My Favorite FO Ever

But first, an update on other projects.

Man, am I ready to get this Cycling Aran out of my house. It was zipper's fault. I really loved knitting this sweater. It will be the warmest sweater my brother has because I held the DK/Worsted double. I know, I know too thick but I wanted it extra squishy because of the cables. Oh well, he can pull it out next winter. Just a few more stitches in the zipper, then it's off to big brother.


I've been trying to be good (environmentally conscious), so I whipped up these crochet grocery bags. These bags are really strong and stretchy and quick to make. Very easy pattern, but because of the continuous increasing and decreasing, I wouldn't advise making these bags sleepy or tipsy, LOL.

I made the Ribbed Lace Bolero for Teddy Bear. The Easter outfit needs a post of it's own and I should be getting the kids ready for bed now, so next time. Long story short, much to my disappointment Teddy Bear has developed a strong opinion on what she wears. So all my Easter dress ideas went out the door when we got into the store. What a shame, some of the dresses came with matching dresses for your dolly too. "No! I don't like that one." She got on my last nerve. I'll have to make her put the dress back on for a picture. I hate how the Lace Bolero came out by the way, but she wore it anyway.

And finally. I really do think I've made my favorite FO ever. When flipping through the Spring 2008 Interweave Crochet online. I couldn't wait to get my hands on this magazine because this Floral Lace Belt just called me. The largest size called for 10 motifs but because I measured my waist and divided that by the width of each motif, I decided to make 12. Too big! But this is o.k. I'll come up with a different closure than the ribbon one shown. I thought that making this belt would be like going to Universal Studios and learning how Star Trek is made (totally taking the mystery out of the whole thing), but no. I was still fascinated with this belt when it was done and can't even believe myself that I could make something so beautiful. It was easy. Am I bragging? Well, whatever. I just love this piece, O.K.?

Teddy bear is already hatin'. "Where's mine?" I'll get to it, because for some strange reason I have the crochet thread called for by the pattern in almost every Spring color.

My next venture will be the China Doll Top on the cover. There are detailed instructions for shaping for almost every figure even the busty AND hippy like me. I'm so much deeper in love with crochet right now.

Juliets Finished!

Let me not beat around the bush and state that I think the Juliet would have looked better on a thinner person. Another remedy may have been to go down a couple sizes when working the lace repeats. I made the size medium and no matter how many times I snapped the picture, I didn't look any thinner. You might say, "awww, she's having a low self esteem day." That could be it, but no matter what my size, I like to wear flattering clothing, and not just trendy clothing. Maybe I need a new bra. For mine I should have sewn on ribbon for the button loops, there's a lot to hold in! This is still a cute top.

Purely coincidence, I made the size medium for my daughter's with one strand on size 3 needles. Uber cute. I don't know if I've captured it well here, but when she walked around the back of it kept poofing up. So toddler. I started her lace repeats at the breast and I worked a longer garter stitch body for mine. I kept wanting to pick her up and kiss her. The butterflies are trying to get away but they just keep going in circles.

When joining the sleeves, an unsightly gap formed at the arm pit. I couldn't figure out how to remedy it and didn't spend much time since it was after all under the arm. I don't think the designers spent much time on it either since the same thing happed for the adult one.

I used Cascade 220. This yarn is great for the toddler size, but I think a more drapey cotton for the adult version would have solved my issues. For mine I used size 10.5 needles and got a perfect gauge. So, I wonder why I ran out of yarn when the pattern only called for 500 yards. I used what equated to about 660 yards.

For some reason I didn't feel like posting, so I'm going to talk about these other projects so whomever cares will know what I'm up to for the next couple of weeks.

I think I can get addicted to this unraveling. I know this looks like what was a perfectly good sweater. It was a great sweater, but after 10 years, it became boring and unflattering. After looking at this picture, I promised myself that I would never wear it again. Now if only I could make something new out of those darn too comfy drawstring pants. After 10 years of course I've lost count of how many times I've washed it. All I know is that as a general rule of thumb I use cold water to wash non-whites. This sweater is still color rich and the yarn shows NO signs of weakness. On top of that, each side of the sweater (the inside and out) was worked with two different strands of yarn. I got three good sized balls (if you blend the two little ones together) from just one sleeve!
After my gathered pullover I think I'm going to have some left over. The yarn is not as soft as if you were purchasing cotton yarn, but it has some characteristic I can't quite explain that yields its own desirable qualities. Once again, this is a Banana Republic sweater.

I didn't finish the baby sweaters. But, only because my piece of junk Plymouth needles broke. Ugh! Since working my second project on these needles I've had problems. At times they've made me so angry that I've fantasized about taking each point and stabbing the person who made them in the eyeballs. Unfortunately what I've done of the baby cardigan so far shows signs of the snagging caused by these defective needles. Maybe they'll disappear with blocking. Without thinking, I started the gathered pullover with my good pair of size 4's. Ahhhh, Addi Turbos.
I'm also having problems with these Clessidra knee hi socks. I've messed up on the cable chart and broken another needle. I still haven't gotten a replacement yet (maybe because this is my second request). Hopefully I'll get these done before the winter's over.
Following are cute pictures of my kids decorating the Christmas tree while I was cooking second Thanksgiving. The little one is on the big one's shoulders trying to put the star on. The finished product looks funny but I'm leaving it that way.Chiao!

Shetland Triangle

Finally finished. Whew. It's cute, I like it. But it's not as big as I thought it would be. See the patten used 548 yards of Jaeger Cashmina, which comes 137 yds per 25 g. Is this right? Cause you were supposed to do only 8 repeats of the center panel. With my mere 370 yards (185 yards per 50g ball), I got through 11 repeats plus the edging with some left over. Oh well, yardage is yardage I guess, no matter what the weight is of the yarn.

Yarn Used: Louet Gems 100% mernio in colorway Caribou
Needles: Size 6 circular, 32 inches (this is my favorite length)

If I'm going to keep knitting lace, I've got to get me some blocking wires. :(

Night Time Ain't Always the Right Time

My mom used to were camisoles outside all the time. Us kids just used to laugh and were actually kind of glad we knew her little secret. Mom could make a shell and cardigan/blazer combo out of anything. She just needed the right stuff. The lingerie drawer was never off limits. I wanted to wait until I could coordinate this with some sort of flair chocolate brown skirt, maybe raw silk. Alas, I can not sew that well, so why keep you waiting. I can't tell if this knit up quickly or if I just really wanted the top badly. Knit one and let me know what you think. The tank underneath is chocolate brown. The picture doesn't show it clearly so you have to used your imagination (sorry).

I don't know if I'll ever wear this to sleep. This is my second lace garment. You may notice the mistakes you may not. Basically, I couldn't figure out how to pick up the yarn overs when I needed to back out a few rows. I figured it out later. I learned that lace knitting is not blind knitting. You have to pay attention to what you're going for and where you've been. This doesn't mean knitting lace is hard.


Yarn Used: Hempathy. 34% Hemp, 41% cotton, 25% Modal. I'd intended on using cotton. But I'd always wanted to do a project in Hemp. With this yarn I got the best of both worlds. I kept thinking that if we lived off the land, this is what our clothes would feel like. It's not too rough, and not too soft, and hemp is supposed to soften each time you wash it.

Needles Used: Size 4 Addy turbos, Yeah!
Modifications: None

I didn't knit the largest size this time. So, I think I might have enough yarn to crochet this bikini I've been promising someone.

2 FO's!

This right here is a lace shawl.


Yarn Used: Knit Picks Shadow 100% Merino
Kneedles Used: Size 6 Circular Susan Bates Quicksilver.
Modifications: The yarn. The pattern calls for DK weight, since I used lace weight it's about half the size it should be. This is cool wit me.

I don't care how easy it was, the pattern said it was lace, so I finally knitted lace! Oh wow, I'm a knitter. I'll wear this in the Fall and Winter while knitting on the couch. My kids fight over "blankies." Even if I'm using it, they claim they're cold so that they can get under it with me. This would be fine, if they didn't want to pin my arms down while snuggling up.

And, one sizzling hot Coechellllllllla. Did ya'll catch my Italian accent?

Back fat included. It's still hot. Heyyyyy!

Yarn used: Fine weight recycled very snaggy single strand 100% rayon.
Main Kneedles Used: Size 4 Addy Turbos ( I finally recognized their worth).
Modifications: A couple. I had to do a stretchy bind-off so that it would glide over them hips. I picked up about 150-160 stitches around the armholes to eliminate gapping at the neck and to hold in some of that back fat.

I'm satisfied with both projects.