Completed project: Spring flowers stitch markers

I'm immensely proud of how cute these stitch markers are! The pastel colors and the dainty little flowers make them feel so spring-timey. They have sterling silver findings and fit needles up to size US 10.5.

WIP: Shetland Triangle

I just joined the Scarf Style/Wrap Style KAL. I'm making the Shetland Triangle shawl from the book Wrap Style.



Yarn: Knitpicks Gloss - 70% merino 30% silk
Progress: Row 13 of body pattern

I cast on for this shawl a few days ago, and I love how it is knitting up! I was a little nervous about this project at first, as it is my first lace project, but it's turning out to be much easier than I thought it would be. I had a little bit of trouble when casting on and knitting the first 10 or so rows, but now that the pattern is established things are going much smoother.

Completed project: Citrus stitch markers

Here's my latest set of stitch markers. The colors remind me of citrus trees, my all-time favorite being the meyer lemon tree. I'm insanely jealous of people who live in a climate where they can grow citrus trees outside, or who have enough of a green thumb to keep them alive indoors. I, unfortunately, can do neither.



In the background is a raglan sweater I started a year or so ago and never got very far on. The yarn is Knitpicks Vacation, which is a little awkward to work with because of its thick-and-thin texture. I'm going to buckle down and complete it this year, hopefully in time to wear this fall.

Completed project: Turquoise stitch markers

I just finished a set of turquoise stitch markers. There are 4 closed-ring stitch markers and 2 locking stitch markers, great for knitting socks and lace!

Completed project: Fetching fingerless mittens

Last weekend I finished the Fetching fingerless mittens. Here's a picture of them before blocking:



To block them I just spritzed them with water, pinned the picot points to my ironing board and left them to dry overnight. The picot edge is MUCH flatter after blocking, and after one day of wear the left one stretched a bit so they now look like they're the same size. I'm very pleased with them, they match my Odessa hat beautifully.

Completed project: stitch markers

There are 6 stitch markers in all, 4 closed and 2 that are "locking." They're made from turquoise beads and sterling silver findings. I love them! They're going, along with the yarn, to a friend for her birthday.

Completed project: Electricity!

I'm enormously proud of this... I installed a light in our entryway this weekend! All by myself! It's my first electrical project yet. Well, I should clarify that - it was my first electrical project in our house. I took two electrical engineering labs in college where I attempted many projects, some of which ended in failure and one ended in flames. Granted, the flames where actually my lab partner's fault, and the circuits we were building were quite a bit more complicated than the two-switch-two-light circuit I wanted to build in our house.

The project was a little nerve-wracking. I'm embarrassed to say how long I spent drawing diagrams of the existing wiring and my options for the new wiring, and how long I spent staring at those diagrams... but everything went smoothly. I connected everything correctly on the first try. Didn't get electrocuted. No fires were started. It's hard to believe. It's ridiculous how happy I was when I first flipped the switch for the new light and the light came on. The project took about 3 hours of work, including cutting all the holes in the wall, running wires, testing the circuits and all the cleanup.

Tutorial: Circular knittng needle case

Specs:

• Finished dimensions: 16w x 13h, totally unfolded, about 4w x 8h folded
  
• 8 pockets

Materials:

• Outer fabric: (1) 17w x 14 h
• Inner fabric:
• (1) 17w x 14h
• (1) 17w x 10h
• (1) 17w x 12h
  
• 2 feet of ribbon
• Matching thread

Instructions:

• Prepare pockets
  
• Fold both pockets in half the long way
  
• Iron
  
• Straight stitch as close as possible to the fold
  

• Attach the top pocket
• Turn in the unfinished edges on the long side of the pocket by 1/4" and iron
• Lay the pocket on the 17w x 14h piece of inner fabric. The straight-stitched side should be 7" from the bottom. Pin the bottom of the pocket in place. (see picture below)
  

• Stitch the bottom of the pocket to the inner fabric
  
• Baste the sides of the pocket to the sides of the inner fabric with a 1/4" seam allowance. Stitch from the bottom of the pocket to the top. (see picture below)
  

• Attach the bottom pocket
• Align the bottom (un-hemmed) edge of the bottom pocket with the bottom edge of the large inner piece.
  
• Baste both the sides and bottoms of the pockets to keep them in place with a 1/4" seam allowance. (see picture below)
  

• Sew inner and outer fabrics together
• Pin the inner and outer fabrics together, right sides together. Stitch with a 1/2" seam allowance, leaving a 4" opening
• Turn needlecase right-side out
• Iron
• Straight-stitch around entire needlecase, as close to the edge as possible
  
• Sew pocket separations
• With a chalk pencil mark 4" pockets on the needlecase
• Pin on both sides of the chalk lines
  
• Stitch along the chalk lines from the top of the pockets to the bottom

• Attach ribbon. Sew the middle of the ribbon to the outside of the needlecase, along one of the pocket separation seams.

Happy knitting!!

Bathroom renovation

My bathroom renovation project got featured on Apartment Therapy yesterday!

WIP: fetching

I've made significant progress on my fetching fingerless mitts:



I'm using Rowan Cashsoft yarn (instead of the suggested Debbie Bliss) so the mitts will match my Odessa hat. The yardage on the Rowan Cashsoft is slightly more than the Debbie Bliss yarn, so there's enough to make 2 mitts from 1 ball-o-yarn. I added quite a few rows of the 4x1 rib to the mitts, a longer and wider thumb, and also one more repeat of the cable pattern before the picot bind off. The picot bind off is a bit curly, I'm hoping I can do some blocking to correct that. These knit up very quickly, I knit the entire cuff for the second one during last night's Gilmore Girls episode.

Completed project: Odessa hat II

I've had a super-productive weekend, finishing up lots of birthday presents and a swap package which I unfortunately cannot post pics of yet. However, I did finish one thing that I can post a picture of:



My second Odessa hat, completed just in time for the warmer weather that's coming our way!

Snow

Look at all this snow!



We actually had to pile snow on one car to get the other car out of the garage.

WIP: house

We're having a huge snow storm today in the midwest. I took a picture of our house last night around 11pm, and the sky was so bright I was able to take picture without a flash. Wierd, huh? Another foot of snow is predicted before the storm ends.



My husband has been working on finishing the basement of our house. I've really had nothing to do with this, other than snapping a few chalk lines. I'll be responsible for the painting after the drywall is up, and maybe some of the electrical work. Maybe. I'm currently working on installing a light in our entryway, where there is already an exterior light. I'm estimating the time-to-completion for that project to be about May. So for now, enjoy the pictures of the basement in progress: