After three months of knitting, my first real lace project is done!  I'm so excited, I can't wait for winter!

So, I'm finishing up the Sweet Mary Jane Cardigan, made with Knitpicks Shadow.  The pattern calls for wet blocking - ie soak it for 20 minutes, lay it out on towels, pin it out, let  it dry.  But an article I read on blocking in Knitty said that fine gauge merino should only be spray blocked - ie lay it out, pin it out, spritz with water til damp, let dry.
I've never really blocked anything before, so I'm a little nervous.  Will either method work alright, or is one better?

I hope this isn't repetitive... I did a few searches and I found links to lots of people's blogs, but not much on how to actually start one.  I've never had a blog before, but I'd really like to set up a knitting one.  Does anyone have any suggestions for good blogging websites for beginning bloggers? Is it difficult to format them?  I'm reasonably computer savy...

This is what I spent my day working on:

Tank w/shrug


Back


Plain tank


Back


Tank w/shrug buttoned on (I don't know if I like how this way looks, but it is another way to wear it)


Now for the very pic heavy tute

I started out with these two t-shirts, both size medium-ish


I then cut rectangles off the bottom of each


I put the bodice up to the bottom part to see how much I needed to take up, then prepared to gather below the boobs.


I basted in between the pins, then gathered and pinned right sides together, basted, tried the top on, the sewed.


I gathered fabric above the boobs as well, then added darts in the back to make the top fit nicely, and stitched a border over the top. (My darts came out wonky, but it still looks cool)







Then I made straps, tried on the top and pinned the straps in place, stitched them on, and added button accents.





That completes the tank.

For the shrug, I took the top part of the flower print tee, added button holes (so it can button on or be tied.


Then I cut strips from the red tee, and added a red edging to the shrug




And voila!  A shrug and tank.  I like that I can put on the shrug at work (to fit in dress code), then wear just the tank top when I'm going out and about.

Hope you like it!

Inspired by Knitty's Brown Bag, I decided to whip up a felted lunch bag that would be the perfect size to carry my lunch to work.  I hate taking and wasting plastic bags each week, so I figured this would double as a eco-project to help me waste less.  I started with Knitty's pattern for the bottom, but I made up the rest as I went along.  The body was knit in the round.  I sewed in a zipper for closure and added a ribbon strap to carry it with.  (I double stranded Lion Wool using size 10 Denise Interchangeable circs)

with lunch and utensils


hanging


zipped up


pre-felting

My iPod had a very boring case that I made awhile ago, so I decided I needed to make it more interesting.  Being that many of my favorite bands come from Britain (The Smiths, The Clash, etc)  I decided to go for a British flag case.  This also gave me a good chance to practice my colorwork.
I drew up a chart for the flag, embroidering the white stripes afterward.  The back is plain black.  Very simple and easy, it only took me about two days to make.
Enjoy!




And here's the rough pattern w/chart

I used several different worsted yarns (double stranded), including Lion Brand Wool-ease, Cascade 220 and random acrylic.
For the flag side, I knit 2 rows in garter st in the black yarn, then knitted the cart in stockinette (the crossed out rows on the side were included)



The I knit two more rows of garter in black, and bound off.  I embroidered the white stripes.

For the back, you could just knit the same amount of rows and sts in plain black.  Then sew both panels together.  I made the back of mine differently, but I'm not sure how to explain it on here.  It's the same construction as the top part of the house slippers in Knit Two Together, by Mel Clark and Tracey Ullman.  That book probably explains it better than I can.

And that's it.  Simple, easy, fast and a great stash buster.

This is the toe-up two at once pattern from Knitpicks http://www.knitpicks.com/Two+At+Once%2c+Toe-Up+Sock+Pattern_PD50417220.html and my first pair of finished, wearable socks.  I modified the pattern to make them ankle socks.  I'm very happy with them and now about to tackle Knitty's broadripple socks.





Enjoy!

These are the felted house slippers from Knit2Together.  The yarn is Lion Brand Wool.  This is my first real felting project and I loved it.  The slippers are super comfy and have just the right amount of warmth.  I wear them constantly around the house now.  They were a fast knit too; it only took about 3 days to finish them.  The embellishment was made from cutting a felted swatch, then sewing it on with a button on top.





close up of embellishment


This is what they looked like before felting

I made this quilt with fabric from my stash for my mom's guest room.  Nothing really exceptional about it, but I had fun making it and my mom's really happy with it.



Here's a close up of the fabric


For the underside I used a twin sheet that I had plus some extra fabric (the quilt is a full)


Enjoy!

This pillow has an interesting story behind it.  While I was getting my BA at University of South Florida (USF), I would often crochet and knit in class.  This led to a few custom orders for pay.  One of them was this pillow.  In my Urban Studies class, this big football player asked me if I could make a pillow in the school colors that said USF.  At first I thought he was joking, but he was serious, and offered to pay me.  So I went out and got some yarn (it's Red Heart Acrylic), wrote up a chart on some graph paper, and crocheted it in a couple of days.  It's stuffed with fiberfill.  He was really pleased with it.  One of my most unusual requests.

So, here is the pillow...


And the back


And of course, the obilgatory cat shot