What are you knitting or reading now?

We've been a very quiet group lately so I thought I'd check in and see what everyone is reading or working on.

I fell in love with the new Noro Kureyon sock yarn. I immediately bought enough of color #149 (brown, gray, taupe) to make a shawl, and have been working on a Laminaria shawl in the full shawl size.

I have also been on a bag kick. Made an "everlasting bagstopper" in brown hemp, and just recently found the perfect heavy weight ribbon to finish the top edges and handles. I eliminated the drawstring, and added a small pocket inside the bag.

As if I needed another project, I started a summer bag using Plymouth Fantasy Naturale in a rusty multi (#9995 on the color card) with black trim at top and bottom. I made the bottom rectangular rather than oval, in approximately the same size as a paper grocery bag.

I don't know what is with all of these earth tones, when my yarn stash is mostly purple, red, black, and blue/green/purple variegated!

I've finished an afghan for my brother for Christmas, but haven't blocked it yet because we're remodeling our guest room to be a nursery and so the room right next to it (my sewing room) is chock full of junk from the guest room and I don't have space enough to block. So eventually I'll get that finished and post a pic. Right now I'm working, slowly, on a felted saddle blanket for my sister, using Noro Kureyon yarn (which I love too, oregon, and it felts beautifully). I need to get moving on this one, so I can start on a little baby sweater soon!

I just treated myself to Ocean Breezes: Knitted Scarves Inspired by the Sea. Not sure which scarf I will make first - at this point I am just enjoying the gorgeous photos.

I am finishing up yet another bag loosely based on the "Booga Bag" pattern. I really enjoy making them, and find them quick and easy.

I am also working on a ribbed summer top for my daughter, but if it turns out to be too big for her, I will just have to keep it for myself. ;)

>3 scaifea: scaifea

Oh no, I don't want to hear about a felted shawl! (Actually I totally do not understand the whole craze for felting of anything, although the saddle blanket sounds like the perfect application for that technique.) The Kureyon sock has colors and texture similar to the original Kureyon, but it has 30% nylon for sock durability. I am hoping that will make it resistant to felting.

#2 I really like the everlasting bagstopper, I will have to knit that soon. Looks easy enough and really useful.

I am 1 sock into a pair of monkey socks. Lately I've been doing way more reading that knitting. Must change that, audio books are the answer!

#35 oregon: LOL! I'm sure that if they specifically made the yarn to be used for socks that it will be resistant to felting. Maybe the nylon helps with that (I think maybe you need 100% wool to felt, but I'm not sure - I'm far from expert at all this). I'll have to look for the sock yarn - I've loved all the Kureyon yarn that I've worked with.

Reading...I recently finished The Shop on Blossom Street (and A Good Yarn and Back on Blossom Street), all borrowed from my mother. Light, fast reading, but well-timed; I was in the mood for it. Now I've moved on to teen vampire novels.

On the knitting front, this afternoon I finished the second glovelet/mitten in a pair of fingerless "gauntlets" (arm warmers and fingerless gloves all in one) and started on a lace scarf made out of Ellie's Reclaimed Cashmere. Both of these are belated Christmas gifts, and I'm on a deadline as I will be going out to visit their recipients near the end of July. As long as I stay focused it shouldn't be any trouble.

For myself I'm working on a "sweater bag" using a free pattern from Lion Brand. I'm about 70% done, but I set it aside to focus on the more time-sensitive gift items.

I myself have been neglecting my knitting as often happens when it gets hot. I still have a Rowan sweater on the needles and am rows away from finishing a cabled leaf cloche I have been designing and knitting for a friend. I also have been designing a lace scarf for another friend out of a great silk mohair that takes on an ombre effect when knitted up. It is in shades of blue so I am combining lace patterns that look most like seafoam.

Reading has been easier I recently read Rebecca for the first time and I am currently in the midst of multiple books including Cranford, The Three Sisters and A Time of Gifts. I am pleased to note that knitting is mentioned in both Rebecca and Cranford

Knitting the Slow Bee Mystery shawl with the KAL group in white tencel 8/2 (almost but not quite cobweb yarn); a never ending Shetland shawl (I'm almost halfway through the last side of the edging!) in natural fingering weight yarn; a kimono sweater in taupe cabled cotton yarn; and probably something else I'm not thinking of right now. Reading The Years of Rice and Salt, Inkle Weaving, The Lathe of Heaven, The IBS Healing Plan: Natural Ways to Beat Your Symptoms (Positive Options), and I'm sure various others. Plus of course whatever books my 3-year-old has me read each day. I'm also spinning (still) some wool/silk/tencel blend in browns, blacks and whites into a light weight 3 ply yarn; weaving a baby blanket on a triangle loom in some purple acrylic store-bought yarn; and hoping to start weaving on my new gift inkle loom soon. Which will, of course, entail the buying of more yarn.

>10 LeesyLou: LeesyLou

And in your spare time??? ;)

Ooooooohhhh!! I love the hemp shopping bag, and I already see a couple of modifications I can make to the pattern!

These would be great to make up as gifts for people, and fill them up with earth-friendly products and a couple of good books. Like The Sheep Look Up or some other frightening cautionary tale about the environment run amok.

oregonobsessionz, in my spare time I deal with my husband, my 6 kids, and work full time.
Then I sit on the sofa watching tv and eating bon-bons.
One of the previous statements is false.
Truth is I haven't watched any tv in about 3 years, except at superbowl parties (when I watch the commercials while I knit).
Seriously, I actually blog about my rather over-scheduled, over-crazy life. You know, in my free time.

I have begun knitting a pair of slipper socks, and I am going to start knitting a small sweater for a stuffed bear soon as well. I'm also in the middle of an entrelac scarf, but I have no idea when I'll actually get around to finishing it.

Progress report on Everlasting Bagstopper:

I'm doing this in Sugar and Cream cotton, which I can get at the dimestore for a buck a ball. It takes two balls.

I wanted to see how it turned out before trying the hemp, which is pricey at my yarn shop.

Anyhoo, I did the bag in lime green, and almost have the mesh part done. It's prettier than in the Knitty picture, and it would make a good beach bag for wet suits and towels.

I plan to make different handles; I'll report back on whether that worked or not.

Check out Leesy's blog. It's a bunch of fun to read!

#15> I have this thread starred due to your Everlasting Bagstopper, nohrt4me. I love patterns that oooze "utility."

#15, thanks! I was so excited, Tim even commented on my blog, since I wrote yesterday about a little tagging dilemma I had (tagging a preschooler's book). I actually like the blogging; I started mostly to do it to keep family and friends up to date on our goings-on, but now I really also like to express myself a little and socialize on-line with the groups of people like Thingamabrarians and knitters, with whom I never get to hang out in person due to the busy nature of our home.

OK, for anybody making that Everlasting Bagstopper on Knitty (see #2 for link):

I hate sewn on handles because they're not as hard wearing as the rest of the bag.

You can solve this by making knitted-in handles, which are really just really long buttonholes on each side of the bag.

I finished my bag off this way, there are only two ends to weave in to finish the thing. And it looks real cute.

On the next one I make, I'm going to try a simplified bottom.

I'll shut up about this now, but if anybody wants directions for variations, you can write me individually.

I'd like to know how oregonobsessionz (#2) made the pocket on hers, which would be a handy addition for keys, cell phone and like that.

>18 nohrt4me: nohrt4me

The Sugar & Cream yarn is fine, but the soft finish may be subject to abrasion. The hemp yarn was strange to knit - it felt "hard", like knitting with basket weaving materials, but it also felt oddly damp. The finished bag drapes beautifully, and looks like it will wear like iron.

I started the bottom of my Bagstopper with waste yarn - it made it much easier to pick up stitches along the cast on edge. I didn't want to knit the handles, because users on Ravelry were complaining about how much they stretched (especially if they used the recommended garter stitch). I made the following modifications:

Instead of adding a drawstring, as in the original pattern, I made a small interior pocket. I worked the main bag in pattern until just below the top band, and set it aside.

Using waste yarn, I cast on an even number of stitches (I think it was 40 stitches, or something in that range) and knitted a few rows. Switching to the main yarn, I purled one row (wrong side), then turned the work and did one row of the YO, k2tog pattern. Next, I used a very fine gauge needle to pick up the bottom loops of the first row, and removed the waste yarn. I used a second circular needle to continue the YO, k2tog pattern across those bottom loops. Clear as mud? The single wrong side purled row becomes a right side knit row at the bottom edge of the pocket, and the first row of pattern goes all the way around, but on two circular needles. From there, I worked in pattern (knit 1 row across both circular needles for one row; YO, k2tog across both needles for the next row) until I could get all of the stitches on a single circular needle. I made this small pocket approximately 3.5" high, then switched to a slightly smaller needle, did p2tog once (to reduce from even to odd number of stitches), and did several rows in moss stitch. When I had enough rows, I cast off just over half of the stitches, and left a long tail.

I picked up the main bag, switched to smaller needles, and knitted around to where I wanted to attach the pocket. I placed the pocket inside the main bag, and knitted together one stitch from the main bag and one stitch from the pocket, until I had used up all of the remaining stitches on the pocket. Then I continued the top band of the main bag, knitting every row. I had found a heavy twilled ribbon that matched the colors of the bag, and found heavy woven cotton tape in the same width. I knitted the top band to the width of the twilled ribbon, then bound off.

The knitted pattern is twisty, so before I added the handles, I slipped a small gauge but long circular needle through all stitches at the top of the bag, and loaded the bag up with several books, to see where I wanted the handles to fall with the bag full.

For the handles, I stitched both edges of the twilled ribbon to the cotton tape. Then I sewed both ends of each handle onto the outside of the bag, making a box - across the bottom, up to the top edge, across that, back down to the bottom, and across again. Finally, I sewed the twilled ribbon around the top band, turning back the final end for a clean finish. I stitched along the top and bottom edges, and made another box where the ribbons overlapped. I also reinforced the boxes where the handles attached, through all layers of the bag + handles, finishing off with an X across each box.

Hope that helps.

>19 oregonobsessionz:, THANKS!

I'm going to try that pocket on the next bag.

Yes, knitted-in handles do stretch, but I've made other bags like this and have a fair bead on how wide to make the "buttonholes" so they don't sag more than I want.

The way you've reinforced your handles will probably improve the basic pattern, though.

Good tips about loading the bag up to gauge where you want the straps and using waste yarn to make pu easier.

I just finished The Knitting Circle. I listened to it on CD, and it was just fabulous. Touching, tragic and uplifting all at the same time. I highly recommend it.

I love the bagstopper. I think they would make really good gifts. I will have to look for the hemp. Thanks for all the ideas and directions.

The Shetland shawl is done and waiting to be blocked (it took about 14 months of neglect to knit); the Slow Bee Mystery shawls are 8/12 and 1/30 done; the kimono is in stasis, but the neverending wool/silk/miscellaneous extra goodies fiber is spun (well, except for that leftover 100 yards or so)! 1010 yards are on display on my blog!

19 minutes by Jodi Picoult but who reads? I am listening to it while I knit. Thought provoking and then you hug your kid.

Hi, I just joined this group, this is my first post! I'm knitting a pair of socks for my 4yo son using self-striping yarn and getting ready to start a "5 hour" baby sweater for a friend who's expecting. I'm a very slow knitter so I'm interested to see how long it will really take me to knit.

I'm reading Bright Lights, Big Ass by Jen Lancaster. It's pretty funny, mindless weekend reading.

#8 I just read The Shop on Blossom Street and loved it. I had actually read Back on Blossom Street first and am lokking forward to the others. I like the patterns she puts in the books, too.

I am currently crochet-knitting a baby blanket for a friend. I hop I won't be expelled from the group but I do crochet more than knit but have done a lot of both.

I have been doing a lot of baby blankets as I have had close to a dozen grandnieces and nephews and babies of friends in the last five years. One of the patterns I used I spied on the yarn wrapper of a yarn I was using for another baby blanket - neat.

So, I'll check in here once in a while and see what ideas I can get!

I bought The Knitting Circle today from a Hospice shop - looking forward to starting it now.

I am knitting a pair of socks with Regia self striping yarn and a short sleeve cardigan called Moonstone by Jean Moss in divine Manos Silk Blend in a deep pink random shade.

I am working on a prayer shawl and an afghan. #24 I also listen to audiobooks while I knit. Just finished Blueberry Hill by Marcia Evanicknad am now on to a historical romance, The Pursuit of Marriage by Victoria Alexander. I also do read!

I'm waiting on the yarn I've ordered to get here so I can start knitting some baby booties and a matching hat for my new baby. While I'm waiting, though, I'm still working on a felted saddle blanket for my sister for Christmas. Reading-wise, I too listen to audio books while I knit, and since I've been out of the hospital, I haven't had time to get to the library for a new book, so I'm in-between knitting reads at the moment. I recently finished the Sword of Truth series, though, which I recommend - great books to knit too!

Over the weekend I bound off my Laminaria shawl. I made this in Noro Kureyon sock, color #149 (brown, gray, taupe). Now I have to find a cat-free space large enough to block it.

The pattern has been rated as difficult, and quite a few knitters on Ravelry have complained of problems with the way stitch count varies from row to row. I didn't have any problem understanding the pattern, and I found that counting stitches by motif rather than by row eliminated confusion. However, the complexity of the stitches meant that it was very difficult to correct mistakes by laddering down. I minimized the potential for errors by carefully checking my work after completing each patterned row.

I started knitting a scarf for winter but I stopped. I think I'll finish it later...

I'm currently reading She'll Take It by Mary Carter.

After finishing the baby blanket and toy cat that I was making, I find I just can't get interested in needlework, but I do have a coble of projects in my bag, maybe tonight while I watch NCIS.

I am also halfway through Brisingr and want to finish that soon.

I'm about 2 feet into a 6 foot shawl (32" wide). It is silk/camel blend homespun.

Right now I need to buy more fiber so I can continue on. So far it seems that I use about 4 ounces for each foot knitted. At $20 per 4 ounces...this is gonna be one expensive shawl.

Reading The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B.

I'm using up some yarn I have by making granny squares that will eventually go into making an afghan. I have two complete kits that I have had for well over a year to make afghans - both are crocheted and have cats in them - the kind where you have several skeins attached at the same time and I'll probably end up with the cat helping by by chasing all the yarn, too.

I am currently reading A Lion Among Men having finished Brisingr and several others since my last post.

I just finished The Knitting Circle this evening and loved it. I read Comfort, also by Ann Hood. Right now I am knitting baby caps for Knit One, Save One. It's a great project to take everywhere I go.
I will check back again for more knitting and reading suggestions.
Karen -Oregon

I'm working on Versatiliy, which I've been referring to as the Victorian Swiss Army Blanket. It's a lot easier than I thought it would be (it's piquant), and working faster than I ever expected.

I'm listening to Omnivore's Dilemma, reading Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel, and have Dead Until Dark in the queue.

I'm a tv-watching knitter, and I've been toying with the idea of figuring out how to read and knit at the same time. Does anyone do this? I'm assuming it takes a combination of good knitting skills (and a pattern that doesn't require much of you), and the ability to focus on reading in a way I can't really describe, but think is possible.

Audio books might work. I wouldn't be able to figure out how to hold a book and knit at the same time - and I would probably end up dropping stitches - and I am more of a crocheter! But I, too, like to do needlework while watching TV. I get restless otherwise.

i'm working on The Ghost of Spirit Bear ans Shakespeare's Secret. I am knitting a rib knit hat for the soldiers in Iraq. I will be making those for a while.

As most I'm sure, I have more than one project in my knitting bag. So a vest with collar in a wool/alpaca blend earth colors is my evening work at home. I'm also knitting children's hats for poor children at my sister's school.
I also weave, paint with watercolor, read lots and take walks with my funny little dog.

I am primarily reading Brisingr and The Jumping-Off Place right now and I am knitting socks based on the pattern Nine-to-Five from ravelry.

#36 Sonya, Yes it is possible to knit and read! I have found that I can knit and read if it is a book big enough to stay open by itself or if you sit so that you can hold it open with a couple toes (like with your knees up and the book on the seat of the couch). It helps if your pattern is a simple one, but even if it's a little more complicated you can still glance at your work and go back to the book.

Knitting handwarmers (my own design!) and reading The Mists of Avalon, which is draggy, but I feel it's one of those books you have to read before you die.

I've put the booties and hat on hold while I knit a pair of socks for my MIL for Christmas. I haven't been reading much of anything lately because I've been so busy trying to get all my Christmas projects finished.

nohrt4me: I've never read The Mists of Avalon but have always been curious about it and I sort of feel the same way you do (that I should read it eventually). I hope it gets better before the end!

A friend thought I might like the Mists of Avalon. she knew I liked fantasy and stories about Arthur.

She lent me her copy and I gave it back within the week. Since it's a long book, she was surprised. I couldn't put it down and I have enjoyed the sequels as well.

I am doing a needlepoint project right now for Christmas. i found it in a project box that i had stored in a closet. I think I bought the project 3-5 years ago and it just got lost. I thought it was a good time to bring it out. I also found some other Christmas projects in that box, but they will have to wait for another Christmas.

Looks like a lot of us are knitting and reading fantasies. Better (and probably cheaper) than Prozac for the holidays.

While knitting, I'm watching "Buffy" DVDs. I splurged and bought the big box o' seven seasons before Thanksgiving, when family illnesses and other nuttiness started to get to me.

Tomorrow I'm finishing my handwarmers, starting the matching hat, and doing the lebkuchen, so the house will smell spicy.

I am knitting my first soaker for bubs. Reading....not much time for anything at present. I did manage to finish my first novel in too many years just recently though. Beckwood Brae DH's book.

Reading Beautiful Boy this week, sigh, so sad and frustrating. I'm also reading The Teeny Tiny Teacher non-stop to my 1 year old, whose favorite book it's become (because on the very last page there's a dog).
Knitting: Well, on the needles I *still* have my Slow Bee Mystery II shawl (just 62 more pattern rows to go); and Asphodel scarf, and something somewhere that is not coming to mind right this second. I'm about to cast on a baby sweater for the baby boy my next door neighbor had yesterday, and a naughty reindeer hat for my aunt.
Just finished slippers for my 12 year old:

and a North Star Tam:

But mostly I've been spinning:

That yarn look beautiful. I'm kind of drooly. A friend is making me a drop spindle (as opposed to the CD and dowel rod action I have now) - hopefully it'll translate into more spinning.

nohrt4me, I'm watching Buffy too - I'm watching them on Hulu.com.

I'm done with Johnathan Strange, and almost done with Dead Till Dawn - I loved the tv show (well, loved to hate it), but I'm just hating the book. I'm not sure what I'll take up next, but I have a ton tagged 'to read', if you know what I mean.

I remember reading Mists of Avalon years ago. My youngest had just started first grade and I had time on my hands (hadn't taken up knitting again at that point). I read the book strainght through, put it down and vowed to get a grip on life. I went back to school! Loved the book though.

At the moment, I'm re-reading short Nero Wolfe mysteries. Easy to put down amidst the many distractions of the season. I'm knitting rather plain socks with Noro sock yarn. Yummy colors. I've also got a baby sweater cast on - Debbie Bliss seed and cable pattern.

I read and knit. My kids remember *pauses* in the middle of read-aloud sessions while I checked a pattern or counted stitches. :) :P

Basically the same trick as knitting in the dark (movie theatre, automobile at night). Except with the problem of your book springing shut on you. If the knitting isn't big enough to trail across the page and hold it open, occasionally I use a clothespin.

A finger-friendly pattern (e.g. ribbing -- something that cues you by touch when the pattern changes) is definitely helpful. And a yarn of tangible weight. I was using a laceweight mohair recently and it drove me crazy having to look at it all the time to see if the stitches had really "taken" or merely dropped.

Recently I acquired Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines -- great book, excellent patterns, amusing reading and just the right size to stay open while I read and knit. Also I've been knitting a sock yarn blanket -- I just finished Christmas gifts, a child's Mendocino (Alice Starmore) and a Swallowtail Shawl -- and find the combination of simple pattern and enough project to drape across the page convenient for tackling other reading: currently It's the Crude, Dude and various light fiction for relief.

I'm just beggining to knit. My chemistry teacher just started a knitting club at school and i joined :) I love it so far! Right now I'm just working with the basics. I am actually making a scarf for my friend to give it to her a a gift for her birthday :) I personally think its more special to make her something instead of going to the store and just picking out something nice. I hope she'll like it!
Oh! I almost forgot! I am currently reading Princess Academy by: Shannon Hale, Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo by:Obert Skye, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by: Mark Twain

I'm working on a pullover for my husband. The yarn is charcoal gray Lana Grossa Niki, which seems to be discontinued. Which is a shame, as it's turning out to have a nice texture. Also started a charity project but the sample pattern doesn't work with the donated yarn, at least at the gauge I knit at. So I have to resize the pattern. Happily, it's small and simple.

I'm reading Regeneration (third of a set) by Julie E. Czerneda. Good hard science fiction and engaging characters.

I'm working on the "Strawberries & Cream" sweater in Adorable Knits for Tots (uses Rowan DK Handknit Cotton, with pink as the main color rather than the suggested cream). I started it several years ago for a friend's child, who would no longer fit into it, of course, so now it's for her second child.

Here's a photo of the strawberry border.

Hello all! I'm new here, and also a new knitter. I'm currently making the Alien Illusion Scarf and the Ribbed For Her Pleasure Scarf from Stitch and Bitch, both in Wendy Mode yarn. The ribbed scarf is in coffee-bean, a lovely deep brown, and the alien scarf is in the same coffee-bean colour with vapour blue alien faces/stripes.

As for reading, I have a few on the go - Killing for Company, Not Wanted on the Voyage, The Stand and Night Shift. I love horror in the winter months, those dark, cosy nights in are great for a good scare and a good knit, both of which take place snuggled up on the sofa with a thick duvet (and with big mugs of proper hot chocolate with chilli and a big head of whipped cream)...

#53 chanale: I'm working on a project from Adorable Knits for Tots too - for me, it's the baby blanket. I'm making it for a friend who's pregnant, but it's so cute that I may end up keeping it for my own little one (who's 5 months old).

55> That one is really cute! I just wish the clothes sizes went up a little higher as I've an unusually tall 4-year-old.

The strawberries & cream sweater should be done in a few days. I'm eager to move onto something else - that cotton makes my hands feel stiff.

Right now I'm working on a blanket for the baby of my nephew and his wife and next week I'll be attending a new charity knitting group so that should be fun.

As for reading, I just started They Shoot Horses, Don't They and am about finished with a YA novel, Montmorency and the Assassins.

I've been knitting a lot lately. I finished a hat of my own design this weekend and am in the middle of a cowl. Then I am planning a hat for a friend's baby due in May.

Similarly book-wise I am in the middle of The Life of Hunger and Lark Rise to Candleford

I'm working on a vest (Thalia from Knitty) and two pairs of socks.

I'm (still) reading the first in Susan Wittig Albert's mystery series with Beatrix Potter as the sleuth and I've just received Cookie A's Sock Innovation and Janel Laidman's Eclectic Sole. (Courtesy of Knit Pick's recent sale of sock books.)

Good on you, sumik! I meant to order both of those sock books, I've been wanting to do that Rivendell sock pattern... and somehow missed the sale. But I know there will be another sale along sometime. Last sale, they were sold out of The Eclectic Sole... but next time...

Anyway I just bought Alan Dart's Irresistible Gifts to Knit. Aptly named. I love the Nativity. And the Noah's Ark. And the pirate, and the bunnies....

I have knitted and reknitted (ad nauseum) openwork lace gloves from Knitting New Mittens and Gloves. I just couldn't get the fit right, as there was no cuff/ribbing, cotton, no shaping (same # sts at wrist as palm).

Next I knitted for my daughter a (pink, lavender, & plum in pima cotton) striped summery dress ("The Good Guest" from The Yarn Girls' Guide to Knits for Older Kids), which turned out beautifully. I thought the garter stitch hem was a little dull, so instead I used "Seredipity," a flower-and-leaf lace border from Knitting on the Edge.

Since then I've been working on "cabled slipover" from Nautical Knits for Kids. I ran into problems with yarn substitutions because the people at Queensland are on crack if they think that amazingly skinny bamboo-cotton yarn should take size 6 needles. I was thinking to myself that the Louisa Harding Nautical Cotton looked closer to Rowan Cotton Glace, which I used often in the past but don't particularly like, than to the Queensland bamboo-cotton. Now I'm stuck with a ball of bamboo-cotton that I've no use for (I'm very anti-clutter when it comes to yarn, and I never use orphan balls).

Anyway, I'm about halfway through the cabled vest now (white with an "Atlantic" blue accent stripe), and so far I'm loving it. It's for a friend's boy who turns 4 next month.

Oh, I almost forgot . . . Also on the needles is a napkin: Euroflax Linen (sport weight) in berry red, "rose trellis" pattern from Vogue Knitting Stitchionary (vol. 1: Knit & Purl). It is gorgeous. I'm making it roughly half-sized because it's just for my daughter's lunches, but if I like the way the yarn holds up, I'll make less whimsical full-size dinner napkins.

It's getting colder, the days are getting shorter, and I'm picking up the knitting again...

Have just finished the Windy City Scarf from SnB, which was a nightmare because of the wool I was using (don't know if it was just the batch but it was uneven and kept coming apart, leading to all sorts of problems and a scruffy looking scarf). I am going to start again with a different wool.

As for reading - I've started Cross Stitch by Diana Gabaldon. Not my usual read, but it's fun so far.

Have just finished the Coney Island Firework scarf, using Wendy Chic eyelash yarn in a cream colour and Rowan All-Seasons Cotton in a pinky-red and off-white striped colour called "heart". The results were lovely but the colour was far too girly - it looked like a Barbie scarf and I couldn't think of any little girls who like that kind of thing - fortunately my mum loved it at first sight!

Also finished my second Windy City Scarf, a present to a friend who gave me her old knitting needles when I started. This time it was in a tweed-y cream and blue (Jaeger Ultra Fine Merino Chunky) and came out just fine.

Have knitted a stripey bag from an Usborne book and now need to line it (although it doesn't say that in the pattern), sew it together and attach buttons. Mine is in burgundy and brown stripes - my sister told me they are "Freddie Krueger colours"! I also need to line and sew together a matching purse - both can be seen here:

http://usbornebooksathome.ca/common_code/usbah_ca_catalogue.asp?css=0&popup=...

(the book's version, not mine, obviously).

The Usborne book also included patterns for a knitted flower and leaves, and I used these to make myself a brooch (well, it will be a brooch as soon as I've added a pin to the back). The flower is in a burgundy-red with a hint of purple (Wendy Aran - "Redcurrant", I think), while the leaves are in Sirdar Country Style "Highland Burn" (a deep, variegated green). Thanks to the deep colours the brooch is gorgeous and while I'm keeping it for myself I might have to knock a few more out for Xmas presents - they are so cheap and easy to do and have come out beautifully.

As for reading, I've just finished Under the Skin, which was a gruesome read. I'm now in between projects and books...

The Usborne book looks interesting. Oh and I always like embellishments. Have you seen Nicky Epstein's Knitted Embellishments?

Maren, I'll have to add that one to the wishlist. I do like the look of her Knitting Over the Edge/Knitting On the Edge books. I'm working slowly through Stitch n Bitch and won't be buying any more books until I've mastered the basics, although I've always got my eye out on BookMooch.

Teaching myself to knit in the round with double-pointed needles at the moment. Took a while to work out what I was doing - I found the instructions in Domiknitrix the clearest - but I'm getting there, although I'm still all fingers and thumbs.

Flicking through Knitting Handbook, which I got yesterday from a second hand shop. Lots of technical information which I'm sure I'm going to find useful.

Oh I love knitting on circular needles (which necessitates double pointed needles) but that is because I am a faster knitter than purler so I like not having to do the wrong side.

Let's bump this and get some updates.
I just finished a beautiful cable beret made with Sublime Organic Cotton DK in light blue, an evening jacket made with Artyarns beaded/silk/mohair that is incredible and a striped child's cardigan made with kid mohair that his parents loved.
I've been listening to audio books while I knit - multitasking - just finished "Harvesting the Heart" by Jody Picoult and "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett, which I enjoyed more than anything I've read/heard in ages.

I just started knitting (being a guy this was not my first hobby) and so for my first project I though I would make Jake a scarf.
Jake is a 7 foot high steel dinosaur skeleton outside GT Metals on Calgary Trail North here in Edmonton.
I go by him every day and in the winter he looks cold so I thought I would make him a scarf.
Its too late for this year but over the summer I am planning to knit about a 30 or 40 foot scarf and then after a particularly bad cold spell, wrap him up in it one night.

Yippee! Another guy to the fold. And a closet "yarn bomber" to boot. Take a photo of the scarf-clad Jake when he is suitably adorned. There must be some way you can show him off, maybe on your LibraryThing profile page. I made seven scarves last year for my daughter's friends. Now I'm working on coats for our four dogs. My wife wrote a very cute story for our grandkids and I figure to illustrate it - it's about the dogs wanting coats to walk in because its cold. Happy needling!

>68 Gord.Barker: - you could post it on ravelry . . . we would love to see Jake suitable adorned

And post it here as well. We would love to see Jake in his scarf and there was a long tradition of men knitting -think about all those skilled fisherman and their understanding of knots. I am glad you are both knitters and in the group!

i just finished a sweater, "sassymetrical" and a little scarflette thing, "Dandy". Just started a multidirectional scarf with some delicious hand-dyed yarn that I bought last year at SAFF (Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair) in Asheville. Going yarn shopping on Saturday with a girlfriend!!