Fuzzy Halter

From my wicked imagination.

Amidst the suitcase of yarn I brought back from China was 3 little balls of this white acrylic eyelash-type yarn. Very few eyelashes, and every inch or so a little poofy bobble (which bobbles, incidentally, make it a pain in the ass to work with because they catch on each other). I've been envisioning this glamorous halter top made out of this stuff, and voila, one not-so-lazy Sunday afternoon later, here it is. And me showing some skin on the internet to boot!
I think I did an ok job without working from a pattern--I love the spontaneity and freedom afforded by crochet, I probably would have had to think a lot more to have knit this project. The bottom half looks a bit messy but I sort of like the ugly randomness in contrast to my little ribbon tie up top. Yay! My first project made without a pattern (since my first knitted project ever, the all-garter-stitch scarf)!

Chicken!

Close-up of chickens on the baby ensemble sweater.

In Other News

I tried to join the bill to the hat body of the Just Ducky Hat while watching The Last Samurai. This resulted in BAD. We're going to try it again when we're not watching Tom Cruise get hit with sticks.

Finished! Baby Ensemble Sweater

Whoo-hoo! I finished my first sweater with sleeves!
Self-congratulations done with, I must say that I really screwed up quite a bit on this little critter.
~To start with (ha. ha.) I cast on far too loosely (you can even tell in this bad photo) so it looks sloppy.
~I didn't space my buttonholes evenly, so there ended up being 5 rather than 6 as the instructions called for.
~I picked up and knitted the sleeves with the wrong side facing, which looks bad.
~Since the back is knit going down, you're sewing up two sides going in opposite directions. Though it probably shouldn't have, this really messed me up and the side sewing is bad.
~Since I'm just bad at sewing in general, the decorative hen and chicks aren't as cute as they could be.
BUT--it was a fantastic learning experience, just as I meant it to be. Plus, I didn't run out of yarn, which I was DEATHLY afraid of during the last stretch. I even had enough to sew buttons.
Now the question--is it too messed up to give to someone for their CHILD to wear? Hmm...

Light Lacey Shawl
Yarn: Bernat Softee Baby in white
Hook: H
I haven't been updating since I've been working on med school secondaries (if you don't know what they are, consider yourself lucky...and then run far, far away.) However, the knitting (rather, crocheting) goes on as rapidly as ever (i.e. not so rapidly.) 17 out of 80 inches done on the shawl, all on the uptown A train. Hey, that's not too bad for a week's work!

"Just Ducky" Hat

From p2 designs

Yarn: Wal-mart 4-ply Worsted Acrylic in Soft Beige (you thought it left...)
Needle: #7 circular
The pattern has you working the hat edge with dpns but since I have a #7 circular and not #7 dpns I figured I'd try to get the gauge right if not the method. I think it should be ok since I do actually own #9 dpns (also pictured--thanks Mom!) to switch to after doing the ribbed edge. Oh, and you see I got real far in this before getting wrapped up trying to figure out the bill.

"Just Ducky" Hat

From p2 designs

Yarn: Cascade 220 in Goldenrod
Needles: #7 dpns by pattern, #5 dpns by me because that's all I've gotz.
This is the CUTEST hat and sock set ever. I wanted to start working on this set so badly that I didn't even wait until the weekend Jersey (read: wal-mart) expedition to get the yarn. Yes, mssrs et mmes, I actually bought non-acrylic yarn at a store other than wal-mart (knit-a-way, just a brisk walk away, on Atlantic). And then I had to measure the diameter of all my dpns with Chris' super-precise electronic caliper since I got them all from my mother and I've really never used them. And so then I had to learn how to use dpns. And then on top of that, I had to search the internet for toe-up sock techniques since I've never knit a sock, much less a sock from the toe up (and for the record, I never intend to, as my feet are far too stinky and I knit far too slowly). And then I didn't read the pattern closely so I neglected to do some increases.
So the long and the short of it is that the beak of this duck hat will be a little...crooked...

Baby Ensemble Sweater

From Knitting Know-How

Yarn: Jack Frost 4-ply Worsted in Dusty Rose.
Needles: #5 and #8 Straight
This is my first attempt at a sweater with sleeves, and I'm not sure if it will be a good practice run for "the real thing" (i.e. a sweater for myself. This is for one of Chris' second cousins--there are three of various cute baby ages so no matter how large it actually comes out it will fit ONE of them) since it is knit by casting on two fronts separately and then joining the two and knitting down the back, which I don't think is standard protocol for adult cardigans. I'm about halfway down the back (left of picture). I'm excited to start on the sleeves!

Terror Alerts

The Crochet Meetup is tomorrow at the Citigroup Atrium. What with all the terrorist alerts (I saw a cop carrying an assault rifle yesterday in an otherwise deserted part of the financial district) perhaps it's not such a good idea?
Who am I kidding? It is not fear that would prevent me from going but sheer laziness...what I lack in motivation I make up in bravado. Or, perhaps, I should say, what I make up in bravado I remove by laziness.