Don't Mind the Arrow

23 Days to Finish

As I posted previously, I've been working on wedding-related projects. I just counted it up, and 23 days remain in which to finish my stole, among other things. *Gulp*

That's the middle part of the pattern. I'm enjoying working on it, but also a little worried about finishing it (and the other projects, and the things for my swaps ...). It's the first time I've done a project that incorporated beads.  Here's a closeup where you can see a few of them.

I chose light blue ones, and I think they're perfect - you can tell they're blue, but they don't draw attention away from the pattern at all by being too high-contrast. I'm trying to keep myself on track by working on other projects during the day and knitting at night while we watch tv or a movie. So far, so good! Watch this space for panic as the days dwindle, haha.

 

'Tis the Season

Winter, I mean. I know that the official first day of winter heralds when the days start getting longer again (how backwards does that seem?), but it's been cold here in Denver the last few days. My fiancé's gloves that I knit him a couple of years ago have seen better days, so it was time to make a new pair. Also, he's decided he sees the wisdom in gloves with full fingers. 

You can't see it here, except in the yarn trailing near the needles, but these are double-knit. I have a soft and fuzzy brown yarn I'm using for the inside to keep his fingers toasty.

A friend of Morgan's was here the other day when I was working on them. She asked what I was making, and when I responded, "gloves," she said, "Oh, so you really know how to knit!" It amused me a little. I really like to make gloves (and socks). They're actually incredibly simple. Just a tube, leaving a hole for the thumb, and then more tubes for the fingers and thumb. Perfect for working on in front of a TV show or movie.

Making Flowers

I've been busy crafting, but it's mostly been wedding-related. I've been trying to keep the wedding stuff from taking over every aspect of my life and online presence, but there are places where the crossover is appropriate. For instance, I'm doing the decorations myself.

I've been toying with various ways to make flowers, and have so far found a few methods I'm really enjoying. One of these is crochet.

I was a little skeptical about it at first because although I don't need lifelike flowers, I also didn't want them to just look vaguely flower-like. So it was with only mild anticipation that I tried crocheted carnations. At various points in the process, I stopped and squished it together, trying to see how it would end up. And it wasn't doing much to push aside my doubts. Somehow, when it was all done and put together though, it looked remarkably carnation-like.

So much so, in fact, that I made another one.

I'm going to make a few more, and then branch out (no pun intended!) to a couple of other types of flowers. Hopefully those experiments will be as successful.

Semi-Secret Project

How secret can it be if I'm posting about it, right?

When my wrists aren't bothering me (which has been entirely too often lately), I've been spending a lot of time creating crochet motifs. I love just picking up the needle and seeing what I can come up with. One of the recent sessions led to a motif that just lent itself beautifully to a being joined together into a block that I just love.

Here, it's pinned out a little but not really blocked. It gives a good idea of what I'm picturing, though. If I have the patience, wrists that can hold up, and can find the time, this is going to turn into something really lovely, I think.