TAKING BACK [THE KNIT]

I think I have social anxiety disorder. And it's really starting to be a little problematic. I hate being in situations where I know no one, like a brand-new class at school. It's so stressfull and scary that I'm dropping a class just because I walked in on the second day and everyone had all their supplies and such already, the teacher didn't seem friendly, and I was alone. I just didn't like it. And then I had to go through the frantic search of finding a class to replace it, so I can have enough units for health insurance! So instead of a nice 9:00 class on Monday and Wednesdays, I'm taking an 8:00 one. However, it's sewing and that's pretty practical. I need sewing practice. I suck at sewing, though! It's why I started knitting.

I took a shitload of pictures yesterday! I busted out my mom's camera, as well as mine, and I love it! It's a Nikon CoolPix and I like it so much more than my Kodak. I think it just might be that the screen is better, but it looked like my pictures were much sharper and better focused. It is awesome! I am going to stretch them out into several posts, because I took that many. Also, I think I might have taken the best picture of my life. And some really goofy ones, too.

Okay, so here we go with pictures! My favorite of my recent FOs is my boobholder adaptation.

Pattern: Stefanie Japel's minisweater

Yarn: Lion Brand's (discontinued) Cotton Ease

Needles: US7s? Maybe 6s. It has been done for a while, so I forget!

Mods: I tweaked the sizing a little to get a good fit. I think I made it smaller than the original. Closed the front and added the bottom half.

I really like the way it turned out! Thanks so much to everyone on craftster who did this before and gave me the idea. I am so in love with Cotton Ease, and I miss it terribly! I added some increases along the sides toward the bottom, because I've got quite the hourglass figure, and it irritates the hell out of me when shirts ride up to my natural waist. [click here for a picture. also, here is a picture of raglan increases.] I love the way they look.

Moving along down the FO train, here FINALLY are finished pictures of my Mariah!

Pattern: Knitty's Mariah

Yarn: LB's Wool Ease in Oxford Grey

Needles: US7s.

Mods: For once, none!

I still am not that happy with this sweater. I might take the zipper out, for a number of reasons. Really, mostly that a hand-knitted sweater isn't something zipper-y. If you know what I mean. Also, buttons seem like they fit the "feel" of the sweater better. [zipper dumpiness exemplified on the right, below.] I really don't like the bulkiness though, so whether I will ever wear it or not is still in question. Also, I hate the look of the hood/collar, as shown in this picture:

The collar starts a couple of inches back from the front opening, which is in my opinion straight-up stupid-looking. I couldn't tell it did this from the pictures in the pattern, and was pissed when I got to that part. I kind of kept hoping that there would be some magic thing that appeared on the pattern once I was done to make things better. I've thought about adding an edging. It would have to be a 2" deep or so edging, though, so I am hesitant. Anyway, my dog is a BIG fan of this hoodie. He kept sniffing it, (hence his nickname "Sniffy"!) and he also wanted to be included in the pictures! The second one is a good example of the awkward things that happen when trying to take pictures with pets. Especially this goofy dog. I'm not sure what I was going for but, I think I was yelling at him and possibly falling over.