Merry Christmas from Santa's Newest Reindeers!

I passed this reindeer hat in Petsmart and couldn't resist. Finn actually enjoys wearing it. Holly, eh, not so much...

But anyhow, HAPPY HOLIDAYS to everyone!

Jenn

FO: Koolhaas

I kept meaning to post sooner than this, but life kept getting in the way. Also, I'm forgetful.

Here's a long overdue FO picture of my Koolhaas:




Pattern: Koolhaas
Yarn: Shokay Shambala (Colorway: Earth)
Needles: 7
Mods: None.


This hat is by far my favorite. I never even blocked it, just simply finished it and started wearing it. I like to think the snow blocked it for me later that winter. (This was finished in February.) Also, check out my awesome GWU football shirt. We're undefeated! Umm, but we don't have a football team so that's why.

As for my current project, it's coming along splendidly. I decided to start the Minimalist Cardigan. I'm about 10 inches into the back piece. The Louet Riverstone is lovely to work with, I'm really fond of how squishy it is.

I'm heading down to Mississippi tomorrow for my birthmother's wedding, so I'll have some long plane ride to work on the cardigan. I'm only knitting it on the Metro in the mornings (and people stare...) at the moment and progress is slow. Bleh.

Okay, that's all for now.

Jenn

Oh, what to do!?

Welp. I'm in a knitting rut again. It hasn't been easy these past few months. I've only knit two items during the summer, Carrie's hat and mittens set. For some reason, I don't want to knit on the metro, which is sad. It's prime knitting time.

I think the trains are just too crowded and I hate to be stared at. Normally, I sit in the third row, in the middle and hopefully by myself, so I can knit quietly without being bothered. In the morning and evening rushes, there's just too many people all over the place. And they stare at me! Oy vey.

Anyhow, I need to start a new project. It's time for a cardigan or sweater. I got some yarn for my birthday and I have some stashed yarn for specific projects. Here are the candidates for the first fall project:

Minimalist Cardigan (Yarn: Louet Riverstone Worsted)

Tangled Yoke Cardigan (Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed)

Central Park Hoodie (Yarn: Peace Fleece Worsted)

Tilted Duster (Yarn: GGH Solitaire)

I'm thinking I'm going to start with the Minimalist Cardigan, and hopefully move forward on this list during the fall and winter. Let me know what I should knit next!

Jenn

Kittens and Mittens

These kittens sure do grow fast. I'm having a lot of fun with my little critters.

Holly came in handy for some FO pictures of Carrie's mitten. Just the one mitten... I got a bit behind on her birthday presents. I sent the hat to her in time for her actual birthday, but the mittens were finished before my trip to see her in Boston. I actually finished the second mitten on the plane!



Pattern: Hermione's Cable and Bobble Mittens
Yarn: Cascade 220 Wool
Needles: 6 (4mm)
Mods: I learned from others on Ravelry that these mittens were coming out extra long. To shorten them, I split for the thumb with the beginning of the second cable repeat. I started the decreases around the 3rd or 4th row in the third cable repeat, sort of working them in as I went.

In the end, they fit Carrie's fingers perfectly and she was super happy with her new winter items. Also, I had them kitten inspected for superior quality.



Jenn

Holly and Finnegan

As of yesterday evening, I am a mommy to these two adorable kittens, Holly and Finnegan.




Holly is the sweetest kitten. She loves to crawl into my lap. She's a polydactyl, meaning she has an extra toe on her front paws.






Finnegan is quite the trouble-maker. But after he's done knocking over everything and destroying a roll of toilet paper, he loves nothing more than to curl up in your lap and demand your attention.

Both of them are Maine Coon mixes, adopted from a rescue group. I adore them, so happy to have these little guys with me now. Now I can get some FO pics with kittens in them too! Life is good.



Jenn

Here it goes again.

I haven't been knitting again. Le sigh.

I'm not sure why. Another relationship fell apart, and while, yes, I've been nursing my broken heart, I had stopped knitting sometime in early July. Which is before the breakup.

I've been working on the Cherry cardigan and I finished the front left panel. It's rather long, despite being the measurements the pattern suggests, so I'm a tad concerned. Should I rip back a bit and shorten it? I've never knit a cardigan that needs to be seamed together, so I don't know if some of the length will disappear with seaming. Suggestions? When I hold it up to myself, it seems awfully long (and my torso is pretty average length).





Maybe if I can get this figured out it will rejuvenate my knitting spirit, yes?

Also, here's a long overdue FO shot of the Hermione Hat for Carrie. Whether I want to or not, I've got to start knitting away at the companion mittens for this project.






And in other news, there might possibly be some small furry felines in my next post. Hehe.

Jenn

Blogiversay

I meant to blog about my blogiversary, but I just never got around to it. I really hate to post without pictures, but I just haven't gotten around to taking any yet. So, I missed my blogiversary due to simply wanted a pretty to look at post.

Then I figured. Maybe I don't need to post pictures of knitting/my life. Instead, I present you with this very cute image of a baby dressed as a lobster in a pot.




Too cute. I'm attempting to get my brother Jason to dress up my nephew David in this outfit for his first Halloween. Too, too adorable. It's an almost lethal injection of cute. ::dies::

NOW, onto my blogiversary post I had intended:

Last year, around this time, my life was very, very different. In honor of the major changes in the past year, here's a life of my life last year and this year.

Last year I was:
learning to knit
interning at the Treasury Department
living on-campus
about to start my senior year of college
deciding to take the LSAT and go to law school
dating Peter
not able to drink legally

This year I am:
far more advanced in my knitting skills (I've knit a sweater, camisole, socks, hats, a hoodie, and so on and so forth.)
a full-time litigation clerk for a large law firm in DC
living in a townhouse in Alexandria with my car parked in the garage
a college graduate
preparing to retake the LSAT (not that I did bad that first time, just not well enough) and planning to apply next fall to law school
dating David, after a period of actually enjoying being single
able to drink, with a good tolerance and ability to quit when I realize I need to

Ah, life has changed. More in good ways, than bad. So Happy Blogiversary to me! Happy One Year of Knitting as well! And I'm excited to see how far along I've come when the next year rolls around.

Jenn

FO: Frock Camisole

As promised, the lovely Frock Camisole. All finished and wonderful.

Pattern: Frock Camisole (Interweave Knits, Spring 2008)

Yarn: Louisa Harding Cinnabar (Color #006)

Mods: None

This was a relatively easy, straight-forward knit. I finished in about a month, even with all my finals, projects and papers due. I really, really love this top. I wore it out the night after I finished it and it received a million compliments. People kept asking where I had bought it!

In which she graduates and knits.

Well, if you wonder where I've been. Here you go.

Yes, I graduated. I've got a lovely B.A. in English and Creative Writing with a minor in Criminal Justice. And a spiffy medal from GWU's Columbian College.

That's me and my brother Jason after the graduation ceremony. I had fourteen people come up, mostly family. It was crazy, stressful, amazing and wonderful, all at the same time. 

But now all of that is over. I spent a brief week home in NC and then I drove to my new home in Alexandria, VA about a week ago. Life is strange. I live in a gorgeous townhouse, I have my car here, I wake up in the morning, wear business casual clothing and head off on the metro to my full-time job in DC. It's a complete 180 from my life two weeks ago. 

I'm still adjusting. I miss GWU, my friends and the boyfriend. But I've not no reason to complain about how my life is going. Good job, wonderful living situation, great friends, fun coworkers, amazing boyfriend. It's just going to take some time to get into the new routine.

Ah, and in the knitting world, I started and finished the Frock Camisole. It's lovely. I'll get some FO pictures up soon. Right now, I'm starting on some small projects to work on during the commute to and from work. I've got a couple of sock pairs that need finishing and I've started the Hermione Cable and Bobble hat for my friend Carrie's birthday in September. I'm getting a head start on her present this year, since last year we attempted the heavily cabled Twisted Flower socks in a two week period. Wowzers.

So, that's all for now. Hopefully there will be more pictures soon!

Jenn

She's back, and itching to get started.

It's official. The knitting bug has hit again.

I've been a bit out of whack with the fiber arts. I've been attending our GW Stitch n' Bitch and knitting Alicia's hat (still). Oh, but my heart had gone missing. I think this had something to do with the Saga of Alicia's Hat, which is now in it's third repeat of being knit. We measured her head, with all that glorious curly hair, and it came to 24". So I knit a 24" hat, and then...when finally it was done, it did not fit. This is after having to rip back once before thanks to screwing up the decreases somehow. Sigh. If anything is going to kill your morale, it's messing up a simple hat.

But then. Well, last night, I'm sitting at my computer and I end up on the Interweave Knits website for some reason or other, only to have my face assaulted with beautiful pictures of the Frock Camisole. And then it started, the fingers began to itch. A quick stop over to Ebay to find the yarn I wanted, a few clicks of the mouse to purchase it, and then suddenly I needed a new project right now. I did not want to wait for the yarn. I needed something new, and different, and lovely right now. Did I mention I needed it right then?

So then came the queue on Ravelry, the browsing of my dear stash, so full of cotton yarn from the sale last summer at Knit Happens, the selection of the Summetime Tunic and the Debbie Bliss Cotton Cashmere in a beautiful green color.

And so you could find me this morning on the metro, casting on for my new project, giddy, even if it was difficult to count the stitches as I listened to my iPod.

I'm back, baby. I'm back.

Jenn

Reasons for My Absence

1. School. February and March involved a lot of midterms and assignments. Oh the fun. 

2. Finding a job. I had a lovely time of resume rewriting and cover letter writing in February. It was all worth it when I scored an interview with my top choice law firm in early March. As of Friday, I've been offered the job and as of Monday, I'll be accepting. (Hurray!)

3. The now ex-boyfriend. Peter and I broke up. About year and a half and everything ended pretty badly. This was as of Thurs. and I'm feeling better. I was very sad, as I really did love him, but now I'm angry after everything he did to me. In really thinking about it, it's a good thing. I'm getting my post-grad life together and I can't have someone like him in it. I like to think I'm upgrading.

4. Not knitting. I've got no real excuse here. I just haven't even been knitting very much lately. I've got a hat for Alicia that's being worked on during the metro rides to work, and sometimes even then I'd rather just sit for that 15 minutes and do nothing. I don't know why. Maybe it's everything that been happening. I haven't even stepped inside of a yarn store in about a month...(until yesterday, when I went to buy my secret pal some items for the Longing for Spring swap). I need to get my "itchy" fingers back, where I'm just dying to knit.

Maybe soon.

Jenn

Longing for Spring Swap

I've joined a new swap! Perhaps, it's the somewhat warmer weather that's getting to me, but the Longing for Spring swap seemed perfect for this time of year. Sign ups are open until the 14th!

Swap Questionnare:

Do you knit or crochet? How long have you been at your craft?

I've been knitting for less than one year.

What are your favorite yarns/fibers? What are your least favorite yarns/fibers?

I've only knit with wool, yak and alpaca. Love them all. I don't have a least favorite, I just hate scratchy, splitty yarn.

What are your favorite colors? What are your least favorite colors?

Purple, teal, green, yellow. Dislike neon colors, orange, mustard yellow, etc.

What ‘warm weather’ project are you looking forward to making this year?

I've got a whole list in my queue on Ravelry for spring. Currently, I'm obsessed with making the Coquette lace tube top, or a tank top in general. There's only so much you can knit in the humidity down here.

What are you favorite scents? Least favorite?

Apples, cherry blossoms, anything that smells like dessert (think brown sugar or caramel).

Least favorite is vanilla or anything too strong/harsh.

What is your favorite flower?

Orchids and lillies.

What are you favorite spring time hobbies/activities?

I really enjoy just going out and walking around in DC in the spring. The cherry blossoms are the best part. I'm into photography and the warm weather allows for going out to shoot as well. 

Do you have a garden? If you do, tell us a little about it. Do you like to plant flowers or vegetables?

I wish I did. But its hard to maintain anything green or flowery in a dorm.

What are your favorite sweets?

Chocolate, for sure. Green apple is also one of my favorite flavors.

Do you collect anything?

Yarn. That's it. Haha.

Do you have any allergies?

Nope!

Do you have any pets?

Sadly, we can't have pets in the dorms.

Mad scientist.

That's not some weird experiment from a mad scientist right there. It's how I swatch. I've been swatching like mad these days. Swatches are foreplay for knitters.

This is how I swatch: I look at the yarn label's suggested needle size. I start swatching with needles two sizes bigger than those suggested. (I am apparently a very tight knitter and always require larger needles to get the recommended gauge.) Then I cast on. I knit with those needles for awhile and take preliminary measurements. If the gauge is WAY off, I frog the swatch and try new needles. If it's close, I switch to the next size up or down. If it's spot on, I go up in needle size. Continue the swatch in those needles and repeat the process. Bind off but put a stitch holder through the last stitch to keep from unraveling, but still attached to the ball of yarn.

Then the strange bath you see up there. A little Soak in a cup, some cold water. Then the usual steps of blotting and waiting for it to dry. Then measure the gauge again.

I love this method. Sure, it looks weird in my room, all the balls of yarn hanging around the drinking glasses. It looks like I've gone mad. But overall, it's quicker for checking gauge and allows me to see how the yarn looks at different gauges, all in one swatch.

My roommate is pretty freaked out by it though.

Jenn

Still Alive

I haven't blogged in awhile. Mostly because I haven't taken pictures of my current WIPs and FOs. But here's one:



Pattern: Basic Cable Hat (from Stitch n' Bitch Nation)
Yarn: Mission Falls 1824 Wool (1.5 balls)
Needles: 9
Mods: CO 120 sts. Changed gauge to 5.5 sts per inch. Added one extra pattern repeat.

This hat was for my roommate Alyssa. I knit it for her birthday (which is today). She's got a big ol' head. So I modified it to fit a 23" head. I accidently cast on too many stitches at first and accidentally didn't change needles after the ribbing. Which turned out to be a happy mistake. The gauge from the smaller needles ended up make the cast on amount perfect. Strange how things happen. This was one quick knit too. A handful of hours at the most. I knit it in three days though, on the metro and as a break between writing for class.

All in all, I adore this hat. The Mission Falls 1824 Wool is amazingly soft too!

I'll be making myself one too.

Jenn

Gleeful

Okay, so I promised these awhile ago and didn't deliver. The holidays were a whirlwind. That's my excuse. But here you go, the finished (finally) Glee!








Pattern: Glee by Zephyr Style
Yarn: Knit Picks Andean Treasure in Embers (6.5 balls)
Mods: Added waist shaping (still a little baggy), increased bust by an inch, knit extra inch of length, didn't change needles sizes for ribbing


Overall, my first sweater was a smashing success, don't you think? I'm very pleased with it. I started this in July and it took forever and a day to finish. Mostly, that was due to the sudden sock obsession and school.

On to the next sweater! I think I might start on Wicked, perhaps.

Jenn