NiseyKnits

I've been trying, pretty unsuccessfully I might add, to take photos of the Chunky Dean Street Hat (by Nina Machlin Dayton) that I made for my son a few months ago. The little one would just not sit still long enough for me to get a usable shot. I got him in his high chair, and being held by another friend, and the pictures were still not too pretty. Then this morning I remembered that one of my favorite designers, Alana Dakos of Never Not Knitting , seems to take photos of her knitted items lying flat on a white background when she sends out her newsletter. I thought, "My, I could do that with a hat!" So I set off to take photos of my poopoola's hat. I used Shalimar Yarns Missy Bulky (Blueberry colorway) which I picked up from Bobbin's Nest Studio a while ago, and knit the hat on US 10.5 (6.5mm) needles. Now this was before I realized that my gauge when knitting in the round was pretty loose. So the hat came out a little too big, even for the poopoola'...

I have another FO this week! I finally finished the Tan Moody Kerchief, got it blocked, and even photographed all over the past weekend! No scrambling to take photos before the daylight ends, and no staying up late the night before to put up a blog post! Yay!  This version of the Moody Kerchief was knit in Knit Picks Palette, using the Coriander, Almond Heather and Camel Heather colorways, and made the color changes like I did in the Sunset Moody Kerchief . I hope Veronica's mom likes both her shawls.  Thanks to my lovely model Zeina Newman for being so willing to come and help me out whenever I call. Such a wonderful friend! Now I'm off to work on some more WIPs and UFOs. Have a wonderful week and thank you so much for reading!

I finished some projects! Yay! I completed the Merlot Scrunchable Scarf from last week's post, the one for my sister's bf. He visited us briefly this past weekend and he's darling. He even enjoyed playing with my son!! He tried on the scarf and loved it, but I didn't give it to him as I hadn't blocked it yet. It's now blocked and photographed, but I took the photos late in the day so they are pretty bad quality. The model I had lined up for this photo shoot (my sister), decided that she needed to take a nap in the middle of the day, and when she woke up she didn't feel like getting all dolled up for a photo shoot. So I lost the daylight needed for good pictures, and had to pull out my trusty plastic bodyform. One of these days I'll get a beautiful fancy-looking bodyform... For the photos, I tried for some artistic, close-up shots to make up for the bad lighting and my rudimentary photo-taking skills. Here are a few pictures of the Merlot Scarf. I think...

In March this year I made a resolution to post at least once every week on this blog. I have to tell you that it was pretty tough to do at times. Sometimes I had to come up with something the morning off, before heading to work. Other times I used my lunch break to quickly write a post. A few times I had enough material to write 2 blog posts ahead of time and schedule them for the following weeks. I am quite glad that I did this, and that I was able to stick with this resolution. I'm going to do my best to keep it up for next year. I know I don't have a lot of followers, but I am so grateful to those of you who do follow and read this blog, and feel that I should be faithful to you all with my posting. Thank you for reading about my knitting exploits, for participating in my giveaways, for sending in comments, and for being so supportive of me as I work on improving my crafting skills. Here's to you all, the last post of this lovely year 2011. And what could be more fitti...

Last week some lovely people found my shop and ordered a few custom items from me. It's so exciting when I get purchases and orders from people who aren't friends or acquaintances. Don't get me wrong...I LOVE knitting for friends and family. However when someone I don't know orders something from me, there's a true sense of accomplishment and excitement that I feel. A few weeks ago I posted the pattern for the Procragratification Scarf, and listed that scarf on my Etsy Shop. A nice lady saw the scarf and asked for it in the Eggplant Colorway. I just finished it two days ago, blocked it yesterday, and got my sister to model it for some fun pictures. Here they are: I also finally got around to finishing a cream version of the Hurrah Scarf , and took photos of that scarf. And finally, a new forest green scrunchable scarf that will make a great gift for males or females on your list. The yarn is a 50/50 blend of wool and acrylic, and is ...

This week's post is going to be a little shorter than I would like mainly because I've received some good news about 3 secret projects and so I have to get to knitting like nobody's business in order to make those deadlines. I also haven't been able to photograph 4 new items I finished (including a free cowl pattern which I'll put up as soon as I have it all written out.) Today's post is a short tour of my love affair with the Luxe Cowl by Margaux Hufnagel which can be found on Ravelry(click on Luxe Cowl) or on her blog here . I've liked this cowl pattern ever since I stumbled across it last year, especially after I modified it into an infinity scarf. My friend Shionda last year wanted a gift for a friend, and asked me what I could make with Lion Brand Homespun yarn which she had already purchased. I took the yarn, rooted through my stash, and found one skein of Nashua Handknits Creative Focus Worsted in their purple colorway. I realized that knitting wit...

The winner of the Claret Mobius cowl is Ethelind Belle!  Ethelind, please email me: niseyknits@gmail.com with your mailing info and I'll send you the cowl right away! I hope you get a lot of use form it this winter. Thank you to all of you who played along in this giveaway. I just finished a red mobius cowl if you are still interested in one. I'll put up picture of that red cowl as soon as possible. We've had a bit of rainy weather here in the Bay Area so I haven't had the chance to take photos of the new things I knit.  HOWEVER, since I can't leave you pictureless, I'll add a few pictures of a new cowl/infinity scarf I finished for a custom order. I'm taking orders for Christmas gifts and winter accessories, so please get your orders in as soon as possible so I can have them ready in time for the cold season. Look out for pictures of the red mobius tomorrow. :) 

NOTE: Please make sure to read all the way to the bottom of the post for a birthday surprise!! One of my work colleagues saw the Little Wisp of Smoke I made for Marienell and asked for one in the same color. I used Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in the smoke colorway, but I cast on fewer stitches than I did in Marienell's version, so this shawl is actually the same size as the one in the original pattern by Cheryl Niamath. I was hoping to take pictures earlier in the day but time got away from me, so I improvised and took pictures in the dining hall where the lighting was better. It came out so light and airy that it was hard to photograph. While working on this wisp for Jessica, I started a quick scarf project that I could take along to meetings and doctor's appointments etc. I settled on the Scrunchable Scarf pattern by Susan McConne. It's a lovely, simple pattern that works in all different yarn weights. I made the scarf with two skeins of Lion Brand W...