Afghan: Complete!

Hello!!

So, that afghan that I started knitting on Christmas last year has finally been completed! It only took me to better part of five months to do, but I did it :) This is very definitely the biggest and longest project I've ever knitted, let alone succeeded in making, so I'm very proud of that. The only trouble with starting it in December and finishing in May is that now the weather is so warm that an afghan is no use to me these days...ah, well. I'll just have to wait until the cold Canadian winter sets in.

I look infinitely awkward in this picture

I don't know the exact size of it, but this photo is supposed to show how big it is (and considering I'm almost 6 feet tall, it's pretty big.) Also, this picture shows the ripple pattern quite well, which I was very pleased with. But THANK GOD it's finally done!! That means my mom will stop nagging me to finish it. I think she thought I was never going to finish it...ha HA to her! (Love you, mom)

Later, alligator xox

Cupcakes & Heart Hats

Hello!

So I just completed my first week of non-work in 9 months, during which I baked some goodies, knit a hat, practiced guitar, and slept...all good things! Last week I found an icing pipe after searching all over Basel for one, and I was an eager beaver so the next day I made some delicious cupcakes. Actually, they weren't that delicious but the point of them were to get some practice with the icing pipe, so at least I got that much. To be honest though, they look pretty awesome in this picture...I'm just going to try some other recipes until I find ones that I really like and work well with the icing pipe. I made a butter cream icing, which was a little too oily for me but it took the shape well and hardened up after a while, so I can't complain too much.

Another exciting thing that happened to me came in the post on Thursday...I received my order from 8Season which contained about 40 different sized knitting needles, 10ish crochet needles (so now I have no reason not to learn to crochet), stitch markers, yarn scissors and a lovely silk case. It took me about an hour to unpack everything because all of the needles were packed separately, but it was so worth it! All in all it cost me about US$80, which is a friggen steal of a deal, so thanks Bailey for showing me that :) In any case, getting mail is always the best part of any day!

I decided that I had no more excuses not to make this hat that I've loved since I first laid eyes on it...so I did. And it was super fast, I was so pleased! I started on Friday evening and knitted my heart out (ba-dum-CH), and finished today (Sunday) morning.

I'm pretty pleased with it because it was my first time even trying fair isle, and I think that it went quite well as the hearts actually look like hearts. The only changes I made to Pickles' pattern were that I used size US5.5 instead of US6.0 because I was using quite thin wool and I didn't the weave to be too loose, but I think I had to pay the price of having a slightly tighter hat...so I might have to give it to one of my smaller-headed friends. I also mucked up the decreasing at the end because I got too caught up in Private Practice and forgot to keep count, but that was no big deal, so I just winged (wung?) it. Lovely.

Besos xo

Afghan!

Hello readers (Bailey).

In my first real post on this blog thing, I'll talk about the only project I currently have underway: The Ripple Afghan. My brotha Murray gave me an afghan knitting kit for Christmas 2009 (really, I'm pretty sure my mom is the one who ordered it and paid for it but it was Murray's name on the tag). Included in this kit was the pattern, the freaking huge circular needles and about 8 balls of yarn, so it was a pretty sweet deal considering I'm too lazy/cheap to gather all those things for myself. It's currently April and I've almost got that sucker done, which is an impressive feat for me (someone who never finishes anything that they've started).

The colour is amethyst, as you can see from the picture. It currently measures 105cmx80cm, and I have 1.5 more balls of yarn to use up. The pattern is really quite easy if not a bit tedious, however I find it to be the best project to keep on the coffee table so I can knit while watching Grey's. Possibly my favourite thing about it is that it even works as an afghan before I've even completed it: I can drape it on my legs while knitting it so as to keep me warm in this horrendous spring we've been having. What a perfect situation!

I still have a couple more weeks of effort to put into it, but I think it will be well worth it. However, Bailey, I have a question for you: to tassel or not to tassel? I'm thinking the tassels would give it a more blanket-y vibe instead of just being a large knit rectangle, however, as my mom pointed out, tassels went out of style around 1976...thoughts?

Laterz! xox