Ooo! Wow!

So I had received a Barnes and Noble gift card, and upon reaching their knitting section I picked up two titles. A gorgeous hardcover, Norwegian Handknits, which is full of all sorts of patterns and historical information and even a few recipies, and Amigurumi Knits. This book led to a kind of revelation.

Now in the past year or so, I've become, if not a fiber snob, a bit prejudiced against fibers that can't be found growing in the natural world. This means my substantial stash of Red Heart Super Saver has been quite neglected as of late. Howver, when it comes to amigurumi, cheap and colorful are pretty much the only criteria the yarn needs to meet. Alright, up to the attic to grab the Super Saver. Down to my room, dump it on my bed. Sort by color...ooo! Wow!

Holy cow!!! That's a lot of yarn!

Time for some stash-busting amigurumi...

Loch Ness Monster! With a black belt for sempei!

Anglerfish!!! Can you say Finding Nemo? "I'm gonna getcha..."

A snail is up next :)

Back For Christmas

Haven't posted in forever, due to school, the holidays, birthday, and some minor comission knitting. However, this Christmas calls for a victory post!

First off, I finally have a yarn swift and ball winder!

Secondly, my family has enjoyed their gifts so far!

My mom's socks still haven't been photographed (she keeps wearing them, sticking them in the hamper, and washing them faster than I can keep track of). My lil' sister received my overly colorful earflap hat whose picture I have misplaced. I felt kind of bad about not having time to line it, but she's still beyond thrilled and wears it everywhere.

My dad has always proven difficult to knit for, as he fears anything tasteful will make him appear overly feminine. He couldn't care less if anyone else dressed in such a way, and has befriended many a man to do so, but he himself will never be caught dead in anything metrosexual or stylish. I spent most of the fall inquiring about his opinions of various hat patterns (supposedly they were "for the boyfriend"). The final decision was that to be acceptable, a hat could have colorwork, if it didn't depict anything. Tassles were acceptable, as they served a practical purpose-they allow him to remove a hat swiftly and easily with mittens on. Cables were okay, maybe, if they weren't curvy (what kind of cables aren't at least partially curvy???) and allover patterns were preferrable to the focus bring taken by one panel. Colors had to be muted, natural, and masculine. With all of this in mind, I found the Groovy Cables Tuque (it said tuque, not toque-I'm assuming they're the same thing) pattern, and knit it up in Patons Classic Wool, Tree Bark Mix, on size 7US needles.

I do believe it turned out fairly well, and he'll at least deign to wear it occassionally. The family thought it looked like something from this designer or that, so it was definitely a crowd pleaser. (It does look better on than off, but no one was home to model).

I also snagged the book Free Range Knitter, and have been reading the little bits of knitting humor all throughout the winter break.

And knitting more hats. I've knit LOTS of hats.

It's Not Knitting, But...

Before dinner at a new music bistro full to bursting with college students, the fam all ran to the nearby Barnes and Noble where I nabbed what I must say is one of the more inspiring books I've thumbed through in a long time. Generation T: 108 Ways to Transform a T-Shirt.

Find it here:

http://http://www.amazon.com/Generation-T-Ways-Transform-T-Shirt/dp/0761137858

It's full to bursting with what seems like endless ways to cut n' sew your old tees into skirts, bags, and, of course, more shirts. Many of the designs seem to require going bra-less, which really isn't an option for this chick here, but nonetheless it's innovative and just the thing I need to get a new tote out of forgotten tops.

Once I figure out what's wrong with my sewing machine, of course ;)

Xmas!

By now my family knows that anything knit related will be warmly received on Christmas-an of course, responded in kind :) Here's what I scored this year...

• Lion Brand Homespun in the Mediterranean colorway.
• Lion Brand Wool-Ease Chunky. One skein Oatmeal, two Charcoal, and an olive-y color I forgot the name of.
• An 11oz skein of colorful brushed yarn
• The book Cables, Diamonds, Herringbone on the construction of Fisher men's sweaters.
• $50 to my local Ben Franklin :0
• Two skeins of Red Heart Classic in white and an electric blue

Not bad...not bad...lol I already have plans for some of it! The Wool-Ease has already been turned ino half a scarf for my dad. The brushed rainbow is already on the needles for a knit Fall Shawl. It's meant to mimic the crochet version, and isn't the funnest pattern I've ever worked on by any means. I'm still debating whether to frog it or keep going.

Here you tell me...if you were working on a shawl with 75% of the rows being purled (ew) when you knit continental, and the few knit rows only contained ONE plain knit stitch each, and you loathe the pattern with every fiber of your being...but the picture really looks warm...what would you do? Oh, and the yarn doesn't frog well. But you don't have any square, rectangular, or circular shawls and want to give one a try. Well? Lemme know!

Let It Snow!!!

Hoo boy! The snow is here! We had to go to school, but left a little early to compensate for any busing delay. As is, plows can't keep up, cars are stuck, and the tree outside my window is barely visible. On the plus side however, a full foot of the fluffy stuff sure is pretty, and great for sledding once the storm abates :)

I had forgotten that in the back of the Chicks With Sticks books is always a few knitting patterns, and once I rediscovered this I started the Butterfly Socks with a denim multi of sock yarn, one of Emily's contributions. I also found some leftover turquoise Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, and made a test swatch of the Edge-Anything Lace. I'm dying to knit up some Selbuvotter items, but I have yet to find any kind of dk wool in decent colors locally. Will have to go on Knitpicks and wait for the mail...

Anyway back to knitting gifts. Time is running out!

Birthday Bliss!

Ahhh what a day! At school I was the lucky recipient of hugs and well wishes from many of my friends, and will be again tonight at the Music Department Christmas party :) I was going to have my party around now, but who can throw a better or bigger bash than all my chorus and musical friends?

Before I left for school though, I was already treated to chocolate cake for breakfast and a bunch of new knitting books!

• Chicks with Sticks (Knit Two Together)
• Charmed Knits
• Selbuvotter
• Knitting Without Tears

My dad also picked me up a copy of Interview With A Vampire by Anne Rice, which is so great already and will become this marking period's English project subject.

Some of my friends know me better than others-my neighbor Andy, who I've known for practically forever, showed up to carpool with two skeins of Light and Lofty yarn, in blue and white. He was rewarded with cake. Later in chorus, Emily showed up with two colorways of sock yarn! Yay!

Haha I'm going to go sift through all of my new books and yarn now...and then get ready to go see my friends all over again! Woot!