The well planned knitter!

So, here are my packets to take along on vacation! I am so proud of my planning! I often take way too much or forget to pack anything at all for myself on vacation. Each packet contains the yarn, the appropriate needles AND a photocopy of the pattern to eliminate carrying excess books. I'm so organized : ). I'll also make a packet to work on Hailey's pirate doll.

Some smaller projects...

I've been having fun with some smaller projects--a panta headband and a couple of baby/toddler hats. The panta was made from yarn from Artfibers that I've had in my stash for a couple of years. It is gorgeous yarn and so much fun to work with! I've got yarn enough to make one more if I use a bit of a contrasting color for the band along the back of the neck.

The purple cotton is from SCRAP, again, it's been in my stash for ages! The pattern is from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I just need to make the i-cord for the larger hat, which will travel with us to DC as a gift for a friend's daughter. I wound up making two because the first is definitely WAY too small for Ella--no matter, I'll just stash the smaller away until I need a baby gift. It would go nicely with the Baby Bolero from One Skien that I have of the same yarn.

I added one ball of chocolate colored Lion Brand Cotton to my stash. I am planning to make washcloths along with homemade lemongrass soap to give to people who host us while we are in DC. The chocolate color will look so yummy along with the other colors I already have. It's all packed away and ready for the plane! Hopefully, I'll have more to report when we return from our trip!

The grey sweater is done!

So, this is the completion of my first adult sweater. I am 90 % happy with it. It is the wishbone sweater from Elizabeth Zimmerman's "Knitter's Almanac". I feel like the hems are a bit clumsy and the color might not wind up being so great on me BUT it is my first sweater and that is an accomplishment in and of itself. It also has been in my knitting basket for about 2 years! It will give me the courage to do other sweaters in the future.

Other things on the needles....I need to finish that pirate doll for Hailey. I am not enjoying it entirely, mostly because crocheting still feels clumsy to me and I also dislike the parts where I need to split the cheap acrylic yarn into 2 ply instead of 4 ply, but it's been promised, so on I go. I'll post some pictures of my progress soon....

Hexagon Shawl Progress

Here's what I have so far in my "design as I go" hexagon shawl. I'm using stash yarn, except for one ball I purchased to add some interest to the spectrum. I probably need to sit down soon and do some thinking about the shape of the shawl (rectangle or triangular) and the scheme for color placement so that I don't end up with a weird concentration of color anywhere and estimate whether I have enough yarn or whether I should buy another ball or so and spread the color throughout. Anyway, I am having fun with this project. It should use a number of balls of yarn, but that won't show up until it's about done.

The grey sweater is nearly done. I haven't really worked on it much this week, but I do have a goal to complete it by the end of the month. So, I'll keep you posted on that one.

I won!

I won a sweater kit through the fun fur at knitting! Kate from minisoup.blogspot.com, the lady who organized the fun fur hat drive for Boston Children's Hospital, selected my name for the sweater kit! I can't wait to see what it is like. I rarely have enough yarn for something that large. I'll definitely post pictures when my package comes!

Hexagon Shawl Begun

I dug all the mohair out of my stash and have begun a patchwork shawl of hexagons. I'm excited. This will be my first design and I can use up all kinds of stash! I knit my first hexagon tonight. The mohair for this one is a ball Mark brought back from New Mexico. I thought that it might be kinda boring, but it actually has some pastel color gradations that make for some interesting knitting as I go along. I am excited to see how this shawl will progress. I'll post some pictures soon.

Oh, by the way, I bought a ball of purplish mohair to add interest to this project. I promise to knit it : ).