A prime example of why we shouldn't rush..

 

I am addicted to knitting. Last night when I should have been doing 10,000 other things, I found myself jonesing for an instant gratification knit. I purused through my stash and found some JoAnn's Sensations Life (a wool/nylon/acrylic blend) that I had scooped up on sale a few weeks ago. I decided that I was going to make the purse from the Lion Brand website. Somehow, my purse looks only a fraction as cute as theirs.

I'm not sure exactly what I don't like about it. The yarn is nice, but maybe I don't want to carry around a faux zebra bag? I really am not sure what it is about this bag that rubs me the wrong way. On a good note, the bag only took about 80 yards of yarn, so I have a skein and a half of it leftover. My gauge was a a little off, so I wound up making it 2 inches shorter than what it called for just because it was starting to look a little tall.

I think I'll keep the bag as a reminder of why patience is a virtue in the knitting world. You definitely get what you deserve on 1 night projects.

Total cost: $4.20
Total time: one evening of watching the Eastern Conference Finals 

Diagonal Baby Blanket

I think I am becoming addicted to finished objects. I live for casting off almost as much as I live for casting on.

I finished the diagonal baby blanket tonight. It doesn't look much in these pictures but the original pattern really shows its true beauty. Everytime I break out the camera to take a picture, my cat, Jasmine, thinks its time for her to be in the spotlight and refuses to move.

I used Yarn Bee Fleece Lite in Iris purchased at Hobby Lobby during the last 50% off sale. Four skeins of yarn (5 oz., 108 yards each) on size 11 circulars made this the absolutely perfect size. I even have enough yarn leftover to make up another baby hat.

The yarn is a lot like Lion Brand Homespun, only it doesn't have the silky threads. It's 97% acrylic (I am by no means a yarn snob) and is really soft on the skin. I absolutely love the color! It is mostly lilac but there are spots of very dark purples, pinks and whites that show up.

If I were planning to have a child in the next 3 years, I might just keep it for myself. But, alas, this FO is going into the "to be gifted" pile for the next time someone has a baby girl.

Total cost: $7.98

Yarn Bee Topkapi

One of my girlfriends told me about a sale going on at Hobby Lobby this week, and somehow I miraculously left the store with spending only $20 but got enough new yarn for three new projects. I thought that I was hiding my yarn stash pretty well, but my boyfriend called on the way over and said "Don't you have enough yarn already?" Dang it! Gotta do a better job hiding it. He's not as oblivious as I once thought.

So, I picked up a new yarn for his mom since the last present got diverted to someone else. She's one of the trendiest dressers I've ever known, so I thought that I would make her a cute little skinny scarf with drop stitches. I'm sure that she has several dozen outfits to match it already. I used Yarn Bee Topkapi in the color Aya Sofia - it's Hobby Lobby's version of Bernat Matrix, only it has a little fuzzy component also.

She is coming out this way next weekend for her neice's graduation, so my goal is to have this finished before then. I think I can do it. I've barely put in 20 minutes at this point and I've gotten 3/4 a foot finished already.

Cost of project: $3.72
Time: About 3 hours

Angel Glitz Ribbed Scarf

I bought some really awesome yarn at Joann's on sale last weekend for $2.10 a skein (regularly $3.99). The skeins only had about 50 yards in them, but for about two bucks you can't pass it up. The yarn is Sensations Angel Glitz in light blue - a mix of acrylic, nylon and wool. It's so soft and fuzzy!! There's this nice silvery cord that runs through the yarn that gives it a nice little sparkle.

When I first picked out the yarn, I thought I was going to make something for my boyfriend's mother (whom I absolutely love!), but everytime I picked up the yarn to work on it, I thought of my high school best friend, so I think that's some sort of sign that this scarf needs her as its owner.

Because the yarn was so fancy schmancy, I just did a 1x1 ribbing to keep it on the plain side, and I think it turned out nicely. The close-up picture is actually more representative of the true color, plus you can see a little of the sparkle in the yarn.

Not to bad for a scarf that cost $6.30!! I love a good bargain.

Baby hats multiply like rabbits!

Tuesday was election day in Indiana, and I worked as a poll inspector. Between the gross weather and the unexciting races, turnout was really low - we had 59 voters all day. I wound up knitting two more baby caps to add to the collection (and played sudoku and ate like a pig all day!). I can't wait to donate all these little caps! I'm so excited. Maybe I will try to coordinate something with a few more people in the area.

I also taught someone how to knit and renewed two other lady's interest in the craft. Yay for knitters!!

This hats were all knit up with scraps of Caron simply soft yarn, with the exception of the one in th 5 o'clock position. It's leftover Lion Brand Homespun. I liked it a little better the second time I used it. I think it helps that I am a bit more experienced and don't knit as tightly now. I'm still not a huge fan, but I do love the way it feels when all knit up at the end.

Besides the baby caps, the other exciting thing in my day was that in my precinct as many people voted for the fringe, crazy candidate (who wants to ban porn and cut off people's heads) as voted for the incumbant Congressman who is one of the yes men for Bush. Guess they are that sick the current regime? Let's all hope the sickness lasts through November and voters make smarter decisions than last time around.