I finished my Something Red (though it's really purple) from Knit and Tonic a while ago, but I just today got around to posting pictures. I love it, though; I've been wearing it all the time and getting tons of compliments on it. Recently these sweaters have been popping up all over the place, and I can totally see why-- it's a quick pattern, a great intro to top-down sweaters (it was my first top down sweater), and it's so darn cute. I made mine using Blue Sky Cotton in Thistle, and it took me about a month and a half to knit-- a huge relief after knitting my last couple of sweaters in DK weight yarn or lighter. Anyway, here it is:

Front:


Back:


Front, again (this one shows the whole sweater, although the color is way off):

Made these for a friend who requested socks... my own pattern, using the yarn-over cable in Barbara Walker's 1st treasury, and Louet Gems Opal yarn. My friend loved them!

We got O-wool Balance (a cotton/wool blend) yarn into my LYS a few weeks ago, and I'm madly in love with the colors, the tweedy goodness, and the fact that it's 100% organic. So I made some gloves, no pattern, just a simple design with some cables, because cables+tweed= love. I used 1 skein and about 1/10 of the second skein, so I'm planning to buy another skein in another of the gorgeous colors and make a striped hat... as soon as I can decide what color to get. In the meantime, here are the gloves:

These are my first felting project, and I am totally hooked! They come from the book Funky Knits, one of those "hip" "teen" knitting books, the kind where most of the patterns make me want to cry (like sweaters with dropped stitches and safety pins... for that grunge look that all the kids are wearing these days  ). But someone in the LYS where I work pointed this slipper pattern out to me, and they couldn't be cuter. I made them with two strands of Manos del Uruguay (solid colors) held together, got a cute little button at the fabric store, and put some fabric paint on the bottom to make them less slippery... the jury's still out on whether that was effective. Anyway, here they are:



The buttons:


The fabric paint:


Let me know what you think! I haven't seen any of these online, but I would definitely recommend this pattern!

This is my first real sewing project in a long time, so needless to say I'm excited about the result. I've been carrying it everywhere... it's the perfect size, big enough to hold purse stuff as well as my knitting and a book.





I used an Amy Butler floral print for the lining, and an amazing light blue linen herringbone from the outside. I am so in love with this fabric:


I just used the tutorial on craftster, and sewed a little pocket into the lining. Very simple, and it took me a while to finish (I can never find time to sew!), but well-done, I think.

OK, so I'm in love with Cookie A.'s sock patterns in Knitty, so when I heard she was selling more beautiful patterns at Stitches West, it was just one more reason I had to go... it was my first Stitches, and it was so fun! I bought the kit for the Thelonius socks, and finally, about a week ago (I'm slow with the taking pictures thing) I finished! It was a pretty hard pattern (but well written!), and I had a few gauge issues, which ended in me knitting the small (me in small socks means there's something wrong in the universe... I have big feet!). I probably should have gone down a needle size so I could knit a larger size socks, since the feet look a little wonky, but c'est la vie. I love them anyway.

The awesomeness that is the legs:


The ever-so-slightly wonky feet:


Knit using Louet Gems Pearl on size 2 Clover DPNs.

I finished this sweater about a week ago, and it finished blocking a couple of days ago. I've already worn it twice (it's april, and it's a wool blend sweater, so I'm trying to wear it as much as I can while I still can. Also, I love this sweater inordinately.

It's a seamless raglan based partly on the formula in Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitting Without Tears, though I didn't follow her percentage system exactly because I wanted a fitted sweater and, as it turns out, I'm not proportioned in exactly the same way her pattern specifies. I also added waist shaping, and was planning to not do any neck shaping, but just cast off at the neck a la the Hourglass Sweater in Last Minute Knitted Gifts. But I didn't want my neckline to be as square or quite as wide as that sweater, so I added some short row shaping at the shoulders.

I've knit several other sweaters, but this is the first one that's really fit the way I intended it to. It's also made from my favorite yarn ever, Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool in a lovely (and unusual) indigo shade.





And a close up (this shot is truest to the actual color)

[Right Glove:]

Finished these a few days ago (I'm lazy about taking pictures-- they only took a couple of days to make), and I'm really proud of them.



They're made from Crystal Palace Panda Wool, a bamboo/wool blend that's super soft and amazing- bamboo is my favorite fiber at the moment.

The two asymmetrical cable motifs come from the Vogue Knitting Stitchionary Volume 2. I thought the way they mirrored each other would be great for gloves, and I love delicate one-stitch cables.

The fit me realy well, and will be great for the chilly spring/summer evenings here in Northern California.


And a few of you asked for a pattern, so here it is (I've never written up a pattern before, so let me know if this has any confusedness. Also, I have no idea how to create charts on the computer, so I just photographed the ones I have in my knitting journal. I hope they're legible.)

Yarn: Crystal Palace Panda Wool (46% bamboo 43% wool 11% nylon), Color #9598 (Jet Black) or any other solid-colored fingering or sport weight yarn.
      Waste Yarn for thumbhole

Gauge: 22 stitches=2 inches in K1tbl, P1 ribbing (unstretched)
      9 rows= 1 inch

Needles: US #3 (3.25 mm) double pointed

Right Glove: Cast on 60 stitches. Join in round. *K1tbl, P1*, repeat to end of round
Work 11 more rounds in K1tbl, P1.
Next round: K1tbl, P1, M1, *K1tbl, P1*, repeat between *s to end of round
Next round: K1tbl, work row 1 of chart 1 over next 11 stitches, complete round in K1tbl, P1 pattern as set.
Work next 31 rounds as set above: K1tbl, work next row of chart 1 over next 11 stitches, finish round in K1tbl, P1 ribbing.
Next round (round after chart 1 has been completed): *K1tbl, P1*, repeat between *s 11 times (22 stitches total). Break yarn, and knit next 8 stitches with waste yarn. Rejoin working yarn and finish round in K1tbl, P1 pattern as set.
Next round: Work 22 stitches in K1tbl, P1 pattern; still using main working yarn, K the eight stitches that have been knit in waste yarn, complete round in K1tbl, P1 pattern.
Work 12 more rounds in K1tbl, P1 pattern. Bind off all stitches.
Right Thumb: Remove waste yarn and pick up the resulting live stitches: 8 stitches at the bottom of the thumb opening and 7stitches at the top. Work bottom stitches in pattern: *K1tbl, P1* 4 times. Pick up and Ktbl 1 stitch between top and bottom of thumb opening, pick up and p 1 more stitch. Work 8 stitches at top in pattern: *K1tbl, P1* 3 times, K1 tbl. Pick up and P1 1 stitch between top and bottom of thumb opening: 18 stitches total.
Work 10 rounds in K1tbl, P1 ribbing, then bind off all stitches.

Weave in ends and sew closed any gaps at base of thumb.

Left Glove: Cast on 60 stitches, join, and work 12 rounds in *K1tbl, P1* pattern.
On the next round, work 16 stitches in pattern, M1, finish round in pattern.
Next round: Work 8 stitches in pattern, work row 1 of chart 2 over next 11 stitches, finish round in pattern.
Work next 31 rounds as above: work 8 stitches in pattern, work next row of chart 2 over next 11 stitches, finish round in pattern.
Next round, after chart 2 has been completed: work 50 stitches in pattern, K 8 stitches with waste yarn, K1tbl, P1.
Next round: work 50 stitches in pattern, still using main working yarn, K the eight stitches that have been knit in waste yarn, complete round in K1tbl, P1 pattern.
Work 12 more rounds in K1tbl, P1 pattern, then bind off all stitches.
Left Thumb: Same as right thumb.

Chart 1:


Chart 2:


Key to Chart Symbols:

Gwydion's recieved my package, so here are the pictures I took of it before I sent it to her:

The whole shebang:

As she said, I sent her Room with a View (E.M Forster) and House of Mirth (Edith Wharton). Then there's the bag, made from a felted thrift store sweater, the knit bookmark, a few paint chips (my favorite type of bookmark) and the bookmark I got free when I bought the books

Here's the bag alone, and a picture of the inside, with a pocket I made from a leftover piece of the sweater (there's also a pen holder on the other side):


And finally, a closeup of the knit bookmark:

I finally got off my butt to upload the pictures of the (amazing!) package gwydion sent me. Here's the bag, with the books all nicely wrapped up in tissue paper (she wrapped the bag up too, but I unwrapped it too quickly to get a pic  )


I love this  bag so much. It's a great size for a school bag, and has tons of pockets inside, including three rows of knitting needle/pen holders, and this great pocket on the front, with a crocheted flower (actually a pin)


Plus, this cute little tag which says "veni, vidi, texui" ("I came, I saw, I knit"!)


And then, the books. Tacitus' Annals (In Latin! I'm a classics major/geek) and a fun book of Latin insults


And then the most amazing, intricate crocheted lace bookmark. Lilac, with little green beads on the tassel-thingy, and it looks like it took forever to make.


It's pretty much the most amazing package I've ever gotten. Thanks Gwydion!