Sh*t Knitters Say

Love this video. I do the photo thing a lot!

Hearts and Ears!

Mini project update time. I completed two mini projects just before last weekend. One was an Ears baby hat for my new little second cousin Zeffy. It is knitted with Cleckheaton Bamboo so it's very soft and not at all scratchy. I made Tim a Henry scarf with this same yarn though he's yet to wear it :(

Poor little bugger is always hungry and wanted MOAR FOOD so he was a bit upset but here is Zeffy with it on and with my mum holding him:

The hat with the little Hippo toy we gave him as well

It's a tad big for him just yet but come winter he will likely grow into it. I had a bit of a drama where I washed it on the day of the "month" birthday where we'd see him for the first time, so I had to attempt to dry it quickly with my hair dryer. I don't have a dryer at home so hair dryer was next best option.

My other project is a crochet heart. My Aunty Alice liked the ones I made earlier so I made her one as well and sent her the pattern so she can make some herself:

The originals which she liked were part of an engagement present. The photos of the originals were nicer so here they are:

They're a quick and easy project but a little bit painful because you need to crochet really tightly so the fluff doesn't come out. Also, I'm not really a great crocheter. I just DO STUFF and it magically works. The yarn is Sullivans Coton-A (yes that's how they spelt it) which is an acrylic cotton blend. I submitted this project in Nerd Wars too. I need to work out what category and team tie in to submit the ears hat under.

Lace Ribbon Scarf

I finished off a lovely Wollmeise Lace Ribbon Scarf on the 29th of January in Grashüpfer (grasshopper) green which reminds me of St Patricks Day green. It was another Will Work for Yarn job but time for irkutskaya whom I haven't yet had the pleasure of knitting for yet. I received a caked Wollmeise Lavendel (lavender) and a skein of Wollmeise Twin Heavy Metal (dark grey) in exchange. We had no idea whether the Lavendel was Twin or 100% but I got a little tip to work out what it was. Snip off maybe 1cm of the yarn, unravel it and count the plies. If it has eight plies then it is 100%, otherwise it is twin. I counted eight plies so it's 100%!

2011 - Year in Review

So I was looking through all the projects I'd done in 2011. I am pretty amazed at my output. Keeping in mind I knit mainly on the trip to and from work and whenever else I have spare time like weekends, days off and bits before and after work. My Ravelry total was 33 projects for the year. Some are small projects, some were big projects. So on average it seems I completed about 2.75 projects a month, taking on average 1.6 weeks per project. Here is a little montage of my Ravelry projects:

Out of all these projects, only one was hibernated from the year before. That was Tim's Cricket Vest. For this project, all I needed to finish in 2011 was the arm and neck bands. The last project I completed was the Corona and this one I did a little on New Years Day before it was complete.

All in all, I'm pretty impressed by my progress! Joining Ravelry definitely spurned me on to do way more than I probably would have otherwise, in terms of trying new things, learning new techniques and completing so many projects. Can't wait to do more.

Haruni Lace Shawl

This is my new shawl which I finished on December 27th. This is my Nerd Wars dissertation project for this round. Despite being my second 2 ply project, I actually found it a bit on the easy side but I had quite a lot of knitting going on so I likely wouldn't have completed a more complex dissertation. The pattern is the Haruni. I would've preferred the shawl to be a bit bigger. It's about kerchief size right now. I think I could've fitted another repeat in with the yarn but I was worried that I'd run out.

This was my first project with Malabrigo Lace yarn. This yarn is AMAZING. So soft and squishy. It's like knitting with clouds or cotton wool. The only disadvantage about this yarn is that it's quite fluffy so frogging and tinking back is not recommended if you can avoid it. Also, when blocking, you have to be very very careful to make sure you don't accidentally felt it.

Clapotis

I've been doing heaps of knitting this week since I've taken three days off this week between Christmas and New Years. This is a scarf/stole I knitted for a Will-Work-For-Yarn job which I completed on December 30th. This lovely scarf is for cathg. The pattern is the Clapotis designed by Kate Gilbert. Yarn and pattern chosen and provided by cathg. Yarn is Wollmeise 100% Merino Superwash in the Mauerblümchen colourway.

I received this lovely skein as payment: Wollmeise 100% Merino Superwash in Magnolie Dark, the Perfect Colour!

Sexy Corona

Newly off the needles is the Corona hoodie by designer Canary Sanctuary. This is a really cute sexy top which I absolutely love. I started this in July for my Ravelry Nerd Wars dissertation project but I didn't manage to finish it before the due date. Instead, I finished it for Nerd Wars round three as a WIP. Perfect New Years Day project to complete.