Pretty Thing

I finished my sweater project this past weekend.  It's heading to be blocked now, so I'll have to show you a pic later.  However, I did have one problem with the sweater.  The sleeves.  Too short.  I'm not sure if the designer has short arms or if mine are abnormally long, but they're about an inch too short.  What's funny, is that each sleeve was an inch longer than the pattern specs called for before being set in.  I can assure you that there are not two inches bunched up in the seams.  I have no clue what happened.  I'm going to block it first and then see if I need to pick up stitches on the cuff and add more length.  We'll see what happens.

After finishing the sweater, I picked up a small lace project:

This is the Yarn Harlot's Pretty Thing Cowl, or at least what I've gotten done so far.

For full disclosure, let me state that this is the third cast on of the cowl and it is not the yarn that I originally began it with.

1.  First Cast On:  The first time I cast on for this project, I royally screwed up.  I read the charts like the project was flat and to be turned.  Big Note To Self:  When working with a lace chart in the round, always read the chart from right to left exclusively.  There.  Maybe I won't forget next time.  So I frogged what I had created.

2.  Second Cast On:  The first yarn was some gorgeous silk that I spun into laceweight singles.  However, the yarn wasn't quite bulky enough and just didn't look right.    I could have gone down a needle size (I'm using a US4) and continued to use the silk, but I decided that the silk would be put away and used in a future project.

3. Third Cast On:  This time, my reading of the chart was dead on, my counting of all stitches was correct and the yarn is working up beautifully.  Whew!

The yarn is some recycled yarn from an old sweater of mine that a moth got hold of.  There were only two small holes, but the sweater was out of style anyway so I frogged it.  The yarn is a lovely dove gray and is so incredibly soft.  Let me read you what's in it:  30% cotton, 22% nylon, 20% rayon, 13% lambswool, 10% angora rabbit and 5% cashmere.  What a mix!

Teacher Gifts

Wanna know how I spent my afternoon?  Making teacher Christmas gifts!

Bracelets are such a great gift for teachers.  My Sister In Law is a teacher and absolutely hates the typical "apple for the teacher" kind of gifts.   I figure that most teachers probably feel the same way, so I'm making all of the kids' teachers these pretty glass bead bracelets.

I'm letting the kids pick out what they think the teacher will like.  I didn't make any of these with specific teachers in mind, I just had lots of fun playing with different color combos. 

I'm going to be making some more for my etsy store.  If anyone is interested in any of these for Christmas gifts, just let me know the colors your prefer and whether you want gold, silver or bronze findings and I'll put some together for you.

 

Flash Your Christmas Decorations!

It's that time of year, when your house comes alive and is cheery and bright.  I challenge you all to flash the interwebz with your lovely Christmas Decorating!

I'll go first.


The Main Tree (there are four, but the rest are all small and scattered around the house):

The Mantle ( my apologies, I couldn't get the lighting right and every pic I took was grainy):

My cute little hutch:

The Clay Pot Nativity Set that I made last year:

My goober of a helper:

Okay, that's all for today.  Now I wanna see yours!  Leave me a link!

What a Cat's Scarf Style Says About Her

The Daily Mail over in England had an article today about what a man's scarf style tells about him.    I thought I would do something similar to show you the completed Old Shale Scarf, but with a Cat.  That's Female.  And named Widget.

First off, is the Old School Look:

 What this says on a cat?  Please God, let this fall off of me and we'll pretend this never happened.

Next up, The Snuggler:

 

 

What this says on a cat?   Don't hate me because I'm beautiful.  Hate me because I'm superior to you in every way.

The next in line, The Undercover Agent.

What this says on a cat?  This one's not working.  The dangly bit was on top of my head, hiding my identity, but it fell off and now I look like a dork.  But this look is fabulous for elongating the body!  Dear God, am I one cat or two?

And last, but not least, The Artiste.

Or maybe not.

What this says on a cat?  I've had enough of the fashion modeling.  F-*bleep* off!

Widget did, however, like the tail that I forgot to weave in though.

It got the big dew claw up!  As opposed to the thumbs up.  that is.  Umm, please ignore the random blurry finger in the last shot.  Obviously the camera woman sucks at taking photos.

*Many thanks to Felicity Cloake for providing today's inspiration!

Afghans, Not Just For Babies Anymore

Plato said that Necessity is the mother of invention.  Do you think he could have been referring to my need for a snow scene under my retro silver and blue Christmas tree that lives in my office/dining room?

This was a baby gift for one of my sons from a great grandmother.  She'd probably have a cow if she saw how her crocheted afghan was being used now.  But isn't it better that we use it and not just put it into a box that's forgotten in the attic?  Here's a closeup:

I love finding alternate uses for items, especially when they've been given to us by family.  It makes things so much more special.