WIP it, WIP it good!

"Why don't people understand? I've got a short attention span, short attention spaaaan!!"- Fizzy Bangers, Short Music for Short People (That's the entire song.)

I've been threatening to do so for a while, so at long last, here's a rundown of most of the projects I'm currently working on.

Somehow I've amassed a huge assortment of yarn:


And that's not even counting the 100% acrylic put aside specifically for Warm Up America knitting:


Let's not even talk about all the fabric and buttons and whatnot that have somehow manifested in my sewing room.

So I want to use up as much as possible before moving back to the States at the end of the summer, and these are some of my attempts.



Mikado Ribbon Fingerless Gloves, made not from Mikado Ribbon yarn but a 70% bamboo/30% cotton blend called Eco Summer by Hands Products. I bought it because it was luscious and seafoam green, but there wasn't enough to make a full garment. I had wanted to try this pattern for a while, and the yarn seemed like a good match. It's wonderfully soft and silky but a bit splitty; really, it reminds me of a higher-end Micro-Spun.



Magknit's Matilda Scarf. This has been on the needles since December, I just got a bit sidetracked. The black yarn is Cozy-something-or-other, 100% acrylic but very thick and soft, the multicolored is Applause, 100% polyester chenille, I think it's also by Hands Products.



Paton's Cabled Bag. I decided to do the center panel in a different color, mostly because I didn't have enough yarn to do it all in one color. It's made with Daiso Soft Tweed, a wool/acrylic blend from the 100 yen store.

I have a few other knitted projects that I won't post right now for various reasons, but lest you think I only make things out of yarn, here are some other in-progress pieces.



This is a pin I'm trying to make as part of a present (I'm not posting the rest of it in case the recipient checks this blog, which I'm not sure she does), the pattern comes from the Japanese book Beads Box. Japanese patterns tend to be heavy on diagrams and light on explanations, so I'm not sure if I'm assembling it right and have kind of stalled out on it for now.



This is the first non-costume garment I've made in a long time, using a vintage 60's pattern purchased on Ebay. It's casa satin from Joann Fabrics, the pattern has a matching jacket, and I plan to add some beading when it's done. I feel a bit rusty with my sewing, though, I'm having trouble getting the darts to not pucker.




This is a wig I'm styling for a Setsuka costume I hope to eventually finish, using techniques from Katie Bair. I thought I'd make it while here, but materials have been very hard to come by, so I probably won't finish the costume until I'm back in the States.

Random Thought 5/9 and a WIP (and general geekery)

I would probably be a lot more productive if I didn't stop so frequently (like, say, after every repeat of a cable pattern) to look at my work and say, "dang, that's so cool!" I really only get this way with cables, though. Maybe if I go on a cabling binge I'd get it out of my system.

Speaking of cables, I treated myself to some real, honest-to-goodness cable needles the other day. Up until this point I've just used spare dpns. It makes a world of difference, much less juggling and stitches slipping off; plus they're really smooth, slick plastic which helps keep things moving.

In keeping with my promise of not text-only posts, here's one of many WIPs I'm working on now (there are several, I can't seem to commit to any one project lately):



It's Magknit's Seaside pattern, done in (surprise surprise) leftover Wool-Ease. I had originally intended to use this color for seaming a project I was working up in Lion Suede since I was afraid the Suede would be too bulky, but it actually worked fine. Seeing as the stitch pattern is called "seaweed", it seemed like a good candidate for swampy green yarn.

As an added bit of geek cred (and offering a glimpse of my cosplay tendencies), the manicure was inspired by Drusilla, influenced by my Buffy marathons.

I ♥ Armwear!

Ever since I made the Hurry Up Spring Armwarmers from Stitch n Bitch Nation, I've had a bit of a thing for armwarmers and fingerless gloves.

I'd post a pic of that first pair, but they're currently MIA somewhere in the house, so, um, I can't right now. I do have another pair I made though, using the same pattern but substituting the cable chart from these gloves.


They're made with Lion Brand Wool-Ease in some sort of "autumn" color. To put it bluntly, they're pretty ugly. The yarn looked much prettier on the skein, but when I knit it up, I wasn't crazy about how the colors turned out. I think that if each color had gone a bit longer, more like stripes, it would have had a nicer effect. Nevertheless, these unattractive armwarmers do keep me warm, and they're particularly nice to have at school, where there's usually only a heater in the staff room and not the classrooms.

I tried making a pair of Knitty's Fetching for myself out of some leftover yarn from a sweater I made last winter, but one of my friends really liked them, so I ended up giving them to her. I knit another pair as a present as well.


The blue ones are made from Olympus Alpaca Concerto, an alpaca/wool/acrylic blend.


The pink ones are made from Daiso Soft Type Tweed, an acrylic/wool blend I bought at the 100 yen store (see, I told you there was some nice yarn there).


I modified the pattern by using US size 7s instead of 6s, simply because that's what I had. To compensate, I worked it over 40 stitches instead of 45, and the thumb is 15 sts instead of 17.

Yesterday I started working on a pair of Knitty's
Knucks using a yarn called Applause, 100% polyester chenille, left over from a holiday present I knitted for a friend.


So far they've been a bit tedious, probably because the chenille is kind of a pain in the butt when it comes to picking up stitches and placing the fingers back on the needles. They're a bit bulky but very warm, and I think they'll also be great for unheated classrooms. That is, if I can get myself to finish them.