FOtos! (A fotolicious FO extravaganza)

I had no luck finding photos of my completed-and-quickly-gifted Russian Winter hat from Debbie Stoller's Stitch n Bitch Nation. Let me just say I knit it in unforgiving wool eyelash yarn, DOUBLED, and had to pick up a bajillion stitches to knit the cute bonnet. Ugh. It was floppy and cute, though not really me. It was definitely Hannah, though! And so I gave it to her. I hope it keeps her warm in Spain, where she's going for the long winter to volunteer and enjoy the lingual/cultural experience. (For all y'all who are curious what this hat looks like, maybe I'll scan or take a photo of the model in the book. I made an all-white fluffy monsta version!)

Now, some palpable, look-it-me Finished Objects (FOs):

1. First and foremost, the Honey cardigan from Rowan's Ribbon Twist Collection, out of Ribbon Twist color 111 ribble. I made the medium size and used just under 8 balls. Here's the goofy umbrella-grasping model. Note the weird pose -- she's turned to the side and the sweater is very pulled in around her waist. This is because it's a naturally, er, tubby sweater. I may add in a hook and eye closure at the front where the belt ties in front. Right now the belt just sort of gathers the sweater fabric and doesn't do much for my silhouette, shall we say. But I still love Honey, My First Sweater. (Awww!) And I'm glad I chose this pattern from Ribbon Twist and not a pullover, as the unspun wool in the yarn is HOT HOT HOT.

Adaptations: I omitted the pom-poms on the belt, and did the belt as a two-stitch I-cord instead of twisted cord as the pattern suggested.

Model time! (Click on thumbnails to see larger image)


Closeups


2. Second, my one skein wonder made out of two balls of Debbie Bliss Soho in reds and less than half a ball of Rowan Kid Classic in #823 reed, a heathered gray and dark red. I ran out of Soho and was left with less than a yard. I even felted the ends together! Sheesh, Debbie. Gimme some more yarn here. But now I get to count this as a pattern adaptation and a "design element." Lemons into lemonade!

The shrug is a little big. I was too eager to begin knitting to wash my gauge swatch, and the completed Soho bloomed into 3.5 stitches per inch after gently washing. And boy did that red bleed.

Putting on the sass


From the front, the merest shruggy corners peep around


Thanks to my dahling, Charlie, for photographing me. This is the view I had of the living room while posing. Note Charlie and the kitties watching soccer on TV.


Speaking of photographers, the darling Kelly of the Midwest Knitters Blogring took photos of me meeting Stephanie Pearl-McPhee at her book signing at Arcadia Knitting. She lightened them up for me, even! And at work I Photoshopped them even a bit more. Excuse the graininess, which I amplified with further futzing. [s](Kelly, do you have a blog? All I have is your email. Drop me a note!)[/s] Thanks Kelly!! Visit her at kellynorby.blogspot.com!


Here are two photos of Stephanie with me (ME!). In the first I am giving Stephanie a measuring tape. She mentioned in her newest book how she can never find hers. The one I gave her was a weird freebie from West Virginia University. Cheap of me, or original? You decide. The second is the requisite starry-eyed pose. Isn't Stephanie SO LOVABLE? Yes. The answer is yes.


Projects in progress (UFOs):

1. Kepler (woo!). I restarted this great design -- check out the knitalong for more information and links to the free design. This is Rowanspun Aran in a pretty orange tweed, called "Autumn." I did alter the photo to try to make the color truer. No flash was used...


2. Multidirectional scarf, pattern from Holiday Handknits, the new Melanie Falick pattern book. It's really faboo! This will be gifted to my friend Rikeesha, who loves these colors -- as do I, so that works out! I'm using the recommended yarn, Fiesta La Boheme in Sedona, just because I had it on hand and didn't really want to knit the originally planned triangular shawl. Pattern says to use one skein for the scarf AND hat -- yeah right. Though I did buy seconds of the yarn, so maybe it's less than usual. In the photo, the fresh skein shows the colors better.


3. Broken rib stitch scarf out of goofy but pretty dark green (#2962) Berroco Softy, bought from Webs's booth at Stitches Midwest and cast on in a fit of excitement, then left to marinate in the knitting basket for a few months. (No photos of this one; it doesn't photograph well and isn't too exciting anyway.) I got the "pattern" free with purchase. It turned out very helpful, as I wouldn't have thought to use this stitch with this yarn. But regular ribbing and garter stitch and drop stitch (all of which I tried early on) looked godawful. Thank goodness I take anything that's free!

Some more cute photos I uploaded while getting these FOtos online:

White Sox celebration in Chicago! Buildings downtown lit up saying "Sox" and "Sox Win." Click for the whole photo; these are details.


Holding Eli the cat in a basket


Eli loves this basket I ordered from the Greater Good online store. You can choose to shop the store and give your donation to animals, breast cancer research, rainforest acreage, and more. Most items are $2.95 flat rate shipping, and many items are handmade, free trade items. It's also the click-one-a-day hub -- your clicks determine the money donated by the advertisers that day. Thanks to Amy for reminding me to do my daily clicks!