Off the needles: Baby Sweater #5

I have 2 more baby sweaters that are close to finishing so yesterday, instead of finishing them, I started and finished this sweater. Same leaf pattern that I've already done in lavender.

Off the needles: Baby Sweater #4

This is another sweater from the Leisure Arts leaflet titled "Knit Lace & Leaves for Baby" by Jeannine LaRoche. I knitted it a while back and finally sewed up the seams and added buttons today. The nice thing about the 2 sweater patterns in this leaflet is that you only have to sew up the underarms.

Felted Pencil Case

A couple of months ago I knitted and felted this pencil case out of Lite Lopi for a friend's son in his favorite colors. The pattern is adapted from a free one from Lion Brand Yarn. I finally got around to finishing it up today.

The case seemed too bulky to roll up as shown on the pattern web page. So I decided to use a flap closure with a Velcro strip.

I needle-felted the boy's name on the outside of the case:

2011 Projects Revisited

Here's a collage of most of the projects that I finished in 2011. Doesn't include the scarves I donated to Knit Night or a few items that I didn't take photos of. I'm surprised and pleased at how much I accomplished in 2011. I'll soon post photos of my first finished project of 2012--a hat for my sister that I made this weekend.

New Year's Resolution for 2012

I started this blog as a way to encourage myself to use up stash and record the results. I've made a big dent in my extensive stash of acrylic yarns by knitting & crocheting scarves and other items for our monthly Knit Night charity group. Now I need to tackle the next big mound in my craft studio -- unfinished projects. Being a "process person" rather than a "product person" means that the journey is often more fulfilling than the destination. Thus, a lot of projects get underway, but, due to mistakes or just boredom, never get finished. This year an unfinished scrap afghan was transformed into several scarves and into a yarn bomb for my front entrance. But most of my UFOs (UnFinished Objects) languish in boxes or tote bags taking up space and becoming annoying reminders of my habit of moving on before completing a project. So this coming year I want to get these things finished or, when warranted, transformed into a finished something else.

This weekend I pulled out a tatted pillowcase edging that was just inches from completion. It took me a while to figure out where I'd stopped in the pattern, but this morning I finished the tatting. Next step is to sew in the loose tails and attach it to a pillowcase.

My plan is to postpone new tatting projects until I make some progress in clearing out my tatting projects box. I'm so tired of fishing around this nest of threads so even if I just cut up pieces and glue them to cards or bookmarks, it will be great to see this mess get smaller.

I still have a lot of knitting and embroidery UFOs, but they'll have to wait till I see how the tatting clean up goes. (And I don't even want to begin to think about the bead stash that I need to deal with.)

Off the needles: felted bell

I knitted and felted a tree ornament for one of my friends. She's a big Carolina fan so I was lucky to have a small bit of Carolina blue yarn left over from my felted bag project. What blue you see on the bell is absolutely every last scrap left from the bag, including fuzz I shaved off after felting. I used the fuzz for the clapper ball.

I paired it with some wooly off-white yarn. This was another mystery yarn from my stash. I had to do a burn test to determine that, yes, it is animal fiber and so should felt. I got the pattern and assembly instructions online from The Purl Bee. I think I may make more with the lite Lopi colors I bought this fall.

Off the needles: scarf to match gloves

Here's the scarf I made for my friend out of the yarn left over from making her fingerless gloves. The pattern is a K2P2 rib that matches the ribbing on the gloves. I just kept knitting till I ran out of the yarn. The variegated yarn is superwash wool and nylon sock yarn from the Unplanned Peacock Studio in colorway "Merlin."