Startitis

I've definitely got it bad.

Exhibit A:



That's a Classic Merino pullover for Big Niece. It's almost done, with only the underarm seaming (it's knit in the round, following EZ's directions for a seamless saddle-shoulder sweater) and end-weaving remaining. But did I spend the remaining hour to finish this off before moving on? No, of course not. Instead, I cast on for

Exhibit B:



A striped cardigan, knit in one piece, for Baby Niece. Knit in alternating stripes of Classic Merino (the lighter green) and Swish Superwash left over from Robin Hood, with a seed stitch buttonband border knit in in intarsia as I go.

I'm pretty proud of myself on this one, though, as I've found what I think is a good way to get around cutting the yarn for every stripe and leaving myself with all those ends to weave:



The way this is knit, I never have to trail my main leafy-green yarn, because it's always in use to either work the buttonhole band or to do the buttonhole band AND the stripe. The dark green, though, is trailed every time I knit with leaf-green, and since I have to use a separate piece of yarn for the button band, that gets trailed when I'm knitting the leafy green stripes. (Come to think of it, I don't ever have to trail that. I could just use intarsia and keep knitting the button band with it even though I'm not actually doing a color change.)

Anyway, whenever I have to trail the dark green, I tuck it behind the working leafy-green yarn as I go. It's almost invisible from the right side, unless I really stretch the fabric, and avoids having a big loop of yarn on the reverse side. This means that there are much fewer ends for me to do!

And, of course, I'm still not done with the raglan from my last post. I did get done, but I have issues with it, which will be detailed next, once I rework them.

I also started a Christmas present for my husband, but I'm not posting that on here, because he occasionally reads. If you have me on Ravelry, though, you'll see soon enough :)

Oh, and when the new Magknits came out, I just HAD to make the Burridge Blanket. I've been meaning to make an afghan for my brother-in-law, and this was exactly what I envisioned for him. Unfortunately, the yarn I originally ordered (Caron Simply Soft...what, you think I'm made of money, to be able to afford a blanket's amount of wool?), though claiming to be off-white, was actually butter-yellow. Despite my husband's assurances that it looked nice, I'm sending it back and getting Bone instead. Because the husband is also the one that liked the Autumnal Gay Flag blanket. So. He obviously can't be trusted.

So, lots of things to work on! The baby stuff has to be done first, because I need to mail that next weekish. That leaves me with the Nativity, Burridge (which may be done for Christmas, or left for BIL's birthday in April), husband's gift, and, hopefully, a sweater for Husband. He knows all about the sweater, so that'll get posted here.

There once was a Mary

Who looked like a shoe:



This is how far I got with the Nativity scene I'm making for the in-laws. I figured I'd start with Mary, just in case I only get that far. Oddly enough, she's halfway done here! Only the Baby/manger, Joseph, wise men, shepherds, and sheep to go! And the Husband says that his grandparents will want one, too. Oh well. I still have time before December!

(Guess what yarn I'm using. Just guess.)

The Lucky cardigan is progressing nicely. Nothing really to say or show - it basically looks the same. I'm almost up to the sleeve shaping on the back.

And the third clue for the Mystery Stole came out Friday. By 2am Saturday, I was done with it. It's coming out so pretty!



Sadly, no new clue this Friday because of Harry Potter 7! Yes, I am a HP fan, and have the book ordered, so there may or may not be an update next Monday.

Hubris

Warning: this is long and picture-heavy.

Well, it keeps me humble, huh? I just finished what I thought was a lovely FO -- Rona -- and thought I was pretty hot stuff. "Hey," I thought, "I can do lace! And lots of it! And in a circle! Go me! I can do anything!"

Um, yeah. Not so much.

Enter sweaters:

1. This is an oldie bot goody. The Sweet Mary-Jane, the pattern for which is now off the Knitpicks website. I swatched and everything, and decided that the medium size would fit me well. I cast on, and dilligently knit about, oh, six inches. It was coming out quite pretty!



Then something possessed me to take it off the needles and measure it.



See that? That's the body of the cardigan folded over. That's 22 inches, you're reading it right. That means that I'd end up with a 44 inch chest to fit my 36 inch frame. And ease is good and all, but not THAT much!

Frrrooooggg.

I wanted to cast on for a smaller size, but lost the pattern, so, instead, this became the Mystery Stole 3 stole. More on that later, but it's going much better. The yarn, btw, is Knitpicks Shadow in Lost Lake, a really gorgeous mossy green.

But that's not why we're here. We're here to talk about FAILURES, so let's move onto

2. I've been dying to make the Rambling Rose Cardigan by Laura Zukaite (scroll down). I even had the what I thought was perfect yarn for it -- Paton's Classic Merino in Regency for the background and Petal Pink for the lacy parts. I swatched, carelessly (in my defense, what do I ever make that requires precise swatching? Not shawls. Not socks, really, especially since I know the yarns I work with now. Not baby things, since I knit loosely and the babe WILL eventually grow into them. And definitely not toys.), and discovered that my gauge was a bit loose -- 16 st/4in rather than the 18 (I think?) called for in the pattern.

Not to worry. I sat down and cranked out the chest measurements that my gauge would give, and decided that the resulting 36 inches (I think) would fit me better than the 30 inch chest the pattern was written for. So I boldly cast on, omitting the shell pattern which, I think, really detracts from the crisp lines of the cardigan. And, of course, I was knitting the back and fronts in one piece.

Everything was going great -- I was even digging the way the variegated yarn was working out for the pattern -- and then I remembered that my waist is NOT 36 inches, and the cardigan had no shaping. And part of why I loved this pattern was the sleek fit. So I decided to give the pattern some shaping. By just throwing in some decreases:



See that buckling? Yeah. I could fix that by placing the decreases differently, but that would make the lace panels all wonky. Maybe if I made it tight enough, the stretch would even the lace out, but I'm not sure I want to knit an entire cardigan only to find out I hate it, so I think this will get put aside.

On the positive, though, I love intarsia. The way it creates a seamless, tidy fabric from two colors is just magical to me.



But I do not love this about intarsia -- the tangles.



Now that we're back on a sour note, let's continue with

3. Having found the thorns of the Rambling Rose (har, har...), and having danced my last dance with Mary Jane (har...har...), I scrambled around looking for any sweater (because I HAD to make an adult sweater, dangit) pattern I could find, and stumbled across Lucky wrap cardigan from Stitch'n'Bitch Nation. Perfect, thought I. I even have the yarn for it -- the Aunt Lydia's Fashion Crochet thread in Natural, that I got last year with birthday money. I had 8 skeins of it, and have worked with it before, and thought it would work nicely.

I went back to the original gauge I made back in January and measured it, and with size 3 needles, as the pattern called for, got dead-on gauge. Dead. On. So I cast on for the small size in the car on our way to Cleveland. That seemed too big, so I frogged and restarted with the XS. By the time I finished the back during the ride back, however, it was obvious that it was too big and too loose.

Yes, I know, I know. Always swatch meticulously. Lesson learned. You got me.

This one has a happier ending than the rest, though (although the Mystery Stole is quite happy, too), since I discovered that I get great gauge with size 2 needles, and the fabric looks much better:



The old back is on the left, the newly reworked front is on the right.

I'm still making the XS size, because it is a little bit too loose still. It measures like it would fit so far. I have, so far, made the fronts and started the back. I'm hopeful.

A note on the pattern: it's going smoothly so far. I altered shaping to account for my different row gauge, but that's it. It's also not as boring as I feared -- there's enough going on in there to keep me interested. The cotton is a bit hard to knit, though.

And now, of course, the positive: the Mystery Stole. Please forgive the poor pictures--it's an awful color to photograph, and it was already dark out.



I'm having so much fun with this! I've never done a KAL before, and was reluctant to join this one. I only joined because I figured, hey, free shawl pattern. Then I saw everyone's pictures! And then I went back and looked at Melanie's other patterns, and they are just gorgeous! So I had to start right away, and, despite being a week behind, finished both clues in one weekend. I'm so hooked! I hate having to wait until Friday for the next set of directions, but I love reading the chart and seeing this nifty pattern emerge.

(BTW, I've found a good way of keeping my place in the pattern. I took a four-pack of hi-liters and went through and colored every other row with a different color. That way, I know I'm following just the yellow, and my eyes don't wander all over the place, losing my spot. And I've found that knitting the chart for the right side backwards works better for me than reading the right side chart and then the left side chart. Which is nice, because I don't have to worry about piecing together the two sides. Someone warn me, though, when it stops being symmetrical.)

And, FINALLY: Happy anniversary to the most wonderful man in the world. I love you so much, Darling.

No, I'm not dead

I just haven't been knitting that much.

Instead, I have been:

1. Traveling -- after all the Christmas travel, we went to Michigan for a wedding. I got to wear one of the pairs of my new earrings!

2. Reading -- though thus far, it's just Harry Potter.

3. Cleaning -- the apartment is shiny! In fact, it's so shiny I'm showing it off! I also cleaned out my closet and donated 3 big bags of clothes and two boxes of dishes and appliances.

4. Sleeping! I've been getting to bed before midnight and getting (gasp!) at least 7 hours of sleep most nights!

Oh, but don't think that I've abandoned knitting! Not so. It's just that the projects I have are worked in smaller yarn and therefore go slower.

First up, we have very happy socks in Soccota (is that how you spell it?). I love the colorway. It's my train knitting.



Secondly, we have a toddler dress from Adorable Knits for Tots, in Aunt Lydia's Fashion Crochet. Again, since this photo, I've finished the entire back. Even though my gauge was just about on, it's coming out a bit wider. This was not a problem, since I started the smallest size for my younger niece, but once I discovered that it was a wider fabric, I've been following length directions for the 1-2 year size for my older niece. It's so nice to have two girls to knit for :)



This yarn is hard to knit with. It's soft and all, but it's not squishy, so it's hard on my right hand. The smallish size 2 needles are jabby, too.

Finally, a baby jacket for another friend's baby girl, E. E was born just before Christmas, and is the cutest thing ever. Unfortunately, the jacket had the same gauge issue, and since she wouldn't be able to wear the 1-2 year old size for a while, I ripped it out (even though I was halfway up the back) and started over. This is as far as I got with the remake.



Oh, and the pattern is from Garnstudio, and the yarn is the same Aunt Lydia's stuff.

Anyway, I've also not been on the computer as much, so please don't take my lack of comments personally!

Also, I made a few knitting resolutions.

1. Not to knit so much! I know that sounds like something I should be striving away from, but really, it wasn't healthy and it got me burned out. Plus, slowing down allows me to enjoy the process more. It's working already!

2. Not to buy any crafting supplies until March (although this may get extended to April). I have a huge stash, and there's no need to buy more. I've done well so far, only buying a subscription to Vogue Knitting (discounted) and getting A Gathering of Lace as a gift from my wonderful husband.

3. To try new a different yarns. I've been in a Knitpicks rut, but I think if I do well with my yarn diet, I'll feel okay about spending a bit more for my next project!

4. Along with 2 and 3: To do my research and try and use yarns that are as ethically and environmentally friendly as possible! That means knitting out of my stash first, supplementing with locally made handspun, researching companies that are known for environmental and social action, and getting yarn second-hand. All of which are just fine by me. In fact, I'm trying to change to green and ethical things in all aspects of my life. It is HARD. I keep having to remind myself to take small steps, one at a time, because otherwise it gets really overwhelming, really quickly.

Stay tuned to see what, exactly, I have in my stash -- and what I have planned! You'll even get to vote!

Shoulda made a scarf

This alpaca baby sweater will be the end of me, I swear.

I knit all the pieces and start to put in the sleeves, and get this:



The sleeves seem to be too narrow. They're 8 inches around, so they'll probably fit, but it LOOKS bad. Maybe it's just that the body is too wide. In either case, I am far from crazy about how it looks. Maybe all sweaters look like this; I don't know. Then there's that bunching at the top. I can never seem to avoid it, no matter how carefully I seam. Advice?

I really should frog out the sleeves and/or the body and redo it, and if it were anything but alpaca, I would, but this yarn hates being frogged.

I like the neckline and the hood, though. I might use them again. The split neckline I figured out myself, and the hood was straight from Robin Hood, except I grafted the top rather than seaming.

I'd just like very much to be happy with this sweater. Maybe I should suck it up and go out and get another skein and redo the sleeves. Or just frog very, very carefully and redo the sleeves. What would you do? Am I imagining the defects, or what?

Kick!

Yeah, I'm definitely on a sock kick (pun intended).

See, my husband was out of town. I went to pick him up Sunday, which involved a 1.5 hr ride on the El. Especially for such an occasion, I cast on a sock on Friday night, so that I could have the heel turned by Sunday to knit it on the train. (Yes, that means I finished the Hederas.)

I haven't been knitting very much besides the train (I got the Sims 2 in the mail, so my after-work obsessions have changed!), so I'm still working on the same sock.



It's in the gorgeous Lorna's Laces Irving Park colorway that Grumperina sent me. This is my first attempt at a toe-up sock, as well as a short-row heel, and I like toe-up socks thus far. There was alot of yarn in this hank, and I'm using it all up by making these go halfway up my calf. I'm even shaping them to go over my calf. Pretty soon, I'll start the top ribbing. I'm quite pleased with these socks, especially the color and feel of the yarn, but I did a poor job with the heel, and it's holey. I'll need to weave some yarn through there.

I've also been totally yarn-splurging. In addition to the KnitPicks shopping spree my husband promised me, my in-laws sent me a hefty gift certificate to Joann Fabrics, which I already spent on some size 3 mercerized cotton in Natural for these dresses for my nieces; some more of the same stuff in teal and lime for the Daisy Dresses from Zoe Mellor's Adorable Knits for Tots, again for my nieces; and some TLC Cotton Plus for a light short-sleeved top from the summer's Vogue Knitting. I still haven't gone on the Knitpicks shopping spree, but I will tonight.

Anyway, besides that, I took advantage of working short hours last week to drop by my LYS for the first time. I was a bit disappointed by their selection -- almost nothing I could really afford, and way too much slubby/novelty yarn, which I don't like. HOWEVER, I did find something I just HAD to get -- the Baby Alpaca Grande from Plymouth Yarns. I snatched up 3 skeins with the remnants of my birthday cash and ran. Originally, it was going to be the Robin Hood sweater from Adorable Knits for Tots, but a quarter of the way up the back I realized I won't have enough yarn. Like, REALLY won't have enough yarn. And at $12 a hank, I couldn't exactly afford more than one more skein. Plus, cables and bulky alpaca just don't go together.

So I frogged and started a super-simple, super-plain hoodie of my own "design":



The back took quite a bit less than one skein, so I'm guessing the front will take that much, too, and the remaining skein and the leftovers will make the hood. I can buy ONE more skein to finish up, but not more than that.

It'll be extremely simple. Stockinette with moss stitch hems and cuffs, dropped sleeves, no shaping except at the front neck. The front will be a split neck rather than a button-down, cardigan thing that the hood will fit into. I'm loosely following the Robin Hood dimensions, but using mostly my own judgement. It seems like too simple a pattern to do the yarn justice, but at the same time, anything else takes away from the softness and drape of the alpaca. My sister-in-law will kill me for presenting her with a handwash-only alpaca toddler jacket. Ah well, I just couldn't resist!

So, let's see...once I get the Knitpicks yarn order, I'll finish off the circle cardigan. Still can't bring myself to finish the Fir Cone shawl. Will finish the Chevron Socks after I finish the first toe-up sock. Still need to remake that hat. I know a few babies due in November, so I'll need to make some Trellis sweaters for them, since they're quick, cute, and can go for either sex if done in cream, blue, or green. I'll need to make those dresses for my nieces for Christmas presents. I need to make a few toys for the new babies, their big sisters, and my nieces, too. I need to make a vest for my dad for Christmas, and hopefully a sweater for my husband. And hopefully a Tubey for myself...

Yes, lots of projects!

Sunlight

Work really sucked last week. Well, actually, it was good, and I was very into it, but I was there alot. I normally do the 8-9 hour work day, go in for an hour or so on the weekends to get myself set up for the week. Which isn't alot for a grad student. Last week, though...

My laptop's monitor died Saturday, with my presentation for today on it. Thankfully, we saved it, and all was fine, but it all fell into the Unnecessary Stress category.

So today, the day of my First Truly Professional Presentation, I wasn't going to hurry. I opted for getting as much sleep as I could, waking up at 8. I took my time getting ready. And while I was doing that, I was struck by the sunshine and the colors in my work basket...



They're just such rich colors. The deep purple of the shawl, the bright electric blue of the circle cardigan, and the calm, soft green of the cabled scarf.

Right above the work basket, I have the stack of sweaters for my niece and her little brother or sister, and the sun was lighting them so prettily:



Ahhh...

My presentation was stellar.

Law and order

I've developed these slight, but noticeable, calluses on my left hand where the yarn passes over. There's a diagonal callus right above the middle joint on my index finger, right on the underside of the joint of my middle finger, and right above my wedding band on the ring finger. There's also a callus on the side of my left index finger where the needle pokes, and on the pad of my right index finger where I push down on the needles.

I watch alot of TV while I knit. My favorite is Law and Order, especially CI. Although I like all of them.

Anyway, so I keep imagining that if I were to end up dead and found by an insightful detective, and all they'd know about me is that I was a knitter from the calluses on my hands. Hee. Morbid much? Yeah...

On a different note, I joined toe Knitting World Cup, having missed the Knitting Olympics. I'm making the circle cardi from Garnstudio.

Here it is so far:



The yarn is double-stranded Knitpicks Merino Style in Frost, so the color is way off. It's alot more of an electric blue. Very bright.

It's a quick knit so far, and I have a month. What's the challenge? Well, for one, I'll probably be working 60-80 hours per week for the next month. Secondly, I have to finish that scarf, which is SO BORING and slow. And make a matching hat. And make a shrug for my coworker. So, alot to do.

Reproduction

Knitting and crocheting (how inconvenient that English has two separate words for this) for babies is addictive. Such cute tiny things. So quick to make. Yet, with all the shaping of a big-person garment. Yay!

It's a crochet jacket for my niece. I feel kinda bleh about it. It's a bit stiff, but that's common with crochet. It's a pretty green, though. None of that minty green crap.



Here is a picture from the booklet ("Gifts from Heaven: Baby Sweaters to Knit and Crochet") of the finished product.




And the Garnstudio baby catalog for the summer came out, and everything is SO CUTE. It's a good thing I know about 10 pregnant women/recent mothers at the moment.

One lonely little Jaywalker

I'm saving the mate for a bit. It's not the second sock syndrome; I just don't want to be done with these yet.

Guess what I finally finished!

Why, it's the striped baby sweater! Here it is in all its stripey, sweatery glory!



Pattern: Last-Minute Pullover from KnitPicks
Yarn: KnitPicks Simple Stripes in Autumn. I used a little over two skeins.
Start date: December 2005
Completion date: May 12 (12:30 am), 2006

It's not a particularly cutesy sweater, what with the colorway and all, so it needed cheesy cutesy plastic heart buttons!



I love buttons. The cheesier, the better.

I also need a digital camera that doesn't suck, but that's a diferent story.

Let's see, so yeah, last night I convinced myself to put down the Jaywalker and sew up the sweater. Until last night, I had one sleeve set in and seamed up to the armpit. Last night, I set in the other sleeve, sewed up the side seams, picked up and knit the neckband (which I changed to be ribbed, because the stockinette neckband just didn't go with the rest of the sweater), and sewed in buttons. There are tons of little yarn ends sticking out on the reverse side where I wove them in and trimmed them.

In my haste to sew everything up, I sewed the button hole band under the button band and had to snip the yarn and resew it.

I also forgot that I like seaming. It was fun. The finishing took a while, though, and I was up way too late.

And here is the interrupted Jaywalker, in KnitPicks Sock Memories, Grandma colorway:



I must admit, I didn't even look twice at Jaywalkers when it first was published. I didn't even notice the zigzag pattern due to weird contrast of my monitor, and so couldn't understand why suddenly EVERYONE wanted to make a pair of Jaywalkers. Then I saw someone's pair that were a deep orange and yellow and the zigzagging was very obvious, and I was in love. Now I understand. I love how this yarn makes the zigzags look so crisp, and of course I love the colors themselves. Plus, it's merino. Love. LOVE.

Yarn porn, progress, and an FO (!)

Today was Christmas, people. The mail carrier showed up with 5 packages! Four were the Husband's Amazon book orders, and the last -- and biggest -- was my Knitpicks yarn!

This is what it looked like:



The brown stuff was 15 balls of Main Line, and the rest was sock yarn:


On the left: two balls of Essential in Navy, with two balls of Simple Stripes Snapdragon to make Fair Isle socks from KnitPicks. Then come two balls of Essential in Grass. Two balls of Sock Garden in Daffodil, and two skeins of Sock Memories in Grandma. I've never worked with Garden or Memories, but they feel so soft. Main Line feels quite wonderful, too, and I hope it gives nice fabric.

I provided the links for what I'm going to make with this yarn earlier, so I'm not gonna do it again.

Anyway, I've made quite a bit of progress on Trellis:



This is the completed fronts and most of one sleeve. I'm still maintaining central symmetry and reversing cables, and I'm doing the same on the sleeves. It's such a quick knit! Each front took maybe an hour-ninety minutes. Unfortunately, it's coming out a bit small. Blocking will stretch it, and it is a stretchy fabric, but it might not fit my niece. Which is ok, because my brother and his wife have another on the way, and it's a pretty unisex sweater!

Moving on.

I started a lacy scarf for my mom for Mother's Day. That means I need to have the sucker knit, finished, blocked, and sent by next Wednesday. Yes, I'm insane, and yes, I'm looking into other gifts.


It's the thistle leaf pattern from Barbara Walker's Second Treasury. Have I mentioned how much I love that book? I love that book. The yarn is Knitpicks Shadow in Jewels, and I love Shadow yarn.

And finally, sort of a FO:



It's a little baggie/clutch made with my handpainted yarn. It still needs buttons, but it's pretty darn completed otherwise. I didn't count on the seed stitch border to spread out quite so much, but, whatever. The stitch pattern is from the Second Treasury, of course. Basically, it's going to be a little baggie to carry tampons in, so that instead of pulling out tampons and carrying them to the bathroom in hopes that no one sees, I can pull out a cute little bag and carry THAT to the bathroom, and hope that no one stops me to ask, "Did you make this? Lemme see!"

If I had project monogamy...

I'd have an FO for you right now.

I spent all of yesterday knitting. It was wonderful! The last few weeks have been too busy to knit very much, so last night, I plopped down and knit for 7 hours straight, taking a break only to go out to dinner with the Husband.

If I had any sort of project monogamy, I'd have an FO of the baby sweater to show you now. I was halfway through the second sleeve.

Instead, I cast on a Trellis:



That's the completed, shaped back. The yarn is merino wool my parents got me in Greece a while ago. It's a lovely deep rose, and quite soft and sturdy. I thought it was worsted, but it's closer to Aran. I have 4 skeins total, so it'll be just barely enough for the sweater.

My gauge is way too big, so I'm following directions for the 6-month size, with row directions for the 12-month size, and ending up with the desired 18-month size! I could have tried to get better gauge, but I would've ended up with a fabric nearly bulletproof in density.

It's a quick, easy knit. I'm modifying it to have the cables be symmetrical down the center. You can see on the bottom left side where I didn't know how to reverse the twisted stitches.

I finished the second sleeve of the Simple Stripes baby sweater this morning (making myself very late for work, but they knew not to expect me!), so tonight is assembly time!

In progress: shawl, baby sweater, and teddy bear

So as not to bore you all with text posts, I'm showing some in-progress pics of my other current projects.

By the way, by "current projects" I mean things already on the hook or needles that I have worked on in the last month, or haven't touched in a while but need to get done ASAP.

First off, I finally decided that the three hanks of KnitPicks Shadow will become a shawl rather than the Sweet Mary Jane cardigan. I love traditional-looking triangular shawls, so I chose the Fir Cone Lace shawl. Here's the progress so far (I cast on Saturday, but messed up and frogged and restarted Sunday. It's going quickly!)



I love Shadow. It's so soft, and the color is very vibrant. It also feels like a pretty sturdy yarn! It's my first shawl, and my first project in lace-weight yarn. It feels funny to use yarn so fine with needles so big (size 6).

Secondly, my mom is going to visit my brother, his wife, and my beautiful baby niece in a couple of weeks, so I'm sending along gifts.

The first is a pullover made in KnitPicks Simple Stripes sock yarn, following this pattern. I started it before Christmas, but then Christmas knitting took precedence and work was halted. It goes fast, though, and the front is almost done, so I should have it finished by the end of the week. By the way, the colorway is Autumn.



Finally, since everyone in my family prefers my knit toys to all my other projects, and since my niece has gotten a kick out of the toys I've made her so far, I'm working on another one. It's the Sleepy Bear in Rabbit Suit from Debbie Bliss's Teddy Bears. I took this to Utah with me and managed to knit all the parts.

In case you're wondering what a knit teddy bear looks like before assembly, here ya go:



As you can see, I still have alot of work to do. And I hate seaming. Hopefully it comes out cute enough to make it all worthwhile!

The yarn I used for it was Caron Simply Soft (the pink for the suit) and Bernat Satin (the bear's body).

I am also almost done with the second Thuja. I need to stop and unravel the scarf to have enough yarn to finish it, though!

In progress: Short'n'Sweet, Thuja

Soooo I bought the Happy Hooker book. It's my only crochet reference/pattern book, although I have about 10 for knitting! Can you tell where my loyalties lie?

Anyway, I like pretty much all the tops in it! So I started on "Short'n'Sweet." Here is what I have so far:



I think it's coming out quite nicely. The yarn is Aunt Lydia's Denim, but I'm thinking I might scrap it and start over in Shine the next time I place a Knitpicks order.

And because I'm addicted to socks, I started Thujas Tuesday night, and last night I finished one! They go FAST.



They're in Wool-Ease, and they're going to be a Christmas present for a friend. I had started a reversible scarf and hat for her (in the very same Wool-Ease), but the scarf came out horribly. I apparently can't do Fair Isle quite yet. So I think she's getting nice yellow socks instead!

Actually, now I'm looking at the scarf again, and maybe it's not so bad. A wash and block might help...So maybe she'll get a scarf and socks.