Monday, December 29, 2008

Back with a new look

Hello after a long hiatus. I've decided to restructure this blog to be about knitting, books, music, pets, and anything that strikes my fancy. I hope it will be enjoyed and that I will be able to keep up with it better.

So, first off, Merry Christmas! I hope it was wonderful for everybody. Mine was certainly fantastic but went by far too fast. I got some dishware and pots/pans for wherever I end up living after college graduation and everyone in my family got me something to do with knitting! I received 6 skeins of Lion Brand Homespun in Prairie a sort of greenish blue colorway, a Knifty Knitter Long Loom and 2 skeins of Bernat Berella "4" the Afghan Yarn in the Neutral Ombre colorway, The Cool Girl's Guide to Knitting by Nicki Trench, and a gift certificate to the upscale LYS. Sad thing was, I can't start any projects to do with the above until I finish some of the 6 projects I'm currently working on!
I have as of last night finished 3 of the projects including the Bernat Softee Baby Brick Pullover for my professor's baby, the Wildflower Headband of my own design, and the Goat for my brother.
The Brick Pullover came out wonderfully with the pattern definitely looking more complicated than it is and is soft and pretty without being too girly since it uses a purple solid colorway and the Rock-a-Bye Baby colorway which is a purple/blue/green multi. I recommend this pattern from the Bernat Softee Baby "Little Guys" Bonus Book to anyone who wants an easy but still interesting pattern for a child from 3 months to 4 years.
The Wildflower Headband used hand-spun and hand-dyed yarn from Rising Fawn Fibers Studio in Georgia. The yarn was a beautiful pink/white/purple multi. I've never worked with hand-spun yarn before and I have to say it is a treat, such a solid, thick, and smooth fiber that flies off your fingertips. The pattern was basically a 10-stitch wide super long rectangle with alternating wildflower stitches. I also knitted a flower from The Cool Girl's Guide to Knitting that I plan on sewing to one of the ends of the headband once I block it. The flower should add some dimension and extra interest once the headband is flattened.
The Goat was made with two beautiful naturally colored solid yarns that I'll have to get back to you on the brand name. It turned out a little wonky and sort of lopsided but my brother still said he thought it was adorable. This came from Knitted and Felted Toys by Zoe Halstead with the colors modified from the Ziggy Zebra pattern and the horns taken from the Maisie Moo pattern. I would definitely say that finishing a stuffed animal is not the easiest thing in the world.
Since I finished all 3 of these projects in two days man did I have a lot of finishing to do and I hope to never have that same circumstance again. I will upload pics of the above soon.

In the world of reading, I would sincerely like to recommend the novella "Shirley, Goodness, and Mercy" by Debbie Macomber. It is a heartwarming Christmas story that turned out to be a page-turner. Anyone who wants an easy holiday read should try it out!

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