She Who Knits

Hourglass Sweater

Hourglass Sweater (body)

I started knitting the Hourglass Sweater at the beginning of the year, but had a few gifts to knit that took over my knitting time. Now that they are done (just in time for Christmas knitting, right?) I can spend a little more time on the Hourglass.

I finished the body and started working on the first sleeve. The pattern calls for 12" circulars and since I have a Denise circular kit, I had a 12" circular to use. (I did get a little cocky and try 16" circs, which were way too long to join, before I remembered I had the Denise kit.)

The problem is, with the 12" circs, I can barely get the needles together to knit the stitches because the tips are so long and aren't flexible!

Do I suck it up and try to find 12" addi circs? Do they even make them? (I know my LYS doesn't carry them.)
Do I switch to DPNs?

Having to knit TWO sleeves at a snail's pace pretty much guarantees I won't be wearing the sweater THIS fall!

What would you do?

Baby Steps

Before I started cutting the Amy Butler fabrics, I felt like i needed a practice project, so I spent 3 hours on Monday night putting together this quilt for my nephew.

I got the idea for this quilt from my quilting teacher when i took my class. She brought in one that she made using scraps from her stash and just looked so easy to do.

It's a small amount of 3 different fabrics and a yard of flannel for the back. Since it is for my nephew, I used trains as the theme.

You can see more photos over at Flickr.

A new project (with reviews!)

Inspiration struck!

Ok, going to a new quilt shop helped inspiration along, but what's a girl to do when she sees bolts of Amy Butler fabric all lined up on the shelf just calling to her?

I bought a pattern called Take 5.
Five fabrics and Five hours and you have a quilt.
Ok, we'll see about that.

If you are in the Philadelphia/Delaware area, I highly recommend checking out  Quilter's Corner. It's packed with gorgeous fabrics and the staff was super friendly, answering questions and looking up requested fabrics. I felt like I could have spent a lot more time there but knew it would be dangerous to my wallet.

On the same day I stopped at A Garden of Yarn, (located in the same shopping center), who have moved into a newer, larger space. What a difference in the treatment I received. When I walked in I congratulated them on the bigger space and told them the store looked fantastic. The response was a sourpuss look like I just told them I hated knitters. I took a cursory browse around the store and decided I didn't feel like spending any money in a store that didn't even have time to say anything nice to me. I understand they were busy unpacking and sorting yarn, but it's not like I had 100 questions. A little welcoming vibe would have gone a long way.

So I'll make my quilt and I'll definitely be back to Quilter's Corner, but I'll think twice about stopping back at A Garden of Yarn.

Sockapalooza4 Sox

I've finished!
Slightly passed the suggested deadline, but I am done. I would have been finished on time had I purchased enough yarn. That's what I get for trying to stash-bust. Thankfully I only needed the extra hank of yarn for about 3 inches at the toe of the 2nd sock. Because I used Artyarns Supermerino and it's a handdyed yarn the extra hank was slightly darker, but I don't think it is "too" noticeable. Hopefully my sockpal will be ok with it.

When I was looking for the extra yarn, I went to a few of my LYSs, but no luck. I ended up finding it online at FabulousYarn.com. And WOW did they live up to their name! They had a special on the yarn, so including postage, it was cheaper than I would have gotten it at my LYS. Also, the first hank never arrived and since they have an AOL IM name, I instant messaged them and my order was sorted out right then. They had just experienced massive water damage at their store and were trying to assess the damage as well as continue running the business. I was impressed with their great customer service and will definitely shop their site again.

I'll disclose who my sockpal was once she receives her socks. I'm waiting on mine as well. My sockpal had a frightened  puppy incident and had to reknit one of my socks! Apparently her pup seeks comfort in handknits. (Who doesn't!)

Ravelry

I finally got invited to Ravelry. I've been holding off on doing a stash inventory because I have heard what a great tool this beta website is. I can't wait to spend some time going through my yarn and matching it with projects. Just what I need to get a jumpstart on my fall knitting! If you're looking for me, I'm registered as VelocityGirl. :)

Sock-knitting mania

I am SOOOOOO close to being done with my Sockapalooza Pal's 2nd sock. If I knit during prime time TV tonight, i should be ready to drop them in the mail tomorrow morning!

Nothing like a little pressure, right?