Yarn On the House Winner

I won my first giveaway!!  :)  I won French Press Knit's Felted Slipper pattern and purple wool yarn from Yarn On the House.  I've been eyeing this pattern for some time now after seeing JadeBlade's awesome version.  I hope mine turn out just as cute.  Here's my free yarn.

UT Regular Guy Beanie

My second finished item for 2010!  :)  It's a beanie for my husband.  I started this in December, but finally got around to finishing it.  It's a pretty easy, standard beanie... used the Regular Guy Beanie.

I put the UT in front of the name because of the "burnt orange" color.  :)

(Actually, we're watching the Texas vs. Kansas State men's basketball right now.  Go Horns!)  I love the "star" pattern created at the top of the beanie from the decreases.

The only thing I didn't like about the pattern is that the top was a little pointy as seen in the top photo... the picture is with a little stretching, too.  Once it's on, it's fine and the hubby loves it!  :)

I didn't do much knitting in 2009, but I've really hit the ground running in 2010. I'm currently working on the Corona Hoodie for myself... it's a little slow going because I'm S L O W at knitting.  There's 5" of ribbing and the picture shows ~3".

I also started the Colonnade Shawl from Knitty last night for a gift to my aunt.  If this shawl goes well I'll be making another one for another aunt... both for their birthdays next month.  Hehehe... no WIP picture for this one.

I think I'm a little burned out from sewing.  I've a few sewing projects that I need to finish, but it's just staring at me on my desk.  I'm feeling very "eh" about them... I didn't think this day would ever come!  Hopefully, it won't last too long.  :)

Twinkle Diamond Scarf

My first FO for 2010 is a scarf!  I started this sometime in December to use some yarns in my stash.  It was fun knitting with what my husband called baseball bats.  :)

Pattern:  Diamond Scarf from Twinkle's Big City Knits by Wenlan Chia
Yarn:  Caron Simply Soft Quick (Held two together)
Needles:  US size 35
Changes:  Didn't add fringe and didn't pay attention to the length... I just stopped when I felt like it.
Comments:  I love the pattern!  It was pretty easy to memorize, but it's hard to see the lace in person... maybe I need to block it?  It seems like you can see it better in the picture.  It was a present to a lady at church.  This yarn is super soft!

Girls at Church

The little girls (~ 2nd - 5th grade) at our church decided to get together and sell bracelets made out of yarn to donate to our church building fund. It was so cute!! I had to support this handmade "non-profit" business! My purchase was a special request... so instead of a bracelet it's a skinny scarf with little tassels. It was made by hand knitting... no needles! I just love the colors!

Spring Break Plans

I've decided I can't buy anymore fabric (unless it's strictly for a specific gift). My closet and office is covered with fabric. Less buying and more sewing!

Spring break is coming up in a couple of weeks and I'm so excited to take a break from school! =) I've been putting off a lot of things to do for spring break and now I may have overloaded myself... hahaha...

Here are a couple of items (on the crafty side) I want to work on...

1. B4859B - This is for my sister-in-law's birthday gift. I've ordered the fabric this past weekend and hopefully it's on it's way.
2. Hedera - Finish this for my mom's birthday from last year... =P I haven't worked on this in probably a year. I need to get on it!
3. B5246B - Finish this dress I started back in December. It's missing a sleeve and I need to redo the ties because it did not line up correctly on both sides. I've decided this will be my easter dress. =)
4. Bold & Bulky Cardi - All I have left is the sleeves and finding buttons! I may finish this before spring break. I really like the way it's turning out and it's really quick.
5. WIPs - I have quite a few of these that I need to work on. (Amy Butler's Sophia bag and Betty Shopper, B5100A w/ cowl, M5759A)
6. Pouches and clutches - I want to make a few pouches and clutches from various tutorials for myself... I really need some!
7. Alterations/reconstruction - there's a lot of little things here and there that needs to be done myself and other members of the family.
8. Tops - I really need some! Here are some contenders...

View A - White stretch cotton sateen shirting


View A (cutaway top) - Printed cotton gauze


View A - navy broadcloth


View B (short-sleeve) - turquoise knit


View C - turquoise charmeuse


Haven't decided which one - black cotton jersey knit


That looks like plenty to do along with some spring cleaning and MCAT studying and scrapbooking! Hahaha... we'll see how far I get. ^_^

More Knitting

I've really lost my focus for school. I thought I would be able to focus after Valentine's day, but... it's just not working out. I started another knitting project, which I'm super excited about. It's coming along really fast and I enjoy it. Here is my progress...

Pattern: Bold & Bulky Cardigan by Stefanie Japel (The link is for the free version on the Lion Brand website, but this pattern is in the book, Fitted Knits, and this book has so many great patterns that I want to eventually try.

Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in Taupe (2 skeins) and Raspberry (1 skein)

Needles: Denise Interchangeable Needles Size 15.

Notes: The pattern calls for size 13, but my gauge was coming out too small so I went up a needle size. My gauge horizontal gauge is still off, but I decided to go for it anyway.

These are my favorite flowers... calla lilies... I bought these for myself at Whole Foods Market. They're so pretty!! ^___^

Flower bouquet from my hubby... also from Whole Foods. Love it! [You can see how messy my desk it... =P ]

I was craving this big time... so of course I had to make it! Yum yum!

Chunky Newsboy Cap

After a gruesome 4 hours of Organic Chemistry lab on Saturday, I was super stressed. So naturally, I knitted once I got home, and this was the result. =)




[The lighting is not that great because it was late at night...]

Pattern: Chunky Newsboy Cap
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in Fisherman
Needles: Size 13 for the main part and Size 8 for the brim
Comments: This was a super fast, easy knit.

I was watching Kung Fu Panda while I was knitting this since I got the DVD for Christmas. I love this movie! Jack Black is awesome!

Ramblings & Twinkle Twinkle Wisteria Scarf

Well... school has started again, and it looks like it's going to be a long semester. Between work and school, I'm not sure how much time I'm going to have for my many hobbies, which makes me a little sad.... sigh ...

I started this running/training program... couch potato to 5k. It's really helped me improve my running. I'm trying to decide if I run in a 5K at the end of this month. (Running in a 5K is one of my 2009 resolutions, but it seems too soon.) Hmmm... quite a quandry..

On another note... I went through our office closet, which is basically storage for my fabrics and other things, this weekend. I realized I bought a lot of fabric before I really knew how to sew with them. (Aside from the fact that I love hording fabric and patterns.) It looks like a have lots for WIPs, alterations for my hubby and other family members, and gifts to make... so much to do, not enough time!

= FO =
I did manage to make time for this. My cousin-in-law's birthday is coming up and I made her a little gift! =) I really like it, but I hope she likes it. It was a super fast knit. I think it only took me a total of 2.5 hours, which is really fast for me when it comes to knitting.

Pattern: Wisteria Scarf from Twinkle's Weekend Knits
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick in Cranberry
Needles: Size 35! (They were huge and a little clunky to use.

I must also mention that I LoVE Ravelry! I took a long break from knitting/crocheting this year because I spent more time sewing. Because of this, I hadn't been on Ravelry very often and now I realized how much I missed it.

Placemats & Knit1

I've been so busy lately with school, work, and family stuff that I didn't have time to sew or knit until this past weekend. Yay! It was a friend's birthday yesterday, and I made her some placemats and napkins for her somewhat new house. It's made from Joel Dewberry's Manzanita line. The pattern is from Amy Butler's In Stitches book. Here are some pics...



Some modifications I made to the patterns are:
1. Made the placemats smaller... 15"x19"
2. Added another piece of coordinating fabric on either side of the placemat
3. The napkins are smaller... they are 14.5"x14.5". (I meant to make them 15"x15" but in my haste I cut them incorrectly.)

I also received some Amy Butler Midwest Modern fabric. I cut out all the pieces for a shirt and will begin to sew it up later this week... In the mail I also received the Spring/Summer Knit.1 magazine!! I was very excited.

Vogue Knitting Spring 2008

I received my Vogue Knitting Spring 2008 magazine in the mail the other day. I love looking through these magazines... I'm such a pattern horde!  Here are some of the patterns I like from the issue...

~Spring is Here~

It was over 90 degrees here yesterday! It was very warm, but it was nice to put on a sleeveless again. I received a phalaenopsis orchid last year as a gift. I didn't fertilize it and only watered it all year. Well... it starting budding and now it's first bloom after last year! I'm soooo excited and happy! Here are some pictures...



I decided on the knitting my mom some socks for her birthday. This would be my first pair that I knit and first time I try lace. I'm a little bit nervous... the pattern I decided was Hedera on Knitty.



These are my beginnings...

Twinkle Weekend Knits

As I was flipping through the Twinkle Weekend Knits book, I found a few projects I wanted to work on.  Here the pictures from the book.  



I'm thinking about making the lilac mist throw for my mommy's birthday...