Inspiration

I had to head home from work with a migraine yesterday, so progress has been slow in the knitting department. Now that I'm bouncing back, I made a pact with a dear friend of mind who is currently doing amazing things in India to become accountability work out/ weight loss partners. This is good news for you, because you won't have to read much about it here (she'll have to listen to my whining, poor dear) and it will probably lead to increased knittery, as one does not eat when one's hands are busy knitting!

It's a grey day and it's also one of those days where the city of Chicago smells like brownies (this is a real phenomenon - I'm not hallucinating on Diet Day 1). It's clear that I need some inspiration.

Missoni for Target Collection

I am so, so excited for collection for Target. So are most other women, it would seem. Many items online are already out of stock.

Embracing Lace

I'm coming around on lace, especially when it's a detail and not the whole garment.

Color Blocking

I want to keep the bright colors of summer going into fall. We'll need them now more than ever, ya'll.

Bracelets

I need to step up my bracelets game, and I'm loving these from Chain & Charm. Mega on sale, too.

 More to come, I'm sure!

Pretty Great

I'm a big fan of this lady. She's delightful.

Well done, Madame. You and your pink Elvis turban are pretty great!

via Advanced Style

Remembering & Planning

It was kind of a rough weekend. I watched too many 9/11 documentaries and saw the Colts' disastrous season opener while the Bears simultaneously were rocking Solider Field. Therefore, I was not as productive as last weekend. I didn't have a clear idea about what I would make next, so I did a little too much pattern selection and reading and not much knitting.

To give myself some time to think, I pulled out some yarn I received as a birthday present - wool from Ireland! The original plan was a sweater, but I've got yards and yards to spare. I came across this pattern for the Hemlock Ring Blanket and thought it would be a nice challenge. Some lace to keep it interesting and knit from the center out. Good thinking work, at any rate.

Here's what it will/ should look like:

And here's my progress so far:

Hemlock-down

It's a fair start. I've enjoyed it so far and only had to rip back once.

During this little side project, I thought through my yarn selection and my various Christmas needs. I decided to try a pattern I've had my eye on for a while: Endpaper Mitts. I have colors that my mom would love, but I'm trying to figure out if I can convert the pattern into mittens for her. It might not be too hard if I can stand the slow progress. After a day and a night, this is what I have:

Mittsletoe

I'm having fun with it, so maybe the slow pace won't put me off that much. I also bound of a sock for the boyfriend that I was working on, but it's just one of two plain black socks and isn't super exciting - really, I just needed to free up the small needles for the mitts. We'll see how they knit up before I try to modify anything...

Ballad of the Green Beret

The holidays are far down the line. I want to make that clear because these posts are in no way meant to guilt you into doing your holiday shopping in the first week of September.

I'm changing up my Christmas routine  for the first time in my life and will not be traveling to Florida with my nuclear family. I'll be staying in Illinois and visiting my boyfriend's family on Christmas day. He has more people in his family than I do, so it put me in a bit of a panic.

Then, during a Hoarders-marathon-induced cleaning frenzy, I realized just how much yarn is in my home and how it needs to be put to good use. With football season starting, I can cheer on the Colts while knocking out a few projects each weekend.

So here's another finished object (FO) from the weekend: the Green Beret from the Star Crossed Slouchy Beret pattern.

100 Men We'll Test Today

But Only Three

Win the Green Beret

I'm not sure who this is for quite yet or if I'm going to make some kind of companion piece to go with it. But it's done and it feels good to add to the gift 'arsenal', if you will.

For your toe-tappin', America lovin' pleasure:

Fashion Plait and Poor Photography

I had a marathon evening of Dance Moms and Toddlers and Tiaras last night. I am not proud of this but this is what I have been reduced to watching as I start more and more knitting projects. But who isn't on pins and needles wondering if Candy Apples Dance Studio is going to steal Abby Lee's 'national titles'? We all are, I'm sure.

Such mind-numbing television is served well by very fast projects. This can only mean one thing: Big Needles and Thick Yarn! The pattern Anthropologie Inspired Braided Headwrap was perfectly suited for this purpose. I started off with some alpaca yarn that was just too thin and switched to some ancient Lion Brand Think & Quick I had laying around from the first ugly beret I ever attempted.

The original inspiration:

Expert Photography

The result of an evening tuned to Lifetime:

Poor Photography

A note about my photos: I did a horrible job trying to take a picture of this thing. You can't really see the braid unless I make it black and white. Maybe if I took two seconds to take my earphones out and set a timer, things would be more aesthetically pleasing for you. Instead, I took a series of awkward photographs that poorly illustrate an evening's worth of work:

Exhibit A

A delightfully half-assed smile, out of focus and no detail whatsoever on the headband. What a pro!

Exhibit B

Out of focus, in a MIRROR, random closet items in the background and troll-like posture due to the fact that I'm taller than the aforementioned mirror. What is this, a mail-order bride posting on Craigslist? Way to class up the internet, Doog!

And always the headphones - believe it or not, I forgot I was wearing them. Delightful, polished presentation from start to finish. That's why you click these hallowed links - I've got your number, reader.

Aaaaanyway, this is another potential Christmas gift. Is this still considered cute? Would you wear it?

FOs: Labor Day's Labor

I hope you had an excellent holiday weekend. I did - some chores, some study prep with the ol' boyfriend, Coin Star-ing some pocket change.

And a head start on Holiday Knitting!

First, I finished the knitting portion of the Maile Sweater for bf's goddaughter. It looks a little something like this:

Baby Love

This guy took two days to finish up and I'm pretty happy with it! I just need to find some buttons that might cheer up this bruise-colored yarn.

Raglan Detail

Baby Sweater in the wild! (closer to the actual color)

I've never knitted clothing for a baby before, so I kept checking and re-checking the pattern measurements. The sleeves were only supposed to be 4 1/2 inches long - that seemed so tiny, I couldn't get past it! But once I decided to just go with it, it all looked right in the end.

I also finished up a beret that is currently blocking (aka dunked in water and had a plate shoved in it to give it that 'beret' shape), so I haven't photographed it quite yet. It's a lovely green: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Sport weight in Grass. Sport weight is thinner than the bulky yarn the pattern calls for, so I doubled up the yarn on nice big needles which made the fabric much thicker than previous versions I've whipped up. It's really nice to go from a tiiiny lace project to big ol' Done In A Day needles. The only downside to doubling up my yarn is that it made me run out of yarn faster than I should have, but I think the blocking will still make it pretty and wearable. I'm not sure who this is going to quite yet, but it should keep someone pretty warm and stylin'.

This is an early version of the Star Crossed Slouchy Beret pattern that I made last year:

Prototype of Ballad of the Green Beret

So that's two gifts in one weekend! Not too shabby. I cast on the beginnings of a braided cable headwrap and another Make Up Your Mind tank for my little sister at her request - in green, in order to "make my eyes pop". This is a direct quote. No embellishment.

I also studied-by-extension for a teaching certification exam, played some tennis, made some Barefoot Contessa mac & cheese, got to turn off the AC and open the windows while watching a great deal of television. All in all, pretty great.

FO: Make Up Your Mind Tank

I finished something! It's been a rare for me to finish something larger than a dishcloth lately, so I'm pretty excited to share my finished Make Up Your Mind Tank:

Fin

The result isn't 100% perfect (there are some mistakes in the lace pattern that I didn't notice until I'd joined the straps) but this is the first wearable FO (Finished Object) that I've made. That is - I might actually wear this. Maybe.

All the mistakes are, sadly, in the front, so let me show you the back! It turned out great!

Racerist!

Forgive the styling here and the few strings you might see - I was excited to show a finished project and still have to weave in a few ends. Now it's time to start Holiday Knittery 2011. I know you're excited.

First up is a cardigan for the Boyfriend's darling goddaughter. The pattern is the Maile Sweater and it looks like this:

Cute, right?

Part of the joy of holiday knittingis getting rid of the yarn I've over-indulged in during the year. That is the case with this sweater - I ordered the wrong color of yarn for the endless cardigan project I never finished and just held onto it.

Mine looks like this. Well, actually, that's a misstatement. This is the worst possible picture of the project at the moment, but I have to have SOMETHING to show you:

Pretty? Ugly? or Pretty Ugly?

The yarn is way less obnoxious than that, even though I'm still not 100% sold on it. I need more than just the border to know for sure... Jingle Bellz,  ya'll.