New Project

Materials: 1900 yds honey-colored lace weight merino, 32″ size 3 circulars, 5000 bronze 8/0 seed beads

 

FO: Tea Cozy

I know tea cozies are awfully kitsch, but at least they’re Charming Old Lady Kitsch (acceptable in small quantities), as opposed to White Trash Kitsch (never acceptable). And I did need a cozy for this teapot, which is made of glass and incapable of keeping the tea warm for more than 10 minutes.

Tea cozies, I’ve discovered, are very unphotogenic, especially when you’re trying to take a picture of one with a cell phone. Anyway, I did manage to get an action shot:

I used this pattern and some mystery acrylic. I made the small version but had to add six extra rows to the top; also, I made an I-cord instead of a crochet chain for the loop. It was a fun little project that I was able to do in a single night.

 

A Very Happy Recipient

 

Knitting Adventures in Class

I had my first class of the semester Monday night, and I’d gotten there early so of course I started knitting.

A few minutes later a girl walked into the class and saw what I was doing. Her eyes lit up and she exclaimed, “Oh cool, you’re knitting!”

She sat down next to me and pulled an unfinished garter stitch scarf out of her bag. It turned out she had just taken up knitting last week– I was impressed by how much she’d knit in a week!– and she started peppering me with excited questions.

As I was explaining the difference between stockinette and garter, I began to get excited too. My field of study is not one that attracts knitters, and I’ve never had a classmate who knit. “She shall be my protege!” I thought happily to myself, “I shall teach her new techniques!”

Just as I was going to ask her if she was on Ravelry, she asked, “So what’s your major?”

“Electrical engineering,” I replied, thinking it was an odd question to ask in a graduate class.

“Oh. This isn’t Comm 300?”

My heart sank. (It turned out there was some kind of of screw-up with the classrooms– people kept coming in during the period, looking for the elusive Comm 300).

Aww, well, I had a knitting classmate for a minute.

 

FO: Norwegian Star Hat

  

Here’s my latest FO, which Lindsey correctly guessed as being a Norwegian star earflap hat. I had a lot of fun making it, and it was a great way to use up some Patons merino that was leftover from Christmas projects. Stranded colorwork is my new love! 

 

The lining came from a blanket I bought for $2.48 at CVS, which was easier than trekking to a fabric store for some fleece (I used the rest of the blanket to insulate my drafty windows).  

 

The hat looks awful on me, but most hats do and I wasn’t expecting this to be an exception. Regardless, it was a quick project, completed in under a week, and it barely cost anything in materials.

This was a project of many “firsts”: first project with a Norwegian Star motif, first hat with earflaps, first time lining something, first I-cord, and first pom-poms (which, incidentally, are ridiculously fun to make). So I say it was time well spent.  

 

I’m going to donate the hat to charity, unless someone wants it.

 

Guess the WIPs

I’ve been slacking on my knitting, so I’m going to distract you with a fun little game. Try to guess what these are going to be:

The winner gets… well, nothing, for now. But if this becomes a regular installment, there might be prizes for whoever has the most correct guesses by the summer.

 

FO: Dog Mittens

 

I finished these while sipping coffee in the National Portrait Gallery’s stunning new Kogod Courtyard. Who cares if the coffee is $3 when you’re surrounded by so much beauty?

 

3 Outta 4 Ain’t Bad

So three of the Christmas presents made it to their recipients, and the fourth is still in progress. I say that’s not bad.

First I finished K’s tam, about an hour before she was going to come over. It was still a little damp from blocking when she got it. Here are some hastily taken photos.

  

 

K always appreciates handmade things– in high school I did a large painting for her, and she brought it to her (very small) college dorm room. And the hat looked cute on her, so I think it was a success.

I finished the dog sweater while my sister and her boyfriend were already there, and they gave me guidance on the size of the dog’s head (it was a lot smaller than I thought). Reportedly the sweater fits, and I expect pictures soon.

I finished C’s scarf on Christmas day. I am so happy to get that project off the needles!

  

 I gave it to her when I came home Christmas night, and she seems to like it.

Finally– the dog mittens. I made one on Christmas Eve, but I’m not happy with the dog part, so I’m going to frog it and see if I can redo it (smaller, this time). I think the cuff turned out nice, at least.

 

Down to the Wire…

I did manage to squeeze in some knitting this past weekend. Here’s the dog sweater, minus the hood:

I’ve never made a hood before, but it seems easy enough. I’m going to take the hood from Under the Hoodie in Stitch ‘n Bitch, and scale it down to dog proportions.

It’s tough making a sweater for someone when they’re not available to try it on. I had to use the next best thing:

 
I love how my cat just goes along with anything– I woke him up from a nap just to stuff him into this sweater, and although he looked rather confused and uncomfortable, he cooperated and was very patient about it.

I also made progress on K’s tam. I’m just a couple rows away from the crown shaping, and it should be smooth sailing from there. I have to get this one done by the 23rd, allowing a day for blocking, so I’m relieved that I’m close to being done.

C’s scarf has been languishing, but that’s ok because we won’t be exchanging gifts until I get back from NJ late on Christmas Day. This weekend I’ll be visiting my grandfather, which involves a 3 hour car ride each way and nothing to do there besides eat and play with the dog… so I think I’ll have plenty of time to finish it. If not, it will be a birthday present.

My sister’s mittens? Still haven’t started them. But mittens are quick… right? I want to have at least one mitten to present as a gift on Christmas. She leaves for Brazil on Christmas Day, so it’s not like she’ll be needing the other mitten right away. And I think she’d enjoy getting a mitten in the mail. Wouldn’t you?

 

HGTV’s Neighborhood Makeover

Anacostia is in the running for HGTV’s Change the World neighborhood makeover. I have no idea what the makeover entails, but Anacostia could use all the help it can get. Please vote here– you can vote once a day, every day until December 21st.

If you vote, the Neighborhood Fiber Co.  will enter you in a raffle to win a sock club membership!