Saturday, January 20, 2007

Bed of Roses shawl - update


My needle knit Bed of Roses Shawl is growing. The more I knit, the slower it grows however. Since it's getting larger as I go, though, this is normal :) I figure I'm about 2/3 of the way done - 1/2 of the way through the last pattern repeat.

This is the first shawl I've made for myself, so the anticipation of seeing the finished and blocked outcome is killing me. The finished shawl pictured in the pattern is beautiful. I only hope mine is as nice.

Below is a slightly blurry pic of the laciness. I haven't had my coffee yet....you'll get blurriness until then :) The color in the picture above is more true.


Stay tuned for more of the Bed of Roses. This will get done...

Sunday, January 14, 2007

First FOs for 2007


The first finished knits for 2007! WooHoo!

My boss' wife just had a new baby - their 5th! (OMG!) So me (who enjoys knitting for babies but can't imagine having one of my own) - I decided to cast on a few things for the new little person.

I scoured the internet for some freebie patterns and was very satisfied with what I found. The little newborn hat I found over at Bev's Country Cottage - the "Seed Stitch" cap pattern. It was super easy and well written. The result, I think, matches the booties that are from a completely different pattern all together.

The booties are made from a Lion Brand free pattern. I think you have to be logged in to view the pattern - but here's the link to the "Cabled Baby Set" . The pattern called for a different yarn and all I made from the pattern were the booties. The booties had an interesting construction. In fact I thought I had done something wrong until I started sewing them together. I like the way they came out, though...and I'm sure they will be appreciated.

Some stat's on this set:
Yarn: Bernat Softee Baby
Needles: size 4 for the hat and size 6 and 7 for the booties
Patterns: See above
Size: Hat is a newborn size, and the booties are 3-6 months
Notes: I will definitely use these patterns again. Hopefully I'll be making some in advance...no more rushed knitting :)


-Here's some more pics for yah-





Friday, January 12, 2007

Drop Stitch Instructions for loom knitters

I received an email from a good customer of mine requesting some further instruction on working the drop stitch on a knitting loom. She had purchased the Power Scarf pattern and needed a little more guidance then just the written instructions that come with the pattern.

Well, honestly, I had been meaning to do this for the longest time...so a customer request was just the kick in the rear I needed. Some coffee, a few digi pics and some writing later, and wah lah!

See these free instructions in the Instructions section over at LoomKnittingDesigns.com. If you purchased the Power Scarf pattern and are scratching your head - this new free PDF might help!

Enjoy!

Sunday, January 07, 2007

Post Christmas Knitting

After Christmas is always a weird time to be knitting. I'm tired from all the pre-Christmas knitting frenzy but I have all kinds of gift certificates for local yarn shops or craft stores. Need a break but ohhhh the possibilities.

So I finally decided what to get with a couple of my certificates. I had to make a decision quick since it was for a yarn shop in Maine and I was flying back across the country to Boulder in a matter of days. (Nothing like a little pressure to help me make a decision!). What did I decide on? Well, I had downloaded a bunch of free patterns from Elann.com and I had also been wanting to make a shawl for the longest time.

So I had this one (caution - I think you need to be logged in to view that link) on my list of things to knit. It looked like something I could accomplish....so I took my certificates and bought the yarn.

Lacey knits are always sort of disappointing in a picture until you get them blocked. But I'm very excited about this shawl so far - it's coming out well. So far the pattern is well written and easy to follow...even for a newbie shawl/lacey knitter. See the picture below of my progress thus far...


Stay tuned! I'll be posting updates on my first shawl's progress in the coming weeks :)