The Wonderful Wallaby

I finished my Wallaby this week. Given that it's the last week of May I thought I would probably have it ready for this fall. Once again, I was wrong. It's been so cold here, it's just the right weight. This is the Wallaby designed by Cottage Creations and I used Plymouth Jelli Beanz for the yarn. I love the deep purple and given all the accent colors, I think it should go with everything.

Textured Socks

I'm still working on the written pattern for these. But I think I need a snazzier name than "Textured Socks"! The textured stitch gives the self-striping yarn a muted or air-brushed look. I can't wait to try it on a solid to see how it looks. I used Trekking (XXL) in color 108. The stripe does not repeat very often so I got almost to the toe of the first sock before the repeat, so I broke off and started the second sock so the two socks would at least be similar. In looking at the photo; however, it does not seem to be an exact repeat. If I keep moving my feet when I'm wearing them - no one will notice! Even so, if someone is that close to my feet to see that my socks aren't an exact match - they're too close!

The Friday Night Knitting Club, by Kate Jacobs

I just finished reading The Friday Night Knitting Club. I found it hard to believe this was the author's first novel. It is a finely crafted story revolving around the members of a knitting club in New York. While the main character, Georgia, the owner of the shop, is the star of book, I found myself wanting to know more about the other characters who attend the club. I hope that's a sign there may be a sequel to the book.

The Friday Night Knitting Club is a departure for me in my quest to read for pleasure. I generally read non-fiction, particularly history, or mysteries. When I purchased the book, I hoped it was a mystery, but no matter - it was still an excellent read.

Monster Sweater

I call this my monster sweater after the Monster Sock Group on Ravelry (no, it's not a monster to make). I used my leftover sock yarn - so I have a pair of socks that goes with each of the colors in the sweater. Once I completed it, I thought I would have space in my sock yarn tub, but I swear sock yarn is like linguini noodles - the more you use the more it seems to grow!

I finished the sweater around the first of the year and wore it once. It was a little long from the shoulder to the armpit. Usually, I have the opposite problem. I discovered I wasn't wearing it as much as I thought I would and decided it was because of the extra length. Recently, I frogged back to the where I connected the body of the sweater with the sleeves and re-knit. I'm much happier with it now.

The bottom of the sleeves and the body have cabled ribbing. After I re-knit the top, I added about a 1/2-inch of 2/2 ribbing to the bottom of the cabled ribbing. This has helped the bottom from rolling up. I've never had that happen with a cabled rib before, but it may be because I staggered the cables.

Gneil Gnome

One of the fiber guilds I belong to decided to use gnomes as our holiday theme. I thought a variation on the Sven Scandinavian pattern by Cottage Creations just might be an easy way to do that. I was right! I used sock yarn and smaller needles, as opposed to sport weight yarn. I also sized down the lengths, so he's not as tall as a Sven. He's a fun project and looks gnomish enough to fit the requirements.

Given the little bit of white in his eyes, spooks my cats. I love moving him around the house when I know they'll run into him. It didn't take Hans and Greta long to figure out I was behind it!

Entrelac - Mission Accomplished!

Entrelac - The Adventure Continues

The main part of the bag is now complete! The i-cord handles are also done and waiting to be felted. I decided to knit two interior pockets that will be felted at the same time. I like having a couple pockets in the bag for those smaller items that like to hide in the bottom of the bag (i.e. ringing cell phone). I can't wait to felt this to see how it comes out. I found this project challenging, yet it went quickly enough to hold my attention - I couldn't wait to see what it looked like once the next tier was on. I put a ruler at the top to show how big it is before felting. Right now, my large male cat likes to crawl inside. All of him fits and all one can see are his amber eyes! I think he's going to be disappointed when he can't fit in it anymore. At least, I hope he won't be able to fit in it after felting!