After realizing to my horror that my original gauge swatch must have been terribly off, I had to frog this sweater and start over. Thankfully, it seems to be working up much quicker this time, and I only have to knit 3 more inches before separating for the armholes. I love stockinette knitting. I usually work on this while watching TV, and it's fun to finish watching my program, to find that I've magically knitted another 2 inches!
This is the
Column of Leaves scarf that I'm still plugging away with. I've gotten the pattern memorized, now, so it's knitting up a lot faster. I just love the color variations in this
yarn. I've knitted about 3 feet, and I'm hoping to have enough in one skein to knit an entire scarf. That way, I can use the second skein to knit a matching
hat. Wouldn't that make a lovely gift for someone!
This is the "Impossible Dress" that I've been attempting to knit for Breanna. I hate this pattern. I just can't stand knitting it, but I'm too stubborn to give it up (and the Dutch in me is too stingy to let all that yarn go to waste).
I finally got past the awful frill at the bottom, and then had some simple stockinette with occasional shaping to worry about. However, somewhere along the line I got off on the shaping row, and I made a noticeable mistake. (Grrrrr.) Now I have to decide if I should frog it for 3 inches, or try to remedy the error with a crochet hook. *Sob* And I thought I was almost done with the skirt portion!
On a happier note, I got another repeat done on the White Diamonds Lace Scarf. I think this will turn out to be a really beautiful pattern, although it's time consuming. I think the pattern is too complicated to be memorized (at least,
I can't seem to get it memorized). I just work on it here or there if I get a few moments alone. The pattern repeat is over 28 rows, so it takes awhile to get a goodly amount knitted.
I've FINISHED some things! Woo-hoo! This is the crocheted rug for the bathroom. I LOVE how nicely this came out. It lays beautifully, and the colors are quite nice, if I do say so myself. It's pretty big (almost the length of the bathtub). I added a scalloped edging because I have to have frills
somewhere on it, and eyelet rows every 3 inches. (Hmm, can't really see those in this picture, can you?). It does tend to slide about on my linoleum floor, though, so I think I'll just whip stitch some carpet matting to the bottom to help it stay in place better. I really don't want to wipe out in the bathroom and have a "help, I've fallen and I can't get up" situation! I'm planning to make a similarly crocheted mat for the toilet, but I have to let the blister on my finger heal up, first. Crocheting with three skeins of yarn at once is rather tiring for my hands, and I haven't crocheted anything in a long time.
Finally, I have another scarf to display. I started it on Friday afternoon, and finished it on Sunday afternoon. Cables are so much faster to knit now that I don't have to use a cable needle. ( If you haven't learned this technique, yet, I'd highly recommend this
site. Great way to learn!). It's a mohair-like yarn that's a little thicker than worsted, but not quite chunky. It will be in the post tomorrow and off to some lucky person! (Could it be
you?)
I am trying not to be too disappointed, but I couldn't help but notice that taste must have nothing to do with who wins first or second. Some of the knitted projects that beat mine could, honestly, be a little more difficult, but they were - um - not anything I would EVER hope to see someone wear. I mean, really, a purple/green/pink high-necked sweater with a frilly crocheted lace collar? *Sigh* Must . . . not . . . complain . . . further. As blogless Lynn says, "the judges must all be 110 years old", lol!
Second Place
Second Place (the first place award was given to a baby sweater, which should have been in the baby clothes division - grrrrrr)
Second Place
Didn't place
Third Place
First Place
After realizing to my horror that my original gauge swatch must have been terribly off, I had to frog this sweater and start over. Thankfully, it seems to be working up much quicker this time, and I only have to knit 3 more inches before separating for the armholes. I love stockinette knitting. I usually work on this while watching TV, and it's fun to finish watching my program, to find that I've magically knitted another 2 inches!
This is the Column of Leaves scarf that I'm still plugging away with. I've gotten the pattern memorized, now, so it's knitting up a lot faster. I just love the color variations in this yarn. I've knitted about 3 feet, and I'm hoping to have enough in one skein to knit an entire scarf. That way, I can use the second skein to knit a matching hat. Wouldn't that make a lovely gift for someone!
This is the "Impossible Dress" that I've been attempting to knit for Breanna. I hate this pattern. I just can't stand knitting it, but I'm too stubborn to give it up (and the Dutch in me is too stingy to let all that yarn go to waste).
I finally got past the awful frill at the bottom, and then had some simple stockinette with occasional shaping to worry about. However, somewhere along the line I got off on the shaping row, and I made a noticeable mistake. (Grrrrr.) Now I have to decide if I should frog it for 3 inches, or try to remedy the error with a crochet hook. *Sob* And I thought I was almost done with the skirt portion!
On a happier note, I got another repeat done on the White Diamonds Lace Scarf. I think this will turn out to be a really beautiful pattern, although it's time consuming. I think the pattern is too complicated to be memorized (at least, I can't seem to get it memorized). I just work on it here or there if I get a few moments alone. The pattern repeat is over 28 rows, so it takes awhile to get a goodly amount knitted.
I've FINISHED some things! Woo-hoo! This is the crocheted rug for the bathroom. I LOVE how nicely this came out. It lays beautifully, and the colors are quite nice, if I do say so myself. It's pretty big (almost the length of the bathtub). I added a scalloped edging because I have to have frills somewhere on it, and eyelet rows every 3 inches. (Hmm, can't really see those in this picture, can you?). It does tend to slide about on my linoleum floor, though, so I think I'll just whip stitch some carpet matting to the bottom to help it stay in place better. I really don't want to wipe out in the bathroom and have a "help, I've fallen and I can't get up" situation! I'm planning to make a similarly crocheted mat for the toilet, but I have to let the blister on my finger heal up, first. Crocheting with three skeins of yarn at once is rather tiring for my hands, and I haven't crocheted anything in a long time.
Finally, I have another scarf to display. I started it on Friday afternoon, and finished it on Sunday afternoon. Cables are so much faster to knit now that I don't have to use a cable needle. ( If you haven't learned this technique, yet, I'd highly recommend this site. Great way to learn!). It's a mohair-like yarn that's a little thicker than worsted, but not quite chunky. It will be in the post tomorrow and off to some lucky person! (Could it be you?)
We've been needing a bath mat in our bathroom, and I haven't really found an affordable one yet, so I thought I'd just quit being a ninny and crochet one. The kids dump a ton (literally) of water on the floor when they take a bath, so any bath mat I make must be washable and nearly indestructible. Therefore, my best option was acrylic yarn. I have a bin full of acrylic from my sweet SiL Kathy, and this is the perfect project for it. To break up the monotony of off-white I added one skein of tan yarn to two skeins of off white, and crocheted three strands at one time with a size J hook. I still have a few more inches to go before I add the scalloped border, but I'm happy with how it's looking so far. I was going to write out the pattern for this as I made it, but I hate writing crochet patterns and gave up the idea in despair half way through crocheting the mat. I'm just winging it, and later I'll have a basic pattern written for advanced crocheters to try, which I'll post to my design blog.
This is a lace scarf I've started that I'm writing out the pattern for also. I'm not that familiar with lace, yet, so I'm borrowing heavily from stitch dictionaries. I do like the look so far, though. I'm calling it White Diamonds Lace Scarf/Stole and will include directions for widening it into a stole. It's a very interesting knit, and writing the chart for this was a nightmare. However, the chart is done (I hope with no mistakes!), so the knitting should progress smoothly from now on. This is DEFINITELY a high-con project (i.e. high concentration). I can't wait to have it finished and blocked so I can really see it "open up"!
I have a friend from MOPS (Mothers Of Preschoolers) who had this rug, and she asked me to fix it for her. It was hand-crocheted for her when she was married, and I think it's almost 15 years old. Needless to say, it's had some hard wear-and-tear on it!
