Sunday, February 22, 2009

Pretty, Shiny, Lovely

Look at these! Aren't they wonderful? These stich markers were a birthday gift from my friend, Lynn. I just love handmade gifts. I love the variety of the beads and the colors!
In addition to the stitch markers, Lynn gave me a skein of Araucania - Azapa. It's so soft and silky to the touch. The silk gives this yarn such a great sheen. I've already started a shawl. I just hope it's enough. I'm also using the stitch markers for this (since I need so many!). And the markers are so nice. The weight of them keeps them out of the way and the jump rings are nice and big which makes the transfer from needle to needle easy.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Another green Christine

And this one's for me!

So about a month ago Michaels was having a sale on Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick - normally over $6.50 a skein and - on sale for $5 a skein. I had some projects in the queue that called for super chunky weight yarn so I stocked up! I bought over 10 balls of this stuff! I am kind of a yarn snob but I really like this yarn. For a super chunky yarn, this yarn is soft, affordable, comes in a good variety of colors, and has good yardage per skein. If you look at my Ravelry projects, I have knit over five of my last ten finished projects with this yarn. Actually, now that I think about it, I may have blown through the whole wad! Wow!

Ok - on topic. From this yarn I knitted up two Christine Bags, one for me and one for my friend's birthday gift - same color - different lining. Why does lining handbags prove to be such a feat for me? I have yet to just whip one out! In fact, I still have not finished another gift because of the lining. And yet, I still continue to choose projects that require a lining...but I digress. My friend, Bridgett, has knit about ten of these bags and raves about what a cinch this bag is to put together. I think my next one will be. Oh! Note - when you purchase your purse handles, make sure they are symmetrical. The handles I used for my bag were not - it looks a bit wonky but still works.
This is Frankie's Christine Bag...

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

He's not a girl...

...but he still looks darn cute in it. This is the Baby Girl Brimmed Hat modified to fit a 4 year old girl. Generally speaking, I'm not a big fan of crochet (1) because I don't know how and (2) it's just so nubby. But sometimes I do like it and wish I could do it (like amigurumi - so cute!). That's what I love about this hat - though it's knit, it looks like crochet! I gifted the hat on Sunday and saw Francess wearing it to school today. Ugh! The flower looked aweful! I secured the petals with the same yarn that the flower was knit out of and it just pulled at the stitches. I asked if I could take the hat back and fix the flower. So...pictures of Francess in the hat are pre-mending and pictures with Seamus in the hat are post-mending. (Umm - how long do you think he'll keep trying on my hand knits for M&Ms?)

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Cute as an Eskimo

This poncho pattern, Eskimo Poncho w/ Hood, was one of the easiest kid knits ever. The only seaming involved was for the hood which took less than ten minutes. This pattern is also easily modified by just adding on more repeats to make it longer and wider. The Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick & Quick made the ponchos quite substantial and I was able to knit two in less than two weeks. The ponchos were well received and I hear they're getting well used already. AND...they look adorable on Sylvia & Natalie!