Circles Yoke Sweater pattern

The circles yoke sweater pattern is now available from Webs. I was quite excited to see it featured on the back cover of their latest catalog. I also found it on Ravelry. I'm so excited to share this one with you all!

blocked and ready to go

Elliott finally scores a handknit sweater!

specs:
pattern: basic raglan sweater recipe from the Handy Book of Sweater Patterns
yarn: 6 balls each of noro silk garden #226 and #244
needles: 5mm
notes:
I ended up striping the yarn like all of those beautiful noro stripy scarfs to try and get a consistent shift in colors across the whole sweater. Because the sweater was "man-sized" some of the colors changed within the striping for a more subtle effect. I tried to get the sleeves to have a similar feeling by striping 4 balls of yarn at different points in the color sequence and more randomly choosing what stripe color would go next. I also used a tubular cast on for the body and sleeves and a tubular cast off for the neck.
verdict:
Elliott seems pretty pleased with this one. It's not too heavy or hot and I think it will get a lot of wear come fall.

hand felting makes your hands baby soft

or in other words - the cute little Noni bags are finished!



Specs:
Pattern: Raspberry Liqueur Noni Bag
Yarn: 2 skeins of Valley Yarns Northampton
Needles: 10 1/2
Hardware: Lacis snap handles



Specs:
Pattern: Maraschino Cherry Bonbon Noni Bag
Yarn: 4 skeins of Valley Yarns Northampton
Needles: 10 1/2 & 11's
Hardware: Lacis snap handles



These are fun little bags to knit up and felt. The bag hardware is so sexy and it is easy to sew them in and get a decent looking bag. I actually had a hard time giving back the little fushia one and may have to make one for myself since I have a couple of weddings coming up this fall. I ended up felting them by hand in a large bucket with a plunger and my hands. This helped me get them in a good shape and to make sure that the flaps were the correct size to work with the hardware. Hand felting sure makes your hands baby bottom smooth!

Here are a couple of pre-felted shots to entertain you all:

not so much knitting when it's hot

As I'm sure you may have read from many other east coast blogs, we've had a show-stopping heat wave earlier this week. I generally don't mind heat and humidity, and I used to live in Philadelphia in a third story walk up with no air conditioning, but this was pretty hot and sticky. It also coincided with a visit from my parents so we spent our time in spaces more air conditioned than my apartment.

Of course the best air conditioned spaces are stores, so we went shopping. And I scored a new camera! I got a little Panasonic "spy" camera which is faster, smarter, and smaller than my old digicam. Someday I'd like to get a digital SLR, but I think realistically I would use a smaller point and shoot more often. I have to read up on all of the many settings and features, but it managed to take some nice photos of Syd without any trouble.



I also got a nicer shot of the queen anne lace scarf:



I did manage to finish Elliott's noro raglan sweater and it is blocking on our guest bed. I think it will be cooler next week so hopefully I can arrange a photoshoot soon. Happy weekend to you all!

birthday fun and other catching up

I've been having fun this weekend celebrating my birthday. I like to stretch the celebration out as long as I can, really making it more of a season. Luckily Elliott and my friends put up with this indulgence. We've had some yummy dinners and this morning on the actual day Elliott gave me a platter of cupcakes and a sweet pile of gifts - mainly little treats I wouldn't get myself. He also gave me a homemade mix CD that will amuse me on my long weekly drives into work. Love the homemade gifts.



Other than that it's fairly quite around here. I did manage to have somewhat of a craft vacation. I had a fun week with crafty social activities in the afternoons and did a little work in the morning. Perfect! Gail the Kangaroo Dyer let me play in her studio and I got to dye some rovings, my favorite is a gradation of greens to blues. I was so excited I could hardly wait for it to dry before I spun it up. I didn't even take a photo! Later in the week I whipped out the crochet hook and crocheted me a queen anne lace scarf. It's a little on the short side but it should make a lovely cowl like scarf come fall.





And gardening happiness! My upstairs neighbor and I are working on an ever growing container garden around our house. This year's addition is actual veges, not just flowers, so we have some cukes and tomatoes and our fingers crossed.

In other knitting Elliott's noro raglan sweater is almost done and once it stops being 95 billion degrees I can probably get some shots...

Have a fun rest of your weekend peeps!