the magical world of aaarrgh...

so i've been working on a frothy little sweater for over a week now...and have had to rip out and restart each piece of it about 9 times....the frustration levels are peaking with the estrogen and progesterone (too much info i know) and i just decided to put it aside for a few days, lest i get the urge to rip it all out and burn the yarn in defiance. it's not like the pattern is that hard, and i like a challenge, but when you sit and think "okay, maybe this one is just too hard for me", but you keep trying and trying anyway it takes the wind out of your sails a bit.

i know when i finally finish it i will really feel like i've accomplished something.

happy birthday chopin

brothers in stripes

this is the third knitted sweater i've made...seen first in the picture to the right beside its crocheted brother (crocheted one is on the left, made months ago as a prototype) i really must pick up some buttons. this is the knitted version of the same pattern. the white yarn used is the same in both sweaters, but the green is different as i didn't have enough of the minty colour to do the knitted one, so i used the limey leftovers from my pram coat, seen below in my st. pat's day post.

here is stripey alone. for the same size (preemie/newborn) the different versions came out very different...of course it could be my tension wasn't exactly to the pattern specs, but i prefer to think that it's just the difference between knit and crochet. a staple for every well-dressed newborn's spring wardrobe for sure.

wearing of the green

in honour of st. pat's day, and well, just because i feel like it, i present my second knitted sweater and hat. this limelicious sensation is called a pram coat and helmet hat. made from somewhat antique yarn that i had in my stash--leftovers from days of yore--when i crocheted a baby afghan for my precious god daughter, who is now older than i'd like to admit. i tried to enhance the picture to show off the basket-weave style pattern--if you click on the picture you may be able to see it a bit better. again it is missing the six buttons (double breasted, doncha know) that will make it a fait a compli, but still you get the general idea. my first foray into the mystical world of raglan sleeves and separate collar pieces. one thing i will say about knitting vs. crocheting: while the act of knitting is ultimately easier than crocheting, it is far more fiddly and involved than crocheting, at least from what i have experienced in the 3 months since i relearned to knit. this sweater strongly reminds me of a yellow set that was knit for my niece by her great aunt, and is ultimately what inspired me to try it myself.

crazy for cables

so here is my very first knitted sweater and hat...a teeny bit hard to see in the picture, but it is a cabled cardigan and matching little hat in what is probably a newborn baby size, although i guess it depends on the size of the baby in question. it was my first knitting challenge, and i did quite well until i got to the neck edge, which totally confused my crocheter's brain. luckily cee's mum was here and, being the knitter she is, was able to help me with what turned out to be a very simple conundrum. all it needs to be officially done is some little buttons. i'm fairly happy with how it turned out:

raindrops keep falling on my head...

so i suppose it's official now...we have a leaking roof. after a couple of days of hard rain i came downstairs early yesterday morning to find water dripping from the bulkhead/ceiling over the window in the kitchen. needless to say i was stunned. long story short and after i had myself a really long and ultimately useless cry, we called someone in to have a look at it. apparently we weren't the only ones that had problems, cause the poor guy was kept hopping yesterday. we will get the good/bad news either today or tomorrow, as he didn't even have time to come in and talk to us....pray for dry weather for us.

no two snowflakes are alike

i was inspired just before christmas last year by the lack of snow in our parts, and by another great pattern found on the cpc site, so i made this afghan. can't you just feel the frosty, snowy majesty of it? allright, so it's inside, and the pictures aren't that great, but hey, i never said i was a photographer.

in real life, the afghan is a dark blue/navy, in the pictures it looks pretty black. overall i think it turned out well. cee was quite taken with it. it may be a gift for someone, i haven't decided yet.





a little closer view. in this case the snowflakes really are different, cause i made each one with my own two little hands.

some enchanted felting

so i'd been reading a lot on the net about the process of "felting" or "fulling"--which is basically intentionally shrinking a wool something or other in the washing maching and making into this sturdyish fabric that resembles a thick piece of felt--hence the name. apparently in the crafty circles and designer dens it is now all the rage. people are a'felting all over the place--bags, purses, mittens, you name it, they are felting it. i decided to give it a try, and after a failed attempt, in which i used a synthetic yarn instead of a 100% bonafide dyed-in-the-wool wool, i quickly rebounded a created a tote bag from a pattern i found on the cpc site, modified to fit my style and specifications. i forgot to take pictures prior to the felting frenzy, partly because i was a bit dubious as to whether it would actually work, and partly because i just plain forgot. i actually stood beside the washing machine as it worked its magic, with all the anticipation of a kid at christmas time. i'd read the nay sayer's posts about it not working, how you have to do special, cryptic things for it to felt, like add baking soda, old jeans, towels, eye of newt, etc. but after only 5 minutes in my miraculous washing machine, i pulled out a felted tote:




what an adventure it was. i rather enjoyed the whole process, except i think i have an allergy to 100% wool, and doubt i'd do a whole lot of it because i hate allergic reactions. the only thing that bummed me out about it was the wool i used was a light/dark blue stripey denim sensation, as noted in the pics, but the finished product came out basically just a mottled blue colour. i think if i did it again i would make it a bit bigger and give it longer handles.

what's on my sticks today

methinks this is the scarf that never ends....



yes it goes on and on my friends, some say she started knitting it not knowing what it was, and she'll continue knitting it forever just because this is the scarf that never....so ever since i went over to the dark side--that being when i learned to knit a couple of months ago--i've kind of been ignoring my cherished crochet hookies. cee picked out this manly-type yarn--which is black & gold striped--from our local fiber clearance place so that i could make him a manly-type scarf or whatever took my fancy. i decided to try a knit one, since the crocheted one i made him a few years back has been mysteriously absent from his winter gear. i started and frogged it (frogged in this case meaning ripped it out) about 3 times before coming up with a pattern of delicious ribby goodness, suitable for a masculine neck warmer, and proceeded to knit and knit...and after i knit like all day--or at least an hour or so--i realized that it flippin well takes forever to knit a scarf...i'm used to crochet, which goes like the wind, or some such similar simile....maybe i will have it done in time for him to not wear next winter.

everybody's gotta start somewhere...

okay so this is my first post...wherever shall we go from here?