today the weather is is feeling like spring and so am i!

i am longing for a good, thorough spring clean-up but i lack the time. however, i DID clean up our computer and discovered some photos of projects i hadn't yet blogged about, so i will be sharing these in the following posts!

first up is a pair of socks i finished in march 2013. the reason i didn't blog this pair is simple: i don't like them. there's nothing wrong with them, i just don't like the look of the yarn. they were knitted with Opal Sock yarn and it turns out, i am just not an Opal fan. ;)

(also: notice how the yarn pools a little bit on the right sock leg - for those who don't know what pooling means, let me share my knitters geek wisdom with you: pooling is when colours knit up in "blotches", creating "pools" of colour. this was my first "pooling experience" and EUGH, i do not like it.)

 

let's also share a (small) project that i do like: yesterday i made a crocheted bookmark for my moms birthday (for the record: we had a bigger gift too, i just like giving something hand-made even if it's tiny like this)

 i'm definitely making one for myself too, because this is way more stylish than a supermarket receipt, right? (and i have to admit, i love the tassel)

 (more details and a pattern link on ravelry)

last week-end i really finished paulie! i blocked the finished garment (using the wet-blocking technique), sewed on the buttons and weaved in the ends. so paulie was ready to wear! and here i am with some photos, of course!

 it's amazing what blocking can do to a garment! blocking changed the drape of the fabric and it just looks and feels better than it did pre-blocking.

 adding buttons also changed the look! a month before finishing i bought two sets of buttons: grey and yellow shell buttons. after days of being in doubt i decided (with a little help from my boyfriend, mom, aunt and grandma) to go with the grey buttons, because the yellow ones (although they were the perfect kind of yellow) were distracting the attention from the yellow stripes.

 

 

looking back, if i were to knit paulie again, i would change a couple of things. i love the colour combination, but it's a little hard to combine with my other clothes. i might go for an "easier" colour combo next time, like black and white, or dark-blue and grey. also, as much as i love the garter stitched sleeves, i would make them a little more snug.

overall, i'm still really happy with my paulie. i love the weight of the cardigan and the fit is great. and the whole knitting experience was just great, the perfect first-cardigan pattern. definitely a winner!