Finally!

A blog post! Who would have guessed? I have actually been pretty good about knitting a lot lately. Here is what I have to show:

A finished ballband, ready for gifting...


Progress (gasp!) on my whoreglass, er i mean hourglass sweater (haha)...


A striped scarf...


or IS IT??? Secret skulls, I love this!!!!!!


Also, I got Cynthia to make me some beautiful stitch markers...


I kept those and sent the rest to Jessica... gotta share the lurve!

No progress on my branching out scarf... that is on the backburner in favor of the sweater and skull scarf. But it's still alive! Maybe i will give it some attention this weekend... a nice, 3 day weekend, yay! Well, yay until next week when I get to try and make up those lost 8 hours the rest of the week... being a temp sucks!

Anyhoo, hope everyone has a safe and relaxing memorial day!

Eeek!

Sorry I have been such a bad blogger lately! I have some progress to post about, but it will be coming this evening, I promise!!!!

Hope everyone has a good friday :)

Knitting is in-tents!!!

OK so my friends are trying to get me to go camping. Of course you have to test out your tent before you go to make sure it is OK... check for holes, etc...

But while you have the tent in your living room, it is always good to give it a test run:



See the intense look of concentration on my face as I knit inside a tent. Heh heh... I wonder if I will encounter any "wild knitters". I have heard about them... roaming free, knitting with whatever they can scrounge from the forest. "Free range" knitters, perhaps. LoL.

(Oh, and I am working on a ballband dishcloth, in case anyone was wondering.. haha)

Birthday Boy

Over the weekend I got to go to a special birthday party..... someone turned 1!!!

(Don't worry, the cake was promptly destroyed after the pic was taken!)

I don't think this kid could be any more cute. He is adorable! AND he is the lucky recipient of that baby sweater I made! and it fit over his head, score!


The sleeves were a little long, but hopefully by time winter rolls around he will have grown some! His mom liked it though, so I am happy!!! :) (Oh, and I didn't make the hat, I can't claim that skillful knitting!)


Here is the progress on my branching out scarf... not too shabby, eh? I am really enjoying it so far. I like how the colors are coming out too. The only question is will I keep it for myself or use it as a gift? Oh well, no hurry on that. :)

Have a great week everyone!

Knew Knitting

So by now I am sure you have heard the bad news.... Fort Wayne's only LYS is closing. :'( On the bright side, everything is 25% off right now!


Woo new yarn!!! I got two shades of pink Lamb's Pride Bulky, for various upcoming babies I will probably knit for (also cuz i liked it... haha), AND three beautiful blue skeins of cascade 220 for a baby sweater. I love it!!!

As for current WIPS:


Here we see the classic ballband dishcloth... I always seem to be making one of those.... and also, my small little start to the Branching Out scarf. Lace is fun! (by fun I mean, this is not good TV knitting)


Ah yes... the ol' hourglass. Back on the needles and just to the point of "positive knitting" (past the point where I stopped before) It's good to have it back, and I am looking forward to my goal of having the body done by june. :)

Yay the weather is nice! AND this morning as I was leaving for work, I noticed that the geese that live around my apartment started to have babies!!!! Baby geese are so cute, I am looking forward to watching them grow up this summer.

New office episode tonight! Everyone better watch!!!! Now I am off to play with my yarns. Ahhh :)

May?

Wow... I can't believe it's May aleady!!!!! Sheesh. Where has the year gone? :(

Well after reading Cynthia's latest monthly list of goals, I would like to throw out a list of my own. I am hoping this will help me keep on track.

1. Work hard on the Hourglass sweater. I don't expect to be able to finish it anytime soon, but I would like to be close to finishing the body by the end of the month.

2. Branching Out Scarf. This is a little something for me... I have had this yarn forever that I got on sale a long time ago. I had decided to make this scarf with it, but havent gotten around to it until the other day, when I swatched. This is a low priority goal. :)

3. Scarf for my friend Mary. She mentioned how she liked Maroon...and scarves... and I just so happen to have a leftover skein of that dark maroon Manos del Uruguay leftover from my mom's scarf!

4. Ballband... yeah, i somehow have ANOTHER one on the needles. I might give this one to my friend's mom. Moms like dishclothes, right? hehe.

5. Pair of socks... using SOCK WEIGHT yarn. Now that I have my first pair of socks under my belt, I am excited to make a "real" pair of socks that can be worn while wearing shoes. I even have the yarn already, from Cynthia's stash sale. :)

6. Also, straighten up my yarn cabinet, because it is a freaking mess!

OK I think that is all I have for now.

The good and the bad

Here is the good:


Finished baby sweater! It turned out alright for my FIRST SWEATER EVER! lol.
(thanks to Mr. Penguin for modelling.)



Of course it was just garter stitch, but my first time seaming went alright! Gives me hope for my hourglass sweater. Speaking of which...


Yup. There is the bad... had to rip it out! I "tried it on" last night after putting it on a scrap piece of yarn, and it was too big. Just now I got it cast on again... so I hope this one FITS. Whew!

I think im going bowling with my brother tonight, that should be fun. I'll let you know if I break 100. (Usually happens once every 3 games... lol)

Coming Soon to a blog near you:

Teaser pic! Hopefully this will get sewn up tonight and pics of another FO tomorrow!

In other news: Hourglass sweater might get a try-on tonight. I want to make sure it is going to fit right before I knit another stitch. Of course, it is only like 6 inches long, so it will be like trying on a belt... but it is driving me nuts not knowing if it's the right size. Maybe that is why I havent worked on it? Sweaters are such a big commitment! Maybe I am a commitment-phobe. That is why I have made so many ballbands.... haha. Hopefully I can settle down with my nice hourglass and live happily ever after (once i know it will fit!).

Rainy crappy day... good day for knitting!

Socks. Wait, 2 of them? Really?!??

Ta da! Yes, I now own my first pair of handknit socks. Sure they are a bit thick, and will be used a slipper type socks around the house, but I made them!(they are the same size too, i dont know why one looks bigger in the pic) Woo hoo! 

Hourglass sweater hasnt been touched.. seems like I have been so busy! My baby sweater needs the other sleeve sewn on. Hopefully I will do that tonight, and pics soon! Thats all for now!

Whew

Hey everyone!

I am not dead, just been busy! I was on vacation last week, and then this week I had to skip work again to help out my mom, so it's been a bit crazy.

I promise I will try and get some beach and knitting pictures up soon. Hope everyone else has a good weekend!

Sleeve dilemma

So, you know that baby sweater I am making? I am holding two yarns together. Unfortunately, I do not have enough of the darker blue color to make two matching sleeves. (Boo!) The yarn was from a learn to knit kit... which I just went to michaels and checked, and which they still have (!!!) BUT now the kit comes with purple variegated yarn. Lame! I did find the kit with the color I need on Ebay, but I am hesitant to use that site, since I put my money in the hands of a possibly untrustworthy stranger. (on the other hand, I have no qualms with giving amazon.com my money, haha!)

I also went to Hobby Lobby and searched for similar yarns I could possibly substitute for my darker blue. This is what I found:


On the left: Red Heart, regular acrylic, lighter blue.
In the middle: My lonely bit of beautiful mystery yarn.
On the right: Caron Super Soft, soft/shiny acrylic, slightly darker blue.

I am going to swatch properly this weekend and might enlist you bloggers to help me choose. So far it seems like I should go with the red heart, since putting two Caron yarns (the light blue I am holding with it is Caron also) together would make the sleeves too "shiny".

And dont worry everyone, last night I got a good 5 rows or so done on my Hourglass. Neglected no longer!!!!! :-)

TGIF!

Brrrrrrrr

So the high today was like 30 degrees and it is SNOWING. I mean, it's freaking APRIL!!!!!!!! Ugh!!! I cannot wait until next week, when I go visit my friend in Florida. WOOT! But come on people... this is not natural:


Global warming, where are you?

Onto the knitting. OK, so I would say that April's theme will be: "distracted". That is because I have been neglecting a few things:

The second sock. I have a little bit of second sock syndrome, but I plan on maybe working on it tonight. I am just glad I have it started, that is the tough part!


The neglected hourglass... hiding under my end table all forlornly. Dont worry little guy! I pulled you out and put you on the coffee table, and I am going to work on you as soon as I am done blogging, I swear!


Cynthia went to see the Yarn Harlot in Ann Arbor this last weekend, and kindly picked me up a copy of her latest book. Unfortunately, they couldn't stay and get it signed(the line was huge and they had to get home before it was crazy late), but she was so kind to get it for me anyway! I am almost halfway through and it's a great book!!!!


SO... what has been distracting me from my poor sock and lonely sweater??? Why, another sweater of course! But this one is for a baby:


So cute! and size 10 needles + holding 2 yarns together = fast knitting.


In fact, I finished the back at lunch today and even sewed the shoulders together! (it is a boatneck sweater)


Thanks to my penguin that lives on my desk at work for modeling. (It was a bit big on him) But that was the first thing I have ever seamed together! Fairly exciting. This sweater is very simple, but I figure its good practice for when I have to seam up my hourglass! (P.S. The light blue is Caron Simply soft that I used for my baby blanket, and the dark varigated blue is mystery acrylic yarn that came from a learn to knit kit!)

OK everyone think warm thoughts and maybe spring will come back (pleeease)... Bye!

Sock it to me!

Success! The three needle bindoff on the toe was easy as pie!

Now... I must avoid the dreaded second sock syndrome!

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!