Happy Birthday to Me...

We celebrated my birthday this past weekend. I had a blast. :) And guess what I got?

Yep! I got a swift and a ball winder. I immediately wound all of the skeins I had in my stash, and I wish that I had more to wind. :)

I also got the soundtrack to Love Never Dies, the sequel to Phantom of the Opera, and I've been listening to it ever since. I love it, though not as much as the original. But I still love it. :)

I'm still working on my sweater. I have the front and the back done, and I'm working on the left sleeve now. I'm trying to figure out a way to modify the neck, because I don't like turtlenecks.

Until next time, happy knitting!

In Sleep He Sang to Me...

It's done. Let me say that again: it's done. My Phantom of the Opera bag is done. I love it just as I knew I would, and I keep turning around to look at it, propped up in a corner of my room. It's been laying on my floor for the past two days, and now it's dry. Here, let me show it to you:

Isn't it marvelous? :) I'm very, very happy with it, though I was surprised at how fast it felted- a mere 15 minutes in the washing machine and I was a little afraid that I felted it too much. But it's good!

This is it before felting (and that purple thing next to it is a 12 inch ruler, for scale):

And this is the mask and rose after felting (one side felted better than the other. Oh well.):

And here is the bag after felting (the blue-green thing is another 12 inch ruler- I managed to misplace the other one in the two days that the bag was drying):

And now, to celebrate the completion of my Phantom of the Opera bag, I present to you the chart of the Phantom's mask!

I hope you enjoy knitting this chart as much as I did. :)

Now I'm working on the Swing Sweater from the fall 2010 issue of KnitSimple magazine using Bernat Softee Chunky yarn in Terra Cotta Mist. I finished the back of the sweater today and started the front, so it shouldn't be too long before it's done. :)

Until next time, happy knitting! :)

It's Coming Along...

My Phantom bag is coming along. The rounds can feel a bit long, but I'm nearly there! I just have to do a few more rounds, and then the straps, and then a little bit of I-cord edging, and then I have to felt it! (I realize that this doesn't sound like I'm almost there, but I am. Trust me.)

Here's a close-up of the rose:

And a close-up of the mask  (that I designed myself!):

I'm working at it diligently, and I know I'll love the bag when I'm done. I just have to finish it first. :)

Until next time, happy knitting! :)

Totoro, Totoro

I finished my second mitten! It's just as awesome and warm as the first.

I almost can't wait for it to get cold so I can wear them. Almost. :) Since I finished these, I'm going to give my Phantom Bag another try.

Until next time, happy knitting! :)

Totoro

I finished one Totoro mitten! It's really thick and warm and soft. And Totoro is so cute!

Stranded knitting is really cool (and not as complicated as I thought it would be), and I'm really excited to start the other mitten!

Happy knitting!