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Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Finishing Up

For the first time in a long time at the end of this month I will only have 2 WIPs. Really its only one because the crochet blanket is a long term WIP. Its a nice feeling but its also a little odd. I'm really enjoying the thought of starting and finishing projects in the time I set for them (which is getting more realistic the longer I've been knitting) and buying yarn for specific projects. I know that I will occasionally find the lone skein or skeins of yarn that I buy just because they are pretty, but for the most part I feel much more in control thinking of my stash and my knitting in that way.

All that to say, I have knitting progress! First, some finished objects.
This is the Lacy Baktus scarf, complete with kitty butt for scale. Its about 5.5 feet wide, and I really like it! I have yet to wear it, but I think it will be a nice addition to my wardrobe :) I knit this with Knit Picks Stroll Hand Painted yarn in the Make Believe colorway and size 3 needles. I was surprised at how SOFT this yarn is! Stroll has definitely become my go-to solid color yarn for socks! I may even try out more of the hand painted colors.

I also finished this pink hat:
I'm pretty sure that this will end up in my Etsy shop at some point. Don't get me wrong, the pattern (the Robin's Egg Blue hat) is really cute and I may make another, but this yarn is SO not my color. I'm not a big pink person anyway, and this is bright, bubblegum pink. I used Nashua Handknits Creative Focus Chunky in the Dried Rose color with size 10 needles. The color looked more tan-ish pink than bright pink when I ordered it a while ago. Lesson learned, and hopefully someone will appreciate it!

The last finished object is a preemie hat.
After finishing my Lacy Baktus I had a small little ball of yarn left, and I thought it might be enough for a preemie hat. A lot of the video podcasts I am currently catching up on have mentioned making these and donating them, so it seemed like the perfect thing to do with my leftover yarn. I knit it on size 3s since A) they were what I had with me after finishing my scarf and B) I knit tightly, so it turned out only slightly bigger than the pattern called for. Its SO tiny, and I hope to make more and send it off to a hospital where they can use them. I used the Preemie Baby Beanie Pattern, and I will definitely be using it again. So cute!

Here's a progress pic on the second Christmas stocking:
I know its sideways, its just how I uploaded it, and I didn't want to go back and change it :) I'm making good progress. My goal is to finish the actual knitting by Thursday so I have 2 days to do the duplicate stitch and block them. Maybe I should go ahead and block the other one now! Anyway, this is the New Ancestral Christmas Stocking from the Mason Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines book. I'm using Knit Picks Wool of the Andes since it was cheap :)

I've also got some spinning in progress that I'm hoping to finish by the end of the month. Here's a photo:
This is the new spindle that my husband made me. Its not perfect, but its lots lighter than the one I learned on, and I'm enjoying how much easier it is to spin thinner! This is a Teal Corriedale that I got from Curly C'ewes shop on Etsy. I'm hoping to finish it by the end of the month, but we'll see!

The other work in progress is a secret project that I might be able to blog about tomorrow. Teaser!


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