My First Sweater!

Huzzah!

I have been knitting my first ever sweater!

I have dubbed her (yes, it is a her) the Mermaid Cardigan, because the color is green like a mermaid. I've been having fun dreaming about all of the next sweaters I'm going to knit, and also trying to choose buttons. See? Wicket has been helping.

And Daisy thinks she's helping by looking all prissy/pretty/cat-like.

And I'm almost done! Just 1 and 1/2 sleeves left! 

This picture is from before I started the sleeves...

<3

Cookies

I just ate three cookies. They were good.

Soul Mate

Yoga Journal had some good insight today...

A committed yoga practice can absolutely transform our relationships. "Through our yoga practice, we learn to look at ourselves, including the parts of us that are less evolved. Learning how to do this physically, with discomfort in an asana, helps us to do this emotionally," says Bo Forbes, who is a yoga teacher, Integrative Yoga Therapist, and clinical psychologist in Boston. "If we can't sit with our emotions, we are more likely to act them out on ourselves or others."

Our culture and traditions school us to believe that someday our prince (or princess) will come, that a relationship has the potential to solve problems like loneliness, that the right partner will make us feel whole. Popular romantic movies propagate the myth of another person completing us. On the face of it, the idea of being "completed" by another seems deeply romantic. But it's a fantasy that can weigh down a relationship with impossible expectations. The truth is that while your partner can offer many things, he or she can't "complete" you. The only person who can give you a sense of security and an unshakable love of you is you. And though you may "know" this with your mind, sometimes feelings of unworthiness, insecurity, and incompleteness are so deeply buried that you aren't even aware of them or of how they influence your behavior.

full article: http://www.yogajournal.com/wisdom/2520?utm_source=Wisdom&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=Wisdom

Alpaca Eyelet Cowl

I just knitted this cozy alpaca cowl in record time. In like, 3 days guys! ah! And it is sooooooo cozy-warm.

I based it off of this awesome pattern here:

...but I modified it (since I used bulkier yarn) by using bigger needles and casting on less stitches (which is why this is so quick!). I'd like to do another version just like this one with lightweight yarn for warmer days. The one I made is cozier looking and not as delicate.

When I get a picture of me wearing my cowl I'll add it....

Here is the pattern:


Gauge: 4x4 inches = 15 Stitches and 20 rows on size 10 needles

Needles: Size 10 circular needles (36 inch ones)

Yarn: 2 skeins of Bernat Alpaca in Tundra (only used about 1/4 of the second skein). This yarn was a Christmas present, but you can find it at Michael's.

1. Cast on 144 stitches, and join in the round. BE SUPER CAREFUL not to twist the yarn!
2. Work 4 rounds of garter stitch (knit 1 round, purl the next round, repeat).
3. Now knit the first Eyelet Section:
   
   Rnd 1: Yo, K2tog to marker
   Rnd2: K2tog, Yo to marker
   
   Repeat rounds 1 and 2 again, then repeat round 1 again.
4. Now knit the Solid Section:
   
   Knit 5 rounds of stockinette stitch (knit every round).
   Purl 1 round
   Knit 5 rounds of stockinette stitch.
5. Knit the second Eyelet Section.
6. Work 4 rounds of garter stitch (knit 1 round, purl the next round, repeat).
7. Cast off loosely.
8. Be cozyyyy.

And in case you were wondering, here's a sort-of close up where you can see the eyelet pattern, with the solid pattern in the middle, and then the eyelet pattern again: