Hop on board the FO train. . . .

Well, I finally got around to finishing up some knitting projects. It's true, I don't just buy yarn, sometimes I knit with it too! After buying all that yarn and goodiness at Stitches Midwest, I really wanted to cast on some new projects, but, alas, I knew I had to finish some that were on the needles first.

First, there is the Baby Surprise Jacket:

Look at me! I'm a very cute baby garment!

Here is the rundown on this sweet little number:

The Pattern: Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann. I got the pattern out of the Opinionated Knitter, but you can find it in several places, including the Schoolhouse Press website.
The Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock Lightweight in the Goody Goody colorway.
The Needle: Size 4
The Cost: Well, I traded some yarn with someone on Ravelry to score another skein of this sock club colorway, and the buttons cost me $4. So I guess the total cost is the $19 I spent on some skein of yarn a year ago and traded to get this one, plus $4.
The Result: Not bad for a week of on and off knitting. And, the surprise really is that you bind off this wonky looking rectangle, fold it just right, and end up with this cute baby sweater. I think this will be become a staple in my baby knitting adventures.

In addition to the BSJ, I also finished up my Branching Out Scarf:

A lacy scarf made of alpaca? Yes, please!

This project had been on the needles for nearly a year. As part of the Ravelympics, I vowed to get it done. The knitting was completed early on during the Olympic coverage, and the blocking I did over this past weekend. I am glad this project is finally done. I really love the results and it turned out to be a really cute scarf.

The Specs:
The Pattern: Branching Out from Knitty (link above)
The Yarn: Garnstudio Drops Alpaca, 1 skein
The Needle: Size 7
The Cost: Free! My coworker went to an alpaca show and picked up this yarn for me.
The Verdict: I don't have a lot of opportunities to wear lacy scarves and things, but I am going to find reasons now. Or, I will wear it grocery shopping--that works too!

So, that is it for the FOs. With the end of these projects, of course new ones are being started. You might be thinking, Oh Jen, what socks are you knitting now? Surprisingly, the answer is none. Even though I bought all that sock yarn at Stitches, I have not been in a sock knitting mood. I have started a sweater! Well, I started Juliet, which has short sleeves, doesn't close all the way in the front, but is as close to a sweater as I am willing to get right now. So far, it is turning out quiet lovely. Hopefully, I will have some time to knit on it some more over the three day weekend, and can show off some WIP pics soon!

Happy knitting!

And then the ATM screamed. . . .

Alright, so yesterday I went to Stitches. Oh, Stitches Midwest, how I love thee!

I bought a, um, crap ton of yarn. And, I am going back tomorrow morning. I think if I go to the ATM again, it will yell at me for taking out so much cash in the last couple days. Oh well. The ATM does not understand the yarn. And the yarn fumes.

Stitches is like Las Vegas for knitters. There was no clock (that I could see), I swear they are pumping yarn fumes through the ventilation system, and around every corner there is something sparkly or squooshy that catches your eye. It is wonderful.

My Stitches experience so far started out with the Ravelry meetup on Thursday night. There were many Ravelry buttons to be had:
Sadly, there were not a lot of people there to take the buttons. But, the people that were there from Ravelry seemed super cool and I am glad I got to meet them. After talking at length about why everyone loves Ravelry, we had to get our picture taken with Bob:

Oh how the Northwest Suburban Knitting Group loves Bob!

Yesterday I took a half day off of work (clearly personal times is meant to be used for yarn shopping, right?) and met up with many of my knitter friends. Much yarn was purchased:

Uh, Jen? I think you have a yarn addiction.

Since it is in a big pile, I will list for you exactly what I got (I know you want to know):

• 10 skeins of Araucania Limari in that lovely Blue/Turquoise-y color. It will become something awesome
• 1 skein of Araucania Ranco Multi
• 3 skeins of STR Mediumweight of Cobalt Bloom colorway (it's for a Clapotis)
• 1 skein of STR Mediumweight of Moody Blues colorway
  
• 1 skein of STR Mediumweight of KawKaw colorway
• 1 skein of Pagewood Farms sock yarn (there is cashmere in it!)
• 1 skein of Creatively Dyed 100% Superwash Merino sock yarn
  
• 2 balls of Habu Gima (It's 100% cotton, looks weird, but seems like it will knit up nice.) I think everyone from my knitting group that went yesterday got some.
• 3 skeins of $4 yarn from Newton's Yarn Co. It has a little sparkle in it. I think I might make a little shawl or shrug for when I have to dress up. This is the yarn that I bought because it was cheap. I didn't really want or need it, I was swayed by the price.
• The Baby Mine sweater pattern by the Yarn Harlot, which you can get from Blue Moon
• Those crazy little sock circular needles, that you use the one little circular to knit a sock. I don't see how it's going to work, but I am going to try it. It's this one here.
• The book Cast On, Bets Off. The author was there and totally talked me into buying his book. Someone gets stabbed to death with a size 19 Addi. I think it will be an excellent read. :)

So that's it. I will NOT be buying this much again tomorrow. I want to go back and get a case for my knitting notions, and will probably get a couple more skeins of sock yarn, but that's it.

At least that is what I am saying now. :)

So, now, because I have bought all this yarn, I have to start finishing projects so I can start a bunch of new ones. It's a good thing the other day I finished my July Rockin' Sock Club Socks. I present the Gumdrop Socks:
I love them. And, even though I love them so, I decided that I will be gifting these. My coworker, Amanda, is moving to Thailand in October to try to teach English there, and she said she loved these socks, so these socks she shall get to remember me by. I don't know that she will need wool socks in Thailand, but I know she will like them.

Well, that's all for now. I will report back soon with the Stitches! Round 2! purchases.

Happy knitting!

Lots of fun new toys. . . .

Well, August, just like every other month this summer, is getting away from me. I have lots of new toys, yarn, and various other yummies to show off, so here we go.

My first new toy is my electric skein winder from Crazy Monkey. I hate reskeining yarn, so this baby should help me with that little project:
I am still trying to work out a few minor kinks to find the best way to have this reskein for me with the least amount of work by me, but so far I am really liking it. Want on of your own? You can get it here.

Then there was a present from my dear boyfriend, Alex*:

Hell yes to the yarn bouquet! I had seen these online sometime ago, and of course really wanted one. I think he thought a yarn bouquet was a little silly, but I mean a yarn bouquet? For a crazy knitter? That is better than a bouquet of flowers for sure!

Want to make your boyfriend buy you one of those? You can get it here.

Then, I bought myself a little present as a pat on the back for the 100 skeins of yarn order for the Yarn Stash. Of course, it's Socks That Rock:
And, as always if you want some of that, you can get that here.

Hmm, so I haven't just been acquiring yarn and yarn related things, I have been working on some stuff too. First, I crocheted this little baby washcloth for a baby shower I am going to next month:
I found the pattern while screwing around on Ravelry. It is a free Ravelry download, which you can see here.

And, then one of my dear high school friends, who sadly I have not seen since high school but through the magic of Facebook was able to reconnect with, mentioned she needed a scarf. Who am I to deny someone a knitted scarf? Honestly.
One of my Ravelry friends knit a scarf using this pattern, and I just couldn't cast on fast enough. You can see the full details on my Ravelry page (just click here). And, the yarn? It's some bulky weight yarn I dyed myself.

Well, that's it. I have lots of knitting goodness planned in the coming weeks. And, with Stitches happenning in a few short days, I am sure I will blogging again very soon.

Hope to see some of you at Stitches! Happy knitting!

* For those keeping track, Alex is the guy I had been living with in a platonic roommate sort of way for the last forever, but last month he was upgraded to boyfriend status. It's very good. I like this upgrade.

It's August!?

Where this summer has gone, I am not sure. It's definitely going by fast!!

Well, this weekend, I did absolutely no knitting, but scrapbooked instead (scrapbooking being my other not so cheap hobby).

I managed to finish the scrapbook of the Yellowstone vacation of 2005 (I had been working on that one for 2.5 years!) and then started and finished the scrapbook from my Las Vegas vacation of two years ago.

Oh! And I made these cards, which you can find on my etsy site:
I have two sets of these. I think they are pretty good for my first attempt at card making.

I am also having a decent sized destash on my etsy site as well. Sock yarn. It's all sock yarn. :)

Well, that's all I've got. This weekend I am spending the weekend watching the Eggerding kids (three nights! ack!), but it does give me lots of knitting time when the kids are in bed.

Happy Knitting!