Barnacle Bill in All His Glory

Here is Barnacle Bill. The pattern is by Alan Dart and it appeared in Simply Knitting July 2007 . The pieces were all simple except for the hands which I knit again and again trying to get them right, but I never did. The sewing up was a pain, but I hung in there and now he is totally finished. Now I just have to hope Little Man doesn't destroy him the first time he plays with him! Tomorrow I will upload other views of him into Flickr and you will be able to see them by clicking on Finished Projects 2007 on my sidebar.

In between sittings to finish Barnacle Bill, I taught myself how to knit in the continental-style, as opposed to the English-style. Yes, I am a thrower, but I think I've retrained myself. I tried first from the diagrams in Itty-Bitty Nursery, but it was really difficult and I began to think I wouldn't be able to make the switch. Then I came across a link to a video on YouTube through Craft Sanity and I watched the first part on the knit stitch one night, and the purl and switching between the 2 the next day. It didn't take me long at all, and now I think I've got it. Obviously I'm not fast yet, but I'm steady and with practice I know the speed will come. And just in time too, because yesterday I cast on for the scarf I'm knitting for my Pop for Christmas!

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween, I'll fill you in on ours tomorrow!