I'm too soxy...

After the crush of the holidays, I actually stopped knitting on anything for a while. That stupor lasted all of 4 weeks, but Start-itis creeps back in like a thief in the night. I've started a poncho to put in Princess Julia's easter basket, and I was picking away at a birthday gift for my mother, but with no real conviction. That is, until I got the book Think Outside the Sox. Life-friggin-changing book, that is.

It made me think about how I haven't knitted any socks in a while, not since Suz's hanukkah yoga socks in December. So I scooped up some Patons Kroy in Cascade Colors to make the Button-up socks (bad photo but cute socks, I swear!), but I also fell in love with Paton's Cameo Jacquard while I was looking. The Jacquard isn't right for the Button-up socks, but they are perfect for plain old vanilla socks that get me back in the sock-knittin' mood.

That said, I've cast on to my new Knitpicks Harmony Wood US#3 DPNs and have been happily trucking away for the past few days. I even knit while eating beignets at Bayou Bakery on Shrove Tuesday. It's a nice way to start.

Elfin Charms

My new book, Charmed Knits, has me enraptured. I'm a total dweeb and I admit it - but a knitting book....ispired by Harry Potter??? Total inner squeal.

The first thing I knit out of the book was an elf hat, for my friend's baby, due in November. I had the yarn in my stash, put on some reruns from the On Demand menu, and began.IT took two commercial-free episodes of Drop Dead Diva (there, I admit it, I love Lifetime), and then a little time with the creative top seaming, but I love one-day projects. I picked The PRincess up from school and brought her home, where she tried on the hat, which is stretchy enough (having been knit in garter st throughout) to fit a newborn or a toddler.

My favorite part is the top, which is very sweet and unexpected.

Next up, a knitted Errol. Wheeeeeeee.....

Indelicate

Now that I've finished the Daphne Stole, and given it to my mother, I can post the pictures of the blocking process.

Blocking is very counter-intuitive to me. After spending so many hours meticulously working on such precious pieces, the idea of soaking them in water and then stretching and pulling them just seems so....indelicate. I comprehend the necessity, I just don't ever wanna do it.

So, this is a crap picture, but this is what the FO is supposed to look like.

(Taken from the pattern, credit to French Girl.)

I chose to use a smaller needle size and a different kind of yarn, instead of Summer Tweed I used a cotton/silk blend. Because of these two choices, I ended up working about 80 rows instead of the prescribed 48, and I still thought it was narrow.

So here is the shawl, all blocked on my bed.

I know I could have been more precise with the pinning, but I was going for width, not a pretty edging.

I used all of the pins in my arsenal, and I know for a fact that I had at least a couple hundred in there.

I got through it, the shawl turned out sweet, especially after I added small oval gold beads at the ends of the fringe. Mom loved it, and I'm glad I put so much effort into it.

"i princess!"

In an attempt to combine my need to economize and my tendency toward nostalgia, I decided to make Princess J's easter dress this year. I remembered seeing a little dress in an infant boutique years ago where the top was knit and the skirt was fabric sewed on. I remember my mother saying I could make that easily.

So I snooped around for a while and found some patterns that weren't exactly what I was looking for, but I combined a few and came up with a cropped tank top sort of thing.

(these are the pieces before assembly.)

Sidenote, I don't actually know what kind of yarn this is, but I think it may be cotton. I'd knit an embossed leaf scarf out of this yarn with ruffles on the ends - which is totally not my style - a long time ago, and it's been hanging on my belt rack for years, unblocked, unworn, and unloved. I decided to rip it out and reuse the yarn. Hey, it's a pretty color.

So in my cleaning frenzies over the last few weeks, I found a dress that I wore for easter about 5 years ago. The dress never fit me properly, but the fabric is so beautiful I attempted to wear it that one time, then stashed it away for some future use. Like if I dropped a good 50 lbs and grew three inches.

Lucky, I still love the fabric's pattern, so I decided to use it for this dress I was making. I learned a lot about pleating as I began to pin it out.

I also became reacquainted with my old friend, the sewing machine. Gotta love winding bobbins.

Finally, it was done, and J tried it on. As soon as she swished side to side, she yelled "I princess!"

So next I'm going to knit up a matching kimono-style jacket for her to wear over it, as easter is still in April and it'll be chilly. I decided to do a wrap style as to smooth out some of the flounciness of my inexpert pleating. But, all in all, I made a dress - out of materials I already had. I'm almost glowing with pride.

You can clap now, I'll wait

Turns out my camera cable was in my camera bag (go figure!), the absolute last place I would look. Unlocking my pictures from the camera prison was a liberating feeling, though I realized far too late that when a knitter takes pictures near a window at night, that knitter should wear pants.

My blocking system for the noro scarf was pretty cool, thanks.

For a knitter who usually just steam-presses stuff, this is pretty involved for me. Again, I wasn't terribly impressed by the way it didn't soften up completely, but I worry I'm being picky.

Don't forget the requisite blogger-in-the-bathroom-mirror pic.

I wish I wish I wish

I wish I could find my camera cable to upload pictures of my recent knitting.  Sadly, I can't find the elusive cable and my pictures are stuck in the dungeon of my camera until I can.  For a photographer, this is a special kind of torture, and for a knitting photographer who has just completed her first noro scarf after 2 months of knitting on it, I am beyond frustrated.

I wish I could post pictures of the ingenious blocking system I had going with the noro scarf - it included multiple bath towels, 5 hangers, a couple chip clips, and my shower curtain rod.  (Intrigued, now, aren't you?)

I wish I wasn't so @#$% fascinated by the 1x1 ribbing of this SECOND noro scarf I've begun, about half the width as the last on as to still get the amazing color effects but stretch (quite literally) 2 skeins of expensive (for me) silk garden.  

I wish I could put into words how much I love my scarf but am a bit let down by the itchiness factor.  I was wooed into the project with promises that it would soften up after blocking, and while it did, to a point, it still itches.  I'm sure after more research, I'll end up re-blocking using SOAK (which is what I should have used in the first place) and I hope, I wish, and I pray that it gets softer.  It's so gorgeous and I love how long it is - over 98 inches! - so this will make it all types of perfect.

Shhh....

.......it's a secret....

First, a **something** knit out of soft soft sky blue mohair, embellished with dark irridescant beads. I'm especially proud of this **** because I knit it, sewed in the beads, and sewed it up in less than 24 hours - and I worked and made food and even slept in those same hours.

And second, a little **something** for The Princess, made out of cotton and ribbon. Very sweet, very little. I'm so happy that I have 2 of my 3 V Day gifts done with days and days to spare.