Oops, it's been a while hasn't it?

I got a little carried away with things over the past weeks, but I have kept up with my knitting. This past Mother's Day I delivered the following "secret project" to my mother to a delighted response.This pattern is called Andean Treasure Shawl and I used the Andean Treasure yarn from knitpicks (and the pattern is free from there as well).

This shawl I had been working on since February and I just finally got around to figuring out how to block it just so. It turned out so nice I'm considering making a banner for my blog with this picture:
I have also been working on a new project called Stargazer. It was published in MagKnits awhile ago, but since that online mag no longer exists I was glad to purchase it from the designer Sarah Wilson on Ravelry. I love being on Ravelry so much I forgot I had the Facebook Application called StitchBook... it's so much easier to manage things you're working on in Ravelry.

With Stargazer I had to frog the beginning because I did the ribbing wrong and had the wrong amount of stitches in a row... but that's okay... since now I'm almost done with the second sleeve.

I am using elann.com's Pure Alpaca Fina for this pattern. The yarn turned out thinner than I expected, but it is knitting up real nice and I think it is just what I was looking for. I do intend to make another one of these in the future, but I have so many new projects on my backburner now.
I purchased a new pattern that I have been eying for months from StitchDiva called Casual Glamour Capelet. I've been wanting to try it for a while and I think I found the yarn to do it with. I may end up making two with the amount of yarn I just bought (yay stimulus check that I stimulated my credit cards and the Swedish economy read: IKEA... and my yarn collection with). I made the Mary Jane Pithy hat with this yarn, NaturallyCaron.com Country, before and I like it. I think it should make a nice cape. And NatuallyCaron.com Spa will probably make some good Knucks in the future.In the future I hope to post here more often.. but I say this a lot. Other than that, there will be more to come... eventually.

Knitting Pattern Review: Mary Jane Pithy Hat

Pattern Found Here

With the Mary Jane Pithy Hat pattern, there are two separate patterns for hats that Kirsten Dunst wore in movies. I have tried both of them.

Spiderman: Mary Jane's hatI first tried this hat using Vanna's Choice, but it was very rough to my hands and then the hat fell apart after a few days of wear. Whether that has anything to do with the yarn itself or my own failure at good tying off on the top, I am not totally sure. The picture above is of the pattern using Caron's Simply Soft. The pattern worked much easier on the needles with this pattern.

This is not a pattern you can really do without paying good attention to what you're doing, because of all the yarn overs and knit/purl-two-together that you have to deal with. It's a comfortable hat to wear and I intend to make more of these in the future. Recently I began testing out a new type of yarn I found in A.C. Moore yesterday during lunch break (my shopping therapy involves books and yarn, but I don't like to admit this, no). This yarn is called NaturallyCaron.com's Country. It is an Acrlyic and Merino Wool blend that is very soft to the touch and comes in many lovely colors. I look forward to giving this a try because the more nice yarns I can find without resorting to the online buying (although so much fun), the happier I am when it comes to making presents for friends and family.

Elizabethtown Hat
So I couldn't really say no when I got a bunch of red yarn for my Kaylee knitted garments collection (stuff that is washable and okay for lots of crazy activities outdoors). So I made the "girl in the red hat" hat. Using KnitPicks Swish Superwash, it was very easy. This was also my first experience with doing cables. It was easier than I thought it would be, especially easier to not use a cable needle (I didn't use anything but my own fingers to hold the to be cabled stitch) than I had originally thought. I found this pattern very comfortable to work with and relaxing to just sit back and attempt to do other things while knitting.

Also this hat actually suited my need when I had to do a mod outside while it was drizzling. It kept my head warm and the rain didn't seem to do any damage. Good thing I used superwash wool.