Kat with a K

Tychus!

A Christmas gift:

Pattern: Tychus
Yarn: Patons Classic Merino
Changes: I only did four sections, not five, and it was big enough. And I used a provisional cast-on and then grafted the ends together, instead of seaming.
Comments: Fun, quick, and looks great. My main problem was that I spent more time untangling yarn than actually knitting, since I was working from both ends of two balls of yarn.

Dishcloth Set #1

I made these dishcloths for my grandparents - there's the state they live in (FL) and the states where their children and grandchildren live (NH, CT, IL). (Sorry, again, about the picture quality. You'll be happy to hear that my photos will be improving soon!)

Pretend this looks good, 'kay?

Here's the deadline project I was talking about last weekend. It's actually a practice version of the shrug my friend will be wearing with her wedding dress. (The real thing will be blue.) The reason for the rush was so she could try it on with the dress at a fitting. And yay, it fits!

The picture I snapped before I sent it off, however, really doesn't look so great:

Trust me, it looks better in person. And I suspect it looks even better actually on a person. It's I Do from Knitty, expect that the increasing and decreasing directions didn't work at all, so I had to basically rewrite the pattern. Once I got over that, though, it was a pretty quick knit.

So now I have about a month for holiday knitting, and then I get to start this all over again, in blue!

I love dishcloths.

They're so small and satisfying! And nice for knitting in the awful heat we've been having recently (although it has cooled off today, thank the Lord). I've finished a few in the past week or so:

(Sugar 'n Cream, mistake rib. I love this stitch. I use it on scarves and socks and now apparently dishcloths.)

(Sugar 'n Cream, moss stitch. A bit bigger than most of my dishcloths because I wanted to finish the yarn.)

(Sugar 'n Cream, this teacup pattern. No, really, I promise. Anyone have any tips on how to photograph these types of dishcloths so that the pattern actually shows up?)

I think I have enough for my daily use at the moment, so I'm going to start on a bunch for Christmas gifts. Which means I won't be posting them... hmmm.... maybe I'll put them in a stack and post pictures of the stack from the side every so often, so you can see how many there are. Because there are probably going to be a lot.

Linen Stitch Scarf

Hey, look, something else I finished while I was photo-less.

It's the Linen Stitch Scarf from the Pattern-a-Day calendar, a few months back. Patons Classic Wool in Wedgewood. It looks smashing with my new denim jacket. This pattern was fun, and I'll probably be doing more of them - I'd make the next a bit wider, though.

Dishcloth Delight

As I mentioned a few days (weeks?) ago, I've been bitten by the dishcloth bug. I think it's a combination of needing quick gratification while in the midst of a bunch of big projects and actually needing dishcloths.

First I made this Bunny Cloth for friends who have bunnies:

And then I did an Alien Cloth for myself, while watching Doctor Who (appropriately enough):

Boy, it's hard to get decent pictures of these texture-based things. I promise I'll try to get better at it, though, because you're going to be seeing a lot of dishcloths around here over the next few months...

Hooded Baby Jacket

Look!

Pattern: Plymouth P630 Baby Cardigan and Hat or Hooded Jacket
Yarn: Plymouth Oh My!, color 72
Needles: US 10

First: isn't it cute? It's even cuter in person. And it has wee Beatrix Potter buttons. And it's all soft and fuzzy and cozy and I love it.

Second: oh my GOD was this awful to knit. If it hadn't been so cute, I probably would have given up. I'm having trouble imagining what could possibly induce me to use this yarn again. It split and pulled horribly, and I'm a bit worried about how the finished object will hold up. I do really like the pattern, though, so I will keep it and possibly try it with another yarn sometime.

Baby hat - done!

Yes, I realize that the only projects I've finished so far this year have been for infants. I think it's a combination of how small and cute the items are and how firm the deadline is.

Yarn: Manos del Uruguay Cotton Stria in... Olive? Pistachio? Avocado? None of the pictures look particularly close to the yarn in my hand.
Needles: 4.5mm Brittany birch DPNs
Pattern: Made up as I went along

Comments: I'd been wanting to try this yarn for years, and I'm glad I finally did. It's extremely soft and gorgeous to work with. It does not, however, show texture well, and it was so impossible to get the stitches even that I eventually gave up and made it a design element.

Teeny little socks

Look! Proof (albeit small) that I still knit!

I finished these last weekend and immediately gave them away. The pattern is the "Infant Socks" from this year's Knitting Pattern-a-Day calendar, January 12. (I have no idea what the yarn is. Some sort of red sock yarn.) I really like this pattern - I like actual baby socks much better than baby booties in most cases.

Green Baby Blanket; Painful Photography Session

Finally, my first finish of 2007! This was my UFO for January, and I actually finished it a few weeks ago, but somehow never managed to post it. I'm trying to clear up my backlog of "things I meant to post about, so here it is! I would do the traditional yarn/pattern/etc. thing under the picture, but I made up the pattern as I went along, and I forget what the yarn was. Some sort of worsted weight 100% cotton that I found at Building 19 a while back.

Here's what happened as soon as I spread the blanket out on my (Dewey's) sleeping bag on the couch:

In his haste to start biting it, he jumped and grazed my camera-holding hand. Three bleeding fingers:

(Yes, wearing pajamas! Blurry, because I had to take it with my off hand.) Of course, while I was taking that picture, he jumped on the table and started drinking my cocoa. Sigh. My "spirited" kitten. So. I think you'll forgive me and understand why I'm not taking pictures today of the bag of yarn I just got at the Superbowl Sale.