FO Friday - Isabella Bonnet

Thank you to tamisamis for hosting FO Friday!  Hop on over and check out what everyone else has to show off!

This is my first FO in a while and I can't wait to give it to the recipient.  For Ava's first birthday, I knit her the cupcake hat - over a year later, she's still wearing it.  It's so nice to knit for people who actually wear and use what you knit!  (Ok, at 1 and 2 years old, maybe the decision on what to wear lays more with the parents, but still, she's wearing it a lot!)  Anyways, I wanted to knit Ava a new hat for her second birthday (which was back in November).  I think the Isabella Bonnet will really suit her - especially in the hot pink color.

This was a really easy knit - it only took me so long to complete because I didn't have the time to work on it.  This is definitely one I'd knit again as a gift for a little girl (would even be great in a 'big girl' size). The instructions weren't always completely clear but it was easy enough to figure it out.

I like working with this yarn - not only is the color great but it feels nice.  It's acrylic but it is a micro-fiber yarn and it's nice and soft.  It reminds me of some of the bamboo yarns I've worked with.  It's machine washable which is nice for kids' clothing and accessories.  It's part of the 'collection' I picked up from the massive Dressew sale last year.

Now I have to determine what I will work on next.  I have a few projects 'hibernating' but I think I might just knit up some simple baby hats and do a bit of stash busting.  I know a couple people with new ones or that are expecting so I won't be at a loss for babies to give them to.  Baby hats are good too since I can make reasonable progress on them  by knitting during my study breaks!

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Knitting More Quickly

Well, as you can see, since school started in September I had to take a break from blogging and have also had less time for knitting (which I really miss).  Sometimes you really just can't do it all!  But I hope to be able to fill my work and study breaks with some knitting and blogging now that I'm starting to get better at the work/school/life balance.

I've been working on the Isabella Bonnet for my friend's daughter, Ava.  Now, Miss Ava's birthday was in November and that is when I intended to have it done by.  But, September was my first month of graduate school AND working full-time (plus the post-wedding hangover) so needless to say, if I got dinner made a couple nights a week, that was an accomplishment!  I'm finally working on the bow for the hat so I should have it done soon (will take pics and post when I do!).

I have come to realize that if I'm going to fit knitting into my crazy life, then I'm going to have to knit more quickly.  I've been watching some videos on YouTube that have helped a bit.  However, it's going to take a while to adjust my style and get used to keeping tension.  In making the bow for the hat, I've been testing out a few different techniques and I can definitely see where I stopped one and started the other.  I don't think it's going to be noticeable (other than to other knitters) once it's on the hat though.

I also think that it's good to have a variety of techniques in my bag of tricks so that I can vary it up to prevent overuse injuries.  I notice when I knit a lot that I do sometimes get aches and pains.

Here are a couple videos on YouTube that I've found useful:

1.  The sound could be better on this video but I found that holding the needle in my right hand like a pencil does help a bit with speed and is quite comfortable.  I am totally one of those knitters she talks about who sometimes drops the needle in my right hand when throwing the yarn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezH4qpn3org&feature=related

2. I picked up a couple useful tips in this KnitPicks video with Miriam Tegels (world's fastest knitter) but I wish that there would have been more close-ups and they would have also showed a clip of her technique slowed down instead of just at full-speed.

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