First Post

Well, while this isn't my first foray into the online journal world in general, it is my first go with Blogger in particular. I've been a Livejournal devotee (read: addict) for a few years now but seeing the number of lovely knitting and general crafting blogs and communities here I've decided I wanna play too. :)
This is also my first knitting blog. I've been posting some photos and such in my personal online journal but I wanted to have a place to share with other knitters without having to expose them to too much of my day to day lunacy. ;)

I guess I should start with a little about myself. Hmm...
I just turned 24 in March. I'm a South Carolina native and recently returned to my roots after a few years in Florida. I've been in freelance graphic design/ digital media for about 6 years now. I've gotten a little burned out on the whole thing as of late so I'm starting accounting classes next Tuesday. Just a little change of pace while I plan my next move.

Moving back to the small town I grew up in was certainly a change of pace from my time in Orlando. Spent the first month or so going completely stir crazy and plotting a quick escape. Then one day I got a whild hair up my ass while wandering around a Michael's and decided to try knitting. Picked up a kit, hit up Barnes & Noble and by midnight Debbie Stoller had me knittin' away. I've been at it ever since.
When The Happy Hooker came out I decided to try my hand at crochet. Mom had taught me to chain many many moons ago but I never got any further than that and she eventually gave it up as well. Despite my best efforts, crochet did not come nearly as easily as knitting had. My strong desire for a Yehaw Lady hat kept me trying for a while but the overwhenming urse to stab myself in the eye with the hook to end the misery eventually drove me to give up for a while. Not a one to be defeated my a little metal hook, I eventually picked up another book to help me and completed my first project.
My next craft to conquer is sewing. I'm not a big fan of hand sewing. I don't even like finishing up my knitting projects. :P But I have a deal with my mom that if I overhaul the dining room at my dad's place she'll buy me a sewing machine. I haven't gotten around to the task yet but it's high on the to-do list.

Now let's get to the fun part... the pictures!
You'll have to excuse the extrordinarily crappy quality of my photos currently. I had a nifty little Nikon digital until a mishap in Florida where I uknowingly left my poor camera in my glove box for a couple months... in the summer. There were no survivors. So now I'm resigned to trying to capture the moment with my crappy phone camera. I do what I can and hopefully there's a new digital camera in my near future. Until then we'll all just have to exercise our imaginations a bit.

I made an attempt to get some pictures of my WIPs today. Here's what I'm working on now:

Here's a close up of the yoga bag I'm making for myself. I finished the body of the bag last week but it still lacks a strap and the making up.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/thekittenavenger3/yogabag1_closeup2.jpg



I'm also working on one for my mom. Both bags are good ol' Peaches 'n Cream cotton.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/thekittenavenger3/yogabag2.jpg



I would have finished this hat last night but I was at my boyfriend's house and realized I had neglected to put my DPNs in my bag. :(
The pattern is my own creation, albeit a simple one. It's Wool Ease worsted and the trim is the same double stranded with Modea Chichi. I came across these at Michael's one day and couldn't resist picking them both up because they match so perfectly. You can't tell so much from the pictures but the flecks of color in the Wool Ease are almost identical to the shades in the fluff.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/thekittenavenger3/fuzzytrimhat.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/thekittenavenger3/fuzzytrimhat_closeup.jpg



My favorite project right now is the Branching Out scarf I'm making in the fabulous bamboo yarn I fell in love with on my last LYS expedition. It's so silky, soft and shimmery! The pictures do it absolutely no justice at all.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/thekittenavenger3/branchingout_bamboo.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/thekittenavenger3/branchingout_bamboo2.jpg



I plan to make a second Branching Out from the lovely alpaca I recently got in a swap.

Cameo appearance by the lovely swappers hand. :)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/thekittenavenger3/alpaca_swap-w.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/thekittenavenger3/alpaca.jpg



My end of said swap was a shawl's worth of Lion Brand Microfiber. Here's a couple shots of the second shawl I attempted with the Microfiber before admitting to myself that I was never going to finish it. The first rendition was a feather and fan pattern I grew quite bored with. This is the Convertable parrern from Knitty, minus buttonholes.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/thekittenavenger3/microspun_shawl3-w.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/thekittenavenger3/microspun_shawl-w.jpg



While I never really wear hats, I love knitting them. Luckily my mom's a hat person so she benefits greatly from this. I did recently make oce for myself though. I picked up a single skien of fabulously soft Plymouth Yarns Baby Alpaca Grande a few months ago and couldn't decide what to do with it until I came across this simple cabled pattern.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/thekittenavenger3/alpaca_cabled_hat-w.jpg



On to the crochet.

My first completed project was potholders for the boy since I was tired of trying to get things out of his oven with a dishtowel without burning the crap out of myself. Well, actually I'm notoriously clumsy so I usually delegated this task to him instead.
I wanted to make them in the colors of his favorite college football team. Seeing as how they happen to be my favorite football team's bitter rivals, this is certainly a labor of love. :P Since Clemson has such horrendous colors, I ended up having to dye the yarn myself. You simply cannot appreciate the bright offensive orange from these photos but I assure you it is hideous, and pretty much dead on.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/thekittenavenger3/dyed_yarn_bathroom-w.jpg

Backs
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/thekittenavenger3/both_potholders_backs-w.jpg

Fronts. This is a terrible shot but it's the only clear-ish one I have of the fronts. I charted the C myself so I'm a little proud of myself there since it was my very first project and all.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/thekittenavenger3/both_potholders_table.jpg



Once I got into this project it went super quickly and was pretty fun. This was the week before Mother's Day and it had become quite clear that Mom's yoga bag just wasn't gonna happen on time so I decided to whip out a couple potholders for her as well. I charted her initials for them too. :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/thekittenavenger3/moms_potholders_front_inprogress.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/thekittenavenger3/moms_potholders_front-w.jpg

This is my favorite.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/thekittenavenger3/J_potholder-w.jpg


Well, I suppose that's plenty for now. I think I'll drag myself off the computer and go finish up that hat. :)