Pretty Fly

Skirt made with butterfly stitch and sweet thrifted yarn (for cheap)

Itty Bitty Sweater

Just completed baby sweater for my friend Jennifer who is having a baby at the end of October. The yarn is pompom from Filatura Di Crosa. Man, it's a huge pain to work with because all those little pompoms get stuck on the wrong side of the work. Quick knit otherwise.
Two of my other friends and I had a shower for the mom to be last weekend in WV. It was nice to visit with my girlfriends and my family. Only 2 more weeks until the road trip to come visit you girls. I'm very excited....but under no circumstance am I to buy anymore than $25 worth of yarn at the festival. I'm counting on the two of you....

Love.

Pattern: Lace Surplice Top by Gayle Bunn

Source: Nashua Handknits: North American Designer Collection #4

Yarn: Nashua Ecologie Cotton

Needle: US 3 & 4

Start: May 25, 2008

Finish: September 13, 2008

This turned out awesome. I had some problems along the way, but it turned out great. I love it. Its my new favorite knit. I had gauge issues in the beginning, but once I worked those out, it was pretty smooth sailing. Until I ran out of yarn. Because of the gauge issues, I ended up knitting this on size 4 needles instead of the reccommended size 6. And I added 3 pattern repeats in the body; both of those resulted in using more yarn than called for. I didn't have enough to make sleeves for the top, so I ended up making it a sleeveless top, which worked out just fine. I have worn this twice already and I LOVE it. It fits perfectly, is really flattering, and is comfortable! It is definatly a winner.

Molly and I are going to the local yarn store and to a knitting club tonight. I told her to recruit some people for a knitting club and she produced. All she had to do was wear her sweater to school one day. A girl in her office noticed, asked if she knitted it, and informed her of a new knitting club she was starting. So tonight is the first meeting and we're both pretty happy about it :)

distracted

Summer makes me distracted. I have started a number of things this summer only to get distracted away from them. For example, this gorgeous scarf that I started when I was out west and haven't picked up since:

Lace Ribbon Scarf
Knitty Spring 2008
southwest trading company's soysilk

Hopefully as fall rolls in I will pick this scarf back up, as well as the herringbone clutch that I started last spring.

And hopefully, as fall rolls in I will be wearing a cute skirt that I have been working on. It looks a little tight but I swear, I tried it on when it was only a few inches long and it fit. I swear. That's what I keep telling myself when I look at my butt compared to the area inside of this skirt's rounds. It is not from a pattern, but it is similar to a couple patterns, including the flirty skirt, and Tina's Skirt because the body of it is in the same butterfly stitch. The bottom of mine is going to be a band of green... can you imagine it?
Also-- I am using the yarn that I thrifted back in mpls for $2.50!!

Coreopsis

Pattern: Retro Rib

Source: Favorite Socks

Yarn: Knit Picks Bare Fingering, dyed by me with coreopsis flowers

Needle: US 2

Start: July 4, 2008

Finish: August 30, 2008

I LOVE these socks. What can I say? They are perfect - love the color, love the pattern, love the contrasting trim. Love love love.

Winter sweater in the middle of summer

Pattern: Skating Sweater

Source: Twinkle's Big City Knits

Yarn: Rowan Big Wool

Needle: US 17

Start: February 2, 2008
Finish: August 24, 2008

I started this sweater way back in February, knit about two inches and put it aside. I picked it up again a few weeks ago and finished it in less than a week... Knitting on size 17s goes fast! I had originally made a different sweater (Venus) with this yarn, but I didn't like how that sweater fit and I never wore it because it was impracticle - 3/4 sleeves in heavy wool just doesn't work. So I ripped it and knit this with the yarn. Anyway, I like this sweater much better; it is really comfortable and soft. And its gonna be really warm! I think I will wear it quite a bit.

I pretty much knit it as in the pattern; however I lengthened it by about 3 inches and widened the sleeves by 6 stitches. Even with that modification, the sleeves are still pretty tight. And I have rather stick-like sleeves.

*****

Molly and I went with a couple friends to Chaco Culture National Historic Site yesterday. It was an amazing place to visit and we are excited to go back again this fall when it is a bit cooler and we can stay overnight. It is in the middle of nowhere (~75 miles from the nearest town), so the night sky is supposed to be amazing. There are more pictures on my Flickr, if you're interested.