Hats Galore

It's picture time. I had a lot of time to knit while I was in GA, so here are a few completed projects:
First, I made a hat with some of the leftover blue mirasol yarn based on the blue mirasol pattern and added a flower. I kind of made up the pattern based on a few different ones. So I didn't really write it myself, just had a lot of inspiration.
Cute, huh? I gave this one to Mary (Walker's sister) to match the gloves I made her (below) and she was excited that no one else she knows will have a similar hat. Yay, original handmade gifts! Speaking of which, the punkin hat is also completed:

Awww. I didn't get to make this one in cotton as I would have liked because they didn't have a suitable orange, but it's in a washable merino from knitpicks, so that's almost as good. I'm going to ask my mother secretary to send me a picture of her little Charlie in the hat. If she does, I'll share it with you guys =)

Jericho thought it was relevent to his interests as well. He's so helpful with picture-taking. =P

I also made little Charlie a froggy with the leftover yarn:

I thought about keeping it for Jericho, but he really has enough toys lying around our apartment, so I mailed it to Charlie with the hat.

Un/fortunately that Blue Mirasol hat wasn't enough to kill that yarn, so I made some gloves for Mary, using the Cable News Gloves pattern. They were fairly complicated--I had 7 needles going on them at once--but they came out nicely and fit her very well.

Now she'll be super-stylish and warm when she gets cold at the football game.

But I had SO much of that yarn leftover that even these gloves couldn't finish it off, so I'll be trying to make another of those Blue Mirasol hats for Walker's Mom so mom and daughter can match. Yay! And then I can finally get to that Stardust Cardigan, after all these little projects and after that yarn accidentally got shipped to Reno.

News on the job front: no word yet. I'm going to call them tomorrow and hopefully I'll get a favorable answer. Keep your fingers crossed!!

Cheers,

-Allie

The Waiting Game

So I had my job interview last week and it went really well. In fact, I don't think it could have gone any better. They said they'll let me know if they're going to offer me a job in about another week, but I think I'm going to call this week anyway because this waiting thing is driving me crazy. Ugh! At least I should be distracted for the next couple of weeks since Mom is coming to visit this weekend (no, we're not going to homecoming. sorry) and next week we'll be dog/sister sitting in Georgia.

Knitting:

I finished Jericho's yarn mice:

and we've been having a great time dangling them in front of him. I didn't even have to put any catnip in them; he just loves them. What a great way to use up orphan yarn balls! Here's another one:

And a gratutitous Jericho picture:

I've also finished the Blue Mirasol sweater. It fits really well except that it's kind of short. I'll just have to compensate by wearing longer shirts underneath it. It's also a little bit see-through so those shirts will have to be dark colored.

And from the back:

The patter was also a little vague on the amount of yarn needed, so I had about 500 yards of fingering weight yarn left and I didn't really feel like making socks, so I'm working on a hat (that I actually designed myself) based on the Blue Mirasol pattern and I'll probably add a knitted flower to it. I sure hope it turns out okay. This probably won't use up all the yarn, though, so I'll have to come up with another way, like maybe some gloves. That might use up some of the other leftover fingering weight stuff I have, too.

I still don't have much interest in working on the seascape shawl right now, though, so I caved and ordered more yarn. You guys remember that cute little blueberry hat I made for my mother's secretary? Well her little bundle of joy has outgrown that hat, so she asked me to make him another one and I'm going to make him this punkin hat! So cute! I've also been eyeing the Stardust Cardigan for a while and had even picked out the right yarn to go with it, but when I was indulging in some yarn ogling yesterday, I was shocked to discover that that yarn was our of stock on most websites! I could only find it in the color I wanted on eBay and at a reduced price! So of course I had to order it because I have no willpower. I'll look awfully pretty this holiday season, anyway.

Cheers,

-Allie

Meet Jericho

So things have been going a lot better since my last post. Firstly, we adopted a new kitten, Jericho! He's about the cutest thing ever, but is super busy and super curious. I absolutely love having an affectionate little furball in the house, even if he wants to destroy the wicker furniture. We'll just have to buy him a scratching post. More play pictures:

So cute they melt your face off, don't they?

In other news, I finally have an interview scheduled for next week, which will hopefully end in a job. I'm really excited!

In knitting news, it's been a little cold in Philly the past couple of weeks, so I made myself some fingerless gloves to keep my delicate fingers warm:

I mixed a couple of patterns to make these babies. I got the shape from Marnie Maclean's pattern for which she used a self-striping yarn and a couple of the patterns from the Sea Mineral Mittens. For the yarn, I used some of the leftovers from those argyle socks I made for Walker a little while ago with good result, I think. They're warm anyway.

Some bad news, though: that yarn is apparently not machine washable, despite what the label said and Walker's lovely socks have now shrunk to my size. So boo for him, yay for me. I'll just have to make him some new ones later.

I have also finished the torso of the Blue Mirasol sweater. I really love the yarn, which is Berocco's Ultra Alpaca fine--a fingering weight yarn with a wool-alpaca blend. The problem, however, is that the pattern wasn't written very well and the lengths are a little off. I had to improvise a little and the cabled waistband is a little lower than I would have liked. I still think it looks nice, though:

Now all I have to do is make the sleeves and add a neckline and it'll be all done hurray! I've also been working on a couple of toys of Jericho, but they're not quite finished yet, so no pictures yet.

So now I've got all kinds of new things to keep me busy.

Keep your fingers crossed!

-Allie