indulging the obession

i found this big herringbone cowl on the purl bee a little while ago and i wanted it.

i needed it. 

i had to have it!

so i spent a vast majority of my down-time knitting a new cowl.

theirs {of course} looks better, but i do really like mine.  i stuck with the cream color, but used cotton yarn so it's dreamysoft {yup, it's a word}

and i think with this project i may finally have kicked this knitting habit. not that it's a bad thing, but i have so many other projects i've been neglecting because i just can't seem to put the knitting needles down. 

just step away from the needles lady!

for when it gets cold in kansas

i got a coat from my mom this christmas.

and one of my favorite parts is the lining. seriously, i'm a sucker for a cute lining {even if it is the most unimportant part of clothing...}

i was pretty excited about it. so as soon as we got home i made myself this matching cowl. it knit up in no time, considering i used super bulky yarn.

and then i made some matching mittens. i split the yarn to make them, so there are lots of loose fibers, which makes them extra fuzzy. in fact, the look a little ragged, so i like to call them my oscar the grouch mittens.

i'm staying warm and toasty, and i love my new coat even more now!

a little knitted rebellion

this year for christmas i did something new. it's not unusual for me to make all my gifts, but this year i knit them all. which, consequently, meant i spent all my free time from thanksgiving to christmas knitting. i barely got some of the gifts done in time so i didn't get any photos of the results, including the awesome {and red} convertible mittens i made for my mom. 

but, as it turns out, after wearing them to work one day, she discovered that they are against the strict dress-code. that's right, my parents work at the salvation army training college and, while they have the freedom to choose either a red or black scarf to match their black {strictly regulated} winter coats, that is the limit of their personal choices. {is my this-is-a-little-ridiculous tone coming through here?} so, upon my return home, i started on a new pair. exactly the same {except for a few tweaks i made to my first pattern} but in black.

  

and, according to my mother's wishes, i added this little surprise:

 bam!

i absolutely approve of this little addition and these really are much cuter than an all-red pair. {plus, red, yellow, and blue are the salvation army colors, so quite acceptable, i think}

 kinda wishing i could have kept these for myself, but i sent them off earlier this week so she wouldn't have to keep breaking the rules. who knows how long they will put up with her blatant disregard for the dress code!

crafty FAIL

a few years ago while perusing my local yarn store i found a pattern for felted slippers and i knew i had to have some. i bought the pattern and told the store owner this was the perfect project for my first major foray into knitting. she stopped in her tracks, asked me how long i'd been knitting and almost laughed when i told her "about 2 weeks". she told me this might be a little too challenging and they offered classes on this pattern and i could sign up. i politely let her know that i would keep that in mind while secretly thinking, "lady, you don't know me!" because when i get my mind set on a project i am rarely detered.

so, i went home and made my mom's christmas present- a pair of felted slippers.

luckily they turned out awesome, and i had no trouble at all with the pattern {although it was by far the most advanced thing i'd done}

which brings me to this project.

i wish i could say that my latest pair turned out as well. since the weather has been turning colder i've been in serious need of some new slippers {husband gets mad when he wanders around the house looking for his only to discover that i'm wearing them}

 everything was going fine and i was super excited about having warm and toasty toes over the weekend.

but it didn't turn out so well.

 since they get felted they are knit several sizes too large, checking that they are going to fit before felting isn't an option.

its as big as my magazine {which is obviously much bigger than my foot}

and one sole is different because i ran out of black and used it as an opportunity to stash bust a little. i used the same yarn but in green {and a little blue, because i ran out of green, too}

 

i thought everything was fine, until i felted them.

and they came out too small, and different sizes.

how this happened is beyond me. maybe mixing yarn was the problem? although i really doubt it because it was the same brand/weight. i think i must have messed up the pattern {although why i'd rather take the blame myself than blame it on something arbitrary like yarn is beyond me...}

 

oh well. they're ruined. at least for me- i'll felt the larger one a little more in hopes that i can eventually make them the same size and then give them away to some needy relative with smaller feet. in the mean time, i had my heart set on new slippers so i'm already working on a new pair. hopefully i don't screw those up, too!

knitting spree!

with cooler weather clearly on it's way i've been on a knitting spree. husband has been asking me to knit him a new winter hat for a while now and i finally found a pattern i liked. it's knotty but nice from knitty.com. 

 i'm pretty excited about how it turned out. i only consider myself a casual knitter and i've never used a cable chart before. success!

{as i may have previously mentioned, husband hates having his photo taken so you'll have to accept this flat photo as an action shot}

i also made a new pair of fingerless gloves for me. i love mittens and gloves {of the fingerless variety} and this pattern is actually the reason i learned to knit. i stumbled upon it years ago and immediately bought stitch 'n bitch, taught myself how to knit and within 10 days made myself a pair of these. 

unfortunately i lost one glove last year and needed a new pair. and since i live in wildcat country now, i thought this was fitting:

and then, just for fun, i whipped up one of those big chunky cowls i've been seeing all over the place {ahem, etsy}

i used some light blue/grey wool from an old sweater i frogged last year. i'm thinking about making some matching mittens out of it, too.

i think i've satisfied the knitting itch. 
for now.

knitting season

let me show you what i've been up to:
hand warmers!
(josh says they're impractical, but i think they'll be perfect for kansas winters)

daisy stitch hand warmers from the purl bee
(i'm really loving the fall colors right now)

my second pattern:
heavily inspired by a pair i saw at target.
(i couldn't find a picture online so i had to go by memory)

and last, but not least, a hat to match them all!
(well, it's not done yet)
the clam shell hat from fiberwild.
we'll see how it turns out :)

ps- does anyone want the black.white.red pair? i'm not going to keep them
(i originally made them just for a trial run)

i'd be happy to send them to you!