Icelandic Turtleneck Back on Track

I finally started working on the turtleneck again this weekend after a hiatus since before Christmas. I'm just up to the bust increases now, and I had my sister (the intended owner) try it on this morning. So far so good, and the color looked really great against her skin tone. I didn't have my camera with me at the time, but I'll try to get a good progress shot soon!

Plaid Scarf

I've been working on the Plaid Scarf for a while and just finished the main body of it.  

Now I have to weave in all the ends.  Should I have done that differently?  (or could I have?)

It will go to a friend of mine who lives in Boston, and will get lots of use out of it.  (as opposed to me who lives in the desert)

I'm looking forward to making the chains and weaving them in.  (just after I weave these durn ends in)

Messenger bag -- all over but the felting

I finished the strap and put the whole thing together over the weekend. Of course, as with everything I do, I didn't bother to do a gauge sample, so my piece was 5 inches shorter and 2 inches narrower than the pattern, which then necessitated a whole lot of math on my part. Math and I don't get along at all, but it appears that I was successful in figuring it out.

Hopefully this coming weekend I'll travel to my mother-in-law's house to do the scary felting.

Messenger bag -- progress!

I made some really good progress on the messenger bag this weekend.

Here it is with a couple more color blocks finished:

And a couple more. At this point I had seven balls of yarn hanging off the thing. It was pretty crazy:

And finally, with all the ends woven in.

On to the strap!

Messenger bag started

I started the messenger bag on Monday night and am making decent progress. I bought some super yummy colors of wool over the weekend and was really looking forward to starting on it, but when I read the instructions closely they weren't making sense. So I emailed the creator of the pattern, Julie Holetz, who got right back to me with clarifications. So nice of her!!

I'm sort of winging it on the color blocks. I currently have three balls of yarn hanging off the thing. Seems to be working but I have no idea if that's what's supposed to happen. Julie did say that carrying the yarn behind the stitches would result in felt that's too thick.

And I could use some advice from any felting experts out there. I live in a condo and the washing machines in the basement are front loading and lock when you start them up, so there will be no stopping the cycle and checking the progress for me. Can this be done by hand?

Icelandic Turtleneck: Finished!

I started this back in April, made a bunch of modifications, and absolutely love it! I wrote all about it on the CrochetMe.com blog. Wahoo!

Comfi Cardi Start

Comfi Cardi Start
Originally uploaded by rchach

Hi All,

I decided to take my recent trip traveling time and devote it to me (instead of work like I usually do). With the 10 hour trip out to CA, and the 6 hour trip back, I got pretty far along with my own personal Comfi Cardi. I adored this project from the moment I swatched it. I really really didn't want to give up the sample that was photographed in CM, but I did. Now, a year later I am finally making one for me!

I am making a couple of changes, I am shortening the sleeves to be elbow length. I am also making the sleeves smaller, b/c I definitely don't fit in standard body sizes. So my cardi will have a large chest size and small arm size. So far so good. I am finished with the back, one arm, and one front panel. I am using Peruvian Pure Alpaca Fina, which has been a great substitute for me in a blueish gray. Can't wait to show you more as I go!
-Robyn

Thanks everyone for asking how I am changing the cardi!- I posted a bit on this on my blog.