first cables!

I just finished this cable knit sweater & I absolutely love it. So excuse me while I gush about it a little bit.

Pattern: a modified version of Platinum, from Knit Scene Fall 2006
Yarn: Karabella Aurora 8 in Rust color (just a little over 6 skeins)
Knit time: Done in about a week and a half (and during midterm week no less!)

I just loved knitting this! It was my first time knitting cables. I was rather intimidated by cables. I'm always intimidated by the idea of something & then find in actuality it's really manageable, & cables were no exception.

There are some imperfections on one side of my cabling, but I kept them in there cuz I loved the imperfections too. Plus, there is definitly one specific cable that commemorates my attempt to cable while watching an amazing CSI:Las Vegas episode directed by Tarantino. Geeky? yes, yes it is.

I also absolutely love this yarn. In case there was any impression otherwise, let me declare that I am no yarn snob. I picked it up because I loved the color, it was super soft, and on sale for $3 a skein. I had never even heard of Karabella yarn until Heather identified it for me. And now that I am so smitten with it, I discover that it usually retails for $8.50 for a 98yd skein! Yikes!! I don't know about you, but that's expensive for me. Now I shall be scouring sale bins with direct purpose.

It's really nice to feel good about the things you make. And I think I'm a bit addicted to recreating that feeling as well.

oh me oh my

Sooo, Rhineback sheep & wool festival was fantastic. It truly was an indulging of the senses. I got to go with two of my loves, Heather & Meaghan. We haven't hung out all together in almost 2 and a half years. So, that in it's self was a treat. But oh wait, my friends...there is more.

Like gorgeous foliage because the hudson valley was in it's prime..
And magnificent yarn that I was allowed, no encouraged, to fondle. (Yeah, I'm still bitter over that Italy experience) It was just tents and tents full of colorful yarns in varying textures..


and there were adorable angora bunnies, leading me to add "start a llama & angora bunny farm" on my to-do list...


and cutsey sheep...


and lots o llamas!

Oh, but it was so much more than that! It was delicious food! (Lamb ravioli, who knew?) And beautiful spinning wheels, and hundreds of people who make crafting & fiber arts a vital part of their lives, and cute fat headed babies wearing hand knits, and recognizing peoples sewing & knitting before realizing that I was looking at people whose blog I read. Ugh, it was just so damn good.

For the most part, I only allowed myself to buy yarn that I had specific projects in the near future for. I'm making that my stash goal. But I indulged in a tiny bit more than that too. I got some very soft and luxurious alpaca to knit myself a peak cap. And some sock yarn, because I'm determined to learn how to knit socks. And I got some merino wool in an amazing turqoise color to make myself the hot lava cardigan. I also got my self some rasberry colored merino, that I have no idea what i'm going to do with, but needed anyway. I was hoping to take some photos of all of this yarny goodness, but alas..I am back to my regularly scheduled program of interning & classes & not seeing very much daylight.

Besides living it up in Rhineback, I also taught myself how to cable knit one sleepless night.

It's a little wonky on the bottom left side. I figured out what I was doing wrong though. Maybe I should've gone back to fix it, but I wanted to keep it as a signature or something. Who knows, maybe it's just the novelty of accomplishing it & as I get better at it this sweater is going to annoy the hell out of me. But I'm willing to take that chance.

The final product from the pattern I am using it actually intended to look like this, but am extending the length. The color of my yarn is actually a rusty orange brown too. I'm just loving it. After only a little over a week I'm about 85% done & I can't wait till it's finished.

I'm also EXTREMELY excited about the 6-week sewing class I signed up for. It starts in the beginning of November. And I have a feeling you are going to see more from me in the way of sewing.

notions

These photos are rather blurry, but you get the general ideas. I'm starting to think it's a combination of a sucky digital camera & poor natural lighting in my apartment.
I finished the Ruby pattern pretty quickly. Then I tried it on and realized even quicker that I'm going to have to frog & redo the front. Even though this is a layered piece, it emphasizes my boobs waaaaayyy too much. I didn't think it would so much. It's just not my style.
I finally finally FINALLY finished the Pinwheel Baby Blanket. It feels like I've been working on it for a life time. It was a boring knit. In hindsight I would have used a yarn with variated color to make it more interesting. I didn't realize until I uploaded this photo that it has a stripe around it from when I used a skein from another dye lot. And all and all I'm just not all that crazy about it. I liked the idea of a round baby blanket, but now I just kinda feel like the baby is gonna be wrapped up like a burrito in it. But you know what? What's done is done. (Um, excuse the crankiness, people. It's midterm season.)
This little fella makes me feel more at ease with sending a baby blanket I'm not crazy about. Cuz the zebra is the other part of the gift and I just LOVE him. In fact, I'm having a bit of a tough time with the idea of parting with him.
Quick knit, stash buster, and a cute smile to boot! Made from Fiona McTague's Knitted Toys.
I think I need to make more toys in my crafting.