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Completed: The Blagatha

Hey look, I finished another sweater! That makes 3 sweaters now – not bad for someone who’s only been knitting 9 months, eh? Instead of a baby, I made sweaters trolololol

I still don’t think I look nearly as gorgeous as Andi + her sweater in the Agatha pattern photos, but hey, I’ll take this!

For those of you who are new, this is my second Agatha sweater – I loved it so much, I wanted a second version. I am calling this one the “Blagatha” because, well, it’s black & saying Blagatha is kind of fun (another word I really enjoy saying is “goo.” I’m sure you are just fascinated with this). Anywhoodoo, this is pretty much the same as my first one – I knit the size small, using heathered black Cascade 220 & size 5 needles. My gauge must have loosened quite a bit since the first sweater because this one barely needed any blocking to get it to fit – I mostly just blocked to even out the stitches. On the mustard sweater, I really had to stretch the sleeves because they were soooo tight. Not with this one! With that in mind, it is also a bit longer than the mustard one. The sleeves are super long. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

I’m sorry these pictures are so crappy. It’s rainy, grey, overcast, and black just does NOT like being photographed! Meh!

This is my back/side porch, by the way. I promise my entire backyard isn’t a mud pit – just that section. Fine with me! I hate mowing haha.

These are really awful. Here are some flash-photos, so you can see the lacy details!

I just love all the side & waist shaping – it really makes the sweater extra-awesome.

Oh, and of course – it looks good unbuttoned too 🙂

Aren’t the buttons cute? I actually found them at Joann’s, although they definitely have a sweet vintage vibe to them

The button bands are backed with petersham ribbon for stability. I used my sewing machine to sew the button holes on first, then hand stitched everything to the sweater. It took 3 episodes of Arrested Development, whoop.

And for those of you who want to know how I get all this knitting done – I knit on my lunch break at work 🙂 I get a full hour, so it’s perfect for squeezing in some tv or music & just chilling out for a bit. I don’t really knit much at home, home time is sewing time! Unfortunately for me, my sewing time right now is completely wrapped up in draperies. BORING. At least now I can *see* the light at the end of the tunnel!

Oh, I also embroidered this:

It’s old-ish – I was working on it during that hellish week when everything was packed but we hadn’t actually moved yet. I’m not sure what I want to do with it, though. Maybe a pillow? Eh.

For my next project, I’m taking it easy with a hat. Well, it has cables.

How exciting! I’ve never worked with cables before 😀

I’ll be starting another sweater as soon as I can afford the yarn 🙂 Buying all that yarn at once is such a debbie downer, btw – yarn stores should have some kind of yarn layaway where you can set aside all the yarn you want in your preferred dye lot, but you can pick it up a ball at a time. Actually, I’m not really sure how that would work. Someone make it happen!!

Now let’s see some cold fronts so I can start parading this new wool baby around!

Tags: Agatha sweater, blagatha, completed, knitting

Comments 51 Comments
Categories completed projects - new, crafty things that are not sewing

Next Knitting Project – Another Sweater!

20 Jul

A few months ago, I mentioned that I was working on a second Agatha sweater – this time in black yarn. After about 2 weeks of knitting, I put it aside to work on something new & fresh, i.e., the Miette. Welp, that’s all done now & I’ve learned that I am unable to chill between knitting projects, so we’re back at the black Agatha. And, wow, is it knitting up WAY faster than the first one!

This is essentially just a dupe of the first Agatha – same yarn, different color. Same gauge, same size, etc etc. I am using Cascade 220 in a heathered black (although it looks super jet black in these pictures, there are subtle streaks of grey irl) with my trusty size 5 needles. I picked it up about 3 weeks ago & I’ve already finished the body. Magical!

This post also explains a little of my absence this past week – I’ve been housesitting since Tuesday, and while I did drag both my machine *and* my serger to the house (!!!), I haven’t gotten much sewing done because the commute is stupid long (I am staying in Hendersonville for those who know Tennessee… and I work in Midtown. Ughh!) and by the time I get back, I really just want to sleep. Ha! At any rate, I’ve been working on a pair of shorts that I’m REALLY excited about, so hopefully those will be finished soon!

My friend Amanda took these pictures of me. The background is where I’m housesitting – isn’t it gorgeous?! I made her crop my face out because I wasn’t feeling well & it totally shows.
Also, I had to lighten the pictures a bit since the black did not want to photograph at all.

Ok, this next picture is a really terrible picture of me, but look at the view!

LOOK AT THE VIEW

I have also just decided that this sweater will be formally named the “blagatha.” That is all.

Tags: Agatha sweater, blagatha, knitting, work in progress

Comments 10 Comments
Categories crafty things that are not sewing, work in progress

Completed: the Miette Cardigan

10 Jul

I have a confession to make: this cardigan has actually been finished for about a week now. All I had left to do was to sew on the buttons. It is pretty uncharacteristic of me to put off the final touches of a project – I want it to be finished so I can actually wear it! – but this sweater stumped me for about a week.

I tried a regular ol’ wet block the day I finished it, and let it sit on the back porch so the sun could do it’s thang. Of course, that day had a 20% chance of rain and OF COURSE it decided to rain while I was at work (while we’re in the middle of a drought, no less). GR. When I got home, it was obviously still wet & that’s when I realized that it was quickly growing several sizes too large. I knew that cotton yarn has a tendency to grow, but I figured the wool blend would stop it… nope. So I tried to throw it in the dryer. It was at that point that I learned our (new-to-us) dryer has a busted heating element. That is also when I decided to let Amelia use the sweater as a cat bed while I went over my remaining options.

I’m happy to report that I did manage to fix it, though!

So now let’s talk about the pattern, and my issues with cotton yarn.

This is the Miette pattern by Andi Satterlund. Can I just say that I wish Andi had more sweater patterns, because I would totally knit every single one of them. I love how she lays out her instructions & I think her designs are just so pretty. The sizing is always perfect for my body, too. Anyway, this pattern was pretty awesome – simple, fairly quick (the actual knitting of this sweater only took about a month!), and mostly mindless. I used Cascade Sierra, which is a cotton/wool blend yard (80/20), and I barely pulled into my 4th skein. It feels so soft against my skin! These pictures are kind of deceiving; the navy is much more rich in real life.

I did make a couple of changes to the pattern – I left out a few rows on the sleeves, because I liked the length (and I actually think they are a smidge too long still, eh). I also knitted the sleeves with DPNs instead of my circular needles, since I didn’t want the cotton to stretch out. The ribbing is supposed to be knitted with a smaller needle size, but I didn’t have a smaller size DPN on hand so I just used my regular 8s (same size I used for the rest of the sweater).

I love that it is all knit in one piece! Yay for not having to sew it together!

Sorry that these pictures are so bad – I caught a break in the rain & had to rush! The dress I am wearing is actually lavender, but it looks white here!

Of course, now I notice that the ribbing doesn’t match up at the bottom band. Huh. I guess I didn’t block it enough the first go-round.

The button band is stabilized with petersham ribbon, so it doesn’t gape over curves. I really like this method, although it is a bit time-consuming to sew all that ribbon on. This time around, I tried machine-stitching my button holes on the petersham before sewing it to my sweater – it was MUCH easier than handworking button holes. Me gusta!

So how did I get it to fit, if it apparently stretched all out of shape?

I STEAM-BLOCKED THAT LITTLE SHIT.

Ha! It was sooo easy (and soooo much better than going to the laundromat lolol)! I just laid it on my table, scrunched up the sides & steamed the shit out of it with my iron. While it was hot, I molded the sweater to be smaller. Then I left it to dry. Easy easy! And it actually worked – yay!

The next thing I did was thread some thin elastic (like the kind you use for shirring) through the neckband. I sewed 2 rows of elastic, all the way around, and pulled it very slightly. Hopefully this will keep the neckline from stretching out again.

The buttons aren’t my favorite but they were the only thing I had on hand that even remotely matched (and that I had enough of!)

At this point, I got really pissy at how bad my pictures turned out, so I started playing around with effects haha

Ha!

Anyway, that’s 2 sweaters completed at this point! I feel so proud of myself 🙂

Tags: completed, knitting, Miette Sweater

Comments 37 Comments
Categories completed projects - new, crafty things that are not sewing

Pointless Knitting Projects

23 May

Hey! We haven’t discussed knitting in a while, huh? I must admit, after spending 3 months knitting up my Agatha sweater, I thought it was time to take it easy for a few weeks. Also, my yarn budget was shot. Boo! I have been knitting in the time since – just easy projects, with yarn lifted straight from my tiny stash.

Let’s take a little lurk, shall we?

First was the Bicycle U-Lock Cozy. WHY. I DON’T KNOW. It was really easy & mindless – just very short rows of garter stitch, yeah! And it matches my bike 🙂

Then I knitted another coffee cozy, because apparently I just get off from coordinating everything.

THEN the Cozy Madness really reared it’s ugly head and I found myself knitting this…

That would be a Poodle Toilet Paper Cozy, knitted in Harvest Gold (acrylic, of course). What? Too much?

I think it’s safe to say that I should probably stop knitting cozies, for the love of everything that is pure & holy (and non-knitted)in the world.

In all seriousness, though, I did start two projects that are actual sweaters, knitted up in lovely yarns.

The first is my second Agatha cardigan – sorry for the Instagram. Also this picture was taken like 2 weeks ago & I’m much farther along at this point. But see my little sheeeeeep stitch markers! Ack so cute! Anyway, this is getting knitted up in another Cascade 220 – a beautiful jet black smudged with a soft gray. I think it will look really great with all the lacework. I’m not really pushing this one to get knitted up too fast, since it’s wool which is kind of deadly to wear during a Tennessee summer.

I also started my Miette last night, in a much more wearable cotton/wool blend:

I had to lighten the picture a lot to get anything to show (the yarn is a deep navy), but look! I got gauge on the first swatch woohoo!

And the other way!

I am really excited to knit up this sweater 😀 The mindless stockinette will be a nice change from all that crazy Agatha lace. I’m going on vacation this weekend – starting with a very long car ride – and I am looking forward to working on this.

Do any of y’all ever knit (or crochet!) totally pointless projects like cozies? Or am I alone in my cozy fascination? What is the ugliest thing you have ever made with yarn?

In the meantime, I’ve dedicated all my sewing time this week to endless piles of mending & refitting. I’ve actually accomplished quite a bit, and feeling very good about myself! Oh, and I’m also sewing up Landon’s Christmas present. You know, the one from Christmas that was like 6 months ago. I’m a shitty girlfriend.

Tags: Agatha sweater, cozies for everything, knitting, Miette Sweater

Comments 29 Comments
Categories crafty things that are not sewing

Me Made May – Count Me In!

23 Apr

So… Me Made May.

I didn’t originally intend on signing up for this endeavor, mostly because it’s not really a huge challenge for me – I wear everything I make, very regularly. I’m not saying this to make anyone feel bad who does find this sort of thing a challenge, but rather to point out that it seemed kind of sneaky to sign up for something that I can coast along on and call it a “challenge,” you know?

At any rate, regardless of how much I do wear my handmade clothing – I wear them the same way, every time. No mixing up! How boring is that? Plus, I love lurking everyone’s handmade creations long after the “big reveal” – seeing how they are worn on a day-to-day basis. So, with that in mind…

‘I, Lauren of LLADYBIRD, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May ’12. I endeavour to wear at least one (preferably two!) handmade item each day for the duration of May 2012.’

I would love to force myself to wear 2 handmade items every day, but most of my summer (that would be May) clothes are dresses… so the majority of my outfits will consist of one item anyway (other than shoes, but I’m not awesome enough to make my own shoes… yet.). So let’s just put that little “preferably” in there and call it a day, ok?

Yay! I’m so excited! Also, it’s not too late to join in, if you haven’t done so already 🙂

Now let’s talk about the Bombshell.

I have done a LOT of work on this dress over the past week, and I’m feeling pretty good about it! Here are some photogs of my current progress:

I cut out my pattern pieces, and underlined the bodice with muslin. That took FOREVER! I actually watched an entire episode of LOST during this part, heehee

Pieced the entire bodice together – complete with stay stitching, clipping, notching, and lots and lots of pressing. Oh, and twill tape at the top of the cups, for a nice body-hugging curve.

I made molded cups to give the bust some shape – mine are made with cotton batting, but man I wish I had needlepunch, because it just looks so nice & shapely. Anyway, I know this picture doesn’t look too different from the one above, but there is actually a lot of hand stitching here.

So then we have a bodice!

And then I got all excited & started putting the skirt together. I haven’t attached the bodice yet – I have a few more seam finishes I need to complete – so this is just pinned, but doesn’t it look nice?

I just found out that I have a wedding to attend in a little less than 2 weeks, so I’m going to try to bust ass & get this dress done so I can wear it! New deadline, yeah!

In other news, I got my hair did last Thursday!

They re-dyed my hair a lighter brown (which, fuck yeah, now I don’t have to Photoshop my roots anymore) and gave me these sweet highlights around my face. I love it and I feel like a total babe with babe hair.

And here’s my next knitting project – a U-lock Cozy (told you, I can never have enough cozies!). Totally easy & mindless, which is just what I need after frying my brain on that sweater.

Speaking of my sweater, I have worn it every day since finishing last Tuesday – we are going through a bit of a cold snap, which is great for me! 🙂 But now I’m all worried about it getting stinky- so knitters, how frequently do you wash your hand knit wool garments? And do you wash in cold or lukewarm water? Also, do I need to reblock every time I wash? (please say no, I hate blocking haha) Inquiring minds need to know!

Tags: Bombshell dress, i have great hair, knitting, Me Made May '12, U-Lock Cozy, work in progress

Comments 30 Comments
Categories crafty things that are not sewing, work in progress

Complete: My First Sweater!

18 Apr

Fair warning: There are a lot of pictures in this post. Can you blame me? I’m so proud of my little wool baby!

I guess there’s not much more to say, since I’ve documented most of the progress here on the ol’ blog. So just a recap, for anyone who is new –
The pattern is the Agatha Cardigan by Andi Satterlund. I knit a size Small with no alterations – for the record, my bust/waist is 36/26.5 and the negative ease in this sweater fits perfectly. I did have to size down my needles to a 5 to get gauge. The yarn is Cascade 220, a worsted weight, and I used about 3 1/2 skeins.

This sweater is knit top-down, so there wasn’t any seaming to deal with when I finished. I did have to knit the sleeves in the round, which was an interesting learning experience (just don’t look at all the little mistakes I made hahaha). I blocked the shit out of it (especially the sleeves) and it definitely made a huge difference in the fit. As far as I’m concerned, the fit is perfect! Yay!

The only change I made was to stabilize the back of the button bands with petersham ribbon. This wasn’t called for in the pattern, but those bands are stretchy as hell & I didn’t want them to get all stretched out over time (especially since I rarely wear my cardigans un-buttoned). I didn’t follow any specific instructions for this, just hand-sewed the petersham down with teeny tiny stitches & sewed around the button holes to keep it from unraveling. I also used much smaller buttons – the pattern calls for 3/4″, but I could only squeeze 1/2″ buttons in those things.

I learned a LOT making this sweater! Short rows, fairly intricate lace work, knitting in the round with double-pointed needles, reading a pattern, picking up stitches, different ways to cast on… I can’t even remember all of it ahah. One thing I should mention is that this sweater doesn’t have any cables – it kind of looks like it does, but that’s just lace work & ribbing. I do want to learn how to do cables, though! They look like fun!

Extra extra special thanks to both Mika (for knitting along with me & answering all my frantic questions!) and Sarah (for teaching me how to knit in the first place!). I couldn’t have done it without these two fine ladies!

You know what’s really neat? According to my Ravelry notes (psst! Add me if you wanna!), I started this sweater on 1/17… and ended on 4/17. So it took me exactly 3 months! I don’t think that’s too bad, considering I mostly knitted for an hour a day on my lunch break 🙂

Here’s the petersham! I got a pretty good match, color-wise 🙂 I know traditionally, the ribbon goes on top of the button band, but I liked the way the ribbing looked so I sewed it to the back.

See?

The button holes are kind of terrible looking, sorry, but I did the best I could. They look good from the front, though!

Side decreases

Lower arm shaping

Whew! I think that’s enough knitting excitement for one day! I wish I could tell y’all that I was gearing up to tackle another big knitting project, but unfortunately I had to spend my knitting budget at the pharmacy this month (that stupid cough! ARGH.) 😦 So maybe next month! I really want to knit the Miette. Andi has the best patterns, srsly. Love her stuff.

Thanks for letting me indulge, you guys!

😀

Tags: Agatha sweater, completed, hot damn this is my jam, knitting

Comments 71 Comments
Categories completed projects - new, crafty things that are not sewing

Agatha Sweater: FINAL COUNTDOWN

9 Apr

Ladies (and gentlemen?), we have two sleeves!

I am so pleased with myself, you have no idea.

I had to crop my head out of this one because I was making a total derp face, but check out those neat decreases at the bust!

What do we think? Excited?

Excited.

Now all that’s left is the ribbing around the neckline & the button bands. Also, I need to find some buttons… I want wooden buttons, but that would involve driving to the fabric store. We’ll see.

The second sleeves went in a LOT faster than the first one! I guess I had plenty of practice 🙂 It is still a little tight, so my next sweater will probably need to go up a needle size with those DPNs. In the meantime, I plan to block this thing very aggressively & hopefully that’ll help!

In the meantime, I’ve been working on the muslin for my Bombshell/birthday dress… an experience which totally sucks, by the way.

The cup on the right is the pattern with no modifications… the cup on the left is the size it should be – and that’s still a little skimpy, as it barely covers my bra. I don’t plan on wearing a bra with this dress but I wanted to at least get demi-bra-coverage, you know?
Anyway, the muslin totally sucks and I will need to work on it some more… the coverage is great, but as you can see the center bust line skews up & the top piece is way too high. Also, my grainlines are off. Oh, boobs. Anyone else have full bust modifications they have made to this pattern that they would like to share?

In other news, I seem to have lost my voice over the weekend. I am currently alternating between sounding like a man & just sounding straight-up pathetic. If anyone finds where I may have misplaced it, do let me know.

Tags: Agatha sweater, Bombshell dress, knit-along, knitting, muslin

Comments 24 Comments
Categories crafty things that are not sewing, work in progress

Well I’ll Be Damned – It’s A Sleeve!

28 Mar

Well, what ya look at that?

My sweater has a sleeve!

Sleeves are awesome!

I think it’s safe to say I’ve got a pretty good handle on knitting in the round. I still have some areas I would like to improve – namely, pulling the yarn between the needles (I’m still getting little gaps occasionally), but I feel pretty good about my progress. And hey, a sleeve came out of it! Short rows, knitting in the round, lacework… and all!

It is a little tight, but not uncomfortably tight (I can still easily fit my hand between my arm & the sleeve). I’m not one to wear long sleeves (other than sweaters and hoodies), so I’m not too concerned about layers. And I haven’t blocked it yet, obviously, so I may be able to squeeze a little more room out of it.

I love the lacework & the decreasing at the elbow.

There are some boo-boos, though 😦

But you know what? I think it’s pretty good for a first try! I’m trying not to think about the fact that now I have to knit the OTHER sleeve lol. At least I can get more practice out of it, I guess 😉

SLEEVE.

As a side note, here is my next sewing project:

It doesn’t look like much, but there are actually 10 darts in that thing… and I haven’t even started the skirt yet. Eep.

Tags: Agatha sweater, hot damn this is my jam, knit-along, knitting, work in progress

Comments 31 Comments
Categories crafty things that are not sewing, work in progress

Completed: Colette Clovers – The Denim Version

2 Mar

Ok, ok – ONE more jab at this pattern! Who is sick of looking at my butt in Clovers yet? 🙂 Technically, I guess, these are the finished version of my polyester wearable muslin, so do they really count?

I bought this denim right before I swore off new fabric purchases until further notice. It’s a great denim – a nice dark wash, a good sturdy weight, and it has a slight stretch factor which makes them perfect for these jeans. I originally intended on make another pair of wide legged trousers with this fabric, but after lurking the shit out of Sallieoh’s Clover makeover, I decided to go with Clover jeans, with little flare legs. Hence, the polyester muslin.

So here’s the real deal!
(I’m sorry these pictures are bad – we are expecting lots of tornadoes today & it was straight up HAILING last night so I’m actually surprised I was able to catch enough sunlight to shoot these this morning)

I’m not going to hash out every single change I made to the pattern – you can check out my other version if you are just dying for the nitty-gritty, but I will share some additional changes I made with this pair. Here’s a list.
– I cut extra seam allowances on all the pieces since my denim wasn’t as stretchy as my poly. This was a MISTAKE. The pants ended up being way too big & I had to cut out all my seam allowances (and then some!) to get a nice fit. Whoops.
– I wanted to try out flat fell seams on the inside legs, but I cut too much SA off (this was after taking out something insane like 1″ of excess, see above), so I didn’t have enough denim to fold over. What you see are mock flat fell seams. Sorry!
– I stabilized the pockets with this awesome trim I found at the flea market – it’s measuring tape! Eeeheheee! I thought they might need some help to keep from stretching out, plus, it looks fun on the inside! The front pocket piece is red cotton, just to keep things from getting too bulky.
– I’m not terribly happy with the waistband – it digs kind of weird, there is some strange twisting going on on one side, and it was kind of tight so the button was pushed way over to the side (instead of in the center, where it belongs). And there is some kind of weird gap thing over the center back – does anyone know what that’s all about? I guess I needed to taper the waistband with a seam, idk. I don’t get plumber’s crack when I bend over, but I think it looks pretty bad. I may end up ripping out the waistband and starting over.
– There is a lot of topstitching on these pants! I used jeans topstitching thread with a more lightweight blue denim thread in the bobbin. My sewing machine was PISSED during some of those layers, gawd. I was able to struggle through, but now I’m wondering how some people with those little cheap hobby machines manage to churn out jeans. My machine is pretty heavy-duty and even with a denim needle it had some trouble, especially on the belt loops. Lots of cranking the handwheel on my end.
– I like how my belt loops turned out. I do not like that they aren’t evenly spaced at all! Haha! Oh well!

I think that’s it. Let’s look at some pictures instead!

Sorry you can’t see the hem in these!

I decided against doing the traditional topstitching in the back since I was not adding back pockets or a yoke. I know jeans are supposed to have the crotch seam flat felled & topstitched, but the idea of having a line of gold stitching running straight up the middle of my butt (with no other stitching going on back there) weirded me out way too much. So they’re simple from the behind!

See what I mean about the button? Haha I’m so embarrassed! I really should re-do that waistband… but honestly, I probably won’t. I mean, let’s keep it real here.

Pockets!

All that topstiching paid off – I think they look good!

Oh, and I finished my coffee cozy last night! It ended up being a really easy/quick knit, so I stayed up a little later than I should have, just so I could put it on my to-go cup this morning 🙂

(before you say anything… yep, that’s a Hello Kitty toaster. I got it for Christmas like 10 years ago hahah)
If you want to see the pattern/details, it’s all on my Ravelry page!

Ughff I think I’m finally done with this pattern. Seven Clovers (including a few failed muslins) is enough for anyone, I’d say!

Still… I made jeans!

Tags: clover, completed, cozies for everything, denim, knitting, pants

Comments 41 Comments
Categories completed projects - new, crafty things that are not sewing

We’ve Officially Reached Sweater Vest Territory!

1 Mar

First of all, I want to thank y’all for all your amazing comments on my gingham Peony post. I basically spent the entire day (and the next day, and the next day), blushing like a little kid. I also got pinned all over Pinterest which was kind of exciting all on it’s own. You are all so sweet! Way to make a girl feel like a sewing champion lol 🙂

Today, we are going to discuss knitting. I have sweater progress to share! This is a big deal~

SERIOUSLY OMG EXCITING

I am SO EXCITED that this little shit actually fits me! I mean, obviously it should – I made soo many gauge swatches haha. But I was still pretty apprehensive – there is about 2″-3″ of negative ease, so pre-blocked (this is still pre-blocked, fyi), it’s pretty tiny. I was afraid to try and pull it on while it was still on the needles (and too scared to pull it off the needles onto scrap yarn), so I waited until I finished the ribbing. It fits! It fits!

Look at how cool the side decreasing is!

The back looks good too! I could have bound off a little more loosely, but oh well!

I hope my excitement is just radiating out of this post.

One more sweater picture! All that is left is the sleeves & the ribbing around the neck and where the buttons go. And then blocking, of course.

The sleeves are knit in the round. For those of you who are newbies to my corner of the internet, I only learned how to knit over Thanksgiving… and upon starting this sweater, hadn’t quite mastered knitting in the round (or even attempted it, to be honest). I made an executive decision that I would finish the sweater up to the sleeves, and then figure out this multiple needle shit (I know, I know, “magic loop” or whatever, but I want to try double pointed needles first!). I bought some bamboo needles & sat down with my knittin’ buddy on Tuesday night to try it out. I’m not gonna lie – joining those stitches in the round was hard. It took me something stupid like 15 minutes to join 2 stitches. At one point – I shit you not – I actually forgot how to knit. HAHA. But once I got started, it was surprisingly easy. I made a little tube that I later discovered fits my iPod perfectly…

(It’s the correct size, I just wanted to show you that an iPod is in there!)
So that’s my first knitting in the round project! I want to make one more thing, because I still need a little more practice – there are a couple of holes where I didn’t pull the yarn tight enough between needles. Ooops! But I think it’s pretty good for a first attempt, yeah? 🙂

My next project is going to be a coffee cozy, and I’m going to make it out of this ugly-ass yarn 🙂 I love knitting in the round! COZIES FOR EVERYTHING.

On a COMPLETELY unrelated note – I biked to work this morning! First commute-to-work bike ride since winter started 😀

This is my halfway point – the Shelby Street Bridge! Isn’t it lovely? It’s a pedestrian bridge, so there’s always a lot of foot/bike traffic going on. I love how pretty the city looks from here! See that weird red thing in the right hand corner? Unfortunately, it’s not a roller coaster – it’s a completely useless sculpture called Ghost Ballet and it’s ugly as shit. I don’t know any Nashvillians who actually think this thing wasn’t a waste of taxpayer money. Blech.