other thing

I've been MIA for awhile, but not because I wanted to be. This doesn't mean I haven't been knitting or crocheting at all. I didn't do as much crocheting on my trip to New York as I had hoped but I did do a little bit.

I have several projects going at one time right now, so I've decided to document them so I stay on task and not pick up anothe project until these ones are finished.

Project 1

My top priority right now is to finish a baby blanket for my roommate's new nephew. I am almost finished with it. It is a pattern of my own design which I have been making up as a I go along. It is made with unknown yarn I bought in a 1 pound bulk bag at A.C. Moore. I've already made one blanket with it so far for a premie.

Project 2

Another Fat Bottom Bag from the Happy Hooker for my friend Catherine. I am making this bag extra large to fit with the huge handles I bought for it. I am not yet finished with the bag yet so I need to finish the body of the bag, line it and put the handles on it.

Project 3

I started a half assed attempt at knitting a blanket for another friend of mine that just had a baby. I am not sure they really need a blanket right now, but I might as well finish it. I am jsut knitting sqares using Lion Brand Homespun. I am not sure if I will end up giving them this. I think that at this point I would rather try making them a little cool outfit for the baby rather than a boring blanket. I can always make a blanket later for the baby when he is a little older. Toddlers probably like blankies more than babies do. So I've just decided to make Baby Miles a cool outfit.

Project 4

I need to finish the prayer shawl I am making for Carolina Hospice. I am about 1/4 complete. I am making it out of the Bernat Galaxy yarn in Neptune and Mercury. I got from Emma during the yarn swap. It is really cool yarn and my boyfriend thinks I should make one for myself as well.

Now onto the FINISHED PROJECTS!! YAY! I love when I finish stuff. I feel such a sense of accomplishment.

Finished Project 1:

This is the Fat Bottom Bag from the Happy Hooker made with Noro Kuryeon yarn and lined with a light blue and brown paisley cotton lining. I also sewed a pocket into the lining so the person I am giving it to can have a place to put her essential appendage...her cellphone ;)

Here are some shots I did last night -


This is one side of purse. Notice the turquiose handle flap.


This is the other side. The handle flap is brown.


This is the lining. Not a great picture but it was the best I could get at the moment.


This is the pocket. I ran out of the paisely, so I thought it would look cool to make a pocket out of something that matched in color, but clashed in pattern. Makes it easier to find ;)

Finished Project 2:

I actually finished this almost a month ago, before I went to New York, but I didn't manage to get some picture of it until last night.

This is the Sweet Pea Shawl from the Happy Hooker using TLC Cotton Plus in black. Althought it may look complicated, it is quite serioiusly one of the easier projects I've ever attempted. It came out much smaller than it was supposed to since I was using a smaller gauge yarn, but it is still big enough for someone with narrow shoulders. I originally made it for myself, however since it is a little too small for me, I am giving it to my mom who is much thinner than I am and has small shoulders. I was going to make her anyway so it worked out really well.






This is an upclose shot of the shell pattern.

OUR FIRST CHARITY BLANKET!!!!!

Our first charity blanket is FINISHED!!!!!! It's fun to see the amalgam of all of our hard work materialize. These work up surprisingly quick, with the exception of the five-gazillion ends that have to be woven in. Still fantastically fun, though. I'm starting on the next one this morning and should have it, and maybe another, finished by next weeks meeting. Keep making those squares, girls!

I finished it!!

I am so excited to announce that I have completed my first crocheting project. I finished the body of it at our meeting on Tuesday night. Last night I hunted around for some purse handles. I first went to AC Moore thinking they would have more stuff, but they didn't have anything I could use at all. The lady there suggested I go to Michael's. So over there I went.

They thankfully had some round plastic handles that were the perfect size.

Initially I was going to dye the purse a different color since it was sooo white. But being impatient and wanting to be finished with it, I decided to keep it white. It was such an easy project that I could make another one and dye it if I really want to.

I bought a pair of black handles and some black and white ribbon. I really wanted some ribbon that was black with pink accents, but Michael's had nothing of the kind. So, I went with white.

I think it turned out pretty okay for my first project. Since it it just cotton, it cannot really support anything with any kind of weight, so I am going to add a suspended liner to the inside so I can put my keys and wallet in it without it losing its shape.

Take a look:

Fat Bottom Bag from The Happy Hooker

I am about half way through this project. This will be one of the first projects I have ever finished. I didn't really count the number of rows for part of the body so we'll see if I can still make it look good.

Here are some pictures of my progress:

Below is what the finished product is supposed to look like: