Finished Things and Things on the Hook

I just finished this set. It's a baby blanket for a little guy I hadn't yet made anything for. I started it with the other colour of this mulitcoloured sock yarn I bought, but I was doing a really labour intensive pattern with fingering weight. It was silly.

The project got restarted with two strands and this spare DK I had leftover from the scarf I made Andrew last year. It was so much faster, the blanket just flew off my hook. It was a lot of fun. I had enough yarn leftover for another project, so this sweet little cardi was born. I had fun with it, too. It just needs some snaps and maybe some buttons now.

This isn't anything exciting, but I like the colours in this cowl. I love the rainbow yarn and it sits in front of the cash register at work staring at me. In Septmeber I finally gave in and made myself this little cowl with some black wool. I started it with white wool, but it looked way too young.
I think I might get a chunky yarn and do up a sample of this pattern for work. It really is easy and looks pretty cute when you finish.

I still need to get pictures of me wearing this cardigan, but I looove it. It's snug fitting with a zipper and has just a bit of motorcycle jacket look. The only issue is that I kinda stink at putting in zippers, so you might notice the bottom comes to a bit of a point at the end of the zipper. Whoops.
Otherwise it looks great and is super flattering and comfy. Can't beat it.

This is another project I finished and have been wearing like crazy, but I'm not going to show much of it because I think I might write up the pattern and try to have it published, eek! Don't you love the acorns?

And now for the stuff I'm working on still!

I started this cardi with Paton's Metallic because it's so shiny and fun. The stitch pattern takes awhile, but I'm going to switch to shallow half double crochet after the yoke for a soft, relaxed looking cardigan- I hope!

This is my Little Mermaid dress. Well, so far. I was planning on wearing it to my brother and sister-in-law's beach wedding at New Year's, but clearly it was not finished. My sweet little nephews were along on the trip, and playing with them in the sand just seemed like a much better priority than worrying about finishing a dress. Maybe next New Year's- this has gone on pause because a floor length dress isn't quite practical, even for me who will wear a fancy dress anywhere!

I haven't been working on my spinning much, but I've done a little bit here and there. It's fun, but it's a lot more work to pick up than my hook. Still, I can't wait to finish this batt! It's so pretty, and I'm so excited about the chain plying that's letting me make it something of a gradient.

And this is just some fun shots of the yarn I'm going to be working on next- this gorgeous stuff is going to be turned into a simple top-down cardi. Sparkly white and neon, I can't wait to wear this!

One Month to Get Back to Normal- Ha!

I was so optimistic. Just over a month and things were getting back to normal- suuure they were.
It took longer than a month, that's for certain. It wasn't until after Christmas and the holidays, the trip to Cuba for my brother's wedding and the week off from work that I really started feeling back to normal. The chores that were exhausting after the wedding are starting to get done again, the apartment is... well, it's not clean, but it's better, and I'm actually able to start taking on other responsibilities again. I'm even doing things like joining a ball hockey team.

So apologies for the long delay. Hopefully now I will be properly back. Here's a few of the things I did while I was absent from the blog.

I am so proud of the veil, and excited about the photos I got of it- mostly the ones from our pro photographer.
Here it is just after finishing.

Here is the blocking process- it looked so cool while I was blocking it!

Check out the detail of the row of beads I added- I also beaded the picot edging.

And here it is being shown off at my wedding with some of my stitching friends looking on. They admired it suitably. 

And some Christmas gifts! This was for my sister in law- it's a squishy washable wool. The pattern was really fun to do, and I hope she'll get use out of it.

 

This rather boring but soft and warm hat is for my big brother. Hopefully he likes it- Andrew liked it enough to request one for himself, and I know my other brother wears his a lot.

 

I made this hat for my best friend with some yarn I'd been drooling over. I was seriously tempted to keep it myself, though. I love how it turned out, and I love the colours. I really want to make myself something from this yarn (it's a new colour of Sirdar Folksong Chunky, striped with white in Patons Shetland Chunky if you're curious).

But the presents I am most proud of are the ones I made for my amazing little nephews. They were visiting from China for both my wedding and my brother's wedding, and I had so much fun with them. This little sweater and the blanket are from Beastly Crochet, and they were a lot of fun.

I especially loved making this blanket. Even though I had very little time and had to really push myself to finish it, it was so cool watching all the robots take shape.

It was also neat to learn a bit of embroidery as I added all the details on to it.

As predicted, the 1 year old and the almost-3 year old didn't care a bit about their presents, but everyone else was suitably impressed. Really, I made them for me. I knew the kids wouldn't care, but I'm so happy to have made them something special.

I had such a wonderful time with my nephews- during the time they were around, I got to know them a lot better and by the end of our time together, even the little one would grin and point to me if you asked who Auntie Lynn was. 

Possibly the best thing I got this year was the last day with the older one- he wanted to ride the bus with Auntie Lynn to the airport, and we got to snuggle up and talk about what lives in the ocean, and who lived in the houses, and tell stories. Then he came wandering back over to my seat on the plane and wanted to climb onto my lap and hear more stories, which I was all to happy to provide.

It was a great New Year's for me, I only hope the rest of the year continues to be this great!