And now, for something almost entirely knitted.

Warning: Picture-heavy post!

Amazingly, I have finished stuff since the start of the year. Really. Here they are:
The Socks

Specs:
Pattern: Knitty's Universal Toe-up Socks
Yarn: Paton's SWS (70% wool, 30% soy silk), Natural Earth, 2 balls
Needles: US 6 metal DPNs, of some unknown brand.
Started: November 2006
Completed: Feb 2007
Notes: Um, that's an embarrassing range of dates right there. Especially the fact that I'm posting a picture NOW, in JULY. And my excuse? I started the first one over Thanksgiving, frogged it, started again, but left the crochet hook for the cast-on at home, which delayed the start of the second sock. And yes, I am aware that the stripes don't match up. Who needs matching socks anyway?
The yarn wasn't bad to work with. One of the skeins (from the first attempt at the same sock), had several knots in it. It was also a little splitty. It's not exactly cuddly, but soft enough for the wool-sensitive me, and the colors are beautiful. It doesn't frog at all well, though. (It was bad enough that I went and bought another one.)
As for the pattern, the instructions were pretty clear, and that's all I ask for in a pattern. It was my first attempt at short rows, so once I got past the toe on the first sock, it was smooth sailing (if a little boring because of all the stockinette!)

On to the next one:
DNA iPod Cozy:
Pattern: Made up as I went along; cable chart from here
Yarn: Paton's Classic Wool (100% wool), Leaf Green. Less than 1 ball
Needles: US 6 metal DPNs, D crochet hook for finishing
Started: April 2007
Finished: same week.
Notes: Quick little project, used as a nerdy stash-busting exercise in cables. The hard bits were finishing and starting. Before I cast on, I was deciding between knitting it from the edge of the flap down, or from the bottom of the pouch up. (I went with bottom-up, so when you fold the flap down, it appears that the spiral is backward.)
This was one of those projects where stuff clicked--as I went, I discovered that I didn't actually need the chart. The knitting and the shape of a DNA molecule told me what to cable and where. I couldn't find the tapestry needle when I finished it, so I...used a crochet hook to seam it (not ideal, but it worked), then chained around the edge of the flap to neaten it up a bit. This is the picture of it blocking in my dorm on my makeshift blocking apparatus (a towel and a bunch of push pins. Isn't it lovely? :P) I don't have a better picture, unfortunately. You can still make out the double helix of backbone cables, but the base-pair purls are kind of obscured because it's so dark.
Paton's Classic Wool. Decent yarn, generous yardage, and fairly cheap. And it's a very pretty green, I think.

PENGUIN!
Pattern: Pasha, from Knitty
Yarn: Patons Decor (75% acrylic, 25% wool) (black); Caron Simply Soft (100% acrylic) (white), Paton's Classic Wool (100% wool) (yellow)
Needles: Clover Bamboo US 5
Started: May 2007
Finished: May 2007
Notes: A fairly quick knit. Apparently my stuffing, seaming and finishing skills leave something to be desired, but I think he turned out rather sweet. (My penguin is a he. It's my penguin, after all.) The eyes took forever to get in the right place. There are a number of little imperfections on the belly (which is unfortunate, because it's white and they show up), and I had a little trouble with the increases. Ah well. I've got a second one in the works, though, so I think any of these mistakes should get ironed out in the process. And it's a penguin. Penguins are cute in any form. So there.

Two squares of the scrap blanket:
Yarn: Lion Brand Homespun in Corinthian (Purple-ish) and Colonial (blue), Caron Simply Soft Thick in Dark Sage (dark green), Lion Brand Lion Suede in Olive, Alpaca Yarn Company Landscapes in Autumn Harvest (yellow/orange) and Lion Brand Chenille Thick n' Quick in Terracotta (orange). Don't worry; the fug fur edging will be gone.

Yarn (to center): Caron Simply Soft Quick in Autumn Red, Lion Brand Lion Suede in Orchard Print, Alpaca Yarn Company Landscapes in Autumn Harvest, Lion Brand Homespun in Mexicana. Those ends will get woven in, eventually.
Needle size for both of these were US 10.5.


And for another WIP:
My progress on Mariah.

That would be the back. I'll get back to knitting that. Really.