Oh my goodness, I finally finished the Bamboo Diamond Shell. A year and seven months in the making (okay, I knitted it off and on and put it away for months and months), I finally decided to wear it for the first time today since it was a mild mid-70F day in Los Angeles. The Valley Yarns Southwick bamboo cotton blend (from WEBS/Yarn.com) kept me nice and warm and it felt really comfortable against my skin too. I love the retro styling! And the button is vintage too! I scored it at one of my favorite flea markets and have been saving it for years to go with the perfect garment.

I actually had all the pieces (collar, bodice, and waist band) finished for months and just couldn’t bring myself to seam them together. And that said, if you ever see me wear this in person, please don’t look too closely at the seams! I really need to get myself to a “finishing school” or class one of these days.

I actually wore this to work today. It always feels a little awkward/funny wearing something I knitted, but dang it, it’s something I made! I’m a knitter and I’m proud. ;)

Can you believe we have 50 more knitting days until Christmas?! This year has gone by way too fast. I’ve only done three projects for myself (so many more in the queue!) but I have to start knitting holiday gifts soon!

The pattern is “Bamboo Diamond Shell” from the book Boutique Knits. I love this book!

It’s been a while since my last update, but I am still knitting! I have done lots and lots of doll dresses (which I still love doing, even after 20+ of them), and lately I’ve been making baby sweaters. A few months ago, I found out that three of my friends at work are expecting! So of course I had to take the opportunity to take on some knitting projects.

The first cardi is the popular February Baby Sweater for M. She loved it and got a little verklempt at her baby shower. :) I used Gedifra Extra Soft Merino in a pale pink. It really is so very soft and perfect for a baby! The shank buttons are vintage. M’s colors are pink and brown. She had her baby girl on 9/10/11!

The 2nd cardi is also a February Baby Sweater. I think this brings the total to 8 of all the Feb Baby Sweaters I’ve made. I swear everyone loves them, and thankfully I’m not sick of them yet! It’s for my friend Y who is having a baby boy. Y loves white and so I kept everything classy white, from the yarn (Gedifra Extra Soft Merino again, I love it) to the shank buttons. I decided to play with the pattern a bit to make a little collar. I think it turned out nice.

And last but not least, I made a fun cardigan for my friend J who is also expecting a baby boy. J likes stripes so I took the opportunity to practice knitting with two colors. I had forgotten how fun it was!

The yarn I used are Classic Elite Yarns Classic One Fifty in Blue Sky, with Gedifra Extra Soft Merino in White. The pattern is “Little Coffee Bean” which is available for free on Ravelry. It’s a seamless sweater knitted from the top down, and the button band is picked up along the front and knitted on after. I used plain white 5/8″ buttons but added a little splash of color with bright orange thread!

I knitted the last two sweaters in 2 weeks, which is a record time for me. I just wanted to see if I could do it! It felt like cramming for finals 8-)

Phew. After these, I think I’m going to continue finishing some projects I’ve had laying around that are for myself. Then it’s time to start thinking about holiday knitting! This year has gone by so fast.

Nothing says love better to knitter/yarn aficionado than a giant heart-shaped box full of yarn. Who needs chocolate? :)

(via CraftZine)

I completed Nimbus tonight, hooray! I spent Saturday afternoon seaming the pieces after blocking/drying last weekend, and decided to add the collar by picking up stitches and knitting on directly rather than seaming. I’m still not so great at seaming, but doing the shoulder seams, attaching the sleeves, and then finishing up the sides was really good practice.

I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. It was fun to knit with size 11 needles and the Peruvia Quick yarn has such a nice feel and was great to work with. Now that I’m looking at the finished cardigan, I’m really glad I decided to make the bodice longer, it would’ve looked really silly on me had it been only 8″ long.

As a finishing touch – a vintage red button from my personal collection. I love bright red with gray. Now I only hope it will get cold again here in sunny Southern California so I can get all cozied up in this cardigan. It will be in the 70F~80s all week!

Happy 2011! I decided my very first project of the year will be Nimbus from Berroco Design Studio! I’ve had Nimbus in my queue for SO long. The style is really cute, classy and understated and everything that I love – I just wasn’t sure if I wanted to buy any more yarn or use what I already have.

Well, I dropped by my LYS a few weeks ago and got to touch & feel Peruvia Quick, and that pretty much sealed the deal for me. It’s lofty, warm and plush yet it felt light and not itchy at all! Of course, being from Berroco, Peruvia Quick had all sorts of delicious shades, and I was really tempted by the Aquamarina, Mostaza, and the Bing Cherry, but in the end I opted for something more neutral and versatile, the Gris Marengo which was the color used in the sample photo.

The pattern calls for size 11 needles – I hadn’t knitted anything bulky in so long that when I started, it was going so quickly! I finished the back piece in a few days, adding a few more inches to the length of the bodice because I don’t like tops that are too short, and I finished the right front and left front over the weekend. This week I’m starting the sleeves. So far it’s going very well and the pattern is easy to follow. I hope I will finish before winter ends here in Southern California!

I also decided to do the “Pay it Forward 2011 Handmade Goods” and will be making something for five friends this year! Love having excuses motivation to knit and possibly buy more yarn. Haha! Not too many things bring me as much joy as seeing friends enjoying something I made stitch by stitch.

Here’s to a prolific and fruitful 2011!

I finished my Sideways Grande Cloche today and I absolutely LOVE it! Turns out 2nd time’s the charm, as my first try came out way too tall for my head even though I followed pattern instructions. My modifications were casting on 33 sts instead of 42(!) as the pattern originally called for, and 1/2 inch wider in circumference which worked out perfectly.

The yarn used is Valley Yarns Berkshire Bulky from Yarn.com. It’s a wool/alpaca blend which is super warm and cozy! It’s also very “bouncy” in feel and knits up nice and fast. The dark teal color looks great and classy. I can’t wait to wear it out!

This is my first finished project from Boutique Knits. It’s my favorite knitting book at the moment, there are so many projects I want to try! I’m still working on the Bamboo Diamond Shell, but it’s temporarily hibernating as I am into more wintery knits right now.

I just got a nice shipment of yarn from Jimmy Bean’s Wool and will be working on Nimbus next. I’ll be using Berroco Peruvia Quick, super-bulky weight yarn, so it should (hopefully) be another fast & fun knit. I’m still waiting for yarn from WEBS to arrive so I can start on the Owls sweater!

Ahh, finally finished my first pair of Fetching. It’s a fun, quick and easy project, I don’t know why I didn’t start sooner!

So this pair was done following the pattern exactly, in Debbie Bliss Rialto Aran with size 6 DPNs, and it’s perfect for medium-size hands. I have really small hands, so I decided to give away this pair as a white elephant gift at work – my friend Meggie ended up with them, yay! She is also a knitter and blue is her favorite color! I’m so glad the gloves went to someone who will appreciate them.

I still wanted a pair for myself, so I used the one skein of Debbie Bliss Rialto DK I had in my stash and knitted them up on size 5 needles. Perfect for my small hands!

The colorway is just called “Brown” which isn’t too exciting, but it looked very velvety-chocolatey and reminded me of chocolate mousse. I finished them in one weekend while watching anime on Netflix. And instead of the picot edge finish, I just did a straight bind-off. I was worried one skein wouldn’t be enough, but it was!

And of course, I had to model them with my vintage phone just like the photo on Knitty. They’re so cute, girly and retro. I’m pretty sure I’ll be knitting up more Fetching in the years to come!

Next on my list is the Sideways Grande Cloche hat from the book Vintage Knits. This will be my second attempt. The first try, I followed the pattern exactly and it turned out way too tall and looked like a fez! Hopefully my modifications will work this time around.

Happy knitting and happy holidays!