approaching the finish line...yay!

so i am on row 41 of my cable beanie (almost 6" in length). i'm going to start the decreases now. woot woot! approaching the finish of the 1st completed project in a year! sorry for the poor quality pic. i'm being lazy and snapped this out of focus pic with my phone.

great knitting videos abound on youtube!

omg, i've just found a great video on continental knitting. i already do continental, but this teacher has some great techniques that i plan on using to make my knitting faster and more efficient. check it out! oh, and check out this wonderful little animation short called the last knit (When knitting becomes an obsession.) too!

My yearly attempt at getting back into knitting...

I have so many WIPs, but I decided to re-start my knitting by making this. I am using Cascade Indulgence (when it was still avail in 100gm hanks) in a charcoal from my dusty stash. I did however, buy some #7 Clover bamboo circs from my LYS (even though I have 3 sets of Denises, several Addi's and tons of other miscellaneous needles about--all with various WIPs attached them). I started right in without swatching...doi now! Well, I pulled it all out and I'm swatching right now. You'd think I'd know by now, but I am so impatient. I always like to plunge on in without really preparing. I do this with most everything else too.

I also signed up for one class at Stitches West in February. I'm a little late in the game, so most classes have long been sold out. Sounds fun though...knitted softies. Last year I signed up for Automaton Knitting with Debbie New. Wow, what a cool class and boy does she make amazing stuff. I brought my copy of Unexpected Knitting for her to sign too.

Spring has sprung, but I'm still knitting winter wear

So I found this AMAZING handspun yarn, called Jewels (in a different colorway than pictured) from La Lana Wools at Stitches West. It's so spendy, it's sold by the ounce! I bought 5 ounces, not enough to knit up anything with it, but to use as an embellishment. I wanted to make something similar to their Stone Soup scarf pattern, but different.
I ended up finding this lace pattern online and will knit the scarf itself with Mountain Colors bearfoot in merlot carried with Blue Sky Alpaca's Brushed Suri ...yummy! I should have knitted the bulky Jewels in with the scarf, but I'm going to add it in last.

Already LOST my gloves!

Waaaahhhhh! My first knitting project in almost 2 years, and I have already lost it. Well, someone's walking around with some snazzy handknitted goods. Sigh...

Haven't been knitting the habu bag cuz I'm painting and re-flooring my upstairs. I'm in the midst of pulling up the carpet in my bedroom and dressing room area to make way for edge grain 5/8" solid bamboo flooring in natural. I have already covered my downstairs (living room) with it with fantastic results.

Finished my first knitting project in over a year and a half!

I'll post a pic later, but I'm very happy with the way my Alterknits lace up fingerless gloves came out. I even did a little modification on the ribbon detail too. Instead of using the ends to tie up in a bow at the end, I whip stitched the extra ribbon around the edges and viola! Gotta love that Manos yarn! I'm no knitting Habu Textile's kit-13S: Silk Linen Shoulder Bag (small) in the colorway shown. Cool beans. Since my knitting is so tight though, and even moving up a size in needles (5), I'm still not close to gauge. I've knitted what should be 8 inches of fabric so far, but mine measures 6.

I also picked up an amazing deal on a Juicy Couture cashmere hooded sweater. Regularly $288! but got mine from Jeremy's for $60! It has a tiny little hole in the sleeve, near the shoulder area, so I'm going to try my hand at darning. I found this site that seems to have great instructions on the process.

It's The Most Consumeristic Time Of The Year...

OMG, I'm actually knitting again! With my yarn stash gathering dust bunnies in a large section of my guest room and loads of knitting needles strewn about, with and without WIPs on them, I decided to embark on my first knitting project in about a year and a half! First I had to go out and buy more needles, not that I needed any, but I just couldn't pass up the new pink Denise Needles. I mean, it's for a good cause right? $5 of each purchase goes to help support breast cancer research. :) Once in hand, I decided to start small and work on the Lace-Up Fingerless Gloves from the book Alterknits, which I purchased from Amazon. I'm using Manos del Uruguay (#100-Agate).

Wowzers does this stuff knit up beautifully! The colors are amazing and instead of buying it, I actually pulled this one from my stash.