Moving Right Along...

Well...I finally finished Sasha's legwarmers, a very belated Christmas gift (as all of mine are). I'll admit, I wasn't too motivated to work on them b/c the large needles weren't fun for some reason, but now that they're done I think she will love them. Here they are:



...and here is a picture of Sasha wearing them, though the right one is upside down.



By the time these were finished, I'd done so much free pattern searching online that I had a million things I wanted to make. Among them, this tote bag. I figured I'd be felting it, so I'd have to use wool or the like. I was excited to go to Michael's and buy yarn, but then it occured to me how ridiculous that was since Zette had given me a huge stash of her unused yarn and, among it, some wool. The only wool in her stash was tan and black...good colors, but not exactly FUN. Still, it seemed silly to buy yarn when I had some, so I just bought some Paton's Classic Wool in Winter White and decided to make it a neutral bag. Here is stage one:



I'm really loving knitting with the bamboo needles and 100% wool yarn...SUCH a huge difference! I will post the pattern (modified) when it's all finished (in about 6 years).

Baby Steps

On the advice of a new friend who has recently taught me to knit (or more specifically, to knit and purl), I've decided that it would be a good idea to document my projects since I have a feeling that this knitting thing is going to become part of my life for good. It was just last weekend that I learned to cast on, knit, and purl...and I found a project online that my friend said would be a perfect first project for a beginner: legwarmers. It's a basic knit/purl but the pattern was apparently unclear, so she very kindly altered it for me so they would come out just right. Legwarmers were something I've wanted to make for some time because I am a former professional ballet dancer (now teaching) and one of my best friends is still dancing, so a handmade pair of knitted legwarmers from MOI would be a PERFECT (albeit, belated) Christmas gift.

Anyway, after some fuck-ups and a few do-overs, I finally was able to finish one legwarmer and sew up the side seam. Granted, ALL of the yarn ends are still loose inside, but it's no fun weaving in the ends so I am unmotivated to do it. Besides, my BFF wants different colors than the one I made, so I have now started on that pair. Here are some pictures of my one lone legwarmer that I will forever be very proud of.

Pattern below the pics.





Size 11 needles
3 skeins of chunky yarn in 3 colors (A,B,C)

Cast on 35

Row 1: sl 1st st purlwise, K2, P1, to the end. You will end with a K1.
Row 2: sl 1st st purlwise, K1, P2, to the end. You will end with a K1.

Repeat to desired length as follows:

Color A: 8 rows
Color B: 6 rows
Color C: 4 rows
Color A: 5 rows
Color B: 3 rows
Color C: 5 rows
Color A: 6 rows
Color B: 4 rows
Color C: 3 rows
Color A: 5 rows
Color B: 3 rows
Color C: 5 rows
Color A: 6 rows
Color B: 4 rows
Color C: 3 rows
Color A: 5 rows

Bind off.
Join side seams using Mattress Stitch