to prove I'm using my new knitting needles...

... I've cast on a couple mitred squares, which will become a blanket as a housewarming gift for my brother. AND it'll eat up some of my Lionbrand Homespun I have laying around the house!

new funky knitting needles!

My dad has picked up a new hobby a while back: hand carving wood. He has been carving up pretty much anything and everything, and a few months ago I had requested a pair of knitting needles with "something twisty at the end". Well, a few days past my birthday, he finally completed a pair and mailed them to me! These are what I received:

I think these look just nifty, and love the fact that I now have a completely original pair of knitting needles! My big dilemma now is figuring how what the first project to make on them will be!

SALE on ETSY

I have a shop on etsy - which you may or may not know - and I'm having a promo for all of June! It's posted in my shop announcement but I'll repost here:

FREE SHIPPING to ANYWHERE on all orders $25+, and there's a 2 item minimum. Some items already have free shipping as it is, so check those out too!

www.knitsyoursknotmine.etsy.com

PLUS mention 'My Knitting Basket' somewhere on the receipt and get FREE SHIPPING to ANYWHERE ON ALL VINTAGE PATTERN PURCHASES - no minimum.

This is going to be on for all of June, so take advantage of it! Check back to my shop often, I'll be adding new items to it when I can!

smooshie baby sweater

I finished this sweater for my expectant cousin:
She's due soon (July) and it'll be bundled with the baby blanket I finished for her. I used Sirdar Confetti yarn, which is SO nice knit up! Although, it's a super-bulky yarn, and the pattern called for just bulky yarn, so it required that I fudged the pattern a little to adjust for the tension. Hopefully it'll be ok!

cheesecake cupcakes!

I'm on a cupcake kick now, don't know why. Not that my baking skills are all that stellar, but I'm getting into cupcakes nonetheless. Last week I had the idea of making cheesecake cupcakes, and just followed the recipe printed on the back of a graham cracker crumbs box. I wound up with these:
I used both regular sized and mini cupcake cups & trays, and made steller snackable cheesecakes! They turned out so good... will need to make them again!

rarely do I blog my cat...

... but I found this to be particularily hilarious...

Apparently my cat enjoys chinese food take out - the other day she spent twenty minutes half in the bag that the food came in the night before!

am I crazy?!?

I think I've officially gone bananas, starting up a sweater when the warm weather kicks in! lol...

My MIL bought this Aran with Wool yarn while she was in Ireland - 2 skeins, and enough to make a sweater, with the thinking of making something possibly for DH. This was like 2 years ago, and I've finally cast on.

I love the Aran Pullover pattern in the Knitting With Balls book, partially because the sweater looks awesome, and also partially because the guy modelling it is kinda hot. Plus, DH likes the sweater too.

Granted that the sweater calls for a worsted yarn, and I'm using aran weight (is it ironic that a non-aran weight yarn is being used for an aran sweater?!?) I'm still following it as is, because the tension is close enough, plus it'll come out a teeny bit bigger. According to a lot of people on ravelry, the sweather is a bit narrow anyway, so this slightly bigger tension will likely help.

Phew, let's see how long this takes me to knit!

Pictures, finally!

Finally, the camera program in the new computer is set up, and I can post pictures!

The blanket I finished 2 days ago for my cousin is called Heart Blanket, a pattern by Bev Galeskas, and officially my first finished lace pattern (short of a couple basic lace scarves). Phew, glad to get this one done!

I made it somewhat to the pattern specs: the 'large' version of this blanket is 9 hearts across (the small is 7 hearts across) but I only made it 12 hearts up - which is the small version, heightwise (the large is 14 rows of hearts). But, I managed to use exactly 6 skeins of S.R. Kertzer Northern Worsted, literally, w/o even an inch to spare! Kinda glad when projects work out that way!

finished, but pictureless

I've just finished a baby blanket I've knit for my cousin. But, since we've switched computers @ home, I can't load pics of it just yet. It's a blanket that I started back in February, and I'm glad to say that I've finally finished it last night, while watching Lost. Phew.

Pictures to come soon, I promise.

etsy stuff... knitting stuff...

First and foremost, to get it out of the way: I'm having a Clearance Sale @ my etsy shop, because I'm temporarily closing it down... so here are the deals:

~*~ SPECIAL FOR MAY 2009 ~*~

(check shop announcement for more details)

- All vintage patterns are BUY 2, GET 1 FREE. Please buy your three, I will refund the value of the third (equal/lesser value) and its shipping cost via paypal!

- WHILE QUANTITIES LAST: a free homemade sheep shaped bar of soap (3oz) will be included with EACH knit or crocheted item in my shop.

- HEMP KNITTING KITS ~ for the duration of their listing ~ come with a FREE bonus skein (100g) of hemp yarn (please check listing for more details) AND free shipping PLUS a free pair of bamboo knitting needles! Great deal for less than $20!

So, that's that.

Also, a while back (I may have blogged about this, I don't remember) I started knitting a baby blanket for my expectant cousin (who's currently 6 months preggers) ... I've been slacking off a little the last month or so, but caught up this week, and am about 2/3's done! Yay! Pictures will come soon, no worries...