Hole-y increases, Batman!

Well last night I got to the increases on the Star Crossed Slouchy beret, and it's starting to bother me. I did the M1's like the pattern says, but for some reason they look like purls and leave a hole (and I'm a tight knitter, so loose things hardly ever appear in my knitting).

I guess I'm going to have to sit this to the side for a little bit while I think about things. Do I want to just continue on, frog it and try again or frog it and find something equally as beautiful for the yarn? I'm almost leaning more towards the frog it and find something else beautiful. It seems like the Star Crossed beret would look better in a slightly heavier yarn, or at least I wouldn't see all sorts of holes that drive me crazy.

We'll see what the Ultra Alpaca becomes...only time will tell.

I'm a Star Crossed lover!

Ever since my vacation last year to Destin, I've had a beautiful ball of Berroco Ultra Alpaca sitting in my stash. Alpaca is my favorite fiber, and I wanted to make something out of this gorgeous yarn. After almost a year of browsing projects made out of this yarn, I finally found something I thought would be perfect...The Star Crossed Slouchy beret by Natalie Larson.

I swatched this morning, and was lucky to get almost 100% the gauge required. Of course, I usually end up being a little off when I actually cast on for the project (whether I was right on for the swatch or not, it's never the same when casted on). After getting close enough for me, I casted on during lunch. Now it's almost time to go home, and I'm half way thru the first stitch pattern repeat.

This is proving to be a pretty fast knit, and with the weather today I may need to have it finished so I can wear it. If my project turns out half as beautiful as some of the FOs on Ravelry, then I'm going to be wishing it was Fall now.

I was going to work on the adorable hat for my expecting friend's baby boy, but after casting on and almost getting done with the rib and trying to insert the brim...I found that working with DPNs for that part are not quite the best option. Trying to insert the brim while picking up stitches isn't very easy when you have needles that don't want to bend, which I was able to tell when I somehow was off in my stitch count when picking up the cast on edge (I know I had the same number off stitches, but when the needles won't move with your fabric it makes it hard to pick up in the right spot).

What did I do? I placed another Knit Picks order of course! I ordered a small fixed circular, since my Options sets don't go smaller than 24". I've also got some beautiful sock yarn coming to make socks for my boyfriend and myself, and sock blockers to make sure that they are picture perfect when completed.

Hopefully my order comes in soon, I can't wait to see the baby hat as an FO. There's just something about tiny clothes that is so adorable!

If at first you don't succeed...

...rip the seams and start again!

Well I finally finished the Lidsville hat that I was making for my Uncle Joel! For the most part, it's a fun project and super easy...that is until you get to seaming. The instructions for finishing the hat are a little unclear, but after some trial and error I finally got it looking like the designer's FO. Here's a tip...you have to sew the outer edge of the brim to the front of the hat and flip it and turn the hat right-side out.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures at this time, but I am hoping to have some pictures for you guys this weekend. The bf is working on a little DIY project of his own (a photographer's light box), and he's wanting to use some of my FO's and stash as his test subjects once the box is completed.

As for other knitting progress, I am working on one of the pairs of fingerless gloves right now. I started them last week, but am trying to figure out which increase method I want to use. Being the crafting perfectionist that I am, I want all the increases to look identical. I tried 2 different ways, and when I finally picked the one that I will be the happiest with...well let's just say it became a yarn mess and was just easier for me to unravel and re-wind the ball of yarn and start over.

Lately I've been itching to do some needle felting, so I think this weekend will be the perfect time to work on the felted frog collectible and the dove ornaments that will gone on the gifts. It will be fairly relaxing and easy, and I think I can get all of them done and feel I've accomplished a lot.

Well, it's back to the knitting needles.

Dusting off the crochet hooks

As you have probably figured out, most of the crafting I do right now is knitting. It's very relaxing, and with everything being made of 2 different stitches it's easy to do when you have so much on your mind (Thanksgiving preparations, Christmas gifts to make, Christmas decorating to do, etc.). Every now and then, I like to use my crochet skills on some project that really catches my eye.

Crocheting is a little bit harder to memorize than knitting, with all the different stitches to make the different patterns...I usually forget them by the time I do another crochet project and have to pull out my handy-dandy Crochet Answer book. Well, I've decided that now is the time for me to dust off my hooks and books and work on Lidsville from the Son of Stitch 'n Bitch book as a gift for my uncle. I absolutely love flat hats, and when I was looking through my books and patterns for men this was the one that won out for my Uncle Joel.

I don't know what it is, but for some reason I love to crochet hats. The projects seem to go so much faster, and usually look so seamless. This hat is a little different, but so far I'm loving working on it. It's crocheted in many pieces and then you slip stitch the pieces together, but that makes it a perfect crochet-on-the-go project. I've got my yarn (Shamrock by Knit Picks) in a small project bag, along with the pieces that I've already finished.

I started working on some of the pieces Monday night while watching Heroes, and with a little bit of crochet time here and there I've already got about half of the hat pieces complete. This is definitely the type of encouragement I needed with my Christmas gift list, because I was starting to wonder how I could get hats, scarves, gloves, dolls and needle felting all done before Christmas day. If things keep going at this rate, I could have it done by the weekend and ready to show off on the blog and Ravelry!

Well I better head back to the hooks and books!