Truffles and the neverending search for the Bullion Stitch

So Pony, if you're out there, this is your X-Mas present. Perhaps it will be a little modified with some more truffl-y edging, but 'twill be very similar. Inspired by the top picture.

And also, if anyone actually reads this thing, and if you happen to know, I've been looking for a crochet stitch used in freeform knitting/crochet that I've seen referred to as the bullion stitch. If you know... you know. Please let me know.

playing around

I nearly have all my presents planned... now just to get down to the doing. How many days do I have left? Not enough.

Presents!

I got myself some books for mah birfday. Stitch patterns are fun. I'm thinking this particular swatch would make an excellent coin purse type thing for one of the nieces for x-mas.

I've been bizzee

I've been experimenting. Lots of ripping out (I'm uncomfortable using the term "frogging"- it seems less visceral and frustrated as I usually feel when I need to do it) re-knitting and playing with stitch patterns. I have managed to complete a few things; a cowl for my cold neck, a vest for my cold tummeh without the bulk of sleeves in coats, and some other things I can't remember. I'm currently making Rachelle King's Giraffe, which has an extra long neck for combating that piercing icy wind that seems to be able to find microscopic cracks between scarves and hats and coats. Some days I dislike putting on and peeling of layers and layers just to walk the dog or take the boy to the bus stop. So I'm gravitating to multi-function pieces that have retractable features built into them. I like to think of myself as futuristic and modern instead of lazy.

Next up: taking on cold winter feet.

Neopolitan baby blanket

What's sweeter than ice cream? A baby, of course. With extra strawberry.

Easy peasy garter stitch (I'm practicing my English/American stitching to save my hands instead of my usual Continental/German/Combo knitting) and super soft yarn. Yum-meee.

Making stuff

I made a sweater in a week. Not a totally complicated venture, and I took a few days off. But I like how it turned out. Yay for a Pony sweater!





(That's Pony showing us her binness.)

It's knit with two strands of yarn, so I had to improvise something that wouldn't make me crazy with the balls running around and the winding and the stuff. The first ball I wound up into separate balls then wound them into a two stranded center pull ball. That was too much work. So I stuck them under two MS pots I picked up at K-Mart a few years ago. Worked out just fine because the holes are glazed and didn't snag the yarn at all. I would have been afraid to use a plain terracotta pot for that reason. Not a totally original idea, but you know. I make of the do.

Cosmo Messenger Bag

Cosmo picked out this yarn from Michael's last time we were there. It's Red Heart Super Saver in Camouflage, and I'm a tree hugging hippie, so I had no idea what I was going to do with it. So after a few false starts and me teaching him how to do the knit stitch, he asked me to make him a "purse". So that's what I did. I knit a gauge swatch and then measured the boy and figured that I needed a 10" x 8" bag with a 30" strap. It's a good thing that I didn't make it bigger, because I had about six inches of yarn left after I finished up the seams.
It's basically two pieces, one long one for the body with purl ridges to mark the edges of the bottom and the beginning of flap, and a garter stitch flap and handles that I sewed all the way down to form the sides.
Smoochy gets the credit for the idea of using denim to reinforce the already pretty rigid acrylic structure.
I think it turned out pretty okay, and it's now filled with a rock collection and some neopets.