Knitting, Lot's of FO's

I have been finishing a lot of projects lately. Feeling the need to find all my needles missing in action or held captive on different projects. Finishing projects and gaining back needles is much more fulfuilling then buying more needles because I can not find the size I need.

Botanical Hat by Stephen West

I made this for Wesley. It was sort of an add on christmas present I made when he came down mid January for a visit. I used Casacade for the black and Noro silk garden for the color. This is a really fun hat to make. I think there are at least 3 of them in the knitting group now. The guys seem to really like it too. It is reversible and designed from a really cool architectural design. Very guy like.

Barb's Koigu Ruffle by Kit Huchin

I was looking for something fast and with a lot of color. This has been in my queue for a while. I went stash diving into the Koigue corner and come up with this. The pattern is a really easy knit as long as you can get past the idea that you cast on and cast off a crazy number of stitches (648!!) But you are knitting two together right away for the ruffle...... It was a great addition to my wardrobe.

Hemlock Ring by BooklynTweed:

This has been in my queue even longer then the ruffle scarf. I used the Knitpicks City Tweed in Brocade. I love this yarn. It is really soft and the tweed is wonderful. I made mine bigger then the pattern so I could use it as a lap blanket. I had a hard time getting the blanket to block perfectly flat. I would go up at least 3 sizes needles sizes bigger to cast off and use Jenny's Surprisingly Stretchy bind off for the k2tog sections and a regular bind of during the yarn over sections. I really enjoy using this as a lap blanket in the evenings while I knit.

Byzantine by Susan Pandorf

This was one of the most fun projects I have done in a long time. Mosaic knitting is really easy and fast and watching the colors change made me happy!

Clapotis by Kate Gilbert

This is one of the most knit projects on Ravelry (14,735 as of this post). The pattern came out in Knitty the Fall of 2004. I resisted knitting this one for years and then within a few of months I have now finished my second one. Why did I finally fall you ask?

Because of Noro sock yarn and Noro Scarf Stripping. I love love the way this turned out and the silk garden sock yarn is pretty soft.

Whirligig Shrug by Stefanie Japel

I knit this up really fast for a class. It is another great instant gratification knit. The pattern is from Interweave Knits Weekends 2009. I used Soft Wave Cotton from Queensland. I think it was a closeout yarn from Webs at some point. It was in my stash. Of course Miss Claire will end up with this at some point. It sure is fun having a little princess to knit for after having boys of my own.

Last, but the most fun of all, is Mr. Bender, a character from Futurama. This is a B-day gift for Wesley. We used to enjoy watching this show together when he still lived at home. As an art student he has great appreciation for such creations.

I have most of my needles back and the knitting is a bit quiet right now. The only thing really on my needles is Baudelaire by Cookie A , my second pair of Toe-up socks. I am already on the second sock in less then a week. The pattern is easy to memorize, learned a new heel and I just love knitting these. Socks may be back in my life just in time for summer!

How many needles are missing in action at your house?