Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Happy New Year!

Well, I'm finally on the upside of this virus, and back to work. Lest anyone think I spent my time off laying on the couch, watching old movies on TCM in my flannel pjs (guilty), I also did some creating. This:




What is it you ask?
A scissor holster! Is this cool or what? I'm always putting down my scissors (and my yarn needle) and never finding them. I remembered seeing cool collapsible scissors in a catalogue, with their own little case, but also remembered a pricey amount. All of a sudden it came to me -- I could make a case of my own! Out of a felted scrap (from a thrift store sweater I felted).

So I did! A little gross-grain ribbon to hang it around my neck, a little lady-bug trim for fun, and there you have it! Here's a shot of the holster in use.



The second bit of creativity is the Celtic Vest from Fleece Artist. I bought it in a kit at Lettuce Knit (one day soon I'll figure out Twig's email on how to post links) on my recent Toronto jaunt, along with the cool pin.

The yarn is a lovely wool/silk blend, and boy are the instructions right when it says "Don't worry about how small it looks until you block it." This sucker stretched right out. My sister also bought a kit, and we were going to have a contest to see who would finish first, but my sick time on the couch gave me an unfair advantage.

I love it, and will try to get a photo of it being worn. What was interesting to me was the pattern -- you need a circular needle, and divide the yarn in half -- two skeins. Then, you knit a row, slide the stitches back to the beginning without turning, and do another row in pattern. No seams but for the shoulders, and a cool cast on/cast off that leaves a neat edge.

I would definitely do this again, maybe a little longer, especially if you're knitting it for someone over 5'2"!

And last, but definitely not least, some Kitty Eye Candy!







What a helper she is!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

When I saw the scissor holster background music for a western started playing in my head. hheheheh

Love the vest.

Zarzuela said...

Great idea for the scissors! Your vest came out very nicely too. Gotta love those little helpers don't you? ;) Happy New Year!

Jessica
http://zarzuelaknitsandcrochets.com/blog

Angela said...

Love the vest! Is the kit expensive. I think I need to knit one of those!

Ang

KnittingJones said...

Angela -- it was $42.00 Canadian at Lettuce Knit. For wool/silk, I thought it was reasonable, and the yarn is lovely. I'm going to use the pattern again for other vests, too.

DonnaC said...

I love your vest and I was wondering if you could offer advice on the first underarm cast-off. I seem to have lost my pattern repeat. I'm using only Y1 at this point for 8 rows (4 repeats of pattern) and I am not getting the same look as the rest of the vest under the arm. I'm sure it has something to do with K1 P1 and turning vs. not turning as in the rest of the vest. The pattern booklet says to just knit in pattern. Did this happen to you too? Did you only use Y1 for these 8 rows and rejoin Y2 for the cast-on?