and knitting

New Project / Finished Project #44: Mock Brioche Neck Cosy

My bigger projects weren't been going so well, so I turned to something quick and easy. This sparkly pink handspun by Aisha Celia Designs has been in my stash for a couple of years. A neck cosy seemed like the perfect project for the amount of yarn. The soft and squishy mock brioche stitch showed off the yarn to its best advantage.

The buttons were purchased at my new favorite local yarn store, bella lana. It's a gorgeous, little shop lit with dozens of white paper lanterns. With its white painted walls, fixtures and floors, this gives everything a lovely glow.

It was a fun project, and knit up in a sitting or two, so I'll probably make another one soon.

The Project: Mock Brioche Neck Cosy
The Yarn: sparkly pink Aisha Celia Designs Handspun purchased at No Coast Craft-O-Rama
The Needles: 4.5mm
Started and Finished: December 2007

Various and Sundry Links - January 26 2008

- I've spent many a church service admiring the crafty worship banners. Here's an especially inspiring example made from a cheap Mona Lisa blanket.

- Hand made "bare skin rug" found in dumpster.

- It's Mickey Mouse's 80th birthday this year and, to celebrate it, his consort Minnie is finally getting a few new outfits. I'm partial to the grey knit ensembles.

- This thoroughly and completely grossed me out and now I'm going to share it with you!

Listen to the flowers, they will tell you sweet secrets. Project #43: ill fated Juliet

Happy New Year!

I obviously haven't been posting about it here, but I started and finished Juliet quite some time back. This is one of those cases where I really should have been paying more attention to the nagging voice in the back of my head that told me this pattern wasn't going to work for me. It also would have been smart to sit back for a bit and see how the pattern worked for other people. More than a few have mentioned that they had trouble with the sizing. I suffered the same, and that, along with the unflattering empire silhouette, made for a gigantic disaster of a knit. As you can see from the photo below, it's so large that I could use it as a tree skirt if I wanted to (I didn't).

Despite the bad finish, I did enjoy knitting Juliet. It reminded how much I really do enjoy knitting. Hopefully 2008 will bring more success knitting-wise!

p.s. I also want to apologize for neglecting my blog comments. I shuffled things around in my gmail and somehow lost track of the messages that were being forwarded to me.

The Project: Juliet from Zephyr Style
The Yarn: Laines Du Nord Korall purchased from pureknits
The Needles: 4.50mm Knit Picks Harmony Options (I'll have to review these in a separate post)
Started: October 2007
Finished and Rejected: November 2007