Marley #2

Marley #2, originally uploaded by Alissao.

Here's the second Rainbow Marley! This is the same as the first one, just using the colors in a different order. All on a #7 needle, with this yarn there wasn't a big difference between a 7 & an 8 but just enough that I like the 7 better.

Next up? a bunny tail hat!

Not-So-Rainbow Marley

Not-So-Rainbow Marley, originally uploaded by Alissao.

Here it is, the first finished Marley hat. I love how cute this pattern is and I really love the squiggles on top. I've already cast on another one, doing the colors in a different order...

Squee worthy baby hats...

I'm only half way through the first one, but I think I might be addicted to baby hats. I first fell in love with the cutest baby hats ever, from reading the blue blog. Alison (author of Charmed Knits) has knit a bunch of Susan B. Anderson's baby hats (and other projects) and I really fell in love with them. I bought Itty-Bitty Hats (just look at the cutie on the cover!) when it wasn't available from the local libraries and I just knew I'd want to make at least a few of them over the next couple of years (with the baby boom going on between friends and family...). When I was at WEBS in March I picked up yarn for Rainbow Marley (ravelry link) and bunny tails (ravelry). I should be able to get more than one Rainbow from the yarn I have since you use bits of so many colors.
I'm calling mine a Not-Quite-Rainbow Marley because I couldn't get all the rainbow colors in the yarn I was buying... so it is a semi-muted rainbow. I'm using an 8 instead of a 7 because I didn't have a 7 in the right length. It's a bit loose, I'll use the 7 next time. I was just too anxious to start it last night to wait for a trip to the store. You can't see the pattern that well in this photo, laying down like that, but the different stripes use different patterns - most are knit, some are garter, and then a few wild cards are thrown in like seed stitch. The yarn is Valley Yarns Goshen (cotton, modal, silk) it is a little splitty but soft. I like it. This hat is for my soon-be-born nephew, my brother went through a reggae Bob Marley phase so I'm hoping he'll like it. :-) I haven't gotten to the cool part yet, with the squiggles on top, that will liven it up.

The other thing I like about this book is that for each pattern, there's a little box listing every technique/stitch you need for the pattern. Then it tells you what page each is explained on in the book! Not only does she give you all the info you need but she tells you which page so you aren't flipping all over looking for the stinking seed stitch if you can't remember which one it is! Each stitch also lists how to do it for both straight and circular knitting which is a bonus to not even have to think it out at all.

Sunfire and Moon dog

First the knitting... as mentioned last time, I'm making a pair of short socks using the Broadripple pattern. I want them to wear with shorts and my pink converse sneakers so I don't want them too long and I'm only doing the pattern on the leg. The first sock is just getting the gussets because I haven't been knitting much. I'm kind of in a rut, I feel like I should be making the baby surprise jacket for my future nephew but I just don't feel like it so it's making me not feel like knitting period. I did wind the yarn for it, and I started the cast-on but I'm just not feeling it right now. So I think, along with these socks, I'm going to start the Rainbow Marley hat from Itty-Bitty Knits for the same future nephew instead. Something I need to get done, but not a sweater on infernally small needles.

Now, on to Sunfire and Moon dog. This
is Sunfire and this
is Moon dog! Sunfire is my new PINK (obviously) bike and Moon dog is Trevor's. No, we didn't name our bikes, those are the model names and are printed on the bikes. Isn't mine kind of retro? I love it. Also I love how 60s surf movie/Gidget Moon dog sounds. Also they are pictured on our front porch which I also love. An enclosed porch is a lovely thing to have.

Now I just need to learn how to ride it...

The Yarn Harlot, WEBS, Socks, and the Loopy Ewe...

Last Sunday I went to the WEBS hosted Yarn Harlot talk with two friends, Kate and Katie. It was, of course, great! I got a few pictures at the talk then my camera died so I didn't get any at WEBS or around town. Thanks to Katie scouting out our seats, we were only in the fifth row so you can actually tell who it is in the photos, unlike last year. ;-)

Here's Stephanie getting the camera out
more getting ready

And here she is with the sock, taking a picture of the other side of the theater.


After the talk and the Q&A, we went back to WEBS for a bit. The book signing line was already long so we didn't do that (she said she'll be at Rhinebeck again this year and last year I was second in line with no problem so hopefully I'll get one then) but we did get these nifty tour buttons!

I didn't really have any shopping plans but Kate and I both fell in love with this Plymouth Royal Llama Silk and each got it in different colors. It is sooo soft and scrumptious! It might be a lacy scarf, or it might be a hat.

My other purchase was from the button department, which is quite extensive! Especially extensive was the skull button selection! There were five or six different designs, believe it or not. These were voted the two best designs, one of each for Trevor and my sister who is a big skull fan. Project to be determined, or I might just give them to her to add to something on her own.

Next, the socks! I finished them Tuesday morning just in time to wear them to work. I loves them and they got many compliments at work.
Then I cast on my next pair! I'm making a short anklet pair for the summer out of this cute pink, green, and lilac Fixation. I'm doing the leg using the broadripple pattern but then I'm going to drop the pattern because I'm going to wear these with my pink converse sneakers so the foot pattern wouldn't show anyway. Not enough done to bother with a photo yet though.

I needed a needle that The Loopy Ewe had in stock so I ordered that and got one of their cute little tote bags too. It's a good size, good for a baby sweater sized project, or my sock bag and wallet etc.

The hang tag says "Sock yarns don't count as stash!" hee!

This was my free gift from this order, a super cute Loopy stitch marker.

edited to fix a link