The House Elf Liberation Front

I think that one of my goals for 2008 is going to be to update here more than once a year. These aren't the first or the only things I've made this year, but they are the first photos I took.

This year, anyone who got homemade Christmas presents got crocheted washcloths. The pattern I'm using is this dishcloth pattern from The Dishcloth Botique. The yarn is Sugar&Cream, in solid green and a green/purple, and in blue and blue/brown/cream. I think I used a H hook, but I might be remembering wrong.

( Pictures behind the cut! )

This was a pattern I had made before, sans ruffle around the edge, so I knew what to expect from it. It's easy and fairly mindless, which means good tv-watching. If I make these again, I need to figure out how to make the point in the circle where I start new rows stand out less. It looks okay on the blue ones, but it's obvious in the other photos exactly where it happens. I also need to make the original chain more loosely so that I spend less time fighting with the first row.

I bought a copy of Big Girl Knits from Amazon.com earlier this week. I've had my eye on it ever since it came out, and this seemed like a good time to give in and order it. I needed a Spanish/English dictionary that wasn't older than I am, and I hate paying shipping when I can spend the money on another book instead.

(I highly recommend the Pocket Oxford Spanish Dictionary, by the way, even if "pocket" is a questionable description for a book weighing nearly 2 kilos. It comes complete with a section on common abbreviations in text messaging.)

...Knitting book, right. What sold me on this is that it's honest. They say right up front that the patterns aren't ones to make you look thin. They're patterns to make you look good. It goes on to give a crash course in measuring yourself, what sort of clothes looks good on different body types, what not to wear, and how to modify patterns to fit. There's a difference between knowing how to knit shortrows and where to use them, and the explanation of how to use them to make clothing fit is enough to make me glad I bought the book.

As for the patterns themselves, there are a few I really like, several that I like but can't see myself wearing, and a few that I do not understand the purpose of. Yoga pants? That's what Target is for. I'd guess that someone whose fashion sense runs more feminine than mine would find more patterns she'd want to knit.

On the knitting front, I have very little to show for the last two weeks. I've been occupied with the first stages of remodeling my bedroom (read: packing) and with a sick dog. A lap blanket that enjoys batting balls of yarn around is not conducive to getting anything done. The packing is finally finished(ish) and the dog is mostly back to his hyper self. Pictures next week once the latest square actually resembles a square.

My current project is an afghan for our recently-redecorated family room. Mom decided that the afghans that date back to the 1980s (or possibly earlier, based on colors) should probably go.

I'm using the Great American Afghan Pattern, originally from Knitters Magazine. I'm three and a half squares in and I like it so far, other than the tiny little charts. GIMP and my scanner fix those nicely. Apart from that, the patterns are clearly written and there are a nice variety of squares to choose from.

Mom picked out two colors of Cascade 220 for me to use. Specifically, these:



The teal/gray is #9450. The plain gray is #8401. Pictures courtesy of Google's image search. In this case, the yarn on the color card on Cascade's own website doesn't look at all like it does in real life.

The current plan is to do ten gray squares, or possibly twelve if I have enough yarn, then use the same patterns to make teal squares and put them together in a checkerboard pattern.



That's my favorite square so far. It matches the nautical theme my parents have going in the room, and it pounded knit/purl combination cables into my head to the point that I can now (finally) do them without a cable needle and without having to consult the written directions. Yay fishie.