Cherie Amour Finished....or Not

Last week end I got up to this point:

Pattern: Cherie Amour by Ashley Adams Moncrief

Yarn: Merino Bulky in Lemon y Naranja

Needles: #13/9mm circular - #9/5.5mm circular

Now my dilemna: I'm not sure if I should do the long sleeves like the original pattern or leave it as it is. If I leave is this way I can wear it when it's pretty warm even though the yarn is thick. If I do the long sleeves, I'm worried that I'll have to wear it when it's pretty cold, but then my neck will be exposed...

I guess I'll think about it a little more.

Goodies

I have been a really bad Secret Pal, not talking much about my Spoiler. I don't know much about her, and I am really looking forward to know more because she is awesome. She stays in touch with me quite often and sends really nice packages!

This package also included some Rasberry cookies.....umm yeah, they're gone!

It's hard to see but this package included some cards, green yar, a magazine with patterns that I will definitely try, a body spray that smells delicious and a nice a practical bag. Thanks Super Pal!!

In other news my Cherie Amour from Knitty is coming along:

I think that this picture shows the colors pretty well. I would have liked to get the yarn in the color that the model is wearing, but they didn't have any in stock, and since I really wanted to buy the yarn RIGHT NOW, I settled with the Naranja y Limon. I like it, I hope that it'll turn out well.

I found out that I really like knitting with Circular Needles. I had never knitted anything with circular needles before and I really enjoy the fact that I can stop knitting at anytime and I don't have to worry about the points falling off the needles. I started knitting it last week end so hopefully I'll finish it quickly.

Something New

I frustrate myself. I love knitting blogs. Most of the time I don't read the content but just look at the pictures and enjoy. Some knitters are truly amazing...I only hope that one day I could knit like some of them. But this is not what is frustrating me. What frustrates me is that I AM NOT KNITTING.

I keep looking at items that I find beautiful, but I don't take any step towards getting it done...hell I don't even buy the yarn. Well actually that's not true anymore. I found this pretty pattern, don't you think is beautiful? And the name is French! I have bought the yarn for it, which I should receive soon. I know that posting about it will pressure me into starting it, and when I start something my Husby usually complains that I become obsessed, so there is hope that something will be knitted soon!!

Updates soon I hope, and a picture of the first sock of a pair that I never finished....

Finished Sweater

As promised here is a picture of the finished sweater. As you can see it's a little big, so I wear a turtle neck under it and it's perfect to wear to the park when it's cold, because this sweater is REALLY warm!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Men Knit Too!

Maybe it should become some sort of ritual, but for some reason it's always on Fridays that I find videos cool enough that I want to post them. So here we go for today, a video about men who love to knit that I found at The Laurel Leaf's website!



Have a great week end!

Knitting Progress

Since it is taking me so long to finish my projects, I decided to show my progress.

First the sock:

I realized that what I like about knitting is novelty and challenge. I started the ribbing which was supposed to be 8 inches long and quickly stopped once I got a good handle of knitting with 4 needles. I figured that the top of the sock could be short and I was excited to start knitting the heel. Now that I am done with the heel and that I have to knit 7 inches in the round non stop...it is taking me a long time to finish. I found the pattern at Kristin's blog.

Now the sweater:

I started with the back

The front was supposed to be like the back, 6 rows of Seed Stitch at the bottom and a V-neck in seed stitch, but the rest was supposed to be plain. As I mentioned previously, I like novelty so I decided to make random columns of seed stitch throughout. It made it more fun to knit.

Close-up of the seed stitch rows.

And finally the sleeves. As soon as I finished my first sleeve my Mother-in-law mentioned that I should have knitted them both at the same time. I'll definitely keep this in mind next time. I just need to finish the last sleeve, and put it together.

I found this pattern in The Yarn Girl's Guide to Simple Knits. An awesome project for a first project. I'll post a picture of me wearing it as soon as I am done.

Knitting!

So as I mentioned before, I have signed up for Secret Pal 9. My secret pal seems really nice, and I can't wait to discover who she is!

As far as knitting goes, I have found yarn to make my sweater. There is a little craft store called My Craft Room that offers 2 hour classes, which I attended a couple of times. I went in 3 weeks ago and inquired about which kind of yarn I should use for my project. The lady directed me to a $4 yarn skein as she cautioned that it was "nothing special." To be honest, I don't need any fancy yarn to make my very first sweater. Depending on how this one turns out we'll see if it's worth it to splurge next time or just give up!

So far I have knitted the back, one arm, and I have made about 7 inches of the front. See I wish that I could show pictures, but turns out I destroyed our digital camera when I went to Montreal last.... Don't want to write too big, husby is reading and he's not too happy about that. The yarn is red and I have made some decoration on the front with seed stitches. It calls for a hood, but I am not sure if it would look good with a hood...we'll see.

The big news is actually that I have started to knit a sock tonight! With 4 needles and everything. It is coming along nicely, although I am dreading the heel. So my question is, when do you become an intermediate knitter? Do you have to have actually finished a sweater and a pair of socks. I guess as soon as we receive our new camera I'll post a picture of the unfinished sweater and the beginning of my sock and you (yes hundreds of you who read my blog religiously!!) will be the judge. Do I deserve to be called an intermediate level knitter?