Glee-Inspired Knitting: Carousel Sweater

I'm going to admit something to you.  I love Glee.  I don't know if it's the music, the endearing characters... no, I do know.  It's the snark.  I love the witty comebacks and snide comments that just aren't in a lot of TV shows.  

Anyway, W and I make it a point to watch Glee on Hulu every week.  Alone.  In a locked room.  Where we know people won't judge us.

And during this week's episode, "Comeback," I laughed so much at the clothing drama.  I've always teased Rachel Berry, and seeing all of the girls in those carousel sweaters just made me laugh!

“I mean, my carousel horse sweater should make me look like an institutionalized toddler but no – I look hot and smart. I feel like Michelle Obama.”

So, I spent five minutes in Excel and made this.  It's a carousel sweater intarsia chart.  Feel free to either laugh at me, wonder why I'm not doing the mountain of homework I need to start, or thank me. 

For best results, plop it front and center in the middle of simple top-down raglan pullover.  If you hurry, maybe you can finish it before the joke is lost on anyone. 

The pattern is available as a free Ravelry Download, if you don't have a Ravelry account, click here to download the chart: download now

The Sun Sets on a Project

Tuesday, I sent W a text with this picture:

I finished his socks! Of course, he didn't come home until after I went to bed, and then yesterday, I didn't see him until late last night... But I managed to get his picture.

He's pretty busy working on finishing his 2-Quarter... and I should probably be working on the papers I have to write.  But, I've already started another pair of socks:

The yarn is On Your Toes, purchased at the Yarn Boutique in the city.  It's so gorgeous and soft! These are definitely going to be me socks :)

I've almost reached my limit on baby hats and kitty blankets.  After the Hooks and Needles party on Friday, I'm probably going to spend the rest of break knitting these socks for myself :)

And, check out the gorgeous sunset yesterday:

Lots and Lots of Wittle Hats

So, my go-to project this quarter has been these baby hats! I feel like I've knit more than anyone in club (and I have...)  Right now, the box is living at my house.



I just love them! I hope they all find good little heads to keep warm. They are so quick to make, I can finish one in an hour.



So, I've been doing one a day for a while.  My goal this quarter was to make one every club session, but that hasn't worked out - so I'm going for twenty.



I plan to release the pattern I use, since I improvised it. It's knit on size 8 needles, flat, then sewn up.



Looking at them possesses you.  You speak in babytalk! "Ohhh, look at the itty bitty pompoms! Squee!"

Easiest-Ever Nutella Mousse

Happy World Nutella Day Everyone!

For those unaware, Nutella is a super-delicious chocolate hazelnut spread.  World Nutella Day was started in 2007 by Sara from Ms. Adventures in Italy and Michelle from Bleeding Espresso

and has grown to be a huge event in the past few years. I'm excited to participate this year! 

In celebration I'm sharing my really easy, really tasty recipie for mousse.  It only has three ingredients, and doesn't require any boiling, whipping... etc, etc.  It took me longer to type this post out than it takes to make it - no lie! 

The full recipe is after the jump, and if you want to participate today, just follow the directions here!

February TUSAL Update

Ha, I'm such a spaz! I took the picture for this post yesterday, intending to post it, but then I got wrapped up in homework. (Insert a collective sigh.)  For those of you that have been wondering what I've been up to, it's pretty much that.  I have made little progress on anything, but that's the subject of another post entirely.  This post is about ORTs.

January has seen a lot of little scraps. The small, bright bits are scraps from the baby hats I've been working on.  They're so rewarding, they're the perfect stress knit - only an hour, so I don't feel guilty for squeezing one in here or there.   And some have pom poms, which is yarn scraps galore!

I also have some threads from my quilting/sewing binge.  Sadly, I haven't picked up the quilting since, but I'm due to do some cutting today after I finish a quiz, go to a student summit, cook dinner, clean Lotus's cage, write the rough draft of my term paper... URG. I'm going to stop now.

How To: Lacey Tea Towel

I feel kind of guilty tagging this as a "tutorial" because it was so quick and easy! My dad gave me some tea towels (because well, you really can't have too many tea towels) and I decided to give it a bit of girly flair.  I was inspired by towels that I saw at W's mom's house, and I thought "Wow, how easy would that be to make...!?"  Plus, it can cover up tears, stains, or scorch marks when you leave your tea towel under your electric kettle and nearly set the fire alarm off and have to run the towel outside and wave it around in the snow...

Oh, is that just me? Anyway, all you need is a towel, some lace (I bought a spool of lace for about a dollar at Wal*mart ages ago: no idea why.) and needle and thread or a sewing machine. 

Sew the lace in rows into the towel.  For best results, pin the rows a little less apart than the width of your lace.

I wish I had some ribbon to finish this off! I think it would also look good mixing different types of lace, or maybe just add a lace edging along the very edge?  So many possibilities! And I still have a whole spool of lace left! I wish I more tea towels.

Giving in to Temptation!

Today I woke up. I worked for two hours.  Then, I researched stuff so boring that it's not even fun to blog about.  Then I wrote a paper.  Then I went to class.  Then, more research and homework.  Then, class again.  Then dinner.

When W left to shoot his two-quarter, I told myself I would get a head start on the weekend's homework (Why do teachers like to make assignments due on the weekend? Do they think we don't have anything better to do?)... and as I sat down at my desk, my knees bumped against a box. 

It was the Singer Simple that I got for Christmas.  Why hadn't I opened it yet?  Oh, right, school.

I figured I had done a good job today. I should treat myself.

I unboxed the machine, ooh-ed and ahh-ed at the automatic threader, sewed some scraps of fabric, sewed up some seams I needed to mend, sewed up a little tutorial for tomorrow... and then...

Well, then I ran out of things to sew.  My eye lingered on my bag of quilting stuff. I HAD SAID that I wanted to cut all the pieces first, then sew, but did I really?

No, not at all.

So, there's four squares and the center of a flower done! I'm proud that I managed to line up the diamond pretty well, and proud that I remembered to iron (almost) all the seams flat, but I'm a little disappointed at the fabric choice.

You can't even see my seams! Hopefully it'll look more like a flower when the side petals are on!

But anyway, that was my evening - see you tomorrow for a sweet, quick tutorial.

P.S. - If you think I'm some sort of quilting prodigy, here's my four squares before I sewed them. Hopefully I'll get better at this whole "cutting pieces the same size" thing.