Finally!

After two years of "easy" knitting, I decided to challenge myself to knit something more complicated. Last winter, I began knitting Fetching from www.knitty.com. The gloves are fingerless and in Chicago's brutal winter, are useless. However, I fell in love with them and decided to make them anyway! When you knit gloves, you work from the bottom up. All was well until I had to create a space for the thumb. I read (and reread) the pattern and couldn't figure it out. Instead of asking for help, I left my incomplete glove in my knitting bag for over a year. I recently took the glove apart and started from scratch. After revisitng the pattern, something clicked and I was able to navigate through it. So far, I've only completed half of the pair. Completing this glove is a HUGE accomplishment for me. My next big challenge - socks!

Spoiling Myself

My favorite yarn store in Chicago is Nina. She has a beautiful selection of yarns and is incredibly helpful. A few weeks ago, I bought 5 skeins of Blue Sky Bulky Alpaca in a beautiful shade of teal. Both scarf and hat are fabulously warm and stylish! Again, neither was difficult to make, but I love the end results.

Scarves

Last winter, I purchased 2 skeins of Lion-Brand Wool Ease Thick & Quick yarn from Jo-Anne Fabrics. I've become somewhat of a yarn snob during this past year. T&Q is the only yarn that I'll buy from Jo-Anne's. It is surprisingly soft and knits up very quickly. I decided to knit my husband and brother-in-law scarves as gifts. Knowing that they wouldn't appreciate (or notice) sophisticated knitting, I stuck to a simple garter stitch with some ribbed & stockinette detailing on each end. Not my greatest work but recipients were gracious and warm!

my sister is sew cool.

My sister Payal never ceases to amaze me. If you met her, she wouldn't strike you as the crafty type. My mom and I have tried numerous times to teach her to knit & crochet, but she hasn't shown much of an interest. On Christmas Day, she proved me wrong when she demonstrated how talented of a seamstress she is! I've been dying to make a needle case for some time now. I bought 4 pieces of upholstery fabric from Joann Fabrics on Xmas Eve. Payal offered to help, and initially, I was relucant to accept her offer because I thought she would become bored and leave my high and dry! Instead, she basically took over the entire project and whipped it out! I've realized that I don't have the patience to properly use a sewing machine. Payal, on the other hand, knows how to thread a bobbin, sew straight lines, and how to use a seam ripper. Thanks Payal!

I used the patten from Stitch & Bitch Nation: A Knitter's Handbook. To accomodate smaller needles & my growing collection of DPNs, I added a smaller piece of fabric to create two rows, instead of one.