Finished!!!

Well, slap me down with a 5-dollar banana! Two projects finished in two days! Who would have thought?
I just felt a need to purge, so I decided to finish something. And the thing I chose was the Fair Aisle Sampler. My interest in it was just revived enough to get the bloody thing done.
Here is the completion process:

1. Finish knitting:

The moss stitch border got really annoying after a while. It was getting to the point of, "okay, if you do one more row, you get to have a cup of coffee". (And I was thinking of making a whole camisole in moss stitch! Sheesh!) But finally it was done.

2. Secure loose ends.

I figured I'd just glue them down at the back. But the craft glue didn't stick. I put more on, but it started to seep through to the front. I figured if I just cut them off neatly, it would be fine. It's not like I'll be carrying library books around in it or anything, after all.

3. Attach this (right) to this (left).

It was much easier than I thought! And it was actually quite fun. See the finished back:

4. Inspect for damage.

Because of all the colour changes and loose ends, cause I'm not a very good knitter, basically, it ended u with some holes in it after I stretched it over the frame? Oh, what to do, what to do? The perfect opportunity to go nuts with crocheted flowers and pompoms!

5. Cover damage; document results.

Taa daa! Finished! Don't worry, the white spots where the backing shows through aren't noticeable under normal light.
*has sudden pang of shame*
Oh, god, it's so kitschy and awful! Ah well, who cares? So am I! ;)

24-hour Constant Updates ... every 2 weeks.

So, I haven't been posting, but I have been knitting this time!

I finished the E-Scarf last night:

[The E-Scarf hanging around]

The 10mm needles and the amazing, variegated coloured wool I used were a great antidote to all the intricate, long-time projects I've been doing lately. But sadly, it is done. Soon it will be winging its way to its new home. Whenever it is the next time I see the Recipient, anyway.

I have also been working on the Babe Sweater the last few weeks:

[The Front]

I had a panic attack regarding this one last week. I only have until 28th October to finish it!! Arrgghh!

Well, okay, that is 2 months away, but the needles are so tiny and there are so many rows. I reached the 'decreasing for the armholes' bit today, and I can't tell you how excited I was! Yippee! 12 less stitches to plough my way across on every row! I might just make it after all...

Today I went to a wool shop in the CBD that's closing down, and I know why. There's something to be said for working with quality materials that are interesting textures and unique colours, but there's also something to be said for paying $60 for a frikkin' scarf that you frikkin' have to make yourself!!
So, needless to say, I didn't buy any wool there, but I did splash out on a few things:

I bought some Addi Turbo needles, which I've heard of, but never seen on sale before. They are very high quality, and made out of cool materials like stainless steel (shiny!) and transparent plastic with sparkles embedded in it. I got a pair of 12mm circular needles, and a set of 15mm double-pointed needles (I'm thinking a beanie with really big-arse stitches). I also got the Paton's Zhivago pattern book, cos I love Zhivago, it feels like velvet. I made my Cardigan Cushion out of it, and I was really pleased with how it turned out. It has some nice patterns for cardigans, jumpers, shrugs, etc.
I bought an old copy of Creative Knitting magazine, which has some vaguely interesting patterns in it. They made me pay full price. *pouts*

I also bought some shell buttons, which I may use to make a cardigan from Vogue Knitting one day.

Speaking of Vogue Knitting, it's really good! It was some funky, fashionable patterns that I could really make. A lot of ads, but you expect that. I logged on to their website to see how much it is to subscribe, but you had to email them, so I thought, stuff that, I'll just keep getting it from the library.

There are a lot of things I want to make at the moment, waaaaaay too many to be realistically possible, so I just have to be sensible and pick one or two. Now there's just the sewing, and the painting, and the t-shirt decorating, and the cooking things in my new slow cooker to get on with as well......

Hmmmm.....

Works in Progress

I make no apologies for not having knitted at all in the last 6 weeks! I was playing Civ! :P

I've started again this week though. I started making a scarf from some wool which I bought compulsively at Spotlight yesterday. It was sooo on sale! Half price! I make no apologies at all!

I call it the E-Scarf. I don't know why. I hope it will be pretty quick as I'm using massive needles. Which is a welcome relief after the annoying bloody tiny needles I have to use to make some of my other stuff!

Ages ago, I finished my purple Rectangular Doiley:

It's one of the most intricate things I've made, and I can't believe that I actually finished it! I'm so proud, I'm putting in a close-up:

So there!

About a month ago, I also started on something that I was really excited about... at first. I really got into doing Fair Isle knitting, which is coloured patterns and repeating pictures, like so:

I started collecting patterns, and planning a wall-hanging. I bought a set of picture frames and everything. I planned a sampler to fit the smallest frame, and got started excitedly. Here it is:

Well, it wasn't long before I realised that is was about two-thirds the width, and half the size it should have been! Needless to say, it was extremely disappointing. I added some more motifs to make it longer, and I can make it fit on the frame, but I got bored with it pretty quickly. It was fun to do at the time, but nyeh. Ennui.
So maybe I'll finish it one day.