New Years Knitting Resolutions Update and General Update

I've accomplished a couple things on my list and working towards some more... and I figure if I come back to this every so often and do an update it will increase my motivation to do them.

Item 1 is to knit a hat that fits and doesn't require elastic - update: not done yet. The hat I was hoping would complete that didn't need elastic but it didn't fit either. Still working towards this one.

Item 2 is to knit a pair of socks. Not yet, I'm hoping to get some sock yarn soon. Also I have my eye on the new Cookie A book. I love her socks. And I have book that will teach me to knit 2 socks at once with some very nice patterns in it.

Item 3 was to acquire more bamboo knitting needles. COMPLETED! :) I think I could use another set of the double pointed ones since they're only 5inches long but they do work well for what I've needed them for thus far so I'm happy with them. I also have a set of 15 straight needles that are excellent. Now I only use plastic needles when doing circular knitting with my Denise interchangable needles kit, which I love.

Item 4 was to start attempting to knit a sweater, if not actually finish one. COMPLETED! :) My Vivian took 2 months but was totally worth it. I have a couple other more simple patterns I'd like to do at some point.

Item 5 was to fix a mistake vertically. COMPLETED! :) Vivan sure helped with that. I corrected knits that were supposed to be purls, purls that were supposed to be knits and several cables that were twisted the wrong way. My Knit Fix book helped a lot with that.

And Item 6 was to increase my stash. IN PROGRESS. I have increased my stash by quite a bit but I still would love to get some sock yarn and there are a lot of other fibers I want to try. I have cotton, bamboo mixed with silk, alpaca and peruvian wool covered. Thus far I'm not a huge fan of cotton but I'd like to try it mixed with other fibers or maybe a different type of cotton would help.

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General Knitting Update

I have knit myself a garter for the big day. Its not completely done, I still need some elastic or ribbon to thread through and make it wearable. I started knitting a ring pillow with my cotton but then we ran across the problem of who would carry it because we don't actually have a ring bearer so its stuck as just a cloth for the moment.

And I am getting a head start on Christmas gifts. I have started a scarf that will be for my mom. one of my resolutions should have been to start knitting patterns out of my books. I realized I hadn't really used any of them (though I have some patterns bookmarked that I'd like to do) so I picked a nice herringbone scarf from Odd Ball Knitting. I hope she likes it. I knit her a nice scarf at the beginning of Winter that was quite short because she doesn't like long scarves and apparently it is too short (hmph!). So I don't know how long I will make this one. I'll probably be able to keep going until I run out of the yarn. The yarn (DK Brushed) was giving me problems at first because it likes to tangle and stick to itself but since I took the time to roll it into a ball its been fine.

I'm going to start the Owl Cowl soon as well. I think that it would be perfect for my alpaca yarn. Its a bit late in the year but it will (probably) be fun and quick to make :). My mom has a ton of buttons lying around, I can probably steal some of those for the eyes.

Vivian WIP - Time for sleeves!!!!

Behold I turned this: 
Into all of this: 

So thats one ball down (two more). I'm feeling more confident that I will have quite a bit left over (I did do the calculations before I bought the yarn but my math is not that great so I was still a little nervous). I have now moved onto the sleeves. I'm using a set of  my delightful newly purchased bamboo double pointed-s which are on the short side but they're working. I'm finally found my needle cap things to give me a little more assurance that all the stitches will stay on needle 2. Last week we had our windows replaced and I had to pack up everything on my desk to get it out of the way. Of course I did the "I'll put them here, I'll remember where they are" (someone should smack me whenever I think that). 

Anywhos, so close!!! I've set a deadline of March 31st for myself - should be doable. Not much left to knit :) 

I have pretty bamboo sticks!

I got double-pointed and straight bamboo needle sets :) I received 12 sizes of each, under $20 for  the 12 double-pointed needles and under $20 for the 12 straight needle sets including shipping. Ebay is a wonderful thing. I'm also really glad to finally have sets of double-pointed needles with 5 needles instead of only 4. 

I also started swatching (i'm trying to be a better knitter :P). 

I started a new project with a set of the double points - dragonscale wristwarmers :) and changed from the metal straights to bamboo straights for the needle case I'm making. Its made quite a difference. The metal ones hurt my hands after a few lines, I've been able to knit more with the new ones. 

Bunch of Projects - Update

Christmas was good to me. I got a bunch of knitting tools - two sets of straight bamboo needles, one size circular bamboo needle, stitch markers, some cable needles, needle holders, a knitting magazine and 'Knit Fix Problem Solving for Knitters' book. I already made a small scarf for a muppet belonging to my soon-to-be sister-in-law. It turned out really well, I even put some fringe on it. I made it with one set of new bamboo knitting needles. I love them so much I found 15 sets of 5 double pointed bamboo knitting needles on ebay, hopefully those will arrive in the next couple weeks. Eventually I'd like to have a set of straights but I should probably get a job first :P (current project is a needle holder for my new double pointed needles). 

I gave my mom an early Christmas gift, a cabled scarf. Its my first cabled knitted something. I also made some toy mice and a toy bumble bee for my cat. She loved the bumble bee even though I didn't fill it with catnip. 

I made myself a Jayne Cobb hat. I've been wanting to make it for a while. There was talk for a while of it being a stitch n' bitch project but I guess we were all too busy. It practically knit itself - it only took 2 days. I'm planning on re-doing the pom. It was my first one and turned out a little thin. 

New techniques learned:

- cabling

- cable cast on

- making a pom