Finally...The Projects

I finally took pictures of the 3 projects I've completed since beginning this knitting odyssey...explanations are beside the pictures. :)

And I tried bamboo needles with the current project (a chunky-knit sweater for Brendan)...I made it through 4 rows of stitches before I gave up. Ick...they are much lighter than the metal ones I'd been using, but my speed went from quick to snail-like, and I fumbled much more with them. Maybe with a lighter weight yarn, I'd have better luck. But for ease of sliding the stitches off the needles, the metal ones are working better for me right now. I'm currently using a Lion Brand acrylic-blend (Homespun) and inserting stripes in the body of the sweater right now. I'm using a 10.5-size needle and it's going pretty quickly. Although the whole idea of yarn getting tangled on itself is a pain in the caboose--two skeins going (alternating stripes), and it's a struggle right now to figure out how to untangle them for the current row of stitches! :0 So if anyone has suggestions on that, I'm all ears. Right now I'm resigned to having to deal with this until I finish the back of it and begin on the front. ;)


To the left you'll see the first scarf I ever knitted--the one I had to start 6 times because I goofed up in the first 10 rows and couldn't figure out how to fix my goofs. ;0 It was knitted on size 9 needles with an acrylic blend yarn by Lion Brand (Homespun), in their "purple" shade. This is a straight garter stitch with 20 stitches for width. The fringe is already looking somewhat nappy, but I can't figure out how to remedy that problem. This is the entire 6 oz. skein of yarn (minus the fringe).








To the right is the 2nd scarf I knitted; a very dainty small one done on size 7 needles, using Red Heart's Plush yarn in Wine. The pattern is simple (modified from a larger pattern) of k3, p3 and 15 stitches cast on the needle. The larger version is 33 stitches with a k3, p3 pattern. Of course, in order to get the ridges that are visible, you must start the next row with the opposite stitch you ended the previous row. In other words, if you ended on k3, the next row begins with p3. I found it confusing to remember, so I put a small loop of yarn on one needle to remind me that when that needle was empty, I had to start with p3. :) The skein of yarn was 6 oz, and this scarf weighs in at just under 2 oz.







And finally, this is my "be resourceful" project. I finished the red scarf in record time (4 days total, stitching a few hours in the evening) and I hadn't made it in to town to buy more yarn. But I HAD to stitch *something*...so I picked up the 'eyelash yarn' I bought several months ago and had asked Mark to crochet with (for a sewing project I have) and figured if he wouldn't do it, I would! ;) This is using "Fun Fur" and size 8 needles, doing a straight garter stitch for 10 stitches. While it could be used as a scarf or boa, it will be used as embellishment for a collar on a fall coat I'm making. :) This was the entire skein of the eyelash yarn and although it was a bit complicated to work around (those stray pieces), I'm pleased with the end result.



More later...time to go do housework so I can knit without guilt tonight. ;)