First off, the Shapely Boyfriend. I'm knitting this out of some In The Loop yarn that my mom got me. She bought around 15 "Made by Me" knitting kits at the dollar store for less than a dollar and they each came with 2-75g skeins of yarn. I don't know what the content is-I'm guessing acrylic- but it's really nice and soft. It's a heavy fingering weight, and the only way I know this is because I did a WPI measurement and got 14. More about the yarn later. I had to do a generous, and I mean generous, amount of math to get this yarn to work for the pattern. My gauge is 24 stitches by 32 rows = 4 inches, so even doing the largest size, It would still be to small. I cast on 78 stitches and increased to 270 before starting the neck shaping. I used this handy little site to help with gauge calculations, and I will say, it's pretty spot on. I've already split for the sleeves, it only took three days, and tried it on. It fits nicely and I can't wait to finish it.
The Hana Hou is currently being sewn up. I decided to sew the body of the sweater up before I knit the bands and collar (which hopefully, I won't regret later) and get the seaming over with. I won't bother with a photo of that, because it's just a mess of sweater pieces and yarn ends.
The Julissa got a few inches knit on it. I just have a sleeve and a half and the collar left and I'm done. Why haven't I already finished it you ask? Well, because I'd rather cast on two more sweaters.
My brothers socks.... How do I put this nicely... HE HAS SASQUATCH FEET! He has the same size feet as my mom, and I swear I had her try them on. They were supposed to be a surprise birthday gift, but I really needed to make sure they fit before I finished them and said "Happy Birthday." He tried them on and they were too short, and too narrow. I think the shortness came from the short row heel that I did, I hate doing short row heels by the way, and the narrowness came from only casting on fifty some stitches. Granted, the yarn is sport weight, but it's Peruvian wool and silk, so I guess it doesn't really want to give much.
I'm sewing the project bags for my friend Grace, she hosts the Daisy Creations Designs podcast if you'd like to check her out. She sent me three different fabrics with three different linings and asked if I could make some bags for her. I really love the fabrics she chose, she has great taste!
All of the house bags have this orange polka dot lining that I LOVE!
Last Wednesday, we went the Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument in Fritch, and went hiking. It was a long two hour hike up hills and rocks and trying not to touch the cacti, get bit by a snake, or step on a lizard. Mostly, what we did was look at pieces of flint and boulders of limestone. It was probably more fun for those who enjoyed the hike, but me? It was hot, I was sweaty, and I really don't like to hike. The view was gorgeous though! And the rocks were pretty, we found a few with crystals, which I loved, but they said 'back then' the rocks with crystals wouldn't be valuable because the crystal was in the way of the flint.
I have been crafting, I just have been sharing it. I haven't been blogging much in general, I know. But not because I don't want to, not even that I don't have the time. I plan on blogging at least a few times a week, really I do! It's just that I need to set everything out to photograph, I need to set aside time to type everything up, think about what I want to say, etc, etc. I get three days a week off from work, so maybe I should just set down and write a post or two each morning with my coffee or at night with my tea. I'll post some book reviews later today, I finished two books yesterday and want to tell you what I think.
