New Year’s Resolutions

I finally finally finish the Java socks for Ty. I feel like they’ve taken me forever! I’m certainly not the worlds best planner, but really I need to make sure I know what I’m doing before I convert a top-down to a toe-up when I’ve never done a toe up or a heel-flap and gusset! And although the lonely foot of the first sock sat for months while I procrastinated figuring out the heel, once I sat down and put some thought into it, the second sock practically finished itself. And of course, now I’m an expert.

This moment of triumph inspired my first new year’s resolution of 2012. I will knit a pair of socks for Ty every month of this year. And to make sure I’m not starting the new year off on the wrong foot (haha), the Java socks don’t count, and Ty now calls them his ‘December Socks’. The January socks are started and coming along nicely, thanks to the brilliant fastness of stockinette in the round (with some stripes going on so I don’t get bored). I’ve yet to decide if I’m allowed to get ahead on my monthly sock making, but maybe I’ll wait for the January socks to actually be finished in January before I worry about that.

And for your viewing pleasure: better pictures of my January selfish knitting!

The cowl looks rather brown here, but I swear that it is in fact a pretty green.

Fuse Cardigan update: No joy on finding Shelter yarn in Faded Quilt, both in DC and NYC. Will have to wait at least a week. Boo.

Happy Knitting!

The Wonderful Awesomeness of Knitting for Oneself

Finally! It feels like I have been knitting mens fingerless gloves for forever, but as soon as the holiday rush was over I was able to sit down and make something for myself. And let me tell you, it is way more satisfying than selling something on Etsy. Christmas with my family was great and all, but really I’m just excited about having new gloves and a cowl.

The cowl was completed in two days with Classic Elite Inca Alpaca. The pattern was taken from a scarf I made several years ago, with a bit of tweaking. Although I had to figure out how to do the pattern for this twice. I made a swatch and got it right on the first try, while I was looking at my old scarf, then when I actually cast on I was on the train without the old scarf nearby and clearly hadn’t written down sufficient instructions.  All in all the cowl was a great quick knit and it’s super cute! It will be great to have at work, where the temperature is always colder than I’d like. And the other great thing about this cowl is that it will match with most everything. It’s actually a nice green, although it looks brown in some light.

I also got around to making myself a new pair of Gabriella glittens, in a stunning Tosh colorway – Malachite, which bled all over my hands as I was knitting them (hence their nice long Soak Wash soak in the tub). These gloves are everything I wanted with this pattern, and I can’t believe I waited this long to make a pair for myself with the final published pattern. They fit a lot better than my first draft and I’m hoping that they won’t pill like the merino-bamboo did.

Still on the list is my entrelac hat, but with the weather so cold recently I might make my next hat project more practical than stylish.

And of course, my sister’s completed Christmas socks. My sister really liked them and I think they turned out great! I definitely haven’t converted to doing socks two-at-a-time toe-up with the magic-loop, it’s definitely a pain to have to switch where the needles are each time, but for getting socks done? It’s definitely the way to go. It completely eliminates second socks syndrome and lets you decide exactly how long you want the leg without worrying that you’ll run out of yarn. But for now, I’ll stick to my trusty double points.

Happy Knitting!

Whoops!

Well I was going to post about the thing that I’m currently knitting, which is a thing not for Etsy, but for Christmas present. And then I realized that it was a Christmas present, and it is not yet Christmas. So I’ll talk about something else until I can show off the awesome thing that I am making for a person for Christmas, which I kind of want to keep for myself because it’s squishy and soft.

My other exciting news this week is that I switched from men’s gloves for Etsy to women’s colorwork gloves, because I realized I only had one left in the shop. I’m planning on making more Gabriella gloves for the shop, but I’m waiting for my metal dpns from a certain, which are a lot nicer to work on with the tight gauge.

And I have to make a mouse ornament for Alex’s Christmas party on Sunday. Complete with catnip. Which I will put high in the tree. *Bwahaha*

Happy Knitting!

And here’s a cat.

Plans

Because it’s been a bit crazy on my Etsy shop, I’m still trying to catch up, which means that all I’ve knit for the last two weeks has been men’s fingerless gloves. And don’t get me wrong, those gloves are pretty awesome, and the fact that I can whip out three pairs in a week without having to skip work is pretty awesome too. But to be honest, I’m a little tired of knitting stuff for other people, and of not starting all of these new design projects that have popped into my head. So after Christmas my plan is this: knit stuff for me!! (and try to put something new on Etsy at least once every other week).

For these: I have an infinity scarf planned.

For these: an entrelac hat.

And this: finally a new pair of Gabriella gloves, with the gorgeous Tosh DK

All for me! Who could’ve guessed knitters were actually capable of knitting for themselves? Now if only it were January…

Happy Knitting!

Weirdest thing I’ve ever knit. And turkey.

So a few weeks ago I had someone contact me on Etsy about making gloves for their father, who smokes cigars, and would benefit from a pair of these, but with the colorwork pattern that I’ve used with other fingerless gloves. Now I have to say, these are probably the weirdest gloves I’ve ever knit. Doing the colorwork for the fingers made them extra pretty, but a real pain. I think my biggest issue with them though, was that I don’t like smoking, and I don’t like people who do. And not just cigarettes, but cigars, hooka, pot, I don’t care – if it involves inhaling smoke, people who do it aren’t very bright. But all in all, these are rather gorgeous gloves, if I do say so myself!

Now onto turkey! Thanksgiving this year was our first holiday that we got to host, which is appropriate that it was also our first holiday as a married couple. Ty went way overboard with the cooking, making about 10 pound more turkey than needed, and about 5 pounds of extra potatoes. The only downside is that I’ve been eating Thanksgiving dinner for a week now.

We managed to cram seven people into our apartment and around our table, with only one person not sitting on a real chair, Bonnie got the lounger. There was plenty of wine, and as previously stated, way too much food, so I call that a successful holiday. And now I think Ty is addicted to hosting holiday. Mostly because it means he gets to control everything, and perhaps just a little because he gets to cook.

And here’s a super pretty picture of moss. Cause it was there. And yelling at me each time I went change the laundry. So I obliged and photographed it.

In the meantime. I’ve been knitting lots of men’s fingerless gloves for Etsy. Who knew they made such good presents for men. Oh, I guess all the people on Etsy did. Now I need to catch up!

Happy Knitting!