I have some things to show you. Not one, not two, but THREE finished objects! Can you believe it? I can't.

But it's true! First, a super quick and super gratifying knit - meet Frank.

o hai.

Frank is actually Kate from Knitty. I knitted the pattern exactly as written, using size 7 and 8 Denise needle tips as double pointed needles. (I am lazy). It's an easy pattern to follow and I think the whole thing took me three days from start to finish. I used Brown Sheep Cotton Fine doubled for his stripey shirt and pants, and Cotton-Ease for his body. I cannot tell you how much I love the finished toy - he is just. so. cute. I see a lot of knitted toys in my future - such a great baby gift, and so fast! (I embroidered his eyes in addition to his mouth and nose so there wouldn't be any non-baby-friendly parts).

oh, Frank.

Okay. on to Finished Object the Second. It's the February Lady Sweater!

I wore her to work today!

I was so excited that I wore it to work today! It fits great. I used Silky Wool -- I think about 3.5 skeins. I had to change the numbers because Silky Wool is DK and the sweater is definitely light and airy - and it grew A LOT after blocking. I actually thought it might be TOO long last night, but after wearing it around today, I think it's the perfect length. The buttons I used were purchased at Maryland Sheep and Wool this year. They are a little heavy, so I'm considering reinforcing the button band with grosgrain ribbon. (yeah, I will probably NEVER get around to doing that. but I'm considering it.)

LOVE this sweater. I think it would be a great first sweater, if you're not afraid of lace, because when you're done, it's DONE. no seaming, just a little sewing under the armpits. It's seriously a great pattern. I'm trying to convince my sis to knit one! Thanks, Pam, for this awesome pattern - obviously it kicks ass because it seems like every knitter in the blogosphere / Ravelry has knit one. I might make another in worsted weight one day...

and finally! the grand finale. My First Quilt!

hanging out on the fence.

This is a lap-sized quilt - I used the Streak of Sunshine pattern from Quiltville. (That site has tons of good info - thanks for the rec, Carolyn!) And seriously, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. The hardest part for me (besides the binding) was picking out colors that worked well together. It's such a challenge for me, and for some reason really intimidating to me. I'm just going to keep plugging away at it.

Close up of the corner.

I lucked out because Carolyn was in town for Dragon*Con and showed me how to do a free-form braid on the sides and also how to do the binding. The braid was her idea and I love how it looks against the straight lines of the rest of the quilt. I was scared to do it without drawing it on the quilt, but it actually wasn't that bad. Carolyn is a fantastic teacher too.

The binding is machine sewn on the top, and then folded and blind-stitched by hand on the back. It was tedious, but seriously, it looks so good. It really makes it looked FINISHED. Carolyn swore it was her favorite part, and I was all, okay, whatever, crazy... but as you work the binding, the whole quilt just comes together - it's very cool!

I am really looking forward to working on more quilts, and some larger ones. Obviously there are lots of mistakes in this one, but I seriously love it so. and I actually use it all the time! Woot.

So, there you have it. I've been busy with the crafting, in between work and school and life in general. I am in my last semester of my Master's program - oh boy! - and work is totally slammed. Things are great! Now I have to decide what to work on next...

Posted by Carrieoke at 10:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (38)

and all I got were these completely awesome pictures of me with celebrities.

Like this one:

James Callis (Gaius Baltar on Battlestar Galactica)

and also this one:

Me with Aaron Douglas (Chief Tyrol on Battlestar Galactica)

oh. I was such a fangirl this weekend, I'm not going to lie. I totally got starstruck at Dragon*Con. For those who don't know, Dragon*Con is a big old science fiction/fantasy/anime/comics/whatever else convention that happens every year in Atlanta. We decided to go this year because so many people from Battlestar Galactica were there, and DUDE it was so worth it. Carolyn even came down for it!

We had so much fun. Cathy joined us, and we even ran into Wes and Jacob a few times while we were there. It was just a totally interesting experience - my first time at a convention - and I am so going back next year. In addition to getting to meet BSG peeps and take pictures and generally be silly rabid fans, we also attended two Battlestar Galactica panels...

From L to R:
Tahmoh Penikett, Michael Hogan, Edward James Olmos, Kevin Grazier.
or, Helo, Col. Tigh, Commander Adama, and the science advisor for BSG.

We also ate a lot of good meals, saw lots of crazy costumes, and spent a lot of time waiting in lines (so I got a decent amount of knitting done). If you want to see some of the crazy costumes and more of the fun time rabid fan pics, here's a link to my Flickr set: [ Dragon*Con 2008 ]

Now - you didn't think I'd let Carolyn come to town without making her quilt, right? Of course not! We managed to squeeze in some quilting when we weren't being geeky fans. And I am so excited because I am really close to having my very first finished quilt! Carolyn helped me finish quilting the border of my quilt and then showed me how to do a double-fold binding on the edges. She got me started, and now I'm working on finishing:

Binding!

We used the machine to sew it on the top, and now I'm blind-stitching the bottom. Carolyn said she liked this part, and I was a bit hesitant when I saw what I had to do, but it IS fun to watch the binding come together. I can't wait to finish the binding and wash this sucker. And then start a new one! oh boy!!!

In other crafty news, I'm *this* close to finishing my February Lady Sweater. Obviously I didn't finish for the Ravelympics (FAIL), but I got pretty far. I'm about 3/4 of the way through the first sleeve, so all I have left is 1 and 1/4 sleeves!

That's all I've got for now. It's been exactly one month since I last posted, so I'm hoping I can get to the blog more often this month.

Posted by Carrieoke at 10:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (32)