I didn't think that a blanket in progress could look so beautiful

I can't stop staring at it and admiring it every time I finish a row. It's starting to get pretty heavy on my needles though. My arms get tired holding it up. But still, this is one of those projects that I can't wait to finish simply just to see the finished product. I just know it's going to look even more beautiful. I can't wait to start draping it over everything once I'm done!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I got a really cool Christmas gift I want to show everyone! ......... It's a yarn bowl!

I think I mentioned wanting one a while ago. I remember trying to use a normal bowl way back when, but I never kept up with it since.. I also needed to use the bowl to eat, and sometimes the yarn bounced out of the bowl anyway. But this is so cool! It's got holes in case you use more than one colour and they won't tangle, and it'll prevent the yarn from rolling out. I love it!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope everybody is out there having a really cozy Christmas as well!

Baby bag!

Wasn't sure what to label this as. I guess a blanket? It's not quite a top. Well, or maybe a bag? It IS a bag with arms, haha. But anyway, I thought this project would be a lot faster than it actually took. I think it took me 2 months? I probably didn't consider how thin the yarn was. And also how boring knitting the back would be. I didn't bother photographing the back, but it's 26" of straight seed stitch. The front was much more interesting to knit with the cables and button band.

I think it looks pretty good! But I think if I had bought more expensive yarn, it would've looked even better. This was cheap Wal-Mart yarn, and knit up, it was a little too thin for me to think that it can keep a baby fully warm. Maybe it can keep a baby warm in the spring/fall? But definitely not winter. 

I'm happy with it though! And also that I get to make more use of my creepy baby doll! In the picture, it looks too big because I made the bunting bag for a 3-6 month old but my baby doll is newborn size. Still, it's quite adorable isn't it?

Quick Knit

Last several days have been rainy and boring. My introvert-ness is in full gear and I've basically looked like this all weekend so far: 

Lying around in my pjs harassing Ellie.. Of course, I fit in some knitting too while watching some of my shows. Just lazy lazy days. 

So what have I been knitting? Well, honestly, it's a scarf that I didn't want to knit. My sister lost her cupido stitch scarf I knit for her two years ago (lost hours worth of work!!) However, I still have pretty much an entire ball of it left so she told me to knit her another one. I didn't want to really knit it because the yarn she uses makes it hard to see any pattern because it's so fluffy, but I also wanted to use this opportunity to use up that ball of yarn, so I just knit her a simple 2x2 ribbed cowl. I made the cast-on number too big though, so it looks sort of awkward, but I think it still turned out okay. 

Cozy enough, wouldn't you say?

Omnomnom

My dad's coworker is pregnant and due in February, so my dad asked if I could knit something for her. After some browsing around Ravelry, I came across the cutest newborn hat! 

It's a fish that looks like it's going omnomnom on a little baby's head! I was also happy I got to use that new creepy baby model I bought! 

It's the same yarn that I used for the baby dress I made before, in case the colours look familiar to you. You had to pick up the stitches to put together the finals, but strangely, picking up those stitches were easier than if I was picking them up off an edge, so I didn't get annoyed at all.

I was originally going to use buttons for the eyes, but my mom said it might be uncomfortable for the baby since their heads are so soft and squishy, so I opted for cut out fabric instead. I think the end result looks better than if I had chosen to go with buttons, so it was a good call on my mom's part.

Anyway, this came a day late from Halloween, I guess a newborn could go as fish-food? Haha.

For Halloween, I went as a pirate grabbed from random stuff around the house, and some props from high school. 

And random, but I took the cutest photo of Ellie yesterday, and I love to show her off of course!

Some Knitting related purchases

So lately, my dad has been asking me to knit some baby things for his coworker who is going to give birth next year. So, I went out and bought some baby yarn. 

Nothing fancy- just some soft yarn bought from Wal-Mart (because I'm poor). I really liked the colours! White with a dash of soft yellows, pinks, and blues. I also too my knitting obsession further and spent way too much money on this:

Yes, I bought a little toy baby to be my model after I knit baby stuff. It always bugged me that I had to use my Lumpy bear as a model because Lumpy isn't baby sized or baby shaped. Plus as a bright pink fuzzy knitted bear, he takes away from the knitted piece I actually want to show off. And he also doesn't  make my model pieces look that great. So yea, those are all my justifications of buying a plastic baby. The cashier asked if I wanted a gift reciept.. Little did she know the baby was for me, haha!

Wowow! You'll like what I made!!

I know I always say this, but I'm so super proud of myself! After two months, I completed my second cardigan! It was my first time knitting sideways instead of bottom-up on any top. For some reason, it felt longer that way.

The sleeves were knit normal bottom-up though. Near the end, I was pretty sick of knitting that same elongated checkered pattern.

Anyway, I don't have a lot to say about this. Maybe my brain is tired from all the knitting. Well, it reminded me, as well as reaffirmed the fact that I hate picking up stitches!!

I always feel like I do it so unevenly. But anyway I'm just going to throw a bunch of pictures your way!

Spontaneous Project

I am actually in the middle of knitting a cardigan, until I became really bored of it, and did something I never did before.. Started and finished (a really small) project in the middle of knitting another project - I know, so scandalous!

It's just a really cute bow!

I attached a clip to the back of it, and just started clipping it to everything!

For example... It can be a hair bow

OR ... It can be a bow tie! 

Isn't it adorable! It actually is supposed to be a lot bigger, but since I just used scrap yarn, I ran out, and had to improvise. I think it turned out alright though. Like usual. Pretty adorable if you ask me! 

Off to an Adventure!

I knitted an adventure backpack! I'm not sure how practical a knitted backpack is, but damn if I don't think it looks adorable! It makes me look a bit like I'm 12, but hey, that's probably my maturity level anyway.

Notice how I totally tried to take a nicer picture than the plain ones I usually take in my home? Well... Like this one anyway (to show off the back)

 What I like about this pattern is that it utilizes so many knitting skills!

The only flaw I found in this pattern is that the backpack is actually extremely long. I think if it was one pattern repeat smaller, it would've been just right. 

I chose the colours white and green because I only had two balls of green yarn and I knew for sure that that wouldn't be enough but I really wanted it to be green (since green=nature=adventure) and I think my intuition played out quite nicely. 

Speaking of adventures.. Here are some pics on my latest ones!

Maybe next time I'll bring my backpack along!

[EDIT: Previously, I hadn't really thought about lining the inside of my bag, but my mom, ever the seamstress found some leftover waterproof fabric, and gave me some to line my bag with!

I thought it was a great idea since it will greatly reduce the yarn stretching out too much when I put things inside it. And plus it makes everything look a lot neater. 

I guess now I can say I'm officially done!]

Went into a store...

My friend introduced me to a local yarn store that I didn't know was near me all this time! It's called Black Sheep Yarns. 

It's so much nicer and such a different experience than the big box stores such as Wal-Mart and Michaels, and it feels more personal than buying yarn from online. There's a nice lady that works there who also is very knowledgable and was really nice about answering any questions.

Of course, I couldn't leave without buying anything! So I bought... 

I'm planning on making a super slouchy hat. Or maybe I'll make something else, but it was so soft, I had to buy it!