FO and Happy Thanksgiving!

Every so often I see a pattern that I must have that instant. I saw this on Ravelry Monday and made it that night because I needed it right away!

Pattern: Baby Cable Rib Neckwarmer by Kerry Moorhouse

Yarn: Berroco Pure Merino

Needles: US9

I cast on 4 extra stitches (70 stitches total) since I wasn't using a bulky weight yarn and it worked out great. I think I love this more than my previous neckwarmer even though I couldn't find any cute star buttons. I do have a thing for hearts, and apparently neckwarmers :)

I'm off to the inlaws for Thanksgiving tomorrow with the added bonus of a pit stop at Webs! My first time, can you tell I'm excited. I have a list but will I stick to it...

Enjoy the holiday if you celebrate!

Lurking

Ok so I'm a big time lurker. I lurk on knitblogs I lurk in ravelry forums, I even go through people's ques (hey, it's great for getting ideas). I feel like a stalker so I'm attempting to speak out more, I made two comments on blogs and a few ravelry posts this week! I think my reluctance to speak comes from my incredibly shy nature and from my self consciousness. I don't feel I have much to add if someone has received 25 comments on how nice something looks, but I am determined to give input if it is requested and I think I have valuable info to add. After all, I would want people to do the same for me. Stumbling into the knitblog world has really helped me, I've learned new techniques and been introduced to ravelry which I absolutely adore. I updated my sidebar to include most of the blogs I read regularly, I find all of these really interesting with great knitting skills showcased. What I like in a blog is opinions on patterns, yarns, needles, anything that might open my eyes to something I may not have thought to try on my own. I'm also a big fan of pictures and mainly stick to blogs that have a fair amount (very childish of me I know) so that is what you will see represented in those blogs. I try to make my own blog something that I would want to read, something that I hope other people find helpful and fun. Maybe I also use it to shamelessly show off my cute dog too.....

Now that I've outed myself back to the knitting. I cast on for the tangled yoke cardigan and I'm loving it already, I'm never going to get these Christmas gifts done at this rate.

I think I've come to the realization that I am a sweater knitter. Maybe it is a phase but after Campanula and the Minimalist Cardigan I am just dieing to make more sweaters. I don't know if it is the process, the patterns, or having a comfy article of clothing at the end of the project but I can't seem to stop myself from casting on and preparing for more sweaters. My queue at ravelry is full of them. Feel free to go snoop in it, I'd snoop in yours :-)

An ungifted FO...

Thankfully technology is cooperating with me today so I can show you this

Pattern: Minimalist Cardigan from Fall 2007 Interweave Knits
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca -Under 4 skeins
Needles: Denise size US7

It's a finished Minimalist Cardigan! I have to tell you I did not like this sweater much when I first saw it in the magazine. I didn't really have any plans on making it until I began to see them in blogland and now I have to say I love this sweater. It is so cute! I originally started knitting this because I got some yarn pretty cheap from a store closing sale and was going to gift it to my sister in law. A word to the wise, don't try on gifts for a photo shoot. You may like them too much. To be fair I don't think this is exactly her style and I think she'll find it to itchy. At least this is what I'm telling myself... I think this came from my revelation on gift knitting. I'm only gifting things to people who really want them and will really enjoy them. It seems a waste of time and money if my knits end up in some drawer never to see the light of day. I don't want to give someone a gift they don't like as well. Anyway, I knit the smallest size and it is a little snug but I wore it to work today with a tank top underneath and it was so comfy. I can totally see myself making another one someday. This took about a month with other knitting projects in between. The only mods I made were the three-needle bind offs for the shoulders which I really think made the sweater much neater. I am getting better at seaming but I can't say I love it. I think I will employ this technique more often.

I have a lot more work to do on my mom's gift but it is slow going. It doesn't help that I did this

and got my needles for it today. I see a tangled yoke cardigan in my future!

Lots to catch up on

I have quite a bit to report on today to make up for the lack of posting this past week. It's hard now with the time change to get any decent pictures so my weekends are going to be the only days I'll have to work with. For today since I have time and an FO to show you get some crappy pics.

First my finished neckwarmer. I love it. Very warm with less bulk than a sweater. This took me to evenings to knit and another day to block. I ended up using some scrap Ultra Alpaca to sew the button on since it matched my coat and I like the added color. I love how my temporary placement of the button with scrap yarn turned into a permanant addition. Notice my lovely fetchings in the photos :)

I highly reccomend making one of these.

Yarn: Classic Elite Dushess 0.66 skeins
Needles: Denise US11

I've also been making progress on my Dad's hat based on the coronet patter. This bothers my hands so I don't work on it too much at a time but I think I'll finish by Christmas and I hope he and I both like it.

I am also in the home stretch with the Minimalist Cardigan.

Knitting both sleeves at once is great for making sure both are the same lenght but takes a long time to see progress. I'm going to start the cap shaping and hopefully finish tonight which is good because this came tuesday from Webs

Screw it. Blogger sucks and won't let me add pictures now. I'll re-edit this post tomorrow, I want to do some actual knitting.

Stupid computers

I'm a looter...

I'm officially looting the Fabric Place as it closes. I feel bad but money is tight and 40% off is a good deal. I went for more Berocco Pure merino but that was gone. I ended up getting some really nice Classic Elite Duchess for these neckwarmers. It's a lovely cashmere and angora blends that I hope will work well. I'm going to try tonight, I need a short break from my Minimalist Cardigan. I hope the buttons I picked up work, they didn't have any larger ones left. Hopefully I'll have an FO to show soon!

Ravelry!!!

Yeay I got my invite today!!! I am known as katiekakes and am already putting stuff up. So excited!!! I have to drag myself away from the computer to actually do some knitting tonight. I have two sleeves left on the minimalist cardigan and have been making good progress on a gift for my Dad. Hopefully I won't spend all my time stashing projects online and not actually knitting :)

Progress Shots

My knitting companion helps display the progress shots of my minimalist cardigan. The back, right front and about half of the left front are done. I hope to make even more progress during Heroes tonight. And a better but puppy less shot:The three-needle bind off went well but made knitting the collar a bit annoying. Overall this is fun to make and I'm not sure I'll be able to give it away...