I’m a horrible horrible updater. I get really sucked into things I’m doing and go weeks without even barely coming up for air. I’ve neglected friendships, my poor Mike has had to force me to drop the knitting needles or put away the computer at night almost every single night for the last three weeks and I’m pretty sure my dogs think I don’t love them anymore. Poor sad little Schnauzer faces.

In addition to finishing up projects left, right and center for work I’ve also managed to fit in a few little things on the side as well. First of all was a little itty bitty commissioned sweater I did for a customer on Etsy. It was for her 3 lb. Yorkie; Lilly.

Isn’t she just the sweetest little face ever! (Ahem, aside from my girls of course.)

(photos provided by Lillys momma Basteldren)

It’s a little top down turtle neck done in Berroco Peruvia (took barely any at all.) She’s already grown out of it though, so I’m going to be knitting up a new one as soon as I get done with some things for work.

I also knit up this little hat for my sister Katrina over the last two nights. I started it at Knit Night on Wed. and finished it last night while watching Ugly Betty and Greys Anatomy.  I didn’t use a pattern (duh!) but it wasn’t anything that really needed a pattern. I almost wrote up a pattern for it, but then decided it really wasn’t worth it. You cast on (I cast on 74 on US9 circs using bulky weight wool), knit in 2×2 for awhile, knit stockinette for about 4 or 5 inches, start symmetrically decreasing (I started at *k10, pm,k2tog* rep around) and then knit one row even on the in between. Then every other row you knit to the marker, slip the marker, k2tog, rep around. Do that until you have 10 stitches left, darn through those stitches and cinch up. Viola! Hat!

Last weekend Laurel and I went out to Boulder City for a craft bizarre (which was bizarre…) but we also happened upon a place called the Craft Cottage (on Wyoming and Nevada Way) that had a back room full of yarn. Yarn everywhere. Yarn in bags, yarn in baskets, yarn on shelves. We dug around a bit and after starting one slight yarn avalanche we found some decent fiber. I got a bag of Elsebeth Lavold Cotton Patine in a natural color that I over-dyed two balls of this morning. I did one a real deep crimson and the other I just barely dipped in the same dye for a few seconds so it’s a lighter maroon-ish mauve. The two coordinate so I’m going to use them alternately to do the next Lilly sweater.

Darker yarn

Lighter yarn

Side by side

It’s a really subtle difference since they were both dyed from the same dye batch, just one longer than the other. I think it’ll look really pretty as striping though. The colors in the picture are pretty true, but the crimson one really is much deeper and richer.

I also finished my swap scarf which I never got a totally finished picture of so hopefully when my swap partner gets it she’ll post pictures on her blog and I can snag one. I used the KPixie Karoke Scarf pattern, though I did change the yarn and gauge (of course!). But it’s the same cable repeats. It was easy and would have gone quick if I’d actually sat down and did it. I had major knitting ADD with this scarf though. I’d do two or three cable repeats and then put it down and work on something else for a week, do a few more repeats, etc. It took two months when it should have taken me three or four days.

I also made this little ridiculous thing:

An itty bitty scarflette made from just the tiniest bit of the Tilli Tomas Disco Lights that Gail gave me. It’s so soft and so pretty. But the yarn does stretch quite a bit so I need to put bigger buttons on it, since the small ones I originally used are now too small for the stretched out button holes. I have larger ones, so it’s fine I just haven’t got around to taking the ones pictured off and sewing on the new ones.

And that’s all for now. Back to work! I have a deadline bearing down on me now, I have to get this stuff done. (I also have two term papers, a homework assignment and some reading to get done for my classes.)