handmade by jennifer: October 2004

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Wednesday, October 27, 2004

Justin's Hooded Sweater Progress

I think this is what I'm the most proud of at the moment. First of all, I didn't have enough from one dye lot, so I was going to use another dye lot for the ribbing and hood. Then I created the stripes idea and used it for in between, so the whole main body and sleeves etc can be in the main dye lot. Plus the stripes look awesome and line up perfectly. Plus I managed to figure out the "work pocket while working body" thing so all I have to do at the end is seam the two sides...the pocket is already attached permanently into the work...and the stripes are STILL lining up! :)
I've finished the back, front side, front pocket and in this photo I've gotten to the point where I stop on the right side to start working the pocket. In real life I've only got 4 more stripes to go to finish the pocket and work the two tog and continue.

posted by Jennifer Lori @ 10:58 am 0 comments

Baby Boy Onesie Progress

As you can see below, the blue onesie is almost done. I'm not really pushing on the progress for these 'cus they're not due 'til Christmas, and most of my projects are due way before that.
All I have left to do on this one is to weave in my ends and attach (and buy) a snap tape to the crotch, and also finish and attach the ribbing to the second bootie. I LOVE these cute little booties, can't stop thinking about the little feet that go inside! But no, this isn't knit, it's crochet. Don't flame. :)

posted by Jennifer Lori @ 10:55 am 0 comments

Mini Cardigan Progress

The little cardigan for my knitting class is complete. Now I just need to block it over the weekend to be able to start seaming in Monday's class. I am now completely aware of which increases to use when, the proper way to decrease for whichever effect I'd like, and how to make buttonholes, but Nicole (my teacher) is right- no matter which one you make, they're still ugly, except for the invisible yarn-over one.

posted by Jennifer Lori @ 10:51 am 0 comments

Happy Birthday Kevin and Bernie!

Yes, it was so many moons ago that on this day you were both born...and if we look at your parents it's quite apparent that neither of you were switched at birth. Have a wonderful day, lots of cake, and virtual coffee at Bernie's parents' house like the good old days.
Love you both!

posted by Jennifer Lori @ 10:49 am 0 comments

Sunday, October 17, 2004

I want to be the first to welcome Mr. and Mrs. Richard Robins!

Ok, so Julie and Rich aren't getting married until later tonight. But I'm up, and excited, and so I'm congratulating them now, 'cus technically it IS their wedding day.

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR WEDDING
RICHARD AND JULIE!

Yannick and I love you both and wish you a lifetime of happiness.

posted by Jennifer Lori @ 2:04 am 0 comments

Friday, October 15, 2004

Ugh.

I'm having a very hard time working on my secret project. I'm trying not to give away too many details since this is going to be a gift for someone, but I'm trying to mix an Eros Herwool ladder yarn with a mohair, and not having very good results. I might need to ditch the mohair and keep it for another project if I can't get it working right, since the ladder yarn is the real reason for this one.

RRR.

posted by Jennifer Lori @ 10:12 pm 0 comments

Tuesday, October 12, 2004

RRRR

I haven't done any major knitting in a few days and its driving me nuts!

I brought the yarns for Justin's Hooded Sweater to work with me on Wednesday, and during my lunch I swatched up some testers for the stripe pattern I wanted to do. Turns out I can't do the stripes in the ribbing as I wanted. I'd planned on alternating the blue and cream on every row for a rustic, country look. Unfortunately that means having to cut the yarn every row and I don't feel like weaving in a gazillion ends. I tested a few stripes with an even number of rows per so I can switch colors as I want...works well except I can't use that either. The ribbing on the bottom and cuffs run horizontally so the stripes will be ok, but the ribbing for the button bands and around the hood run vertically, so my stripes will be running up the sweater, which I don't want. I ended up creating a stripe pattern within the body of the sweater itself, so I hope it looks cute. I couldn't do any knitting once I got home, however, 'cus I was trying to finish at least the first of the crocheted baby outfits. I seamed the blue onesie and it's ready for blocking.

On Thursday I snuck Yannick's second sock into my sister's high school graduation ceremony, so while all the other family members and friends there were bored silly (admit it, you're each only interested in one kid there) I was knitting away. I could hear a lot of "is that a sock she's knitting?" and "what kind of needles are those?" comments from around me, which was kinda cool. When I got home I finished up the two sleeves for the mini cardigan we're doing in my knitting class so I'd be ready for the next class.

Friday I managed to finish the first of the 2 crocheted blue booties to go with the onesie, but that's all I did. Saturday was out too 'cus I worked all day and then had Julie's bachelorette party all night. (Absolute BLAST btw...and 1st time staying up 'til 5am in a looooooong time. I even had a few drinks. Go me!)

Yesterday was a knitting-related day, even though I didn't get much done. I had to go to my lys to pick up an addi turbo I needed for Justin's sweater so I can get started (its for the ribbing). I had been talking to Yannick about felting 'cus I finally received my kuryeon to make a booga bag, and he wasn't quite getting what the finished fabric would be like, so he agreed to come with me to the lys to see some of the finished felted stuff they had lying around. He thought it was so cool that he wants me to make bags for his whole family for Christmas. He was having a good time feeling all the yarns and freaking out over some expensive skeins, like a silk/wool blend for $57. We wound up going for an early dinner with Julie and Rich, and then Yannick went to my parents' house for a poker game with my dad, brother, uncle and neighbor. I was looking forwards to a nice long quiet night to get some headway on the sweater, but my cousin ended up coming over to take our chinchilla. (It turns out I'm allergic and have been avoiding the basement, so we decided to find her a new home). I was finally able to get knitting by 10:00pm, but by then all I did was cast on and do a few rows of the ribbing before calling it a night.

I got absolutely NO knitting done today, but it was worth it 'cus look what I did do:

You can't tell from these photos 'cus I couldn't get a complete shot, but this makes up one long banner 9 feet wide by 24 inches high. It's for Hallowe'en, to decorate the window at work. Tomorrow I have to paint another one the same width, but twice as high, for the top of the window. This one rests on the bottom. So I don't think I'll get to knit before Wednesday, and by then I'll probably have to make at least token progress on the crocheted baby outfits to make sure I have them ready for Christmas. Bummer. I wish someone would spend this kinda energy making ME something for Hanukah.

posted by Jennifer Lori @ 1:15 am 0 comments

Tuesday, October 05, 2004

"Well I think I'm goin' outta my head"

I might have bitten off a bit more than I could chew! These (in no specific order) are my current wips:
1) Finishing Yannick's second sock. (See pic of first sock in blog of Sept 30).
2) Plain Mini Cardigan for knitting class:

Instead of making little square swatches, we're practicing learning our increases and decreases by making this mini cardigan. My palm takes awful pics, but it's actually a really warm baby pink in Sirdar Snuggly 4ply. The little piece on the needle is the beginning of the first sleeve. I think the entire sweater is about 6" tall.
3) Surprise project. I can't say much about this one 'cus I think the person it's for reads this blog, but it's a combination thank you/birthday gift for someone.
4) Hooded Sweater for Justin: In my knitting class we have to make a child's sweater that will be finished during the class sessions so we can learn how to properly seam a garment. I'm making a cute pocketed, hooded cardigan for one of Yannick's nephews, his godson Justin. I'm looking forward to working on it 'cus my knitting teacher Nicole taught us a cool trick: instead of knitting the pockets and adding them on later the way the pattern calls for, I'm going to work the front pieces until the top of the pocket height, then put those sts on a holder and pick up sts for the pocket from the ribbing, and knit the pocket right on top of the body until I reach the holder, then knit the sts together. Instant lining, and MUCH neater look! This probably is old school to most people out there, but I thought it was a REALLY cool trick. So far I've only got my swatch done. There are 2 because I was told to use a certain size needle, but it came out too high, so I redid it with a smaller needle and got the proper gauge.

You can't tell 'cus (again) the pics suck, but it's a really nice country blue.
5) Last but not least, I have 3 baby outfits I'm crocheting as gifts for Yannick's cousins. One cousin had a pair of boy/girl twins a few months ago, and another has a little girl due this Christmas. I doubt they visit my site, so I'm safe in saying I'm crocheting a pair of pink and blue short-sleeved onesies with matching booties for the twins, and a little sundress and matching hat for the other girl. The blue outfit is done (minus the booties) and I'm in the process of seaming it up:

Whew! I'm very glad that I took another project off the list. I'm a bridesmaid in my friend Julie's wedding on Oct 17th. I didn't have a shawl to go with my dress, so at my class yesterday I picked up 7 balls of Patons Brilliant and a pattern booklet to make a shawl for myself. Then I got home and realized I was insane to take on another project and think I'd have it completed in time. So I'll be returning this stuff very soon!

Night!

posted by Jennifer Lori @ 9:30 pm 0 comments

Not knitting but...

I wanted to post pics of these since I don't have my "completed stuff" page done yet. These little kiddies were made to go in the window of my dad's eyeglass store to advertise "Back to School". In the window the one lying down wears glasses while reading schoolbooks, the girl has glasses up on her head like a band, and the sitting boy has them tucked into the neck of his shirt like he's cool. :)