Spring...

Spring is here... and the garden is waking up.

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And it's inspiring me:

Chevron Lace Beret

Pattern from Magknits, knit in Noro Aurora.

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By the bye, please please please let me give you some oranges:

They're falling off the tree...

Family Tree

I just posted a bunch of old family pics to my flickr...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nillakitty/sets/72157602085814689/

Anyone in the family have any to add?

Oblique

Here's my "Oblique" from Knitty:

It's knit in Berroco Ultra Alpaca. I love it & have worn it a lot already! This yarn was pretty perfect for this sweater… soft & fuzzy, but with enough definition for the lace. I used a bit more than called for, though, even though my gauge was right on. I don’t usually knit the same color as the pattern calls for, but this one really wanted to be grey... As for mods, I didn’t do the fold over cuffs, but that's all I changed.

Shoe Envy

You may have guessed that I have a minor shoe obsession (my WISTS get a little ridiculous). For example, I am currently obsessed with the granny boots featured in Rowan 40 (on pages 39-41, 45-46, and 57) and even took it as far as writing to Rowan... they told me they had no information, as their stylist brought them to the shoot, so I looked up the stylist (Emma Freemantle) and emailed her representation, but got no response. Do any of you have ideas on getting information available on them (brand, availability, etc.)? Or have you seen similar boots anywhere? They are partly brocade-ish fabric & partly leather...

Paint

My MIL's best friend Joan started this project she read about in a magazine... It's a group effort self portrait piece where each of your friends/family paints a self portrait in a little square on a large canvas. I think it's a pretty great idea & I'm thinking of starting my own...

Here's Joan's:

That's me in the red hat (from this pic).

And here's Laika's square... Ok, she didn't paint it but I'm sure

this is what she would have if she could....

Chris painted a really nice one, too, but he didn't take a picture, of course. I'll try to get one later- I'll try to post a pic of the finished product, too.

Belle

Here's my Belle beret (from Ysolda's wonderful pattern):




It's knit in Louisa Harding Grace (50% silk, 50% wool) and the silk ribbon is my first hand-dying attempt... I luuuuurve it.

X-Mas!

I didn't knit many gifts this year... Having realized that few people really appreciate the time & effort, I decided that my pals & fam will only get handknits if they request them. Of course, I love requests! I just want to be sure that the recipient is getting what they really want... There are exceptions- if I see something that someone just has to have, they'll get it! In that catagory, my lovely New York Tammi recieved the Ogee skirt/wrap thingy from Interweave Knits (Summer '07), since she's a ballerina, and it seems to be pretty perfect for that... I've requested pics of her in it that I'll post when I get!
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Other than that, my sister requested a Urchin hat just like mine, but in the colors of my pup Laika's fur...

(with Mom's dog Pudge)

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And I think I got it:

JoAnn Licorice

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Erin with Mom... who got the Louisa Harding Beret (from the Gathering Roses collection).

And now they can match! Yaaaay!

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And I got many knittin' goodies to feed my addiction...

From the inlaws:

The yarn is alpaca from a farm they visited over the summer!

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From Mama, via gift certificate to my yarn favorite store, um pretty much ever, Babetta's!:

I still have $$$ left to spend, too!

Yaaaaaay!

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And I've got a few little knits done in the new year...

Two headbands:

Panta pattern from DROPS, knit with Crystal Palace Yarns Taos.

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Quant from Knitty, knit with Trendsetter Tonalita. Like many others, this was my 1st entrelac & I loved it… I’m not sure when I’ll use it again, though... i haven't seen a whole lot of entrelac I like. I modified the end of the pattern to make it the same as the other end, using mightbekatrina (from Ravelry) mods.

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And a hat:

I call it Little Red Cap, but the pattern is Russian Winter from

Stitch n' Bitch Nation, without the fuzzy/furry yarn. Little Red Riding Hood was most likely originally wearing a red hat, not a hood, so this is my version of the melding of both.

It's knit in Rowan Big Wool.

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So that's it for now... I've got more in the works!

First of many...

I have a few things lined up to post, but you know how it goes...
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Here I have some pics of the purse I made for my wedding. Well, my wedding was 2 years ago, but I'm just now getting around to posting these pics... actually, I just got around to taking them. Anyway:

It's in the shadowbox I made for wedding stuff: there's a photo, a bird wreath that was part if the table centerpieces, Chris's boutonnière, and a butterfly my little brother Tyman found after the ceremony (don't worry, it was already dead). I used Inspirations Magazine (the embroidery one, not the stamping one) Bridal Issue for the placement of the vines on the purse, but changed the individual elements & made it monochromatic (there are subtle color changes). The stawberries are for our name (Fraser), the thistle is for Scotland (land of the Frasers), and the pomegranate, rose, and bird are all traditionally associated with weddings. I got additional for these instructions from Jane Nicholas's books (Except for the bird, which I winged. Pun intended.).

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All our wedding photos are posted here.

Bulky Babies

Here are a bunch of super-bulky knits I sped through... sometimes you just want some instant gratification...
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Loop-d-Loop's Hooded Capelet:

Finished in one day! Knit in some great Cascade Magnum I got on Ebay- only two skeins! I lengthened it by 5 inches.
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Twinkle's Karate Sweater:

Disasterous. Sometimes us biggun's can pull off a bulky knit, but not in this case. Good God.
I knit it after being reminded of it's existance by Anthropologie, who is now selling them premade! For $268! Mine's in Lion Thick & Quick... not as nice as Twinkle yarns, but much more reasonable- I'd reknit something I really like in Twinkle, but not before trying it out in something cheaper (case in point, this sweater makes me look like a sad bear).
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Rowan's Alpine Shrug:

It's knit in Rowan Big Wool (Sugarspun colorway). I only did 4 sets of the eyelet pattern so I wouldn't have to buy two more balls of the Big Wool (the pattern is wrong, I think, I've seen a lot that need more wool than called for)... I think it still looks good smaller, anyway.

This Winter's Forecast

I finally got around to knitting Stefanie Japel's Forecast (from Knitty):

It's in Cascade 220 (5 skeins instead of 4 because I lengthened it).
Mods: I added 2" to the body before the ribbing...I also had to re-knit the cuffs because they turned out way big... I do have freakishly small wrists for my size, though. I decreased 17 sts. (7 at the purl sections, then another 10 at the rib sections).
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And while I'm at it... here's a couple more hats:

This one is Amber Daniels' Peasant Cap pattern... a fantastic version of this very pricey hat. Clever girl. Its' knit in Cascade Pastaza (colorway 53) and I love love love it, but it's very, very warm.

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And this one is desiknitter's Rangoli Hat pattern, which is based on 8-point lotus-shaped ‘rangoli’ designs drawn outside South Indian homes. It's in Rowan Tapestry (colorway 174).

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I've also added some action pics of the Bobble Cable Snow jacket to my lat post (here), per many requests. Even though I look like a snowman in it. Or snow-woman. You get the idea.