Crafting Like Crazy

So, it's only fifteen days until Christmas, and I still have lots of holiday gifts to make. I've already missed the deadline for my dance instructor's Ogee Lace Skirt, so that one won't happen until the new year, when classes start back. But I have to send out an ATC for a swap soon, as well as twelve Christmas ATCs which I offered to do instead of Christmas cards for a swap at Fans for Christ. I have to knit hats for my two nephews by December 26. (Did I mention I've never knit a hat?)

On top of that, I just remembered that I had decided to knit a shawl and maybe crochet a purse for my bosses' daughter...and that would be for Friday night. Eek. I am using Rowan Handknit Cotton in two shades of pink, which was in my stash, and the Simple yet Effective Shawl pattern from Cosmopluto Knits. (I made myself a shawl using the pattern, and it was very easy.)

Don't expect to be doing anything else anytime soon. Let's hope I make my deadlines!

Lace Shawl Envy

My mother-in-law bought Victorian Lace Today for me as a Christmas present, and then took me to Needle Nook in Decatur to buy some yarn.

I picked out some beautifully soft 100% merino in black, laceweight of course. I'm going to start with one of the simpler shawls, so I can get an FO sooner. But my REAL goal is this absolutely gorgeous hexagon shawl, which I intend to make in dark red. It's huge, though: it takes eight skeins of Kid Silk Haze, and it's knit on size 5 or so needles. I think it's five feet across, or something crazy like that.

It will take me a lifetime to finish it, but I really want it. <3

My Bat Shawl is finished!

I finished it! With almost a week to spare!

Okay, I didn't exactly finish it, because the finishing isn't done, or the choker and wrist bands. But...I finished knitting it in the car today, five minutes after leaving the Peachtree Handspinners Guild meeting today!

The yarnovers down the center are a bit uneven, (because I shifted it by one stitch at one point), and there's a dropped stitch I need to tack, but I'm still very happy with the results. It's not quite as wide as I expected, probably because it's only one strand instead of two, so I'm not going to slip my fingers through the yarnovers along the top. Besides, it looks like it would quickly stretch out, and I suspect it would get in the way when gaming or even eating.

Instead, I'm going to make bracelets to match the choker, and attach them at the ends. I really hope it works!

Bat Shawl Update

I have finished twenty-eight out of forty-eight rows on my bat shawl. It looks like I really will have it ready for Dragon Con! (Yay!)

I've had a great time working on it, even if it took eight or ten rows for me to understand how the pattern works! I've made a rough sketch of the shawl, to try to convey the style. I'm excited...

Gothy Scribbling Shawl is finished!

I finished my Scribbling Shawl from Mason-Dixon knitting about a week and a half ago. I love the colors: dark red and black.

Then again, I always love those colors. But it was fun. I did drop a stitch about halfway through, so I have to figure out what to do about that. I also snagged it, but that will be a very straightforward fix, if a bit time-consuming.

I used Lang Venezia for the red and Doucier et Soie for the black. Both behaved themselves very well. :)

See more progress on: knit a shawl

Knitting gone gothy...

Believe it or not, I was goth in high school. Yes, really. Perky me. Where did you think my predominantly black wardrobe came from?

Anyway, I have tons of cool jewelry, tons of black clothes, and naturally pale fair skin. And I need another costume for Dragon*Con. What to do?

Enter Not Another Teen Knitting Book by Vickie Howell. I had seen it in the stores, but..."teen knitting?" Hello! I'm over thirty! Sure, I look younger, but not by that much!

Let's just say I've learned an important lesson...Never judge a book by its title! My friend Jenlar actually bought the book, and brought it to church to show me...the Goths Bat Shawl. Yes, a bat shawl! Eureka!

I bought the book the same day, and ordered the yarn the next. Now, with two weeks to go until Dragon*Con, I'm hard at work on my shawl. It will be finished. Oh yes.