Whirligig Shrug

I made this Whirligig Shrug out of the Anime yarn Ryan brought back from San Francisco. I wanted to use it to make something for someone who liked Japanese Anime, or at least someone who had some connection to Japan. Then Ryan pointed out that we had friends who were two months away from having a part-Japanese baby with a Japanese name. At first I wanted to knit her a kimono sweater, in keeping with the theme, but this pattern was too cute to pass up.

I had to make Sully model it, cuz he was the closest thing I had to a 6-month-old baby girl. I tried it on the sock monkey, but it had no shoulders, so it looked lame. Isn't it weird that it fits him and it's size 6 months? It's a little small, but still-he's 16 months old!

Sorry Sully! You're still very manly.

The pattern

Poppy Pin

Supposedly they wear these in some other countries on their version of Memorial Day. My sister-in-law is moving to England and she likes to wear pins and she likes poppies. So this was a no brainer of a birthday present.

free pattern

The Real Reason I'm Excited About My New Phone...

Don't get me wrong. The iPhone 4 is awesome. But it's way awesomer with cross stitch on the back!

Choosing Colors

If we want to have stockings next Christmas, I'd better start now. I'm starting with the left of these for Hanne:

I don't trust myself to choose colors, so I'm trying to match the ones the designer used, but I'm not sure about the dark green behind the birds. I'm using Wool of the Andes from Knit Picks, and I think Aurora Heather is closest, but it's not my favorite shade of dark green.

Which of those greens on the bottom row would you choose to go with those seven colors on top?

They had it!

I called the yarn store, and they had the same dyelot! I can't stop smiling. It's the little things. Although this kinda feels like a big thing.

Progress

I've made some progress on the sweater, and the good news is it's not too big!




The bad news is that I'm not going to have enough yarn. So the question is do I make the sleeves 3/4 length or do I use a different dye lot on the button band? Is there any chance the store where I bought it will still have the same dye lot in stock? I'm going to call the minute they open tomorrow morning.

Recent Projects

 New blankie for Hanne

 A dishcloth for my mom. I made one for my grandma too, but I forgot to snap a picture.

 

Mandy requested an envelope for part of a Christmas present for her husband. I haven't seen the finished project yet, so this sad picture is all I have.

The start of my Paulie sweater! I'm kinda worried it's gonna be too big, but it took me more than a month to get this far, and there's no way I'm starting over. I'll just have to start eating more!