Lanesplitter done!

I finished my skirt and it came out wonderfully!!! I can definitely see myself making another one of these in a better quality yarn such as the Noro that Tina used to make the skirt. This acrylic tend to fuzz up and look knida kinky but I think I'm really going to like that. I think it will give lots of character to the skirt. Hopefully I'll be able to get a few shots of me wearing the skirt added shortly.

I have some beautiful options for blouses to wear with this skirt! My colors choices are many.

****************************************
So as promised I have a couple of photos I attempted to take of me wearing the skirt. I used the self timer feature on the camera and tried to show my 'good side'.
Making this skirt was a very easy, it did not require a lot of concentration but you do have to remember the increases. Then once you've gotten used to that and moved on to the straight portion then you have to remember the decreases. I'm happy to say I didn't have to rip any rows because of forgetting the pattern or forgetting to switch yarns. This pattern definitely gets two thumbs up!!

Keep stitchin'

The Lanesplitter skirt

I found this really, really lovely skirt pattern called Lanesplitter by Tina Whitmore. For those of you are not on ravelry, WHY, you can link to it here at Knitty.

The pattern goes to a 4X so it will work. At the time of this posting there are 552 finished skirts of all sizes and wonderful colors on her page on ravelry! Eventually my finished skirt will grace that page. I choose to use Lion Brand Homespun for my first attempt since Noro is a rather pricey yarn for my pocket. I choose Homespun because ecorianne used it gave some good comments:

"with the homespun it will be kind of a fuzzy-ish skirt, perhaps perfect for the winter, over dance leggings… using some stash. micah and i both ended up loving it in the homespun--it’s a kind of chunky, fuzzy, nubby thing and rather nice."

I started out with US 10 needles but had to go down to a US 9 because I tend to knit very loose. I have no idea if my gauge is correct...probably not. Despite the gauge I am loving the skirt and can't wait to wear it. You can easily adjust the length so I made mine approximately 26" instead of 22" as the pattern stated. I have to admit, I am a slow knitter but the cold is definitely pushing me to hurry and finish this skirt. I'm expecting it to be nice and snuggly and warm as Homespun is known for.

Keep stitchin'

Verdure

My latest cardi, using the Sweet pattern is Verdure. I came up with the name because I wanted something that means green with having to use the word. It's an opportunity to add a new word to my vocabulary.

Verdure-

- The fresh-green color of growing things; greenness
- Green growing plants and trees; green vegetation
- Vigorous or flourishing condition
- The lush greenness of flourishing vegetation.
- Vigorous greenery.
- A fresh or flourishing condition

I made the sweater holding two strands of yarn together throughout. Of course the sweater itself was easy because I've made nearly ten projects using this pattern/formula. I love the huge handmade buttons and applique that I made to dress the sweater up a bit.

Think I want pockets on the next one!

Keep stitchin'

Just Plain Frilly

Enough of this darn snow, right? My last posting I spoke about 3hrs of digging snow and how smart it was. Having the whole week off of work made it easy for me to relax and recoup since I couldn't even get to the doctor for pain pills. Thankfully, I worked as a Physical Therapy Aide for seven and half years so I know how to apply heat/ice and stretch out my muscles.

There was also time to work out a new project. I wanted to make a blankie for our new family member and I wanted it to be something a little different. I've never done the diagonal stitch so I figured this would be a good time to try. I'm not sure if I started it right because I just ripped until I was happy with the way it was coming out. Remember, I hurt my back so running back and forth to the computer wasn't an option. Once I got a size that I liked, may not be right because I didn't have any measurement to go by, I needed a border. I wanted something with lots of lacing and maybe some ruffling. I did search for that and found Kim Guzman's friendship squares with a really nice border. It had pretty much everything I wanted and some so I tweaked it a bit to get the look I wanted; basically adding more chains did the trick. All the extra chains and the way I changed my colors gave me enough of the ruffle effect that I wanted. It's just plain frilly.

Since the baby is due in May this blanket is more useful for bedding decor rather than for wrapping baby but I love it anyway and I'm sure Mommy will love it too, right Kiana? I'm glad we have a break from the snow because now I can get out and get a look at the spring/summer yarns for something that the baby wont have to wait to wear.

Keep stitchin'