It's finished...

The Venus top is done.

I have mixed emotions about it.

a) I'm thrilled to be done with it, I'd originally intended this to be finished a couple weeks ago but what with exams and life it just got put on hold (with all other knitting and sewing projects)

b) I'm really wishing I'd done the Large instead of the 1X size. I think it would look better with more negative ease. I originally planned to make the large, but my gauge swatch came out too small, so I figured I'd size up since using larger needles resulted in too loose a fabric... it would have left nothing to the imagination. Which wasn't quite my intention.

c) I think part of my feelings with this is coloured by the photos of me in it - somehow I hadn't realised I'm that big. But, meh, oh well.

I had a couple minor issues with the pattern.... but they were minor in the run of things... certainly didn't really effect my knitting of it.

Blanket overambition

Apologies for the utter silence, my life has been full. I've now officially finished the semester - which might just squeeze me a BA if I end up passing a certain course - and with exams and parties and family hum drum there's been little time for knitting, and even less for blogging.

I'm still trucking away on Venus, but I'm now the the not-quite-finished but incredibly impatient stage. I'm OVER it and just want to WEAR it already. It's no fault of the pattern, it's just me being almost, but not quite, done and impatient with myself.

Meanwhile, I'm planning and plotting - and all my upcoming (but not yet cast on) projects seem to be blankets.

Firstly I'm knitting the OpArt blanket for Katerina for Christmas. Because I still haven't finished her baby blanket, and I'm thinking although I still intend to finish the blanket, I don't intend for it to be her baby blanket as such anymore. Now that she's born, she needs a more girly one.

Secondly I'm doing an Afghan for my husband's sister, who's getting married in March. It's a wedding present. I'm debating between the Tree of Life blanket (Rav link) or just a granny square style blanket with variegated yarn. Still haven't decided. Might not until I cast on.

Thirdly I'm thinking I'll do another baby shawl, for a good friend of mine. She doesn't know it's coming, I'm not sure she reads the blog.... but I'm wondering if that's overcommitting myself at all. Hmmm. I guess really I just want to do another shawl, cause in the end, it was fun ;-) So it's a good excuse!

We'll see what gets done though. So far I've only bought the yarn for the OpArt blanket, though I have some variegated that I'll use if I go that route for the Wedding Afghan... will likely need to buy more of those colours, but I have enough to start.

Because I'm procrastinating

Might as well do the knitting meme I saw on Sassenach's blog - because, well, why not?

The official rules are mark with bold the things you have knit at least once, with italics the ones you plan to do sometime, and leave the rest.

Afghan - I'm actually planning to make one this coming year..... best laid plans and all. ;-)
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl - several, now
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down - done heaps!
Socks: toe-up - tons of socks, and yet, haven't done these yet.
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat - lots. Adult hats, baby hats. I quite enjoy making hats.
Knitting with silk - I've knitted with blends of it, but never anywhere near pure. Would like to - would love to be able to *afford* it!
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater - two 'vests' / sleeveless sweaters for me, one sweater for the toddler, which I figure counts :P
Drop stitch patterns - I have one in my queue....
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn - had some plans to do this not too long ago, but it hasn't eventuated...
Slip stitch patterns - did a dress with a bodice that utilised a slip-stitch pattern.
Knitting with banana fiber yarn - originally I wanted to do some of this, but I've since heard that the yarn is scratchy and horrible.... so I may just forego it.
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn - I've done pure bamboo yarn and blended with cotton. Blended was by far my preference.
Two end knitting - huh??? I'm not even familiar with this!
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan - well, a baby sized cardigan. But obviously I counted it. Started planning one for me though, so that must make up for the other half ;-)
Toy/doll clothing - would like to do some for Christmas
Knitting with circular needles - all. the. time.
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental knitting - my main mode of knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns - enough to know that although I often like the look of cables, I don't love the actual knitting.
Lace patterns - hated them at first but it's really growing on me. And love the finished look of it.
Publishing a knitting book - ohhhhhh but it'd be nice!
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit - I have no doubt I'll be making
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental) - enough that I can fumble my way through it, but that's about it.
Knitting to make money - well, a little bit. Would love to do more.
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca - can't say I love alpaca that much. It's very soft.... but it sheds like mad.
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dyeing with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items - do dishcloths count?
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn - kinda. I've used Manos de Uruguay - so it's handspun, but not like by someone I know. I've also knitted with yarn my friend Lou spun... but the item it was in ended up getting frogged, so I'm not really sure if that counts. Thus I have the experience, but not the proof.
Knitting with DPNs
Holiday related knitting - not counting Christmas gifts I take it, as that's another item.
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking - something about this scares me. Which is probably all the more reason to do it.
Dyeing yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere - I've done a blend, but not pure. Oh, if only for the budget for it!
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern - I didn't design it, but I wrote it in "pattern speak" for a friend.
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting - a couple items worked brilliantly. One item in particular was an epic fail.
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine - funny, I've knit a pattern from an online magazine but not from a printed one. Despite having bought several, with full intentions of knitting patterns from them. Some day. Eventually.
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting - say what?
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

Venus Emerges

Only a small post from me today - I'm supposed to be studying. I have three exams in the space of a week next week (Wed, Fri, and Sat) and I am extremely underprepared.

But of course I'm still knitting.... it's much easier to knit while watching an active, mischevious toddler, than to try to concentrate on reading 18th century texts.

The only progress has been made on Venus though. I am a woman obsessed.

Unfortunately the photography sucks on this, so apologies. The shell pattern looks far cooler in person.

Something so perfect

It's rare that I see a pattern, think, "right, I'll knit that!", and have the yarn, and then go, and cast on.

By rare, I mean it's never happened before.

Ever.

Until this weekend, when I saw Knitty's Surprise - Venus. I love it. Love it. LOVE it.

And it just so happened that I have the perfect yarn for this in stash. Not only do I own it, I own enough for the whole project. Which is even rarer for me, because buying in adult-size quantities is a very new thing on the whole for me.

Like, I still don't really do it.

But this was a special case.

The yarn, that is, was on special.

It was outside the door (y'know, in the "look at meeeee... fall in love with meeeeee" place right before you enter the shop) of Wild and Woolly yarns. It's the Naturally Merino et Soie, which I worked with before for Zamara's baby blanket, and I love it.

It was a pack of 10. On special for $65 for the pack - not selling individually.

I'd gone there for one set of double-pointed needles. Which they didn't have, but nevermind. I walked out with a 10-pack of yarn.

But in my defense, you don't get deals like that everyday. Not for a yarn as wonderful and soft and silky and pretty as this.

The yarn was a gorgeous blue, similar to that not-stonewashed, fresh crisp denim you can get. A slight hint of femininity without being a "girly" colour. It was just, so me.

So far I've knit an Odessa hat out of it. Which I like quite a bit.



As does Zamara.



But since then the yarn has been sitting, still in it's plastic bag, all 8-and-a-half balls of it. In fact I walked past it the other day as it's one of the yarns that hasn't quite made it to a permanent place in the stash yet and thought "I really need to figure out what to make from that".

And only a day later saw the Venus pattern.

It was, if you will, sent from the gods.

So I've cast on, and that's my current project of preference.

I can't help it

But it's getting to be that time of year.

And I really like the theory about not partaking of Christmas stuff until Christmas. Or at the very least after Thanksgiving.

Except that it makes life as a knitter - particularly a knitting-as-gifts knitter - very hard.

So despite the fact there's still two months til Christmas, I've definitely started my planning.

Thus, here is the list that I'm currently planning as gifts...

For my youngest daughter, who will be 9ish months - Radiating Star Blanket (Ravelry link). I haven't bought the wool for this.... heck I haven't PLANNED the wool for this.... or really done anything except decided that it'd be quite nice to knit one, thankyou.
Miss Dashwood Might have yarn. Might not. Need to go stash diving.

For my two year old:
Sheldon Except, erm, yeah, no yarn for this yet....
Miss Dashwood Might have yarn. Might not. Need to go stash diving.
Possibly another little knit doll too (pattern's in a book I have but I haven't gone searching for a linky) depending on time and chaos levels.
Plus a couple dresses - at least one sewn, and possibly one knitted. Would like to make both girls a matching Rainbow Dress, but that may be constrained by time.

For my mother-in-law:
A series of dishcloths. I have plenty of yarn for these already, thankfully. Have toyed with the idea of something else as well, but can't think of anything 'just right' that she'd both like and use, so dishcloths it might have to be.

For my sister-in-law:
Socks. She's already requested them, I'm just behind. May see if I can snag some more Patonyle while it's on special, and dye it up special.

Plus...
a very special scarf for someone who 'might' just happen to read this.
A couple other things for people who are highly likely to read this.

And, ohmygosh. It may not be Halloween yet, but it's less than two months til Christmas, and I have major knitting to do!

Projects Update Post

So I'm almost at project saturation point again.... almost. Almost.

Currently on the needles I have the kimono for Kate. Which is coming along nicely if I do say so.... but each time I work on it I grow more and more convinced that I will NOT have enough yarn. Rats. Have to place another order with the Wool Company.... what. a. shame.... don't know how I'll manage that! ;-)



Still on the needles as well are Kate's longies. Which I haven't made much progress on. So no photo because there's not a lot to show....

I did have a sock on the needles as well, since I always have a sock going. But the more I sat knitting it, the more I thought it was a smidgen too big. But like any dedicated knitter, I kept knitting it, blindly hoping things would work themselves out.

Until karma stepped in when I went to photograph said sock.



Now look closer.



Yup. Took it out to photo it and the needle came out. Guess it's a sign. So, sock is now frogged and I'll restart it sometime soon... with a couple stitches less cast on this time.

New on the needles, I have a lace project! This is groundbreaking for me. It's actually a friend's wool, she bought it with good intentions of making a lacy scarf (it's 2-ply wool!) but didn't get to it. So I offered to do it. Hopefully it'll be a nice change from other stuff I'm knitting, plus if it works out I know what I'll be doing with some 2-ply wool of my own. It's Touch NZ wool, which is divine to work with, in a lovely earthy colourway.



And lastly, I'm about to cast on for a top. For ME! Just saw it today and I'm in lovvvve.... AND miraculously enough have the perfect yarn already in stash. SCORE! More details to come, seems a bit of a fraud to say I'm working on it before I've actually cast on.