WIP Wednesday

I'm still plugging along on my Navona! I am so close to being finished! I have about two inches to go before the cuff on the second sleeve, and I've already woven in all the other little ends. Once I finish the knitting, it will need a very aggressive blocking. I realized after the body was finished that I had knitted the entire body on size 4 needles instead of size 5s, so my row gauge was waaaaayyy off. Fortunately, my stitch gauge was still close enough that it shouldn't be a problem.

Here's the sweater as it looks right now:

I'm hoping that I may be able to feature it again on Friday this week! At the very latest, I have to have it finished and photographed by Saturday night so I can submit it for Camp Loopy.

WIP Wednesday

I am really making progress on my Navona this week! Oh the wonders of (nearly) monogamous knitting! I only have one more stripe of the contrast color to go, which will only be 2 rows. I'm hoping to have the body finished by the end of the week.

So far, I think I'm on track to have this sweater finished by the end of the month for Camp Loopy project #3. I'm really proud of how much I've been able to accomplish. I am off from work next week and plan to get a ton of knitting done on this and a few other projects.

Mother Bear Monday

Yesterday I finished my third bear to send to the Mother Bear Project. I named her for my Grandma, Erma, and this will be a Christmas gift to her this year. I'm crossing my fingers that if I get the bear mailed out right away, it may be matched with a child before Christmas and I'll be able to show her a picture of the bear and child together. If not, just a photo of the bear along with a pamphlet about the Mother Bear Project will certainly fit the bill.

I'm hoping to get a few more bears done by the end of this year. My ultimate goal is to get into the 100-Bear Club, but that will be a while!

Thank-You Thursday!

I have been remiss in not posting a "Thank-You Thursday" post in quite a while! I wanted to send out a huge THANK YOU to Jen of Jen Hagan Design who recently hosted a fun scavenger-hunt contest on her blog. The contest ran for four weeks with one winner each week, and a grand-prize winner at the end. Guess what? I won the grand prize! Squee!
Jen sent me a package of goodies including yarn, a pattern book, a project bag, and a t-shirt. I can't express how excited I was to get it in the mail (especially since it arrived on the same day as a giant, nasty, unexpected bill!). She also sent me the pattern for the Feather Lace Socks that I've been working on:

Thank you so much, Jen, for an awesome contest! Everyone should definitely head over to Jen's blog and see all the great photos and other things that she has posted (if you hurry, you will get to see adorable pictures of goats and puppies!).

WIP Wednesday

I have a new WIP to share this week! I'm working on my third and final project for Camp Loopy 2013. The pattern is called Navona and I'm working it in two colors of Malabrigo Sock (my new FAVORITE yarn): Eggplant and Lotus. I love how the body incorporates stripes; they really make the stockinette portion seem less tedious.

WIP Wednesday

I've only been working on one project this past week: Feather Lace Socks by Jennifer Hagan. I am absolutely head-over-heels in love with this pattern. It's a toe-up pattern, which would normally have sent me running for the hills, but I didn't know that until I was already committed to making them. It turned out to be no big deal (even with the wrap-and-turn heel... another "non-favorite" technique of mine). This is turning out to be the perfect in-between project before I can start my August project for Camp Loopy.

I have the first one just past the heel:

Best of all, I'm using yarn that has been sitting in my stash for three years! Talk about working through the stash! I really love the subtle color variations in this yarn. It plays really nicely with the pattern.

No progress on my One-Skein Baby Bolero this week. I'm stalled out at the seaming. Help!

FO Friday!

I have another FO to share this week! On Saturday, I finished my Hitchhiker:

It was my July project for Camp Loopy with The Loopy Ewe, and I am in love with it. Who knew garter stitch could be so much fun? I used about 2 1/2 skeins of Shibui Yarns Sock in the Orchid colorway, and I ended up with 47 "teeth" on the final product.