Beaded Lace

beaded lace shawl

pattern: #10 beaded lace shawl from vogue knitting holiday 2008

yarn: canopy fingering weight, river dolphin color, approx 1000 yards

needles: size 7 circular

approximately 1000 size 6 beads

beaded lace is really my all time favorite thing to knit. just the sense of accomplishment alone makes it great! i've made a few of them and really wanted to make this one for myself. my friend made it for her wedding and i thought it would look awesome in a non-white color.

the pattern is well written. the only comment i have on it is the bind off takes a really long time and A LOT of yarn!! i ran out but luckily, mary, had some.

oh - btw - i am not pregnant even though i appear to be in the last picture.

Some Quick Sewing

i have to warn you - not the best photography here but i just finished some small sewing projects and wanted to share :)

pattern: oliver + s tiered halter from stitches magazine spring 2010

fabric: liberty of london from brooklyn general

words really cannot describe how much i love sewing with liberty fabric. it is just so smooth and flies thru the machine. now if it just wasn't so expensive! brooklyn general is having a sale so i finally got some to make the tiered halter shirt that was just featured in stitches magazine. i made three of these - for e and my two nieces. the pattern was very simple and easy to follow. besides printing out and taping together the pattern pieces... i didn't make any modifications. i do hope to get a picture today of all three girls in the shirt together.

pattern: oliver + s bedtime story pajamas

fabric: ready, set, robot from city quilter.

h was getting a little upset with the amount of sewing/knitting i do for e and not for him. it is true and i feel bad but it is just so much easier to a cute little dress than boys clothes :( but i had come across this robot fabric on a red background and picked up a few yards. (anyone who knows h knows red is his favorite color!) the pattern was super simple - the only mod i made was to just hem the bottom and i used the same fabric for the waist band as the legs. he's pretty happy with the results :)

Finishing Presents

i tend to knit almost all of the presents i give to people. just love giving someone i care about something i made. the only problem with this is when you are in the middle of the project and really aren't enjoying the process but need to finish or else buy something...

here are two cases of that exact problem. although, i think the receivers of these gifts will like them a whole lot more than i liked knitting them!

choice

yarn: berroco bonsai and berroco seduce - both in a natural color

needles: size 7, circular

pattern: choice by norah gaughan in her vol. 6 book for berroco

i wouldn't say this yarn was horrible to work with - but i definitely didn't love it... i wanted an easy no brainer project so i used the yarn the pattern called for and made no modifications. i probably should have gone down a needle size. made the smallest size but it is still a little big. this is going to be for my brother's fiancee and she is very little but she has a great sense of style so i am sure she will find a way to wear it!

golf club covers

yarn: berroco vintage in green, blue and tan

needles: size 5 and size 7, circular (magic loop method)

pattern: argyle golf club covers by sarah wilson

now this yarn i would say is horrible to work with!!! maybe i am just being a brat but i cannot stand knitting with this much acrylic! i bought some beautiful malabrigo sock yarn to make my dad socks for father's day but my mother didn't think he would wear them and would prefer golf club covers. i did like the pattern and only made a few modifications. 1- changed the ribbing to a 2x2. 2- added the stripes to the ribbing to mark the different sized clubs. 3- made tassels instead of pom poms for the tops.

i am going to be teaching a baby surprise jacket class at brooklyn general on wednesday mornings - starting next week. check out www.brooklyngeneral.com to sign up.

Happy Mother's Day

hourglass socks

yarn: claudia hand painted merino fingering weight yarn - honey color

needles: size 1.5 circular

pattern: hourglass socks from knitty

i have wanted to make these socks for the longest time and finally found the perfect excuse - i would make two pairs. one for my mother and one for my mother-in-law for mother's day. only problem - i hated the pattern. don't know why but i found it really really annoying. they are going to my mother-in-law since they were a little short and she has smaller feet! the only modification i made was to change the heel to an eye of the partridge stitch - which i use on all the socks i make...

tribute socks

yarn: claudia hand painted merino fingering weight yarn - chocolate color

needles: size 0 circular

pattern: tribute socks from knitty

definitely have a thing for the frost flowers lace pattern :) i had to make these socks as soon as i saw them. made them for my mother for mother's day. really nice easy sock pattern - only mod was the stitch pattern on the heel that i mentioned above. only regret is i didn't make them in a lighter color yarn so you would see the pattern better.

that's it for now. we are finishing up a major house renovation and to say i have been a little overwhelmed would be an understatement. hopefully i will be able to get some good shots and will post some before and after soon!

Happy Friend

bitterroot shawl

yarn: knit picks shadow in spring green

needles: size 6

pattern: bitterroot from knitty

you may think i am strange but lace is really my favorite thing to knit. i am trying to make at least every other project be a lace one - to make myself happy, of course. but how many shawls does one person need? so i started to knit this one not really knowing who it was going to - i had some left over yarn for a shawl i made my grandmother. as i was knitting, i decided it would go to a really good friend of mine who is also a knitter. i find we don't tend to knit a lot for fellow knitters, after all they could just make it themselves. but my friend wasn't having the easiest weeks and i thought she could use a little pick me up. who doesn't feel better getting a little present? once i decided who the shawl was going to it became an even faster knit. i highly recommend this pattern to anyone wanting to try knitting with beads. since the beads are only at the ends it isn't too much. the only negative is that it is a little smaller than i would like.

oh, i use the oral-b super floss method of placing the beads on.

Feeling Green

there has been a lot of knitting going on with green yarn... first up i finished the leg warmers!

leg warmers

yarn: dream in color smooshy

needles: size 3, 12" circular

pattern: some cloudy day by owl knits

these were such a quick knit. i don't know why it took me so long to finally make leg warmers for myself. i am always so cold. don't have a lot of comments on the pattern - made no mods. i love the color of the yarn but i don't think i would like the feel of it for socks - leg warmers or socks, perfect though. here they are on ravelry - the picture of them not finished is closer to the actual color.

and now i am working on a beaded lace shawl from knitty - bitterroot. i have a friend in mind that i am going to give this to - i think she could use a little present. i've been so into knitting lace shawls lately - but how many can one person have? very happy to have so many deserving people in my life!

Little Knits

i haven't been in such a knitting mood lately. so i have been working on lots of little projects that i can finish quickly. (it is also my niece's birthday next week - so had to make something for her :)

peasant hat

yarn: cascade 220 heathers - purpley

needles: size 10.5 straight needles and size 5 for the band

pattern: just like a peasant cap by amber daniels

a friend of mine had a hat like this and i wanted one for myself for awhile. i came across the pattern on ravelry. it is a funny little hat - took a while to figure out how to wear it but once i did i fell in love. speaking of love - love cascade 220. i cannot believe i never made anything out of it before. but what a great yarn - can tell this will become a major workhorse in my stash!

oriental lilies

yarn: one made of fibre company savannah, one made of blue sky alpaca melange

needles: size 5, 24 inch circular and 12 inch circular

pattern: oriental lily by georgie hallam

i made one of these for my niece for her birthday and one for e. such a great pattern. super fast and always love something with minimal finishing. i have had the melange in my stash for a while and it may be my favorite colorway ever! - it is very similar to the color of the peasant hat. i thought i had 5 skeins of it so this was just the perfect project for it. but then... i found 4 more skeins! this is when i realized that maybe i am not the best mother - my first thought was, "i could have made something for myself." but i guess i'm not that bad because i didn't frog what i had already started. still need to do the arms of e's but it won't fit her until next year so i'll get to it when i get to it.

since i haven't been into knitting that much i decided to get the spinning wheel out. i have a ton of fiber that i have been really excited about spinning. of course, though, i have this mohair/romney blend that i started spinning already on the wheel. so i just figured i would finish spinning that up.

i am not a huge fan of knitting with mohair but a friend of mine made a beautiful dress out of it - so i think i'll give it to her :)

on the needles now - a pair of legwarmers!