Knitting in a certain yarn...

I got an email from Knit Picks recently, asking if I'd be interested in coming up with a design for a new yarn colorway. Free yarn is free yarn, so naturally, I said yes. The yarn arrived, and it was beautiful. I've converted all my photos to black and white, since the colorway has to stay secret until it's released. I immediately dived in; I had already come up with a design that I thought would work... but it didn't.

The tiny-cables stitch pattern I wanted to use was completely obscured by the color variations. So I frogged it and started over. And frogged it and started over. And frogged it and started over. Finally, I came up with a design I liked; the cables and lace showed up well enough. But when it was about halfway done, it was clear that it was going to be enormous and not fit anyone with a normal-sized head (did I mention it was a hat?)... so I frogged it and started over. Again. I made some more adjustments to the cable pattern, to make it fit into a smaller stitch count, but I forgot to take into consideration that eight-stitch cables pull in much more than four-stitch cables do. Long story short, the hat I was designing to fit me ended up fitting my six-month-old niece almost perfectly.

 She's adorable, and she knows it.

 I like how it turned out, and may make another one, with the intention of having her model for me. But for now, I've abandoned that hat design. A friend of mine suggested that the stitch pattern would look nice in a cowl, which I thought was a great idea. Since a cowl wouldn't have any decreases or increases to worry about, I wouldn't have to figure out how to fit them into the design, as I had with the hat.

Three days later, I had a finished cowl, and almost no leftovers. My friends suggested 10 inches for the width. I was running out of yarn, so I only did 8 inches, which is fine for me, because I have a really short neck.

So I went through all that stress and ripping, to come up with a super-simple cable-and-lace cowl(and a hat idea for another day). And next time I'm asked to "come up with something" for a new yarn, I'll only agree if it's a solid color.

Exercise and knitting

Just for fun, I did this yesterday:

I put on the shirt I'd worn in my January 1 "before" photo, and took a new picture and put them side by side. Nice change for only three months of work!

And my friends and I started a new exercise challenge. We're doing the Hundred Pushups Challenge. The goal is to be able to do one hundred consecutive pushups six weeks from now. When I did the initial test, I was able to do 12, so I have a long way to go. Yesterday was day 1...and my chest and ab muscles are incredibly sore today. Today is a rest day, and I'm hoping the soreness wears off by tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to the benefits of this program; it should make a big difference in my arm strength, and I'm hoping it'll firm up the saggy "girls" as I continue losing weight.

In other news...

I've finally settled on a design for the hat I'm making for Knit Picks. The colorway is still a secret, so I've converted the photo to black-and-white. But you can get an idea of how the hat will look. I'm knitting it top-down, and instead of columns of purls between the cables, I'm using columns of lace. The way it kind of swirls out from the center reminds me of a spiral galaxy. So I'm thinking of giving it a name that has something to do with the stars...

Happy New Year!

To welcome the new year, I present my first project, knitted entirely this year. ☺

The pattern is Twisted Tambini by my dear friend Andrea.  I used Paton's Decor wool blend in "chocolate", and US8 needles.  I'm considering making another one with smaller needles, because this is kinda enormous on my head.  But it'll keep me warm, and that's what matters!  I love this design.  The reversible cables on the brim were a bit tricky, since I'd never used that technique before.  The result is terrific, and I love how the brim cables transition seamlessly to the main body cables.  You can't see the crown of the hat in this pic, but that's okay, because I messed up somewhere in there, and couldn't figure out where, so I just faked it.  I don't think anyone will know unless I tell them.  Keep my secret, okay?

In other news, we have our stuff, and it's in our house!  There's still some organizing to be done, and lots of painting.  I started the painting yesterday, with Princess and Kitty's room; pink, of course.  Angel and I will do her room this morning; turquoise.  I'll do the bathroom and laundry room in the same turquoise, and then I'll have to calculate how much beige to buy for the rest of the rooms.  I'm thinking a five-gallon bucket of satin finish, and two gallons of semi-gloss...but I'm not going to just go with my guess.  Made that mistake before...

Anyway, we're still staying at my father-in-law's house, since we won't have tv service until the 12th, or internet until heaven-knows-when, and Hubby has forgotten how to live without those things.  But FIL has gone to his winter home in Arizona, so we have the house to ourselves, and we can take our time moving all of our stuff to our new place.

Hmmm...what else did I forget to post about while I was busy in December?  I turned 31, and Princess turned 7...Merry Christmas...we celebrated Christmas with Hubby's family, but at least I got to call my family.  The girls and I are planning on driving down to Kansas at the end of January to visit them. ☺

Oh, I almost forgot to mention: I started working on a new baby blanket design; it's about halfway done.  I'll post a pic in my next post.  I've got to run now; time for paint!

Juliet pattern

I've written up the pattern for the hat I posted about yesterday. Click on the link to the right, for "My Pattern Blog", and you'll find the free pattern for "Juliet".

♥

I finished "The Waltz", the lace scarf my friends and I are knitting together. I did 30 repeats of the lace, as the pattern instructed, but I think I would do more if I were to make another one. It's only about 4 1/2 feet long with 30 repeats. Anyway, even though it is short, it is very pretty. I really enjoyed knitting it. I think I will make another one, for myself, after I finish a few other projects.

♥

And now I need to get back to work on my other projects.....

Case in point...

Remember what I said about startitis yesterday? I hadn't even thought of this project yet when I wrote that. Yesterday morning, my friend Susie announced that she had a new niece. Baby Juliet was born yesterday, more than three months early. She is in a level 3 NICU, and will probably be there for a long while. Susie showed us pictures of little Juliet; she was wearing her dad's wedding ring as a bangle bracelet. Her total length is less than the width of my laptop computer. The little tiny hats the hospital has are too big for her. That was the inspiration for this project. I asked Susie for Juliet's head measurement, and knitted her a lacy little hat, using "I Love This Cotton" yarn.
This hat is about 9.5 inches in circumference, and five inches from brim to crown. It's a very simple design; even the lacy butterflies are easy to make. I'm writing up the pattern, and I plan on offering it for free on my pattern blog, because it is so simple.

♥

I would like to ask that you pray for Juliet, if you are so inclined. From what Susie has told me, she is doing well, for such a tiny baby. But she has a long hospital stay ahead of her.