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Remember the poker table I was building for Jeremy? Well, I still am working on it. It's slower going that an Aran sweater knit on size 0s. But the final product will be very nice. We have some join cuts to make, some detailing, and assembling the rest of the top. Then we stain and poly.
I have a lot of respect for furniture makers. It takes some patience, and tons of skill.
At least I know my table holds 20 pounds. I can't be sure beyond that...
I think I missed the boat on this one. I bought the yarn with every intention of making the scarf in time for the last release. I think time just got away from me.
I am in get rid of the stash mode, so I cast on for the HiP the other night. If I would have realized that it was such a quick knit, I would have done it so long ago. Now it's done and I am gifting it to a coworker. She is a crocheter who is busy making things for a charity event and a little girl's doll. Since she doesn't have much time for making herself things and she really like HP, I thought I would give it to her. It's not like I don't have enough yarn for another....
Remember the Meet Molly Sweater I made for my sister for Halloween. I totally forgot to post the 
pictures of the whole costume. My sister wore this outfit to her school's (the one where she teaches) Halloween Party.
The principle said, "I'm not sure of who you are, but I know you are one of those dolls..." So, I guess the sweater was right on along with the rest of the outfit to help achieve her goal. Maybe next year I should get a picture of her holding the doll. That would be trippy...
So this weekend's goal, besides to do homework, was to complete the Alpaca Dreams sweater. Funny thing is that I had to redo the neckline three times. It was just too tight every time I bound off. Jeremy said, "After this long, Amanda, I would think you'd know how big to make the hole for your head." Thanks, man. Now, can you help me get this stuck sweater off my head. I think I am losing cirulation to the brain....
Pattern: Modified Knitting Pure and Simple Top Down Sweater Pattern
Yarn: Alpaca yarn bought from Yarn Barn in Musk (purchased during Stitches Midwest)
Needles: Denise Circulars size 5
Notes: I totally just used the pattern as a guide since I had not yet received my copy of Knitting from the Top.
Why is it that four day weeks seem about ten times longer than regular weeks? This has been on exhausting short week. Tons of work to do, classes began, and I have tons of loose ends to finish. Seriously, how can one person cram so much stuff into only four days. I wish I had the life of Yoda. Her biggest challenge is figuring out where to hide the pig ear, which happens to be in my laundry most of the time.
I have 3/4 of a sleeve to finish on the Alpaca Dreams sweater. Then what?! I think I am going to try designing something. Why not? Everyone else seems to be doing it. I've seen some really cute sweaters on people and elements on others that I would like to try to replicate in some way. I checked out Maggie Righetti's Sweater Design in Plain English
My poor Bears fan. She watched two football games in a row and became pooped by the middle of the extremely long Bears/Panthers game.
Yes, that is a monkey she is hugging. She loves her monkey toys. We won't tell her Grandma found them at the dollar store and bought them in bulk. I think Yoda has a special connection to the monkeys because she link of looks like one. Sometimes she smells like them, too.
While I was watching the Bears game on Sunday, I finished on sleeve on the Alpaca Dream sweater. I think I would have gotten both done this weekend if I wasn't distracted by some work that I needed to do. I'm not talking about how I worked on Sunday night checking servers and such, but about the knitting class I'm teaching at work.
Tomorrow is the first class, so I had to come up with something to teach these very professional women. I decided to start with Cast On and Knit. That should be good for an hour long class over lunch, right? Then next month it's purl and maybe an increase or decrease. I'm hoping a month is enough time to practice knit. Wish me luck!
I was going to use some Habu Textiles yarn for a scarf for my pal, but I just wasn't liking the pattern. Then I found some Tahki Shannon (Color 15) in my stash. Since the yarn is so bold and pretty, I went with a simple stockinette pull-through scarf pattern that I made-up my self. I crocheted the edges with some hot pink wool to bring out the pink in the yarn.
For the mittens, I decided to try a felted mitten. I used some left over purple yarn that I had and made the mittens. Then I duplicate stitched a row of hot pink around the bottom.
But that's not all! I knit some ribbed cuffs in the Shannon and sewed them inside the mittens. The cuff makes the mittens stay on better and then also ties the scarf and mittens together to make a set. I am really happy at how well they turned out that I think I might have to make a pair for myself!
I found this book at Barnes & Noble after Christmas called Posh Pooches. It's put out by a posh Doggie Store in NY (Scroll Down to see the book). Yoda needed a new sweater and the Basic Sweater was very easy to customize. So, I pulled out some Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride in Sable because I thought it would go very well with Yoda's skin tone. 
I am not happy with the way this one turned out, but I can fix that with the future ones I make. You just never know how well a sweater is going to work for a big-chested pug until it is tried on. Next time, more front, more back, more all around. I do have to say, she does look stylish!
I have been working on this top-down alpaca sweater lately. I am trying to make it as close fitting as possible without it showing off all the wrong places. I think I am pretty close. I think the Denise needles make the bottom look a little wider than it actually is. I'm just too lazy to put all the stitches on a piece of yarn and then move them back to the needle. Not when I have these wonderful needles that are made for this sort of thing.
I am using size 5 needles and the fabric is light and loose. I think that will be a good way to use the alpaca and not have the sweater be too warm. Though, nothing is too warm at work... You'd think a Fourtune 100 company could turn up the heat! But that's a different story for a different time...
I'm not sure yet if I am going to make this a turtleneck or just a crew. Maybe I can check out my books for a cute alternative. But then again, simple might be more elegent with this yarn. Ah, the decisions. Until then I'll just keep chugging away on the stockinette.
Santa was good to me this year.
He knows my love of books, so he went through my wishlist and picked out some books for me. I think he wants me to stop using so many patterns to knit and start using my resources to create for myself. I think I'll take the hint and try it. Now that my technique and reference knitting book collection is, well, bulging I can sit down and start this designing my own sweaters thing.
So if you are still with me after all those books, I'll show off the rest of my haul from that jolly old man. I guess he wants me to show off my in-progress and completed works more since he got me a mannequin. It looks similar to this:
Last, but not least, Santa was extra generous with this gift:
Too bad I didn't get any yarn.....
Nobody really can ever prepare you for the lights, the sounds, the action, and the boobs. Yes, the boobs. We had a great time in Vegas and just being on vacation. We caught some shows and, yes, one of them was a topless show. I actually was very impressed with it. We somehow managed seats in the third row, and were very close to the show. The girls were all very pretty, and the show was very tastefully done. No raunchy poles or anything. And about 95% of the audince were couples! I never would have thoguht.
As with any spot, you learn some things that you don't want to repeat and those that you do. Here are our Vegas Rules: 
It's a short list, but I think some of these things are important!
