U of O Log Cabin

U of O Log Cabin, originally uploaded by a-chan.

I love this log cabin knitting. It's so much fun. I'm sort of liking my yarn, although I think I might need to take a strand of each color and take it to the store so I can get some more varied colors... especially with the green, almost all of my green is dark and since it's for a baby, I kinda don't want it to be too dark.

A couple more times around and I might be done, or i might just keep going until I'm out of yarn.

Next post, I promise a picture of my green and pink scarf.

I'm already thinking about what my next blanket will be. I really want to do a log cabin for the state fair (and then for me to keep once I'm done). I was thinking of using some Plymouth Fantasy Natural. I really like that yarn. It's the bright green stripe in the picture above. I forgot how much I liked it until I pulled that scrap ball out of the stash. I believe it's my fave cotton yarn.

As for another blanket I'm thinking of doing, a giant granny square

Project Spectrum: April and May

Tulips on the transit mall., originally uploaded by a-chan.

The colors for April and May are green, yellow and pink. While I'm not fond of pink, green is my fave color, while yellow is Richards fave.

The other day I was wondering what I would knit with these colors. I looked down and realized I was knitting with green and pink already. Pretty spiffy. I'm most of the way done with a Rabbit-proof Scarf in Handmaiden Sea Silk - Rose Garden. So, my first goal is to finish that scarf. I've been knitting it off and on for a couple of months now and it needs to be finished! It's a spring time scarf, so I need to wear it soon before it gets too hot!.

My number 2 project is a blanket for my new little cousin in TX. I have bought yarn to start this blanket twice. I had planned to do another pinwheel blanket with green and yellow stripes. (my family is full of duck fans, go figure). The more I thought about it, the more I didn't want to commit to another one of those. I thought about a feather and fan stitch, a thought about a crocheted ripple blanket. Then it hit me: a log cabin blanket. I've been wanting to do one of those for awhile now and I had plenty of green and yellow worsted weight acrylic/cottons.

So, I'm making decent progress on that. I might even finish it before the scarf. If I do finish both of those projects, then my third will be a pair of socks in a green-ish pink.

I have to finish the baby blanket by late June so I can hand deliver it..

Hopefully I'll have some pictures soon, it's raining right now.

Stash-flash

Stash, originally uploaded by a-chan.

This is my stash before we moved last fall. I just found this picture on my old computer. Yes, that's mostly all acrylic. I need to find some use for it. I try to get my niece to make pom-poms every time she comes over to my house. She never does. But then, when there's not time for it, she always really wants to. Someday the two will collide and I'll have hundreds of pom-poms to decorate my house with.

Anyways, I joined the Charmed Knits knit-along, click the button below for the link. I'm so excited to get started on some new Harry Potter knits. I owe my fiancé a hat to match his Hufflepuff scarf I knit him for the last movie premier.



And I think I'll knit myself a Slytherin scarf and hat set. Not that I like Slytherin that much, but green is my color. Maybe my nieces and nephew need some Gryffindor hats. They do need new hats.

Blue pinwheel blanket

Blue pinwheel blanket, originally uploaded by a-chan.

Yarn: Jo-Ann Sensations Rainbow Classic Yarn 1 skein 615 yards and Lion Brand Jiffy, 2 skeins for the border (135 yards/skein)
Needles: size 9us. I probably could have use to a 10, but that's okay, it's nice and thick and warm.
Pattern: www.knitlist.com/00gift/round-baby-blanket.htm

Notes:
I do love this pattern. This is my 4th finished pinwheel and I'm in the middle of two more and one that's getting ready to be knit. This one I decided to try the garter stitch border to combat the edge roll that plagues these blankets. It worked very well. The only problem I have with it is that it puckers a little along the color change line. It's still cute though.

Project Spectrum

I joined another -along. This time it's Project Spectrum. (click the image above to get a full run-down of what this is) Last year I wasn't organized enough to even try. This year, it's all different. I'm finishing projects!

So, Feb. and Mar. are the first two months. The colors are blue, white, and gray. I'm currently knitting a blue, white, and blue-gray pinwheel blanket:



Right now I have it scrunched up on a size 9, 32" circular.... I'm waiting till I get paid so I can buy a 60". Hopefully that will help a little. I only want to do another two inches in the solid blue (garter stitch), so I'm crossing my fingers it will fit on the 60". I can hardly move the stitches it's so tight. This blanket is for baby Andrew, my cousin's newborn. I had hoped to get it done before he was born, but I ran into that problem with the needle.

I'm not sure what my next blue/white/gray project will be. I might do some blue scrapbooking, that might be fun. Or, I have this blue and white self-striping sock yarn (regia nation something or other). It's for a costume I want to make for an anime convention. I don't plan on going to an conventions for another year, so I really don't need to start the socks, but it would be the perfect project for March. They are going to be knee-high, so I'm crossing my fingers that I have enough. (the yarn is pictured below)

Another project I've been thinking about is a cookie monster hat. Check out this yarn:



That blue fluffy stuff? Wouldn't it be perfect for a cookie monster hat? And then all I'd need to do is add some eyes. It's exciting.

Oh, I also made a PS set on flickr of all my pictures that are mainly blue/white/gray.

Square!

SUC53675.JPG, originally uploaded by a-chan.

Here is my square for Larissa's square-along.

Yarn: Koigu KPPPM, not sure on the color, I'll have to look for the tag
Needles: 3US
Pattern: secret square pattern from Larissa's future book
Size: Blocked to 7.5 inches

This took me a few evening knitting sessions and one afternoon. It could be done in one sitting if I had the time. However, with all the baby blankets I'm working on, all my other knitting time is very limited (like 20-30 minutes before bed)

Next up, I have some old leftover pink yarn from a baby hat that I think might work for one of these squares. If it doesn't work, then I have some other sock yarn I might raid.

Oh, and Sophie Rae Danger was born this morning! Babies, babies everywhere.

square to be

SUC53621.JPG, originally uploaded by a-chan.

Here's a sneak peek at the yarn I choose to knit my square for Larissa's square along. It's done, but not blocked. It will probably block to 7.5"

I've been working on some blankets and a hat for my new nephew. He came a month early, but all's good. Everyone is home and healthy. The niece isn't liking it too much, but she'll get use to it. The blanket I'm knitting for Baby Evan is black and dark green Reynold's Utopia. It's the best acrylic yarn I've ever knit with. His hat is some ggh Aspen. I love that yarn. I think I'll need to buy some for a hat for myself. It's so squishy!

I started Baby Andrew's blanket and it looks real cool. It's just some varigated acrylic I got at the craft store. But it's blue and white and it's coming out to look like winter camo. Super-neat!

I'm still at a stand still with Baby Sophie's blanket. The yarn store hasn't gotten a new shipment of Plymouth Encore and I'm totally out. I might need to pick a new color or order some online.

Speaking of ordering online, I'm super excited about Blue Moon Fiber Art's geisha! I'm not sure what colorway I'm going to order, but I'm so going order a skein as soon as payday comes... a whole week. Not sure if I can last. I might do a clapotis or a Print o' the Wave stole. I'm super scared of knitting the PotWS, but I think I'm ready to bite the bullet and do some real lace.

Meathead number 3

Meathead number 3, originally uploaded by a-chan.

Colors are off again because lack of lighting. I need to set my alarm earlier tomorrow so I will get up and take pictures in daylight.

Specs:
Meathead pattern knit on size 17 needles (16' circs and dpns) to get gauge
colors are sable (brown), kiwi and fuscia

Decoration is a bunch of old butterly beads found in my old bead stash. My niece helped pick them out because it's going to be her hat.

Meathead #3

I've finished my 3rd meathead, however, there are no pictures because I can't figure out what I want to put on it for embellishment. Maybe a yo-yo? Or a super-cool button?

The hat was knit with lamb's pride bulky in kiwi, sable, and fuscia. I like it a lot, but nothing is inspiring me. Perhaps I should dig through my craft room some more. I finally got it semi-organized today.

Meathead #2

This was the first Meathead I knit. I didn't check my guage and knit it with the size US15 circular and dpns. I knit the small size, but it turned out even smaller than it was suppose to. I had tons of fuscia left over.

The colors in this picture are off. The color I used was fuscia and the granny square is emerald and olive greens. It's dark by the time I get home from work, so I had to use the flash.

The granny square was inspired by a bunch of old granny squares I found while digging through my craft supplies trying to figure out the best thing to put on the hat.

Meathead Knit-along

Meathead Knit-along
Originally uploaded by a-chan.

I was happy to join Larissa's knit-along to test knit this hat for her book. The pattern was really great. Nice and easy and fast! I love knitting with Brown Sheep's Lamb's Pride bulky yarn.

I used my US size 17 16" circs and dpns to knit the hat in the round to avoid seaming. It was a quick knit, coming in under 2 hours. I crocheted an anime style vein for the decoration over the left ear.

I'm not sure how the point looks on me, but I like how this hat turned out. This is the first of two hats I knit. The other one is in fuscia and it's smaller because I knit the smaller size and I didn't check my gauge, so it's really small. I'll get a picture of it later.

State Fair Knit-along

Well, I guess I mentioned doing the State Fair Knit-along in my last post. It's getting closer to the time to turn my stuff in and I'm not quite done with them. I have some ends to weave in on my Blackberry, and the One Skein Wonder. I'm not too happy with the baby hat, so I might buy new yarn and re-knit it. Katja is ready too go. My felted bag needs some more felting and some decorating. I was thinking of putting some yo-yo's on it.

Needless to say, I'm going to be crafting all day today. However, I might get distracted by the baby sweater I'm knitting out of Last Minute Knitted Gifts cuz it's coming along nice and fast (0-6 month size). It's out of Plymouth yarn's Fantasy Naturale 100% cotton mercerized. I'm loving it. I used it for my niece's Katja and it turn out nice. I love how this yarn is so soft once knit... And it's relatively cheap, compaired to some of the other cotton's I've come across in various LYS.

Oh, and I have pictures!
Blackberry:


Baby hat:


Felted bag:


Baby sweater: