A bunch of you have (rightly) chided me for not updating this in a while.  What can I say?  Grad school makes me busy.  However, my crafting side has managed to be decently productive otherwise.  So here’s a whole bunch of projects that I’ve done over the past few months:

Project One: Summer Cami

(Sorry for the boob closeup, but it shows the cami in more detail)

I talked about this cami once before in here and my problems with it. I did end up picking up the bottom stitches and added another repeat of the border. It’s still a little short, but I like the look of it with the other tank top underneath.  I also did a crochet border around the neck/backband and the armholes because it was curling a lot.  Way too cold to wear it now, but I’m still happy with it.  1.5 skeins of Cotton-Ease in Lime.

Project Two: Llama-Duck Sweater

It’s actually Llama/Silk yarn.  But I was so amused by the Llama that I got that llama song stuck in my head and so this was dubbed the llama duck sweater.  Firstly, this yarn was gorgeous (Thanks, Scott!). It was soft, it was great to work with, and I have a few skeins left.  I highly recommend it for anything that needs to be warm.  This is the Flutter Sleeve Cardigan from Interweave Knits Spring 2008.  It’s a little small in the waist, but it’s still really nice

Project Three: Red Vest

This is quite possibly my favorite thing that I’ve ever knitted. There was no seaming, I finished it in a week, it was easy, and it looks great!  I don’t know what else to say other than I love it.

Project Four: More socks!

I love these socks as well. I’m wearing them right now.  The pattern is called Charade, and it’s Free. I made them on a size 2 needle instead of the recommended size 1 because my feet are a bit larger than average and I’ve heard that the pattern doesn’t stretch.  They fit well, but sometimes the leg sags a little bit.  But not too badly.  They’re still comfy.

That’s it for now! Hopefully more timely updates to come.

I’m having so many problems writing this entry right now…Seriously, WordPress = usability fail.

Alright! This is not everything that I’ve been working on, but it’s some of it…my excuse this time is that I just moved, and I didn’t do a lot of the packing.  As a result, it wasn’t until last night that I was able to locate the cord for my digital camera.  But the following projects had their pictures taken by the gift recipients, so they were e-mailed to me.  So, without further adeiu, I present to you two crochet gift projects.

“Imaginary Tiger Friend”

This is Imaginary Tiger Friend by Craft Kitten. I saw this patten way back before I even learned to crochet.  I queued it immediately on Ravelry, because I knew that my boyfriend loved Calvin & Hobbes, and that I had to make it for him. After a while, a kind soul on the RAK group on Ravelry gifted me the pattern, and I began working.  It was an epic struggle of “Why aren’t my stripes lining up?” (answer still unknown) and the disappearing crochet hook (my parents found it 2 months later, exactly where I’d looked for it) but I think it came out alright…if huge. I really had no idea how big it would be…so if I were to do it again, it would be a bit smaller, but Scott liked it anyway. It made for a great anniversary present.  It took a really long time…I’d say I started work on it in May and didn’t finish it until July.  Admittedly, I did let it sit for a while, and coudn’t work on it on weekends (since that’s when Scott’s around), but it still kept a while just because it was so big.  Oh, and the whole thing is done in Red Heart Sport Solid.  And I somehow have way more leftover than I though.

(^ Check out Scott’s toes!)

And the other gift I made was for my best friend’s birthday present.  She’s moving and starting law school this month, so I wanted to give her something she could use.  I figured a reusably grocery bag would be great, so I got myself the Eco Warrior Bag pattern by Knitomatic.  I’m not exactly an “Eco Warrior” but I try not to be unnecessarily wasteful either.

It’s supposed to be done in ribbon yarn, but I had some doubts as to a) how that would look, and b) how strong it would be.  And I’ve been having a love affair with CottonEase lately, and it’s definitely durable, so it was my #1 choice.

I went down a hook size (or 2, I don’t remember) and increased the amount of…increases, ha.  And I absolutely love the way it came out. I’m considering making myself one out of the leftovers.  It only took about a ball and a half, and it was super easy.  Great TV crocheting.  If anyone wants a shopping bag, I’d totally recommend this pattern

Coming up soon

• Another CottonEase project!
• Marie gets over Second Sock syndrome
• Llama duck!