amimono note

Baby Karis

I finished my olympic knitting -the baby (maybe child) size Karis poncho- on Saturday! Isn't it cute?

I think I'll treat myself to this mug.

Bulky Scarf

I don't have much to report on the Baby Karis today, so I present you a week-old F.O... A Bulky Scarf.

I love its bulkiness. :-)

The scarf is knitted in Seed Stitch. I used almost two skeins of Bartlettyarn's "Fisherman Bulky," and knitted with US size 17 (12.75mm)needles. Finished measurement is about 6 inches wide and 70 inches long (without fringe), and the number of cast-on stitches are 11.

I saw the yarn at Mabel's and I brought it home without any specific project in mind, but I think it turned out great. This yarn is kind of rustic, but I think it's soft enough for a scarf. I'd love to try another Bartlett's yarn.

The Knitting Olympics

I suddenly decided to do the Knitting Olympics thing, in the morning on Thursday the 9th. My local newspaper,The Oregonian, had an article about the Knitting Olympics. Actually the article was in Wednesday's paper, but I didn't know until I read Super Eggplant on Thursday. Anyway, as I read the article, I realized that I don't have to sign up for Yarn Harlot's Olympics to do it. I can do it by myself!

So I chose "Baby Karis" for my Knitting Olympics project (I'll explain about the project later), and I wrote about it in my Japanese knitting blog. Several people responded to it, and now I think we have about 10 people in our "unofficial team Japan" for the Knitting Olympics. One knitter started to get up an hour earlier than usual to have uninterrupted knitting time! It will be fun.

This is the "Baby Karis" in progress, as of Wednesday morning.

"Baby Karis" is a baby size Karis poncho. The original Karis poncho is in Rowan magazine #36, and it was quite popular among Japanese knitters. I wanted to knit one too, but I didn't because I wouldn't wear a lacy poncho...

Then I saw this Baby Karis last fall. Somebody had knitted the Karis poncho in a fingering weight yarn with smaller size needles. It was a baby size Karis poncho! It wasn't lacy like the original adult size Karis, but it was still really cute. I knew I was going to knit that version of the Karis, for my friend's baby... and here I am.

KAI and Stripe Gloves

I just started my long time dream project... A Fair Isle Sweater, with real Shetland ｙarn! It's KAI pullover from "Simply Shetland 2". I bought a yarn kit from Two Swans Yarns.

The yarn is not cheap, but I think it is worth it. Since the stitches are so tiny (30 stitches/4 inches!) it will take awhile to finish, so I'll be able to enjoy the project for a long time...

I'm doing ribbing at this point. It is so much fun! I don't remember if I ever had this kind of excitement for knitting... I can hardly do anything other than thinking about this sweater! I hope the excitement will continue after several hours of knitting and an inch of a sweater.

(Behind the sweater in the picture is a Bohus knitting mitten kit from Japan. )

I finished the gloves for my sister.

Sunshine makes everything look beautiful! I'm so sick and tired of this year's rain, I'm glad to know that the sun still exist.

Design change

I finally managed to change my blog design! It took me 6 hours just to change colors and add some borders... I wanted to add a picture, but maybe next time.

I finished my husband's fingerless gloves.

The yarn is Socks that Rock.

And some hand warmers...

And... my husband's jacket!

I don't like sew in a zipper... I just do it, and it always looks something wrong. Also, I think I chose a wrong zipper. It seems too stiff for this jacket. Oh well. The yarn is Rowan Calmer.