Grey sweater finished!

I finished my grey sweater with lace edgings this weekend!  I'm quite happy with it.  I started this sweater as a reward for myself after I passed my advanced exam in June, using a pattern from a little booklet my aunt in Denmark gave me.  The pattern basically used the construction method that Elizabeth Zimmerman gives in Knitting Without Tears, so I referred to that as I was knitting and made a few modifications to the pattern based on her recommendations as I was going along.

I was a bit worried about fit, since the yarn specified in the pattern wasn't available in the States, and I chose a yarn that I ended up not being able to get gauge with.  But the sizes given in the pattern seemed unreasonably large to me, so I chose a larger size than I would normally use and knitted it with a tighter gauge than specified, and hoped that it would work out - and it did!

The yarn has a bit of sheen, and it didn't photograph that well - it's actually a solid color (and doesn't look shiny in person).  If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you can get a better view of the lace edging.

A productive day - and a Christmas tree!

After a lovely Thanksgiving on Thursday, yesterday I spent the day relaxing and working on some projects that I've been meaning to finish for a while now.  First I mended two sweaters that have been sitting in my drawer with holes since last winter, including this one that had a hole in the right elbow.  It's a delightfully warm and lightweight cashmere hoodie, so to fix the hole I needle felted a little heart over it.  Robert says he's never going to stop teasing me about "wearing my heart on my sleeve."

 I also finished the second of these two project bags.  They have a large buttoned pocket for yarn and a small sleeve for a pencil sewn into the lining.  I think they're the perfect size for sock projects.  One of them is headed for New York, where a new friend my mom and I met at yarn school last month lives.  She gave me some really lovely sock yarn, and I wanted to make her something to say thank you.  I hope she likes it!

Then this morning, Robert and I went out and bought a Christmas tree.  Then we went and got a simple felt tree skirt, six strings of white lights, a bunch of little red ball ornaments, and a lit-up star tree topper.  We also put on several gold and silver Rosendahl "Karen Blixen's Jul" ornaments that I already had.  Robert carved a little wooden tree ornament, and has plans to carve some more!

CMS/Colloquium - a mini sock!

This project was an impulse buy from my most recent Webs order.  It's a miniature sock blocker keychain, and it came with a pattern for a sock to fit it. 

I knitted the sock using some leftover yarn from a full-sized pair of socks that I knitted for my mom a few years ago.  It only took about an hour, and it's super cute!  Next time, I'll make the leg a bit longer.  I'm going to make a bunch of mini socks for it, so it can wear different socks on different days!

Shawl finished!

The summer after I graduated from college, my mom borrowed a large floor loom from her local fiber arts guild or adult education service, I'm not quite sure.  It sat in her living room, and my godmother, who is a wonderful weaver, helped us warp it and design woven shawls to make.  We were motivated to finish the weaving, since we had to give the loom back, but after they were finished and off the loom, they sat in my mom's house for over two years, waiting for us to finish the fringes. 

When my mom came to visit a few weeks ago, she brought the shawls (and a fringe-twisting tool she borrowed from my godmother), and I finished mine!  It's pretty large, and very soft and warm.  If I remember right, the yarn is some sort of tencel blend, so it has a lovely shiny sheen.

Last Week's CMS/Colloquium knitting

Last Thursday morning, this was 21.5" long, and at the end of colloquium it was 28"!  Another two inches (which I'm going to try to do before this Thursday, so I don't have to measure in the middle of a seminar) and the first 30" strip will be done!  I think there's one more to go after this - I need to check with my mom.

Houston Quilt Festival

 

My mom and I went to the Houston Quilt Festival yesterday.  We had so much fun!  There were so many wonderful, beautiful, inspiring quilts.  This one was my favorite.  It won a blue ribbon.  You can't really see in this picture, but not only are the animals beautifully detailed, the thing each animal says in the song "Old McDonald Had a Farm" are quilted into each animal's background square.  The quilt is called "Ms. McDonald had a farm."

This was another really beautiful quilt - one I can actually see myself being able to make at some point.  The pattern is called Tennessee Waltz.  It's made with snowball blocks alternating with Fifty-Four Forty or Fight blocks.  All of the seams are curved, but the way the blocks combine, they look curved!  I especially love the color scheme on this quilt.  I've looked up other Tennessee Waltz quilts online, and a lot of people use a different arrangement of the background that I don't think looks as nice.  I like how the yellow pops against the black and white prints (and the yellow center squares are each a fussy-cut sunflower with a lady bug sitting on it).