3 Years in the Making

Last night I met some friends for a night of food, wine and knitting but since I'm not working on anything substantial on the knitting front I was stumped as to what to bring to work on. Splatgirl suggested I bring the Wobbly Tote I've been working on forever and a day so I agreed, dug it out of the corner of my craft room and dragged it along. One of the things that kept me from finishing the bag long ago is I knit the 2 sides at different gauges. This is because I knit the two sides about a year or two apart and apparently the second time around I had some aggression to work out and I held the yarn much tighter than I had the first time. I figured since the 2 sides had equal amount of rows and stitches I'd just seam it stitch for stitch and it should work itself out.

It was a nice relaxing evening with lots of food and conversation plus I managed to almost finish seaming the totebag. A quick few minutes this morning and the job was complete. The tote bag took 4 trips in a hot / cold wash and now it's drying. It shrunk a lot as seen on the ruler I placed in the photo. Apparently in 2007 I needed a tote bag but in 2010 I really don't so I'm not sure what to do with it now but I'm happy that it's finished...what else can I dig up?

Project Details:
Pattern: Wobbly Tote by Leigh Radford in Interweave Knits Spring 2006
Yarn: Cascade 220
Color: 2433, 7805, 9477, 9446, 9421
Needles: Size 13
Started: January 2007
Finished: January 30, 2010
Knit for: ?
Ravelry Link

In Like a Lion

Project Details:
Pattern: Grrr by Alice Bell - Knitty Summer 2007 (non-Ravelry link)
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton-Ease
Color: 186 Maize
Needles: Size 5 aluminum straights
Started: December 26, 2009
Finished: January 23, 2010
Knit for: My friend April's anticipated baby boy

What I'm Up To

Lately I've been catching up with some friends but when I'm at home I'm re-reading The Lovely Bones. I saw the movie on preview night and enjoyed it but not as much as I remember enjoying the book so I thought I'd dig it out and read it again. I received the Sony Reader for Christmas but I'm really struggling with it since I like to have a real book in my hands. Plus I have SO many books around the house that I have been meaning to read, probably a whole lifetime worth. I'm knitting a baby hat for a friends upcoming baby boy and I'm catching up on podcasts...oh how I love podcasts. And I'm hoping for a Vikings win this afternoon. What have you been up to?

Christmas Knitting #2

My second project for Christmas was the mistletoe ornament I ran across one day on Ravelry. Mine didn't turn out exactly as pictured, my leaves resemble something I'm not too proud of instead of a nice wide leaf. I may try these again.

Project Details:
Pattern: Mistletoe ornament by Lindsey Lee (non-Ravelry link)
Yarn: Brown Sheep Nature Spun Worsted
Color: 144W Limestone
Needles: Size 7 birch DPN's
Started: December 12, 2009
Finished: December 21, 2009
Knit for: Me, I also gave one to my parents and saved the rest for 2010 Christmas

Christmas Knitting #1

I didn't do too much knitting for Christmas in '09 but vow to more, and earlier in the year for 2010!
Project number one is a wee felted tote bag.

Project Details:
Pattern: My go-to felted bag for a gift, a handout I received years ago at a LYS - for the Knit for a Cure MN campaign
Yarn: Brown Sheep Nature Spun & Araucania Nature Wool
Color: 144W Limestone & 43 respectively
Needles: Size 11 24" circular
Started: November 15, 2009
Finished: November 21, 2009
Knit for: Anita - I tucked some good organic chocolate inside for a fun Christmas gift!

Notes: I think Brown Sheep Nature Spun is one of my favorite felting yarns, I also like Patons Classic Wool.

2009 Wrapped Up

Looking back at the knitting I completeed in 2009.

Pretty slim, lots of miniature knitting, only a few notable projects. My goal in 2010 is to get more unfinished items off the needles and get through a bit of my stashed yarn. Happy Knitting in 2010!!