Slow but Steady

Wow! I first want to say thanks to everyone for leaving me such nice comments on my last post! I think 7 comments is the most I have ever had. I feel so loved. :-D

OK on to the knitting, which I assume is why you all are here!

Sock progress!



I think I could get a career as a sock model, don't you??? Oh, and actually these pics are from the other day, I am now to the point where I need to switch colors for the toe... ooh la la! But must save that for sock class on tuesday. Here's hoping I have a finished sock next week!

Sweater progress:

How can I be in the black hole of endless stockinette ALREADY? Haha oh well. It will be totally worth it when I am done!

AND! Today was Cynthia's Yarn Sale!!!!!!!! Look what I bought:

Mostly wools, one ball is cotton. See the two balls of sock yarn? I am already thinking of my next pair! I must be addicted already.

Oh... and Cynthia?

I GOT A PICTURE OF YOUR STASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hahahahahahahahahah *evil laugh*

I win! YOU LOSE! NICE TRY! Now who's the sneaky one?!?????? Too bad the table blocks a lot of the yarn on the floor, but I had to take this shot really really fast. I am still amazed she didnt catch me.

But her dog Purl is adorable!!!!



Purl says: "Lauren is Evil!"

sock that ROCKS

Woo! Today was totally awesome. With the patient and kind Cynthia looking over my shoulder, I TURNED MY SOCK HEEL!!!!! Look:

It's a heel!!!! Amazing, no? Once I got it turned, it seemed a little less difficult, but I definitely could not have done it without Cynthia's guidance. THANKS C! (by the way, it is being knit with grey and green Cascade 220, if i already didnt mention that)

Oh, and here is the sneaky ballband that I finished last week: (like my artsy shot?)

Why is it sneaky? Because when starting it, I got cocky and was like... I've made many ballbands! I have the pattern memorized! I am awesome! And then proceeded to cast on TWO TIMES with both times ending in the pattern not coming out. Finally, i swallowed my pride and looked up the pattern. My problem? Cast on 45, NOT 40. hahahaha. C had a good laugh at my expense on that one. ;-)

Anyhoo, I am glad to be feeling better this week! Got a little progress (a few more rows) done on my hourglass. I will try to get a pic this week, but its still not very exciting to look at (well to me it is).

bye!

Bleugh!

Sorry for the lack up updates. I have been having a fun week with a tension headache, and then the stomach flu. Good times!

Still recovering, but hope to post soon.

Also, Jessica started a KAL for the Hourglass sweater. Thanks Jess.. you rock!

some knitting, some baking, its all good

Happy wednesday! Halfway through the week, yay. Well I havent been updating with anything interesting lately, so here is all the fun I have been having so far this week:


Yarn and a magazine from Jessica! I got the pleasure to visit with her this last weekend, and being the generous person she is, she gave me yarn AND a knit1 magazine! THANKS JESS!

Finished hat!


This is a hat I made for my neighbor. I just gave it to him today, he said he liked it. I hope he actually wears it sometime (although it's getting warmer out!)

And... check this out.....

My first sock! Obviously in progress, but woo! Cynthia is teaching a sock class at work during lunchtime (see why my blog is called knitting at lunch??) and I am excited to learn how to do the heel next week. :-) Thanks Cynthia!!!! (P.S. why does my leg look huge in every picture I took?)

Let's see.... OK no further progress on the sweater, because ive been sock knitting, but I do have several MORE projects waiting in the wings (just what i need!):

These are just in case i dont have ENOUGH to knit... the yellow chenille is waiting to be come a facecloth, and the kitchen cotton another ballband for a gift. Mason Dixon Knitting, curse you for having such cool projects! Lol.

Oh and I made brownies! Well, brownie "cupcakes"!


They didnt turn out half bad! I used a recipe I found online. Here is the inside of one:


Crunchy edge, chewy outside, and moist center... perfect texture! Still not sure about the flavor. It was good, but seems like i could have added something to give it an extra kick. But hey, im not complaining!!!! I ate one just fine. :D

OK well hope everyone has a good rest of their week, and keep on knittin'!

inching along....

2.25 inches!

woot

Jessica got the ballband I made/sent to her!!!! It turned out well:


(I stole the pic you took of it Jessica, hope you dont mind)

I really like how the colors patterned themselves!

Progress on the hourglass is slow but steady. I now am 10 rows into the actual sweater (past the "hem" rows). Woot!

TGIF!

Sweater pics

OK time for some progress shots! Here is my coffee table on the night I cast on:


*Notice the glass of beer, which is essential to the casting on process. ;-)

Close up of my progress as of tonight:


See the hem thats going to be folded under? That purl row is going to make a nice clean edge on the bottom of this sweater!!!

A general shot of the sweater:

Its so curly on my smallish circular! :)
Other knitting news: I had to rip back on the ribbed hat im making for my neighbor, because it was too short. Oh, and I finished that ballband and am currently mailing it off to its lucky recipient. ;-)

In other news, there's a new law and order on right now, so bye for now!

Hellooooo

Still alive! I cast on for my Hourglass sweater, fun! Pics to come later.

Went to a coworker's wedding last weekend, also fun!

Read an interesting article, reminded me why I would never join a sorority:

Article

OK thats it for now, more later!

Blizzard 07

Whew! Its been SNOWY! I don't remember being under a blizzard advisory with a level 2 snow warning or some crap like that. Yesterday, work was cancelled (gasp!) and today we had a 2-hour delay. Sounds like fun, but now Im struggling to figure out how to make up my hours (hooray for being a temp worker).

Snow pictures!!!! Major drifting from the 30+mph winds:


The apartment maintenace people had to dig paths to people's front doors so they could get out! Some of the drifts were higher than my waist. Sheesh!


My car was surrounded by walls of snow, but luckily nothing ON my car and not much BEHIND my car. Made it out to go to work OK today. (yay/boo)


You can get a lot of knitting done on a snowy day with no work! Half a ballband, for one thing:


Also worked more on this hat im making. Hope everyone is safe today, careful driving!

(And happy valentine's day :P)

Brrrrrr

Man it has been COLD! I guess when winter wanted to come, it came on strong.

First off: Congrats to the Indianapolis Colts for winning the Superbowl! Heres a picture of me and my friend Alicia at a superbowl party....

We still get along even though her bears lost! ;-)

OK - On to knitting! I FINALLY got Cynthia's fetching gloves done, which I hadn't blogged about because I wanted them to be a surprise. She was surprised!!!!! (and loves them... she wore them all day, even though they still need to be blocked:)

I used the leftover blue Sublime and leftover Cashsoft DK that I had. I really like how my random striping pattern worked out. :-D

Oh, and I am knitting a ribbed hat for my neighbor:


Not much to look at now, but im adding a stripe in a minute!

OK, stay warm everyone....

Adventures in Blocking

Woo hoo!!!!!! Look... I FINALLY got around to blocking the HP Scarf I finished!

First: Pics of the finished, unblocked scarf:

(remote control added for scale)

Next: Soaking in the sink! Whew... it still smells like wet wool in here. :)



Finally: Laying it out, pinning down a few parts.... it's huuuuuge!


Next time... if there is a next time... definitely making it THINNER!

Misc stuff

I almost forgot to say that I finished the pair of blue fetching gloves for my coworker! Here is a pic of them almost done (sorry don't have a completed pic):

They turned out very nice... really really soft. I used a yarn called Sublime. It has some silk in it, which I think is why it's super luxurious, even more so than the Cashsoft DK. :-)

AND I finished that purple chenille scarf for Megan, and gave it to her just tonight - she loved it!!!!
A really quick knit, and easy! Just CO 10 sts on US15 needles and basically used the whole skein(no fringe). I don't know the brand of yarn, it was a gift from Jessica.

Oh, and I forgot to share, Cynthia invented the coolest thing ever: swatching at work! LOL... I had knit a swatch for my upcoming hourglass sweater, and she grabbed it, went into the bathroom, got it wet, and then at my desk we did this:


Pushpins! Genius, no? That's why she is the most smartest. :-) (the yarn is Knit One, Crochet Too's 'Parfait Solids')

OK well thats it for now, hope everyone has a good rest of their weekends.

Chenille-o-rama

So! Blogger finally made me switch over to the "new" blogger. It seems alright so far, I am just glad my percent bars code transferred over okay.

TGIF!

Lets see, what should I share first.... OK, how about this lovely skein of cotton chenille that cynthia sold me???

I wound it into a nice neat ball last night, in preparation for it's journey to become a washcloth (the pattern from Mason-Dixon Knitting).

And... finally going to knit up this purple chenille yarn that Jessica gave me a while back, it's going to be a simple scarf for my friend Megan! (P.S. knitting it on wooden needles that used to belong to my grandma!)

Also: I cooked a corned beef the other day. (Me? Cook???? wow!)

Mmmmmmmm delicious! with a big pot of cabbage too. :-D Always love a good Irish meal.

And I broke down and had to buy new jeans yesterday, since my fav pair got a hole in them... boo. Luckily I had a giftcard to kohls, and finally found a pair I liked after an hour or so of trying stuff on:

They arent too bad. I am just happy cuz they are long enough.

OK anyway, ... hope y'all have a good weekend.

Super Speed

I made a baby hat in 2 days! lol.... I dont know what came over me, I just really wanted to get it done. It's my own creation, I used the yarn harlot's guidelines to determine a size for my cousin's little girl. Used 2 balls of Rowan Cashsoft DK, one pink one purple. I cast on 90 sts, and did k2,p2 ribbing for 3 1/4 inches. (I really just stopped when I felt like it was long enough, haha). Then I did stockinette stitch for awhile, changing colors from pink to purple and back whenever I felt like it. I wanted a random pattern. So i did stripes for like another 3 1/4 inches or so, and then began decreases. I divided my 90 sts by 9, which gives me 10, so I started with (k2tog, k8), knitting a plain row in between, and then doing k2tog, knit 7 (one less than the previous decrease)... doing the classic spiral decrease on the top (or trying to). I had to switch to dpns as it shrunk. I finished it off with a crappy pompom I made. I really need to work on making those! But it looks alright. I love this yarn.

OK Now I gotta start a pair of fetching for my coworker!!!! I <3 knitting :)

Woot!

I went to the yarn store today!!!!!!!!!!! With Cynthia and Angela. Mmmm, yarn. I did good though, I only bought yarn I needed to make gifts for others. :)


A ball of cascade 220 to make a hat for my neighbor, and two balls of deliciously soft Sublime yarn (Cashmere merino silk aran) to make a pair of fetching for a coworker... we are all knitting something for her since she had to put her dog down this week. :( Poor girl, i know what that feeling is like. (Since my dog went earlier last year).

Anyways, happy tuesday, hope everyone's having a good week so far!

still alive!

Whew. Sorry I haven't posted since like, last year! I must have been busy or something. OK quick review:

ND Baby hat finished in time for Christmas party, but cousins didn't even come! Now in box still awaiting shipping to said cousins. This is a pattern of Cynthia's creation, linked here. Used Dale Baby Ull yarn. Here's the hat stretched out:

The yellow side:

And finally, the green side:

Vacation in AZ! Weather wasn't super nice, even rained a few times, but enjoyed visiting with my mom's family. Some nice weather:


Knit a ballband dishcloth for my grandma while I was there! (Peaches n Cream Cotton)


I got a digital camera for Christmas!!!!! Now all my knitting pictures will be crisp and beautiful (if i can hold it still)(obviously this pic was taken with my webcam):


Just finished a scarf for the red scarf project yesterday! (Lion brand "Color Waves" in sunset red... just cast on what i thought was enough sts and did garter stitch till i ran out of yarn - one skein:)



OK enough pics for now, Hope everyone had a good Christmas and new year's! Now it's time to get all those new years resolutions going... eeek...

P.S. Finished Harry Potter scarf, but still need to block it!

Blogiversary

I almost forgot! Happy Blogiversary to me!!!!!!!!! Since Dec 2nd, it's been ONE YEAR since I started this blog. WOW. I can't believe it's been a year already. What the hell have I been doing all this time? Heh heh. I just want to say thanks to all you faithful readers out there (all 5 of you)... you guys are the best. ;-)

Fringe time!!!!! Look, mom's scarf was done blocking so I fringed it up and now its REALLY DONE! I even went ahead and put it in a box ready to be wrapped. Woot!




(Sorry for crappy photo quality, I need to get a digital camera. Also: sorry for crappy model quality, I need to take a shower. lol)

OK time to go knit more. :)

Almost forgot:

I made this ballband dishcloth real quick the other week for my friend Alicia. She picked out the colors from my cotton stash, and it knit up pretty darn fast. Just forgot to post it. I did give it to her as an xmas present, so I guess it counts as Christmas knitting that's done. Woot!


Not bad, eh? I also cast on for another dishcloth last night. I hope to have it done by Saturday so I can give it to my Aunt as a xmas gift, especially since she's my godmother and gets ME a present every Christmas.

I checked on my blocking items this morning, the scarf feels dry already, the gloves a bit damp still. Ill leave the gloves sit until this weekend, but I might unpin the scarf tonight so I can add fringe. Mom requested some!!!! I mentioned maybe making a hat out of the other skein, but she didn't seem too interested. She said I could save it to make something else. Now there's a Christmas present! haha.

I was over at my parents' last night to help bake cookies for the party this weekend. It was tiring! Got a bunch done though. (Also ATE a bunch... ugh too much sugar...) I haven't eaten any candy or anything yet today, so yay for me.

Oh, and I have the first green stripe done on the yellow side of my baby hat! I totally am going to get it done in time. What a relief! :-)

OK, back to work (hah)... good luck everyone with your own Christmas knitting. :)