oooh i forgot to tell you!

in lebanon (see my post below) there was yarn!!! lots and lots of yarn!!! well at least compared to the uae...

here are a few of my favorites : D

this one looks black from far away but up close it's all rainbowy and i love it!


i missed being able to feel yarns and look at their true colors so much that i couldn't pass up this minty goodness


or the lilac... it's a bit thinner, i thought it might be nice for some lace work... maybe... keepin my options open


and LION BRAND woot woot!!!! i was so excited to see something i recognized that i almost fell over! and i have been wanting some more natural colors lately so here we go!


there were quite a few more that i got as well but i didn't want this most to scroll down forever with pics... most of the yarn brands i had never heard of and can't find on ravelry either but i'm sure i will still manage to make some beautiful things with them : )

also on my vacation i finished the rest of the projects on my needles. I KNOW! my needles are naked right now!! but don't worry don't worry they are only bare because i have so many projects i want to start that i don't know which one to start first!

any how here are my FO's!!

i made some baby booties to go with the vintage cardigan


i made them so the bottoms of the feet will be purple. they are also from simple knits for cherished babies


here's the wavy scarf made with rowan tapestry and using this pattern


up close!


i'm really happy with the way everything came out. all (except the booties) were new projects for me with some new techniques that kept my interest going. and here's what i learned.... picking up stitches is HARD but i can do it! and short rows are easy but look hard too everyone else ; )

my in laws also really liked my knitting! i think my MIL was really excited to see that i was at least a little domestic ; ) i don't cook too much, i don't clean too much, but at least i knit baby sweaters!

all done!

well almost.

here's the Vintage Baby Cardigan (from Simple Knits for Cherished Babies by Erica Knight) almost all done. all i need to do now is weave in the ends.


and here's an up close of the sleeve


umm well the only modification i made was to add the striping on the sleeve and i don't really consider that a modification. in fact i tried to stay as close to the pattern as possible because i had never attempted something so complex before and i was a bit intimidate. overall i'm happy with it. i did find attaching the sleeves to be hard only because the sleeves seemed to be smaller that the holes they were intended for.... but i decided to just give it a shot and see what happened and it worked out i think! also i did use (i'm proud to say) all locally found materials.

below is an update on the wavy scarf, mostly because i had my camera out already ; )





i really like the way it's coming out and i'm hoping to have it done within the next few days.... i'll keep you posted

august!! already??

wow! the time really flies when you aren't paying attention. my niece will be one this month and i can hardly believe it! i had grand ideas of knitting her something but now with the big day approaching so quickly i don't think i'll make it. i think i have to make it a post birthday knit instead. the hardest part though is finding a cute pattern for a 1+ year old. the patterns i'm finding seem to be for 0-1 or for young kids and she's just not in either of those places anymore. sigh. i think i found a pattern on ravelry. it's a seed stitch, double breasted, hooded sweater and the largest size is 12-18 mon. and i have the yarn for it already (now that i finally have a proper stash). the obstacle will be getting it done before she grows out of it.
i also have had my eye on the pinwheel sweater but i definitely don't have the stash for that. in fact there is a whole saga that goes along with this sweater.

it all starts before i had Shop & Ship and before my friend went home and brought me back an exorbitant amount of yarn. i sent this pattern to my mom and begged her to send me all the supplies to make it. she went to our LYS (the Knitting Bee) in Portland, OR and they gave her everything ever needed to make this super cute sweater. my mom packaged it up (with a few other things i have been missing from home) and shipped it out. she didn't want to pay more for shipping than was actually in the box (and really who can blame her) so she sent it regular mail. it never came. we waited and wait and i called EmPost the United Arab Emirates Post Office here and they had no record of receiving a box. i have been hoping and hoping it would be returned to the sender and my mom could now ship it to my Aramex Shop & Ship box but still no dice. it's been five months. i think (opinion only) that some lady who loves to knit, at our local EmPost office, figured out what was inside (because they go through practically every package here) and kept it for her self because she (like me) knows how hard it is to get good yarn here. i think this because the US Postal service and the UAE Postal service are just way to efficient to think it could have been the system's fault (insert sarcasm here).

anyhoo i digressed a bit there but i feel much better now that i have vented.

the baby cardi and the wavy scarf are coming along nicely... hoping to be done with the cardi shortly. but let me tell you that this whole picking up stitches thing (the cardi calls for it around the neck line) is WAY more complicated than i thought. it took me 2 books, a you tube video and 3 web sites before i finally decided to just go for it. it wasn't so much the technique of picking up the stitches but rather trying to space them evenly along a curved edge. but i must say out side of one little spot where there is a bit of a hole i think the edging came out quite nicely.... way better than i expected! that's for sure. now it's on to the sleeves...

poor princess

this is my poor, sad, princess. but it had to be done we just aren't ready to raise kitty babies

we got her fixed last thursday and they are making her wear this cone. she so depressed over this cone and it's frustrating because i can't explain to her the purpose of the hated cone is so that she doesn't lick her stitches. i even took pitty on her this afternoon and took it off so that she could relax and 3 minutes later she was licking her stitches so the cone had to go right back on.

but i have to tell you, as sorry as i feel for my little princess for having to wear this evil (in her thoughts) cone, it sure is entertaining. she's running in to things and watching her try to figure out how to eat the first time was hilarious. i know i'm a horrible kitty mom but seriously it's just too much. but fortunately she only has two more days to go

on knitting side of things

i finally cast on my first project on my Knit Picks Options!! and oh how i love them... i started with the wavy scarf for my friend...

and i must say that i LOVE them. they make knitting even more fun! i like the sharp tips, the shinny needles and the purple (memory free) cables. they were totally worth the wait and i'm holding my self back from buying every other needle that Knit Picks offers! (hehehe)

this is where i'm at on the baby cardi.... it's coming out quite nicely but i'm trying to figure out how to incorporate some purple into it now that i know it's going to a baby girl

the pattern calls for extra longs sleeves so that they can be folded back to make cuffs. i'm thinking that i'll make the cuffs the shade of purple and then stitch on some matching flowers on to the front. but i'm open to suggestions if someone has a better idea....