Frenchie McKnitsalot

This post is mostly for my own benefit, so non-knitters bear with me as I document my projects (or just look at the pretty pictures of knits!). I take pictures of everything I knit, and then the pictures just sit on my phone doing nothing. I've been in a very knitting-heavy phase, to the point that my second thought after hearing of my sister in law's pregnancy was that I had an excuse to make a beautiful baby blanket. At least it wasn't my first thought, right?

I try to keep up with my projects on Ravelry, but a lot of the time my progress relative to others on there makes me sad, because I wish I could just knit all the live long day. But, here's what I've made in 2013 between the house of 8-10:30 pm:

I covered my old couch's throw pillows that were a not so pretty olive green microsuede with a pretty basket-weave. In order to use up some of my incomplete skeins, I made it with two different yarns. The lavender yarn is a soft merino/silk/wool blend, and the light blue side is a 100% pima cotton. I wish I had stuck with wool because the green color is peeking through the less tight cotton knit, but it's still pretty. I will cover up the second cushion, but that'll be for later on this year. The pattern is my own - there isn't much to it except casting and re-casting on to make sure there were enough stitches to cover the entire pillow, and alternating a stockinette and garter stitch. 

PS, that's my new couch! Isn't it pretty?

This is my first pair of socks! I'm pretty sure the pattern I used is a totally non-traditional sock pattern, but since it had step my step pictures, I went with it. I haven't had time to sign up for a class to make a traditional sock, but I'm happy with the way these turned out! This is a Cascade Paints sock yarn. My current project is another pair of these socks, using a white Malabrigo sock yarn. Washable!

This is a baby blanket I made for friends of ours in Chicago. This is the Berrocco Vintage, and it's totally washable which is ideal for a baby blanket. I modified a pattern I found in a library book called the Batternberg Blanket, and it made a really cool faux-cable effect.

A little cap sleeve diamond-lace sweater for Mia that took about 5 days, and knit all in one piece! This was a super fun project and I think I'll enlarge the pattern and make one for myself some day! The yarn was a Tuesday Morning find, a brand that I cannot remember, but it's 95% Cotton and 5% Cashmere, so it's super soft and airy. Also, washable!

That's it! The only project that I didn't post was my Empire Strikes Back dress, which I am bout 90% finished with, but after I tried it on and didn't love it, I haven't had the heart to finish the collar. I'll pick it up again soon and hopefully come to like my first adult-sized garment.