Baby Harvest

My Harvest

Pattern:  Harvest

Yarn:  Lion Brand Wool Ease

This is my friend's bebe who commonly accompanies my friend to knit night.  When I saw this adorable cardigan, I had to make her one.  The bright red of the cardigan really suits the nature of this little one.  Super adorable, super large personality with a little bit of spitfire.  I chose the wool ease for parental ease.

This free pattern is a great one for either a beginner sweater or for those more experienced.  There's very little seaming (as in, just the ones under the arm), and she has great diagrams to explain how the sweater is constructed.  The pattern comes in sizes from infant all the way to 58" chest!  This pattern is coming highly recommended by me for a quick and easy knit with great directions.

See ya later!

Japan Part 1

Way back in November 2013, the idea that Bret and I would get to go to Japan for almost 2 weeks this year was nearly preposterous.  However, my good friend Miho announced that her husband would be doing a year of study abroad while she continued to work in Japan, and offered her friends a place to stay in her apartment if anybody wanted to take a trip to Japan.  Well, this ended up being too good to come true, and next thing we knew, we decided to book tickets.  Bret bought a nice camera for this trip, and it was well worth it to be able to document our experiences.  We ended up taking so many pictures that I can't possibly post them all in one blog post.  So, you'll get some here and then split up between knitting projects.  Enjoy!

Our first day led us to Asaksa, a famous Buddhist temple in Tokyo.  This is the famous entrance to the grounds.  You will see thousands of people try to get a picture here if you stand and watch through the day.  It's a pretty temple once you go in, and there are stands inside with vendors selling treats.  As it has its own subway stop, it's also a very convenient and easy place to go while Miho was at work. 

The second day we went to the Studio Ghibli Museum.  I am a fan of Miyazaki's works, and Studio Ghibli as well.  The museum is a delight, and definitely worth the trip.  It is on the outskirts of Tokyo; we had to take 2 trains and a 25 min walk to get there.  I was so glad that Miho was our guide for our general trip.  She let us know that tickets to the museum must be purchased in advance at a drug store (Lawsons) for a specific date and hour.  I guess to assure that the museum does not become too crowded.  She graciously purchased them for us to assure we had them.  :o)

Our first sushi experience in Japan was fantastic!  This was actually our breakfast our second day, if you can believe it.  The Tsukiji fish market operates primarily at night.  As morning hits, the fisherman are packing up and getting ready to go home.  There are restaurants along the inner market that are there to allow these workers to have their "dinner" before heading off.  Miho suggested we go and have breakfast here so we could get some of the freshest sushi available in Tokyo.  Mmmmm... 

We finished our second day relaxing in a cafe overlooking the famous Shibuya crossing.  This is actually early evening *before* it gets crowded!  We were too jet lagged still to be able to stay longer, but even in the hour we hung out at the cafe, the intersection started to fill up.  Shibuya is where the young 20somethings go after work to hang out.  The night life here is definitely one of the hot spots in town.

sideKick

My sideKick

Pattern:  sideKick
Yarn:  Louet Gems Sportweight

Here's one of the hair colors that has been since my last post.  And this photo was taken in my new condo!  The chair I'm sitting in was purchased specifically for the place.  I love it!  :oD

Now, on to the pattern.  This, as many of my knits are, was a test knit.  It was clearly written, and the designer was very open to suggestions and advice; I liked working with her a lot.  The pattern came out lovely.  I knit the 38" bust which gives me a little bit of positive ease, which I've been liking lately.  Easy and relaxed style.

While I had no troubles with the knitting of the project, I did have some issues with the final fit.  For instance, take a look at this:

Ok, so, maybe this isn't the best picture to illustrate my problem... but if you would take a look at the underarms:  there is a LOT of extra fabric there.  I feel like it all bunches up in the underarm area.  Definitely a tank top underneath ONLY sweater.  I don't like feeling a lot of bulk with my clothing, so wearing a t-shirt or anything will not work for me.  The other issue I had with this pattern is that there is no shaping done on the body of the sweater at all.  If I were to do it again, I probably would add a bit of shaping at the waist to help with the feminine feel of the overall appearance.  Since this was a test, I did not do so.

Despite these issues, I do really like the way it turned out, and look forward to wearing it when the weather starts to cool off a bit more here.  (I'm still in Texas, it won't be cool until November at the earliest.)  My boyfriend stated that this is probably his favorite sweater I've ever made myself, and with that kind of compliment, I do recommend this pattern to anyone who is trying to decide.  I would just recommend either adding shaping at the waist, or a bit of negative ease to help with the fit, and possibly pick up a few less sts for the underarms.  :o)

New Homeowners!

At the end of April, Bret and I got a startling announcement:  our landlord had sold his primary residence, and now needed a place to stay of his own.  Our lease was the first ending and about the right size that he was looking for so he would no longer be renting it.  Our lease was up at the end of June, so he did give us some time to look for a new place, but it was still extremely unexpected.

We had briefly talked about purchasing a place of our own, but we didn't actually know if it would be possible.  Luckily, one of Bret's friends is a realtor in the area, so we contacted him, and next thing we knew we were house hunting!  We found a cute condo complex in an up-and-coming neighborhood, and placed an offer on it.  We ended up winning the bid (by a hair... there were 4 other bids the exact same price as we had put in for it, but we lucked out and won the bid!), and paperwork was set in motion.

It felt like a whirlwind at the time.  We managed to sign all the paperwork and were official homeowners the week before we flew to Japan.  What a great way to celebrate!  I'll be posting some before and after pics of the paint job soon.  :o)

And actual UPDATE!

I can't believe (wait, yes, I can...) that I let another post go SO long.  Since that post, Vandra has visited, I've changed hair colors 4 times, traveled to Japan, bought a small condo, traveled back to Portland, and have finished a good number of projects.  Here are some sneak peeks of the projects I'll be reviewing shortly...

Cleaning

One of my best friends, Vandra, is coming to visit this weekend!  Yay!  I'm so excited; we haven't been able to get together in years.  The only downside to it, is that it means I should clean our apt.  Some of it is easy... laundry, scrub down the tub, etc.  But I hate cleaning up the clutter.  So much clutter!!!  :op

I do admit, however, it does look nice for awhile and feels great while it's nice.  Guess I'd better get to that instead of blogging.  :o(  (or knitting)  

FO: Havelock Cowl

I am a process knitter... so when I get bored with something, it usually gets thrown in with the rest of the UFOs and is not seen for months (sometimes years!).  But every once in awhile I get around to actually finishing something.  :oD  Here's my Havelock Cowl:

Yarn:  StitchJones Eco Art Handpainted Eco Wool
Needles:  US 10 circs

It's a fun and simple pattern that comes out beautifully!  Also is a fairly quick knit for anyone looking for something for gifting.  This one is going to be a gift, actually.  Luckily, I don't believe that person checks my blog anyways.  ;o)