Chugging along!

This yarn is amazing. I'd REALLY recommend it. It's so pretty! Sometimes yarn is even too pretty to knit up! Not this one, though. See?

It's the back of Cyd. The front of Cyd is covered in intarsia, and I am going to dye up some Optimum that I have for the contrasting colors. Pink sounds good.

Short post today, longer one tomorrow, hopefully. I updated my progress bars on the sidebar. The links are big pictures of my works in progress.

Go tell Lisa, NYC Mouse, Kiki, and Jess Happy Birthday ;)

posted by illanna at 10:25 PM |

Huge Long Post with a Lot of Pictures

So, last night, I finally got online at home for 0.9 seconds. Of course, I posted during that crucial time. I used "Hello for Blogger" and made a shotty post really fast. Here is the new and improved version of last night's mega post:


This is the laptop case that will be felted one day. I made the people using two-handed Fair Isle, which I learned from Kiki. The pattern for the laptop case is my own, but I based the pre-felting measurements on the laptop case from the Fall 05 Interweave Knits. The pattern in IK is actually a book excerpt from Alterknits.



The yarn is Plymouth Outback Wool which I bought from Elann a while back. They don't have it anymore so don't bother clicking on the link. Well, if you really want to click the link, you can.



Look! They're holding hands!





These are wristwarmers that I made for my dad for his birthday. These are also my own pattern. Maybe I'll publish the pattern on my blog someday, or maybe everyone could just figure it out. The yarn is really bulky washable wool that I got from Ebay. My dad smokes cigars, so he can use these when it's cold out but he needs his fingers for smoking. I hope he puts them through the wash every once in a while to get rid of the cigar smell.



Here are the matching hats. One is for my dad and the other is for my stepdad. Both of their birthdays are coming up. I haven't decided if my stepdad will get wristwarmers too, but I have enough yarn if I decide to spoil him.



Here's a closup of the yarn. The yarn is actually green, blue, and yellow. I thought it made a really nice rich green that way.



That one's for Melanie. It's going to be an argyle tweed vest. The yarn is Jaeger Luxury Tweed. I'd recommend it. It's soft and tweedy and the colors come out awesome. The base color will be this green, and the 2 contrasting colors will be yarn that I am kool-aid dyeing.



Illanna Tank!!! I inserted Elastic into the ribbed casings on the top and bottom of the pink top part. It's going to make the top stay up.




The yarn is Cotton Fleece and the lace pattern is from Folk Shawls Kimono Shawl. The pattern calls for Random Lace but I really have wanted to try out this lace stitch pattern for a long time.



Here's my Lace Leaf Shawl. See the stitch definition in the lace? Neither do I.



The pattern comes from a new Rebecca pamphlet of designs for "GGH Soft Kid" The yarn isn't Soft Kid though. I got it on a huge cone at School Products while I was in NY. I just couldn't bare the thought of somebody else owning it! I plan to add sleeves to this shawl, sort of like this free Rebecca pattern (opens a PDF).



Last but not least, my Loop-d-Loop tank top was selected as one of Craftster's featured knitting projects. It's the third one from the top:Have a look!

posted by illanna at 12:37 PM |

illanna's future projects, in order.

1. Fingerless Mitts and Hat Set



As one can see, my current projects are listed in the left sidebar under "Illanna's Progress." One day, I will finish those projects, and when I do, I am going to make these.

The yarn above is some old bulky wool. It's not old to my stash, it's just plain OLD. Look at the label!



I bought 4 skeins of it on Ebay for 5 bucks, hoping to felt it. When it came, I found out it was superwash. That's OK, though. It smells a little and I want to wash the stink out anyway. Here's the project plan for it:



My dad's AND stepdad's birthdays are coming up, so they will each have matching green hats and fingerless mitts. No, I don't think it's weird that my dad and stepdad will match. Do you?

2. Scarf with Sleeves



I got this yarn at School Products while I was in NY. School Products is a really interesting store because they get leftovers from the garment district. All this mohair came on a cone, and I fell in love when I saw it. It's worsted weight, and there are over 1000 yards there.

I am going to make a scarf with sleeves. It will be similar to this Rebecca pattern (click here for the free PDF), but with a non-impossible stitch pattern. Here's my rendition of it:



3. Sari Silk and Cotton Purse



This is the sari silk yarn that my Secret Pal got me, along with some Bulky Tahki Cotton that Michelle from our Stitch n Bitch group gave me. I'm going to make a purse out of it, similar to this one that I made for the Boy Meets World Swap. In other words, this:



4. Bad Penny



I got this Artyarns Supermerino at Roxy Yarns in Brooklyn. It's beautiful, plush, wooly, and washable. I am going to make it into a lovely Bad Penny when I finish all those other projects. It's going to be sort of a reward for working through my stash without buying any more yarns (yeah right like that's going to happen).

Here is what Bad Penny will look like. This one is the most sorry-ass sketch of them all, so I apologize to the poor designer who may look at this post someday.

posted by illanna at 1:46 PM |

illanna does fair isle.

I built people. I built their feet, then their legs, their respective skirts and pants, their necks, their ears, and their crown. I did it all in the middle of the night, because I didn't want to stop til I knit the first non-fairisle row! It's one of those addictive things, like buying yarn, except that you can do it in the middle of the night and it doesn't require a paypal account.

The people are going to be a felted laptop bag- they're holding hands along the bottom edge:



I'm not using a pattern, but I used the measurements for the laptop bag in the new Fall 05 Interweave Knits to figure out sizing. That one is done flat, though, and I changed it into the round. Did I mention that I also added PEOPLE?!?!?!?!



The yarn is Plymouth Outback Wool: 100% Virgin Wool in huge 374 yard skeins. It knits up nice and varegated without pesky pooling:


I made the people using this Houndstooth Bag Pattern:


The instructions came along with the pattern and they were easy to follow. I had never done it before, and I learned just by using the pattern's tutorial. The pocketbook above came out small because I didn't get gauge, so now I am working on a new one with bigger needles. Did I mention that I am addicted to fair isle? Did you notice the cool button I got at Jessica's? Did you know that it's really hard to make sure that I type a space between "fair" and "isle?" Did I use up my question mark quota for the month?

I'd like to celebrate the new Knitty Surprises! I happened to see both Knitty surprises months in advance because I know both pattern designers- they are my knitting buddies. Not only that, but they are both from Indiana! Not only that, but I tried on Pinky at the Point. Hila and Kelly witnessed it! And, if all that wasn't enough, both patterns were designed by my most favorite awesome male knitters ever!!!

...great... now I've used up my boldface quota too!

posted by illanna at 10:23 AM |

My adorable nephew models sweater

How cute! I think he is doing the Zoolander Blue Steel look.

I am amazed that the Dynamic Duo sweater fit him perfectly, and I hope it will continue to fit him through the winter. Luckily he has a younger brother and younger cousin to make good use out of it when he grows bigger. In this picture my nephew insists he is the mailman driving the mail truck. I love it.

What is also truly awesome is that I made an intuitive decision about the size. The sizes available were 2,4,6, etc. (not referring to age, just size, which really didn't mean anything to me). So I decided I wanted him to be size 3, so I adjusted the pattern to be in between sizes 2 and 4. But then when I got to the arms, I think I made them size 4. I don't even remember how I came to that conclusion, it just sort of made sense to me, and miraculously the arms fit JUST RIGHT and so does the body. Wow!

Here is my sister who tried unsuccessfully to get him to take the sweater off in the 90-degree heat. He just loved the sweater so much he refused to take it off! What a compliment for my first sweater ever!

And, of course, your Moment of Zen:

posted by Hila at 10:55 PM |

Less-than-One-Skein Wonder!

It's a miracle! My One Skein Wonder took like half a skein! Now I have this awesome yarn left over, but I'm not sure what I can accomplish with it, for this exact amount. I think I have roughly 100 yards left, cause I started with 220.... Hmmmm..... any ideas?

Oh, and I always forget to include the important details like what yarn I used, so here it is: Karabella Gossamer in Olive Green with Copper. My first experience with mohair. So weird! It was very hard to tell the difference between the knits and purls, not too hard actually, but it just doesn't look like what I'm used to with regular wool and stuff. Anyway, it was worth it! Look how happy I am!

Moment of Zen:

posted by Hila at 11:55 PM |

Mugatu's Derelict Campaign from Zoolander

Oh wait, that's not Mugatu's Derelict Campaign! That's Rowan's new pattern book, Urban Streets! They look so similar, I get confused sometimes.

This book showcases Rowan's new yarn, Rowan Spray:



The yarn is a 60% wool 40% acrylic blend. It's obviously trying to target the young knitter, in an attempt to replace the huge failure called R2. Don't get me wrong- I liked R2, especially the first one. However, other people didn't, and most stores that carried it never got rid of it.

Apparantly, young knitters like knitting with acrylic and sitting on huge dumpsters. We can afford to pay 15 dollars for a ball of yarn that has only 87 yards, but we can't afford to get the stain out of our short denim skirts:



That jacket's not bad, though, right? What about this next one? Nothing says classy like sitting on trash wearing a hand knit sweater that cost over $100 to make! Especially when you're the young urban knitter target market, huh? Who's with me?



In conclusion, the designs are nice, the yarn looks strange, and the photos remind me of Derek Zoolander wearing a garbage bag.

posted by illanna at 10:50 PM |

Gentlemen... BEHOLD!

Miles of K2P2 ribbing.
5 hours of seaming.
1 hour of weaving ends.

It's finished.

Pattern: Mesh Tank by Glampyre
Ribbing: Cascade Pima Tencel
Mesh: Soy Silk Phoenix

I'll try to post a picture of myself wearing it. I think this is the coolest garment I've ever made.

posted by illanna at 1:00 PM |