Sheldon

Hello!!

Here's the first one of the projects that I made a while back.  This is Sheldon the turtle from the Winter 2006 Issue of Knitty.  I wanted to knit this adorable guy for well over a year after hearing about him on a Knit Picks Podcast and I finally cast on for him in July.  He didn't take long at all, but I had to put him aside when we left for our trip.  All that was left to do was sew the ends of the applied I-cord together and attach his legs, but those were the things I was looking forward to the least.  Once we got back, I had a big finishing weekend and got him all done in literally like an hour - so in reality, I put off doing those things that took hardly any time at all.....yes, this does seem to be a trend with me.....  Anyhoo, now that he is done I just adore him and don't think I can part with him :)  He has taken up residence on my shelf at the moment.  Here are a few more pictures:

This is what he looks like with no shell.

You can check out all the yarn info and such on my Ravelry page if you're interested.  His shell is removable and there are patterns to make "themed" shells for him so you can dress him up.  Ones like this, or this, or even this!  Cute eh?  The applied I-cord was not my favourite thing to do, but since this was my first time doing one, that might have been why.  That being said, it sorta doesn't make me want to make any extra shells for him, but who knows, I may have to do at least one more, this cowboy shell is too cute!   

Much Love, xx

Sunday Swing Socks

Hello Knitters,

Yesterday I finally got to pick up my Knit Picks order, which means I got my sock blockers!!  It's neat to be able to get a better picture of the socks than when they're on my feet.  These ones are my Sunday Swing Socks knit out of Stroll Hand-Paint in Cartoons.  They're not the most beautiful socks ever, but I think they look fun and cheerful - great for a dreary winter's day.  The pattern, which you can find here from Knitty, was really a great one.  It worked well for tv knitting - it's not so complicated that you can't look away from it, but it's not boring either.  They fit great and are nice and comfy.  I'm looking forward to getting a lot of wear out of them.

This is a close-up of the stitch pattern

Another thing I picked up while out shopping yesterday is a pair of 9-inch circular needles to try doing some socks.  These ones are made by Clover, and I can't even begin to tell you how excited I was to find them.  It's taking a lot of willpower to not cast on for a new sock right away!  I have to first finish off some of my other WIPs before I can do that.  Have any of you tried such small circulars for socks before?  If so, please let me know if you liked/disliked them!  I'll be sure to let you all know what my experience is with them.

In Itty-Bitty Swapper news, I found out who my partner is this morning!!  I'm SO excited to start figuring out the rest of the projects I'm going to make and the "goodies" I'm going to put into the package!! 

Well, I hope you all have a fantastic evening!!  I'm off to work on some secret projects ;-)

Happy Knitting!!

Well Aren't You Fetching!

Hello,

How is everyone's week going?  Mine has been improving.  I have some knitting I've been working on to show you!  I have been wanting to make the Fetching fingerless gloves for the longest time, but I never had the time or the yarn to knit them.  Well, the other day I found some really gorgeous Patons Angora Bamboo in the stash and thought it would work perfectly.  It's so soft, and warm, and I LOVE the colour, which is called Low Tide.  It's such a nice colour to wear when everything else in nature is going brown, I think. 

This is a great pattern which works up quick yet is not mindless knitting, there's some thinking involved, which is just what I wanted - nothing too hard, but yet still challenging to my mind on occasion.  This is a picture of the first one right after I finished the body, but before I knitted the thumb hole.  By the way, sorry about the poor image quality, I shot this in the evening at my desk with my other hand.

I'm on to the second one now, and will show you the completed pair tomorrow.  I'm working on getting them done so that I can wear them to the city in the morning. 

On another note, I've been doing some Christmas gift discussing with my Mom this morning and since I'm currently unemployed, it sounds like there will be a lot of cutting corners this year when it comes to my gift giving.  It's looking like I'm going to be knitting and sewing from my stashes, which is good, yet a bit of a challenge.  However, I'm welcoming it, and can hardly wait to see what I can come up with!!  I have a feeling there will be a lot of yarn substitutions in order, but it's going to be fun!!  So far I've done really well with sticking to my yarn diet, and I've begun to do the same with my fabics.  I will admit that sometimes I struggle, especially when I'm walking past the yarn isle in Walmart, and I won't even allow myself to go to the yarn store...that would be to painful.  However, I'm working my willpower, and have been looking more into the stash where I've been finding lots of things that I forgot I even had, which is making me fall in love all over again.  To tell you the truth, it's a good feeling!  I'd recommend it to anyone who is on a budget this year.  Sometimes I find myself surprised at how much I do own, and I'm sure you'd find the same.  Christmas is a time of year to think about giving, and not getting, and I think this is helping me with that.

Well, I'm off to make a latte, and sit down with my knitting.  Have a great day everyone!