I love purple in the springtime....

Pattern: Conwy Socks from Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road
Yarn: Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Moutain Twilight
Needles: US 1
Mods: Shortened the length a bit, as I always do. Also, inadvertently invented a new kind of toe decrease, which needed to be cut off one of the socks. They match now.

Love does not describe my feelings for this yarn. Eternal devotion, maybe. It makes a nice thick fabric with US 1 but not too thick and the colors are perfect in my view - nicely varigated but nothing that's going to jump out at you or take over a stitch pattern. Just a bit of depth, that's all.

Incidentally, the other thing on my needles, right now is purple - my mom's Dollar and a Half cardi. I'm making some pretty extensive modifications (already resulting in one major frog session) so here's hoping. It's a bit nerve wracking to 1) be making something for someone other than myself and 2) have that thing be the most heavily modified piece of knitting you've ever made.

My head's full of new inspiration this spring.... I've got a couple ideas floating around up there that I can't wait to get started on!

Happy Sunday

This little meal is just one facet of my happiness this weekend: whole wheat pasta with mushrooms, tomatos, and goat cheese, strawberries, and milk in my imported Nutella-cum-juice glass. I don't often eat at my table, but I cleaned my apartment this weekend, and somehow settling down to a good meal with good book seemed like just the thing. I even pulled out one of the sunny placemats I bought at World Market for the occasion.

On My Bedside Table:
Anne of Ingleside by L. M. Montgomery
Dragonhaven by Robin McKinley

Current Interests:
spring fashions
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
cleanliness

On My Mind:
newlyweds
new homes
opportunities

Learning:
to be a better person and musician
relax
Notre Dame organum

Making:
Conwy Socks from Knitting on the Road by Nancy Bush
Dollar and a Half cardigan for my mom

Looking Forward To:
the first outside weekend of spring
daffodils

Enjoying:
my little apartment
my friends
puppy pictures!

Amused By:
Pinky and the Brain on DVD (seriously, it doesn't get any funnier than these guys)

Where has the time gone?

March 12th already? I feel like it's been ages since my last post. But I can't say I'm sorry that March is almost half over. I really dislike the month of March. By this time I'm usually about done with winter, and it's so grey and stormy and it seems like March just hangs around forever. I have, however, quite the little back-log of projects to show you.

First off, the striped yoke is done. Has been for more than a week yet, but I haven't blocked it. Honestly, I probably won't until next winter. I'm not likely to wear it in what's left of this winter. The fit is ok. It's kind of big, which I sort of planned and sort of didn't. Anyway, it satisfies my need for a weekend-y kind of sweater.

Yarn: Patons Classic Merino in Olive and Rich Red
Needles: US 7
Pattern: EZ Seamless Yoke

Last week, I was able to make use of my mom's sewing machine. I made this super cute tote bag with fabric I bought back in December. The dahlia print is a Liz Claibourne decorator fabric I got on clearance. The patter was from SEW: Sew Everything Workshop. I did some modifying to make sure I could use it for what I wanted, which was as a bag to hold all my teaching supplies: etude books, pencils, schedule, ect. It's really perfect, and I love the print. It's so retro and just speaks to me for some reason. The inside is a contrasting fabric in red-orange and I added an internal pocket in the dahlia print. I have a bunch of fabric left over, which has no particular plan. I bought way more than I needed because it was such a deal. I really want to use it. This print just makes me so happy!

The only thing I don't like about this tote is that the lining is too big. The pattern has you cut the lining and outside the exact same size. For me, this made a sloppy lining. It is settling into place now, but it's not perfect. I've found, having made three projects from this book, that I love the ideas, but the execution is not the best. First off, you need to be careful and check that seam allowances are included in the sizes you're told to cut so you end up with the size it says the project should be. This tote pattern has three options, and for one of the three, seam allowances are not included. Second, the styling on the projects makes them out to be more than they really are. Scale is an issue. Many objects look bigger or smaller than they actually are. And depsite what the finished object size says, it is hard to reconcile what you see with what the pattern says. I don't think I will be making any more projects directly out of this book. I will, however, take the suggested projects into consideration when buying patterns as a beginning sewer.

And last, I received my ATCs from the Project Spectrum swap.
Thanks a lot Kristen and Chandler!