Knitty n' Witty

Knitting like a woman on a mission.

2010-09-26T12:22:00.001-07:00

A few new WIPs. A few FOs. I've got a lot going on and I swear I'll post pictures and information soon. (No really, I swear!)

I need a scarf just like this. Not want. N E E D.

2010-09-18T09:49:00.001-07:00

Pogona

2010-09-16T13:50:00.003-07:00

I met a knitter friend on Ravelry. Her name is Bobbe (on Ravelry, she's Bjohn). We decided "Hey, lets knit something together!". We picked Pogona by Stephen West and CO.

About a week ago her "cat got his claw stuck and ripped the whole project to shreds". We were both heartbroken.

Turns out Bobbe decided to gift Pogona to me! It gorgeous and wonderful and I'm still tickled that she'd offer such a wonderful gift. I have no idea how I could possibly return the favor (obviously I'd knit her something, but what to knit??).

Pictures? Of course! (I'm a little OCD and have decided to block it. It grew a lot and I love it.)

Oh, it looks really light in these pictures, but believe me: It's bright. Think of an almost-too-ripe avocado/radioactive pond scum/Nickelodeon slime/a forest full of trees. I love it.

(A charming picture of me looking like a linebacker.)

(Bobbe, you made it on the wall. Can you see it?

I love this picture :)

Smokey Row

2010-09-12T14:50:00.002-07:00

I was at the football game Friday night with my friend, Nicole and we got bored and decided to split. We went off to the local coffee house/ice cream parlor/cafe/diner and guess what we found.

KNITTERS. Yeah, 2 college girls knitting in a booth. I went over and asked (totally couldn't help myself) if they had a local stitch and bitch and they totally did. It's tonight at 5:30 and I'm really excited. Really, really excited.

I'll tell you how it went later.

I want a sweater.

2010-08-22T10:34:00.005-07:00

See, I have this yarn:

That about 1900 yds. of Cascade Ecological Wool in the Latte colorway. Yummy? I know! A sweater's worth (in the land of "Alex frogs her knitting a lot and sacrifices wool, a lot") with plenty more for fuckups.

It is soft and scrumptious, and from what I hear, it softens a lot in the wash. Yum.

Anyway, I've decided I want a cardigan-style sweater. V-neck with a cozy shawl collar. Kind of like this, the Smokin' Jacket from BrooklynTweed.

Or maybe a little more feminine, like the Indigo Playmate from Wendy Bernard.

(Truth be told, I'd probably wear pants with mine. Just sayin'.)

I, haven't never knit a v-neck, top down, raglan sweater was thinking "cool, I'll buy one of these patterns, see how it's put together, and then probably take those numbers and do my own thing". The problem is that they're not for sale online, ohhhh noooooo, they're in books. Does my library carry these books? No. Can I currently afford to buy these books? Not so much. (And am I willing to be patient and wait until I can buy one of these books? Ha! Funny. If you know me at all, you know the answer is no.)

So, like all of my great ideas, I'm improvising. I'm going to knit a swatch and wash it (I'm being reasonable, I'm going to need at least an idea of what I should be doing. No use knitting the perfect sweater if I wash it and it comes out be be 3 ft. too long.) and then I'm going to do The Math and figure out what numbers I'm going to use. I want a fairily deep v-neck, so I think the increases for the neck should be spread out more than the increases for the raglan shaping. Right? It sounds right to me.

This could, potentially, be a terrible idea. Whatcould possiblygowrong?

*a while later*

P.S. I totally said I'd swatch and I DID. Don't believe me? I have proof!

I know, I'm impressed too.

A hint of thing to come.

2010-08-19T21:00:00.002-07:00

I discovered that the park is a perfect place to take pictures. The sunlight is perfect, the tables provide a good place to set stuff, the and trees are just too darn pretty. Tomorrow will be a long-overdue FO photoshoot.

SockssocksockssocksMORESOCKS

2010-07-17T15:44:00.002-07:00

I went looking for sock yarn (startitis, what can I say) and found this.

I, uhh, think I may have a bit of a problem. Almost every ball of sock yarn I own is either blue or green (and this isn't even all of it). Oh jeeze.

I'm thinking about casting on for these, these, these, or these. Or maybe all of them. I can't decide yet.

Organizing.

2010-07-09T00:42:00.004-07:00

My yarn was out-growing my 3 little stash bins. I upgraded to one big bin for the yarn, and used the little bins for magazines, needles, my bottle of Eucalan, my sock blockers, etc. Plus one bin is filled with my WIPs and the 3rd bin has a sweaters worth of Cascade Ecological Wool.

I dug all of my WIPs out of their various bags, buckets, bowls, nooks and crannies. I found some that I forgot I had, some I fell immediately back in love with, and some I hated. Like my mama's socks.

I don't hesitate to frog if a project is wrong. Example: A hat I knit and completed a few months ago that was supposed to be slouchy, but was dense and pointy. I never wore it, just left it. Today I frogged it and used the yarn (plus some skeins that were leftover) to start a scarf. (Which, in theory was pretty cool, and now I'm not so sure.) My mom's socks were another example, they just weren't right. The yarn wasn't going with the pattern, the toe looked wrong, and I just like top-down better. The second sock to my first sock ever? Frogged too.

I just get in a frogging kind of mood and it makes me happy. It's like, all of a sudden I have all of this wonderful yarn with so many opportunities instead of an ugly project I put in time-out because I hated.

Embrace the frog people, it means more yarn to knit with.

P.S. I've recently finished a hat, a shawl, and have made tons of progress on other items. All will be photographed soon, I promise. I've been really bad about it :(

I'm the luckiest girl alive.

2010-06-24T22:06:00.002-07:00

Tonight in the small town of Pella, Iowa there was the Thursday Night Jamboree. (I'm not sure of the official name, but this fits.)

In addition to food and fun and mayhem, there was a woman with animals for show-and-tell.

The had an alpaca *swoons*, she had baby deer (so much more adorable than words can explain), she had a miniature horse, and.. get this.. 2 lambs (they looked more like grown up sheep to me, but what do I know?). They were show lambs. There were well groomed, clean, and gorgeous.

My mother (who I love dearly because I was too smitten to say anything) asked the woman who owned them if she used to the wool to spin yarn. Nope. The owner jokingly asked if I wanted it and my head snapped up so fast I may have gotten a wee bit of a neck injury.

Of course I wanted this wool. It's FREE WOOL. How much better could it get? The kind lady asked me if I was aware I'd have to wash it and "stuff" before I could spin it. Well.. yes. I had no idea how to prepare wool for spinning, but I could definitely learn how. "Alrighty, I work (at a place I'm not naming on the internet because she is MY free wool lady and no one will steal her from me) and you can come by and I'll give it to you. Have fun."

I then came home and researched the processes that need to be done in order to have wool ready to spin. It needs to be washed and carded for sure. (There's more than that, and many methods of doing each, but I'll leave it at that.) My mom has fabric dye, which after more research, works on wool as well. YES. In my dreams I'm going to be getting free wool, working with it, maybe dying it, and then selling it on Etsy and making big bucks. (Granted, I feel sort of inclined to give this woman some of my profits after I eventually start making money, but for now it's free and all mine.)

I'm going to try techniques from here and here. I'm tempted to buy this, and I need to buy one of these. Maybe eventually I can get one of these (which, as of now, is so far out of my budget it's not visible).

I'm really, really excited. (Did I mention she had an alpaca too? An alpaca just covered in lovely chocolate brown alpaca wool that looks so gosh darn hot in this Iowa summer and I have a feeling that the poor alpaca is going to need a haircut soon. I might have to ask about that.)

Oh, and onto other news, I am only a few rows away from finishing my green shawl. Today's a good day.

THE YARN HAS BEEN FOUND

2010-06-23T12:33:00.002-07:00

I found the yarn in a box inside another box (cruel trick) and hugged the box, stroked the box, realized I was weird and set it down.

Now my set of sock DPNs are MIA.

I can't catch a break.

[Edit: Nevermind, they were hiding in my knitting bag because why on Earth would I look for them there? That's way too reasonable.]

I am devestated

2010-06-23T12:02:00.002-07:00

Yarn was lost in the move.

Yes. Absorb that sentence, let the nausea pass by, and let the horror increase with this next sentence.

Handspun yarn from Capi. All the of gifts, cards, and yarn from my going away party have disappeared. Vanished. Evaporated.

All of my boxes have been opened and mostly unpacked. Once I realized the yarn (which I love and cherish dearly and will be heartbroken forever if it is really truly lost) was MIA, I began rummaging through the remaining unpacked boxes like a woman possessed. Nowhere. Nowhere to be found. My mom packed some of my stuff and so I called her at work and, very calmy, asked her where my !@#$ my yarn was. She has no idea. She knows it wasn't left in the hosue when we left, so she's pretty sure it has to be somewhere, but I can't find it.

Let me explain: I don't lose things. Ever. Sometimes I forget things, but I never lose things. Never. If I do, it's found within seconds. The only few, very few, things I've "lost" have been expensive (such as my phone, which would be a chunk of cash to replace, and was eventually found) or precious. If I do not find this yarn I will be devestated. So, so devestated.

Please send out yarn-finding good thoughts. (Yarn Gods, please help me out here. This is definitely not funny.)

Best Going Away Party EVER.

2010-05-23T05:51:00.003-07:00

Yesterday was my Going Away get-together at Chi Town Pizza w/ my knitting group and it was great. Everyone came and ate and talked and I had a lot of fun.

Nobody ever told me that people brought gifts to going away parties, so I was definitely not expecting all the goodies I received. (Not pictured: A card w/ little blurbs from everyone and a promise of a gift card to my favorite yarn shop in Iowa.)

Ellie made me a spa cloth and brought me some fabulous lavender soap. (I'm all about the fancy soaps, gotta love 'em.)

And Capi brought some of her handspun and told me to pick two. Sooooooooo gorgeous I can't stand it.

I am really going to miss these guys :/

Cedar Leaf Shawlette!!

2010-05-11T19:12:00.003-07:00

I was proud of this before I blocked it. Now, after blocking, I adore this thing. I'll wear it every stinkin' day. Love it.

Sheesh.

2010-04-28T19:39:00.003-07:00

I made a spur-of-the-moment decision to go to knit night tonight at A Good Yarn. I went in with $50, and came out with 6 skeins of yarn (4 were gifts form Capi, more on that later) and Sock Innovation by Cookie A.

I started with one skein of sock yarn and the book, that was good. Then a woman came in with gorgeous hand dyed yarn, 550 yds. of deliciousness. How the hell was I to resist? (For the record, it's peach and pink and purple.. and totally girly. Love it.)

Oh, and Capi took me to her house (which is looks tiny until you walk inside and it never, ever ends. Ever.) to see her rooms upon rooms of yarn. It was great, it gives me an idea of what I aspire to have when I finally "grow up".

I'll photograph the yarn tomorrow and add it to Ravelry :) I have homework to do tonight.

P.S. TO anyone who goes to the Thursday night group at Starbucks, I won't be there tomorrow. My mama will be having some super fun procedures going on tomorrow at the hospital and needs a ride home.

I've been converted.

2010-04-21T16:14:00.002-07:00

I like to think that, normally, I am an independent thinker. I don't let people persuade me, I don't let people get to me, and I do not let people talk me into doing or trying something. Yet, somehow, in the land in knitting, I am helpless to deny.

Alex, you should try knitting socks.
Alex, what about the Ravelympics?
Alex, knitting socks 2 at a time?

Yup. That last one is the latest and I am now knitting a pair of socks for my mama, toe up, 2 at a time on 2 circulars. Best. Thing. Ever. No sewing at the end, no running out of yarn - ever. No worrying about having to count and make sure the socks are the same size and definitely no second sock syndrome. It's (to me at least) just as quick and doing a single sock on DPNs.

Ollie (the nice woman who talked me into this) I, uhh, sort of love you. In case you were wondering.

I'll post pictures when I actually have something to show, but to tide you over until then:

Dream In Color Starry in the Some Summer Sky colorway. Super sparkly, super squishy, and pretty darn fantastic.

The DeStash Party: The Aftermath

2010-04-18T15:29:00.006-07:00

Yeah.. I'm pretty happy with the yarn I got. The top 2 yarns, the Fearless Fibers sock yarn I bought for $15 a piece from Capi. Yeah, 550 yds. for $15 is like... I don't know, I tried to come up with some awesome description and I can't. It's just plain sweet.

It was really good and I'm definitely going to miss these guys when I move.

Dude. Babies.

2010-04-14T19:13:00.003-07:00

I love babies. I adore babies. When there's a baby around, I have to end up putting my knitting down because I can not function properly when there is a tiny human in the room who is melting my heart.

I knew a certain someone (an adult, not one of my student-friends) was going to quit her job to be a stay at home mama as soon as the opportunity arose.

Guess who announced that this would be her last year working?! I am thrilled. Thrilled to the brim. As soon as I found out and the room cleared of anyone else who wasn't smart enough to guess, we started screaming and jumping and hugging and squealing and talking baby-talk.

And I, Alexandra Martin, and going to be personally responsible for covering this nice lady's baby in wool and all sorts of squishy, beautiful, machine-washable, neutral-sex colored wool.

The projects above are some of the items I'm considering. (Top to bottom: Mary Jane Booties, Seed Stitch Jacket, Baby Yours, and Tiny Shoes.) It's possible that I might be equally/more excited about this baby than the mother-to-be... but that's doubtful. Oh, and this kid is going to have a wicked shoe collection before he/she is even born, there's no doubt in that at all.

This is starting a bad case of startitis...

2010-03-21T11:13:00.007-07:00

I spent Spring Break in Iowa. Iowa has some really great yarn shops, I should know. It's all I did all week: yarn hunting.

Manos Del Uruguay Silk Blend, Raveled here. Words cannot describe how soft and silky and smooth this yarn is. I love it, and I can't wait to start knitting with it. (I just need to fins the perfect project first..)

Cascade Ultra Pima, Raveled here. The color is soooo deep and rich and gorgeous. I need to be buying more cotton because summer is almost here and wool doesn't go well with hot summers.

Zwerger Garn Opal Handpainted (I think..), Raveled here. The label is in German or Dutch or something, so I honestly have no idea what this is. I do know that it is very pretty sock yarn and will make a fantastic pair of socks someday.

Zwerger Garn Opal Rendez-Vous, Raveled here. It's pink and purple and self patterning (all things that amuse my mother), so this is for her. I'm pretty excited to get started working with this yarn.

Ella Rae Lace Merino, Raveled here. This is sock yarn, not lace.. I don't get it. Anyways, this yarn was a colossal pain in the ass to wind. It made a cake so tight I could barely get it off of the ball winder. I had to rewind it carefully (after detangling it) to get it how I wanted it. It's too pretty to ignore.

The gang's all here. Sooooo pretty, I'm excited. Unfortunately, having all of this new yarn is making me want to start on a hundred new projects. I REFUSE. I will finish something before I start something new if it kills me, I swear.

I'm going to spin!

2010-02-28T17:49:00.003-07:00

The past 2 consecutive Saturdays, women have come with their drop spindles and spun. I was so ridiculously entertained, I can not even begin to explain.

So.. Here it is: I'm going to teach myself how to spin yarn on a drop spindle. I went to Etsy and bought a drop spindle (that comes with roving and a "teach yourself how to spin" guide) and some silk roving.

This is the spinning kit I got from Wind Rose on Etsy. I'm pretty excited.

This would be the Tussah Silk Roving I bought (also from Wind Rose). Is it gorgeous or what?
"Tussah silk is gathered from wild silk worms after the moth emerges and is often referred to as "Peace Silk". It's stronger than cultivated silk and has more than a 3" staple length. It's loved by both spinners and needle felters for its softness and luster."

Sock yarn is definitely not stash.

2010-02-10T20:44:00.002-07:00

I'm following the Stephanie Pearl-McPhee approach: sock yarn is not stash. (If I don't have at least a little loophole, my yarn diet will never survive. This is an excellent option.)

Today while at knit night (today's was located at the yarn shop) and I could not resist buying just a little bit of yarn to take the edge off. At first I got a skein of Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Solids and a skein of Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine (which was only $11 for a whole skein with plenty to knit a pair of socks. $11 for quality sock yarn, you wouldn't be able to resist either). Then I went back and picked up the gorgeous skein of hand painted teal sock yarn I had found earlier. It was the last one available, it was a limited edition, and it was hand painted. Really, it was irresistible.

Emily was laughing at me pretty hard. I don't blame her, 20 minutes before my purchases I had been talking about my newly organized stash and my also-new yarn diet. I'm pretty hopeless. Then Carolyn (the school nurse at PHS) chimed in that according to the Yarn Harlot: sock yarn is not stash. I agreed.

So, new philosophy. I'm feeling pretty good about this. And a new relization: I think I am subconciously attracted to green sock yarn and blue worsted weight for hats. I'm going to be a ripe old age someday with 40 million blue hats and another 40 million pairs of green socks. Yup. green socks.

Socks!

2010-02-09T10:22:00.003-07:00

This morning I decided to put the half finished sock on one of the sock blockers. You know, just for kicks.

IT'S FOOT SHAPED! AND THE RIGHT SIZE! AND THE GAUGE IS FANTASTIC! I think I forgot to mention that it is perfect.

After finishing the decreases of the picked up stitches from the heel flap (Wow, I can't remember the term. It's not the gusset.. the instep? I have no idea.) too quickly, I had to rip back to pre-picked-up-stitches and start over again. I decided to put an all-knit row in between the decrease rows. That seems to work out perfectly.

Wow, foot shaped socks. This thrills me to no end.

I'M NOT BREAKING MY YARN DIET, I SWEAR.

2010-02-07T16:12:00.006-07:00

The last time Jim (mom's fiancee) was in town, they ventured up to Jerome and bought me a gift certificate for Knit 1 Bead 2. After weeks of it burning a hole in my pocket, my mom and I took a trip up there today. We had lunch at the Haunted Hamburger (which was fantastic, after they re-cooked my burger. The first time around it was barely cooked and totally gross.) and then went to the yarn shop.

I paced and walked around the store, picking up and feeling skein after skein of pretty yarn that I wasn't really loving. I considered buying just a skein of or 2 of something I knew I liked from A Good yarn so I could get out of there, but I didn't want to leave the shop that I"ll probably never go to again with something I could buy in my town.

After pacing for about an hour, I finally stumbled upon a giant rack of Dream in Color Starry. How had I not seen it before? I have no idea. But it was there, next to the beaded jewelry, and it was gorgeous. I walked up to the rack and first saw the giant red skein called Lipstick Lava. Then I looked down and saw a shelf. A shelf with even more Dream in Color Starry. It was there that I saw a beautiful skein called Blue Lagoon. My mom came over and then picked out a nice skein for herself, Some Summer Sky, with the idea of me knitting her socks (considering that she was the one responsible for the gift certificate, and was also willing to spring the cash for an extra skein for me as a gift, I'm more than willing to knit her the perfect socks.)

Blue Lagoon. It's a smidge darker than in the photos, but seriously, I adore this yarn. It's my favorite color. And as a girl, something deep inside of me really, really loves the sparkles.

Some Summer Sky. I was a little surprised, my mom chose this over a lovely baby pink (which is usually her favorite). It's a little too light for my taste, but there's no denying that it's gorgeous.

Lipstick Lava. Way more red than in the photos (close to the top picture, but not completely), way way way more red. It has some subtle hints of dark brownish-purple as well. I think I might make a pair of Nutkins out of this, that's what popped into my head the second I saw it.

So yeah, it was a gift. And I had to spend the gift certificate before I moved. So, technically, this wasn't breaking my yarn diet because all of the yarn bought today was a gift. And 1/3 of what I bought today will be made into something for my mom, not me. (It's totally justified, I swear.)

~~~

Project kits. Tons of them. A tall laundry basket filled to the brim with them. I counted, and then added more, so I'd guess around 30 projects kits. AND I STILL HAVE MORE YARN. Good Lord. I have 3 bins that used to be overflowing, and are now comfortably filled, but seriously: How do I have 30 project kits and still more yarn?!

I'm thrilled with this whole thing, by the way. Everything is organized and it pleases me to no end. As soon as I finish my socks, I can grab the neck warmer WIP, and then the Habitat WIP, and my Ravelympics project is right on top just waiting for me to work on it. I love this. Love, love, love this. Organization is pretty much the key to my happiness. No more yarn on shelves, or in baskets, or on top of books. Nope, none. There's yarn tucked away in 3 small-ish bins in my closet, and then The Basket Of Project Kits. I am tickled, really, this is going to be great.

All of the patterns I want to do, they're in The Bin. All of the yarn I so desperately want to work with, it's in The Bin. The projects that need to be done and over with, in The Bin. It's sort of prioritized, a little, the projects I want done NOW are at the top, while everything else is mingling below them. I just can't explain how much I love this.

~~~

I picked patterns for the new sock yarn, and my mom picked a pattern for hers.

"Alex, this is cute, but it looks too difficult. It says Intermediate."
*grabs book to look over pattern*
"Mom, it's just knit, purl, k2tog, and ssk. No biggie. The chart is easy to read and the instructions are clear. It will take an attention span, but it'll be fine."
"Are you sure, it looks awfully hard. I don't want you to be ripping your hair out making these for me."
"Mom, seriously, it's fine. I wouldn't offer to make these if I didn't feel confident I could do it."
"Alright, but it's okay if you decide to make just simple socks."
"Mom, I want to make socks you're going to love."
"Thanks sweetie."

Watch me be ripping out my hair making these. Hahaha. Of course.

Day 2: a good start on my stashbusting project, and some very hot FO action.

2010-02-07T09:34:00.006-07:00

I finished my hat. My first cable project. I finished it in 3 days. Well, technically, one night, one day, and a morning. (So if you want to add it up, it's really only 2 days.) I did the Snowdrift hat by Alex Tinsley. I followed the pattern except for turning the 1x1 rib into a 2x2 rib, and I used a super bulky instead of a chunky. It's dense and warm and I love it. My only real beef is the yarn. If you tugged at it a little to hard, it just ripped apart. And it was filled with vegetable matter. And the second skein had random spots of black on it. Like, say, the yarn was on the ground and someone stepped in it with dirty shoes. In the end, I love it. It's exactly what I wanted out of this yarn.

~~~

I turned this (Sorry for the crappy quality. Cell phone picture and at night, yeah.. The sad part is that this wasn't even all of it.):

Into this:

And this:

I took all of my yarn, every bit of it (in the bins, on the bookshelf, out of my knitting bag, etc.) and put it all on my bed. I gabbed some patterns I like, got the yarn I wanted to pair with the pattern, and put them in bags. I was up until 11 last night making a ton of kits and then threw them in the huge laundry basket I have. This way, I can grab a bag when I'm done with my project, and power through a new project. (I'm really excited about this, I think it will make my yarn diet easier.)

Part 1: A Dedication

2010-02-06T17:58:00.004-07:00

I do not have bucket of money laying around dedicating to yarn-buying. I have a ton of yarn, I really don't need any more at this point.

Tomorrow I am going to get a ton of Ziploc bags and set up yarns with patterns. If I need to print out the pattern, I will. If I need to scan a pattern out of a book, I will. I'll everything set up and then make myself knit a single project at a time and power through some of my projects because, seriously, I have too much yarn.

(I wonder how far this will go and how good I'll be about it. I'm going to give it the ole' college try, but I just hope I stick with it for a while.)

Because, obviously, I don't have enough yarn already.

2010-01-29T17:35:00.004-07:00

Everything I've acquired in the past 3 days. Including the koala version of Kritter Craft Cases and some suede bottoms for felted clogs(not shown).

Cascade 220 in Italian Plum. It is a very beautiful, rich purple. My camera disagrees. I took about 20 pictures and they all look really dark. Other yarns look great, this yarn just doesn't photograph well.
Cascade 220 Tweed in a blue that is bright, but not nearly as much as the picture portrays.

Encore Chunky in a very nice gray.

Cascade 220 in Tutu Pink. (It's for my mother. She is all about the pink. I happen to think it's nauseating.)

Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Semi-Solids in Indigo

In the past 3 days, I have spent a dizzying amount of money on yarn. I figured I might as well post pictures.

Oh, knitting fates, do you really have to mess with me?

2010-01-27T21:57:00.002-07:00

I finished knitting, sewing, and weaving in the ends for my first pair of french Press Felted Slippers in 2 afternoons. My first pair of any footwear. My first felted item.

I learned something: FELTING SUCKS.

I mean, I'm sure it's great if you know what you're doing and the yarn is cooperating and the washing machine is producing the correct temperature of water. I'm sure it's fantastic if you know what you're doing. I do not know what I'm doing. I'm doing what I've read in forty million places and what the designer and my mom and a hundred other knitters said.

Thery're too big, they're not felted enough or in the right spots, and hand felting makes me want to eat my arm.

Tomorrow I am going to set the washing machine to a high water temp, put the slippers in (while also in a zippered pillow case) and let them do as they please. I'm going to shower and eat breakfast and just let them do as they wish.

(Although, honestly, if they don't do what I want them to, I might throw a world-class hissy fit. Yeah, real mature.)

It has FINALLY stopped snowing.

2010-01-24T17:25:00.003-07:00

I'm doing Ravelympics this year. I figured: Why not? Any excuse to force myself to finish something.

I'm going to knit Serpentina, a scarf with a pretty simple lace pattern. It's easy, so why am I doing it? BECAUSE THE PATTERNS CALLS FOR 4 SKEINS OF YARN AND THE SCARF ENDS UP BEING 40 MILLION FT. LONG.

Here's my problem. I adore long scarves, but I do not have the attention-span for them. I barely have the attention-span for a hat or a cowl, but a huge ass scarf? No way. I happen to love this scarf though, and I want it very badly, and so I'm going to force myself to knit the whole thing in 2 weeks. I'm pretty excited.

~~~

There was a freak snow storm here for the past week, and we got 2 consecutive days off from school. That's never happened, ever. (Our district is remarkably stingy about snow days.)

I watched a lot of TV. I downloaded a lot of free patterns off of Ravelry (and quite a few not-free ones). I also knit. A lot. I got a hat and a neck warmer finished and blocked, and I started 2 socks (one of which has a good portion of the leg done). That's a lot of knitting in a short period of time.

I feel so accomplished.

~~~

I'm no longer wasting my money on yarn.

I am now learning how to waste all of my money buying patterns on Ravelry.

Great. There is absolutely no hope for me.

Oh, the sheer joy of sock knitting

2010-01-10T15:17:00.002-07:00

Remember how I was going to knit socks?

Try 1: Yarn got tangled and only way to untangle the mess was to frog what little I had.

Try 2: I finished turning the heel and picking up the stitches fromt he heel flap to realize the sock was about 2" too big. Frogged again.

Try 3: With the entire sock being too big, I failed to notice that the gauge was also way too big. Frogged. Again.

Try 4: Use smaller needles, cast on fewer stitches and when this try will inevitably fail, resist urge to eat yarn and deny ever attempting to knit socks.

~~~

I'm going on a yarn/knitting notions/knitting books diet. I'm going to use up what yarn I have and use books from the library. I have enough yarn to last for months, and I am running extremely low on cash. I'm learning that buying yarn instead of buying things like shampoo and lunch doesn't work very well.

Knitting socks is way easier than I thought it would be.

2010-01-07T21:28:00.002-07:00

I figured out the basics of sock knitting, and then taught myself how to knit socks. I taught myself how to knit using teeny-tiny DPNS. I taught myself how to handle bamboo needles. I taught myself how to do short rows, and therefore teaching myself how to turn the heel of a sock.

Whoever spread the rumor that turning the heel is scary and hard? It isn't. It's easy and totally entertaining that as you knit it forms this pocket for your heel. It's totally cool and quick and easy and it's definitely my favorite part.

(By the way, I'm about 5 rows away fro finished the heel of my first sock ever. It's top notch, really. They're going to fit perfectly, I can tell.)

~~~

I keep going to A Good Yarn every day or 2. This is ruining my budget for things like shampoo and food. Craaaaaaaap. Must. Acquire. Self. Control. Noooooooooooow.

Socks: Episode 1

2010-01-03T19:13:00.003-07:00

I belong to the Prescott Knitters group on Ravelry. I've chatted with the moderator and I've been wanting to go to their meet-ups on Thursdays for a while now but couldn't find the time between finals and the holidays. And then they started a Saturday meet-up at this place called Method Coffee way out on Willow Creek out by the Ford dealership.

It was great. I met the moderator, Katie, first and then maybe half an hour later Allee (Katie's friend) came in. Allee is hilarious. She's this super outspoken woman who tells all of these hilarious stories. Katie is very sweet and open and totally cool. We all talked and laughed and drank coffee for 2 hours before we all parted ways. It was nice to just sit and talk about knitting with people who love it as much as you do.

Oh, and I got talked into knitting socks. I have sock yarn, and I do like portable projects, so all I needed was some DPNs. I went to my LYS and found some bamboo ones, which I was bummed about since I usually hate bamboo needles, but these aren't so bad. I came home, knit a makeshift swatch and CO. I got thorough about a row and a half before I decided I had to rewind my ball of yarn and blah blah blah it got tangled and I had to frog what part of sock I did have and now I'm back to square one. Craaaaaaap. Oh well, I'll take what little I did learn (like that you should decide if you want to use 3 or 4 DPNs before you actually start working on your project, or that you should not use a ton of huge stitch markers because they just complicate things) and CO again tonight.

Oh, and if you're a knitter in Prescott, you should come to one of the meetings some time. They're fun. There's one Thursday nights from 5:30 to 7 at the Starbucks on Gail Gardner (by Joann and Walmart), and there's one at Method Coffee on Willow Creek on Saturdays from 1-4 (you don't have to be there the whole time, you can stay as long or as short as you want).

YARN PORN

2009-12-28T14:29:00.010-07:00

I am updating (and adding) pictures to Ravelry, so I figured I'd put some pictures up here too. Enjoy.

Patons Kroy Socks, 3 balls from Hobby Lobby. I have no idea what I'm going to do with them.

2 skeins (rolled into 1 ball) came in the kit for some lace scarf.. Anyway, the yarn is Naturally Atlante.

This was originally for Onerva, but I changed my mind. Now I have a single skein of Malabrigo Sock in Solis and I have no idea what to do with it.

Yarn for the vest kit my mom gave me for Christmas. It sure is puuuuuuurty.

Cascade Sock (2 skeins) being knit into Onerva. (Bottom picture is more true to color.)

This is the yarn for the Undulating Waves Scarf kit my mom gave me. It's pima cotton, but she lost the label/tag thing and I don't know the brand or dyelot or anything.

I skein of Berocco Peruvia in... some very pretty teal colorway I can't remember to save my life. It's more green, but my camera doesn't really care what I think.

3 skeins of Silky Wool in Viridian. I think I'll go back to A Good Yarn on Thursday and see if they have any more in this colorway.

1 giant (950 yards, that's what I'm talking about) skein of Madelinetosh Lace in Kelp from The Backwards Loop, they wound it for me for $1 (it's $1 for lace & fingering & sock[I think], but anything heavier is only 50 cents). The top picture is more true in color.

Hrm.

2009-12-27T17:53:00.003-07:00

Today is the day of returning Christmas presents and using that money to buy something you'd actually use (or want). I returned $55 of stuff and then went to my LYS, A Good Yarn. I toddled around for a while and came up with e skeins of Silky Wool in Viridian (it's this light teal with just a hint of seafoam green tints), the big monstrous bottle of Euclan, and the mile-long circular needle for the blanket.

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?! Blanket? Who's knitting a blanket?

Yes, that would be me. I decided to save all of my leftover yarn and just tie the ends together and knit and knit until it was big enough and have a multi-colored blanket of some sort. I figured that it'll take forever to knit and it will tell a very lovely story and it will give reason to my hoarding of all of my "yarn scraps". (Or maybe I'll just cast on a million stitches, knit for about 6" and call it a scarf. You never know.)

I went to see The Princess and The Frog today. While it had extremely creepy parts, (it's voodoo, what about voodoo isn't creepy) it was cuuuuuuuuuuute. I liked the southern belle, she was funny. I miss Louisiana :(

Guess who doesn't know a thing about photographing yarn...

2009-12-26T12:34:00.003-07:00

Christmas is a very nice day.

2009-12-25T13:00:00.003-07:00

My mother, being the beautiful creature that she is, got me the best Christmas present ever.

A swift and ball winder.

She got this for me partly because of the hints I've been dropping these past couple of weeks, and partly because it fascinates her how they work. Anyways, they're wonderful and amazing and I spent 3 hours this morning winding every skein of yarn I own (this is only a small fraction).

I also got a sweater kit that I was eyeing-but-not-buying at the quilt show (long story) my mom dragged me to in September. The one I saw was in gold, but this one is in teal and the yarn is hand dyed and hand spun and gorgeous.

As for non-knitting-related items, I got the entire Star Wars collection (I've never seen any of them before), 2 fitness games for the Wii, a couple of books (one with the low-down on socks, which is knitting-related), and various other stuff.

The morning was so crazy that I got really busy and forgot breakfast, and now my stomach hurts. Bleeeeeeeeh.

I'm going to go have some more Christmas fun, Merry Christmas to all :)

(I'll post later with some more pictures.)

Part 2: Seeeeeeeeeeee, I tooooold you.

2009-12-24T19:23:00.003-07:00

Who wants to guess what I didn't do today...

To any and all who said "take pictures of your knitting like you promised you big, fat jerk" then you were correct. I swear I'll do it tomorrow in my room by the window with the great light. Honestly. I'll have nothing much to do tomorrow between opening presents and making The Big Dinner. (Yes, my family has enlisted the teenager to make Christmas dinner. They're bright.) I'll do it, I swear.

P.S. I'll even get some shots of the now-sewed-up neck warmer. And maybe I'll add some
pics of my Onerva so far.

I looooooooooooove knitting lace or lace-knitting or whatever. I love it and you can't stop me from making all of the lace shawls in the whole world and buying all of the lace yarn in the world and hoarding it in my room, just stroking and petting it for the rest of my life.

(Too bad I still have a harboring passion for simple slouchy hats made out of worsted yarn...)

Part 1: I swear there will be a Part 2

2009-12-24T10:05:00.003-07:00

Go look at my projects on Ravelry. Do it, I'd dare you but that sounds lame. No, really, go look at them..

Oh, wait, there's nothing to look at because I suuuuuuuck and have severely neglected taking pretty pictures of yarn, WIPS, and finished stuff. And the hats I made for Sami and Andrew were given away before I could properly photograph them.

Today is that day that pictures will be taken. They will go from life to camera to computer to Ravelry. Sorry I've been holding out on whoever wants to see my knitting. (I'm still wondering if anyone actually reads this blog.)

Besides that I will be watching episode after episode of Gilmore Girls and knitting on the scarf I promised Mr. Kiesling (choir teacher) because the sooner I get it done the sooner I can give it to him and then he'll stop bugging me incessantly. Oh, and ya know.. I'll be working on Onerva.

The neckwarmer dried with astonishing speed and, as hoped, it doesn't smell anymore. Well, it does, but like the SOAK wash it marinated it. (Pictures later, I promise.)

I am wickedly excited about the whole "knitting lace" thing.

2009-12-23T15:40:00.002-07:00

I finished the first repeat for Onerva, and I am way excited about how it's going to far. It's beautiful, and the only errors I've made are minimal. It's going to be so wonderful once its finished and blocked.

Too bad it's going to take forever since I have 800+ yards of yarn for this and I'm working on US 3 needles and each repeat is only about 1.5" - 2" long. GAAAAAAAH. This is going to take forever, but I am loving it, and so for now it's all good.

~~~

And I finished a neck warmer I was working on. It's a nice creamy-white color, and made out of baby alpaca. Want to know how it smelled while I was hand washing it? I don't think you do. Imagine wet dog smell times 10. It was horrible. I think it'll go away once it dries.. I hope. Anyway, it turned out very nice.

I have 40 million things I need to finish knitting, such as: a scarf for my mom, an orange scarf for my friend Lauren, Onerva, Serpentina, and all of the projects I have the yarn for but haven't technically started yet. (Like the hat I want to make out of Mirasol K'acha in this warm buttery yellow/gold color. The yarn is great except for the fact that is sheds more than a golden retriever.)

The ugly tote bag my mom wanted me to knit her? Yeah, she finally took it away from me and finished knitting it herself. Nice. She got it exactly how she wanted it and I got off scott-free. Now I just have 2 more tote bags exactly like it to knit in other colors.

I have a church Christmas party thing to go to tonight, it'll be fun.

Early New Years Resolution: Start blogging on here more often instead of my normal blog. Talking about knitting is much better than talking about silly high school stuff.

Onerva pattern (revised)

2009-12-22T09:40:00.006-07:00

I posted a blog (that I have now deleted) with the “almost finished pattern”. Then, a couple hours later, began to actually start knitting it. I immediately realized that despite double and triple checking the damn pattern, I’ve managed to make a big mistake.

As soon as you get to row 5 (according to the chart) you become horrified at the fact that you are 2 stitches short. And then you come up with an easy way to add 2 stitches, keep going along, and then come to row 7 (according to the chart) and realize that you are again 2 stitches short. You put down the knitting, look at the pattern, and then you count how many stitches each row begins with and then how many each row ends with. You realize that after every wrong-side row, the next row requires 2 stitches that you don’t have. Every. Single. Right-side row. And then you get to row 13 and realize you are 4 stitches short (which is all my fault because I put a k3 instead of just a k. Don’t worry, that’s fixed now).

Needless to say, it was a big giant mistake in the written pattern and I went through and fixed it. Now that it’s fixed it should be good to go. I will start over on knitting it (considering I frogged it once I realized I’d screwed up) and will note and fix any more mistakes that I spot. I did the math again and it looks like adding 2 yarn overs to the WS row will account for the stitches missing.

And, well, here’s the revised pattern: (send me a message on ravelry for any more mistakes, I’m knittynwitty)

● CO 3 sts
● k3
● k, yo, k, yo, k
● k2, p, k2
● k2, yo, k, yo, k2
● k2, p3, k2
● k2, yo, k3, yo, k2
● k2, p5, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k, yo, ssk, k2 (this bit is the first row of the chart)
● k2, yo, p5, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p7, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p9, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p11, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p13, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p15, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p17, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p19, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k9, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p21, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p23, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k9, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p25, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k15, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p27, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k9, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p29, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k15 yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p31, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k8, k2tog, yo, k, yo, ssk, k8, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p33, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k4, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k4, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p35, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k6, k2tog, yo, k, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k, yo, ssk, k6, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p37, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k8, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k8, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p39, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k4, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k4, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p41, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k6, k2tog, yo, k, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k, yo, k2tog, k6, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p43, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k7, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k7, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p45, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k4, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k4, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p47, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k6, k2tog, yo, k, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k9, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k, yo, ssk, k6, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p49, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k8, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k8, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p51, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k4, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k9, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k4, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, yo, sso, k2
● k2, yo, p53, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k6, k2tog, yo, k, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k15, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k, yo, ssk, k6, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k24
● k2, yo, p55, yo, k2

● k2, k2tog, yo, k, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k8, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k9, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k8, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p57, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k4, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k15, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k4, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p59, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k6, k2tog, yo, k, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k8, k2tog, yo, k, yo, ssk, k8, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k, yo, ssk, k6, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p61, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k8, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k4, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k4, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k8, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p63, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yok3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k4, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k6, k2tog, yo, k, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k, yo, ssk, k6, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k4, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p65, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k6, k2tog, yo, k, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k8, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k3yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k8, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k, yo, ssk, k6, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p67, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k8, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k4, k3tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k4, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k8, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p69, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k4, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k6, k2tog, yo, k, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k, yo, ssk, k6, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k4, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p71, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k6, k2tog, yo, k, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k8,k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k8, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k, yo, ssk, k6, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p73, yo, k2
● k2 k2tog, yo, k, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, , k8, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k4, k2tog, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k4, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k8, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p75, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k4, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k6, k2tog, k, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k9, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k, yo, ssk, k6, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k4, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p77, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k6, k2tog, yo, k, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k8, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k8, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k, yo, ssk, k6, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p79, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k8, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k4, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k9, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, , k3, yo, ssk, k4, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k8, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p81, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k4, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k6, k2tog, yo, k, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k14, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k, yo, ssk, k6, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k4, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p83, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k6, k2tog, yo, k, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k8, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k9, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k8, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k, yo, ssk, k6, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p85, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k8, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k4, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k15, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k4, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k8, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p87, yo, p2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k4, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k6, k2tog, yo, k, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k8, k2tog, yo, k, yo, ssk, k8, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k, yo, ssk, k6, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k4, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p89, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k6, k2tog, yo, k, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k8, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k4, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k4, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k8, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k, yo, ssk, k6, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p91, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k4, k2tog,k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k6, k2tog, yo, k, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k, yo, ssk, k6, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k4, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k8, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p93, yo, k2
● k2, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k4, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k6, k2tog, yo, k, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k8, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k8, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k, yo, ssk, k6, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k4, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2
● k2, yo, p95, yo, k2

Mmmmm.

2009-11-11T21:21:00.004-07:00

I was on a plane today. A 3 hour plane ride, actually, from Iowa to Arizona. 3 hours of sitting requires a few things:

Yarn, a small project (such as a bright blue hat on circular needles), water, food, and my ipod. That's all a girl ever really needs.. Except for maybe a full-sized restroom where she could wash her hands frequently because the feeling of grimy-airport-hands is disgusting to a MAX.

"Hey, I might as well take a picture (very coyly) of my mom playing with her phone and making a very attractive face."

"Heh, nice. Wait, wait a minute.. there's a woman in the background. Waaaaait a minute. She looks like she's doing something crafty.."

Yeah, my attempt at a "better shot" just included this months' issue of Women's Health with Ashlee Simpson looking gorgeous. Nice, but not what I was aiming for.

Here we go, the killer picture (that was poorly executed and slightly blurry). A knitter, a fellow knitter, sitting (ironically) in the same isle as me. I swelled with pride. I discovered that she was using these needles and this yarn in the Tomate colorway.. I think. not sure. I know it was Berocco from the tag, and it was thin like maybe a sock yar, or a sport wieght... So Peruvia seemed like an option, because even though it's listed as a worsted weight, that's so hardcore BS that I'm not even going into it right now. If Berocco Peruvia is worsted weight, then I'm a size 2. HAH!

Anyways, yeah, fellow knitter. My mom was chuckling at how amused I was. I was more amused at how well her 4 year-old son (hidden next to her) was behaving, sitting (mostly) quietly either watching a movie or doing his "homework" while she quietly knitting away on her totally beautiful scarf that my picture does not do justice because blackberry cameras suuuuuuuck.

Yeah, so, knitters on a plane. Two of us, in the same isle, it was destiny.

My mom and I got off the plane and went to head home in our truck, which, of course, didn't start because the car-fates loathe me and are out to get me on a pretty constant basis. (While we thought we'd need a rental car to get home, the car-fates brought NASCAR into town and thus a bunch of fans who quickly ate up every single rental car available in Phoenix. Yes, every single one, it was pretty astonishing. Nicely done, car-fates, nice work.) We then spent 2 hours waiting for a tow-truck-guy to come get the car when it reality all he needed to do was spend 20 minutes recharging the battery enough to get us home. And he did, and in the span of 4 hours that it took us to get home (when it only should've taken us an hour and a half) I got no knitting done. Yeah, I know, none. It was strange. I just listened to my ipod and slept. i was to tired to knit. I know.. strange concept.

Anyways, like the hat? I'm going to fold up the bottom part of the brim to keep my ears toasty and besides that, it's your typical regularly-scheduled simple ribbed-brim hat.

Oh, the joys of the winter season.

2009-11-04T22:00:00.004-07:00

Once upon a time I asked my friend Lauren what she'd like for a Christmas gift if I were to knit her anything (excluding an afghan or a sweater) she wanted. She wanted fingerless mitts. Bright orange fingerless mitts with a bright blue thumb. I've been looking and looking and finally found a pattern that I think she'll enjoy wearing and I will enjoy knitting for her. Here it is. I figure I'll just swap out the orange for the blue when it comes to the thumb shaping and it'll be all good.

That will be a perfect gift for Lauren, it'll definitely suit her personality.

~~~
I made my first-ever knitting birthday present for my friend Sami. A simple stockinette beanie with ribbed edging. I put it on the back burner and finally started it late Monday afternoon. No problem, I'd get it done in time.. but wait, her birthday is on Wednesday, that's only a day and a half to knit this hat.. Shoot.

Oh well. I did finish it, and she did love it, I just had to drink half a pot of coffee and pull an all-nighter last night so currently I am way burned out.

I'm glad she loved it. I figure I'll knit her a matching something to go with it for Christmas and it'll be a perfect gift for her.

~~~

Well.. that covers Lauren and Sami. That's only 2/3 of my best-buds group. Kim, the other third, is a treat I might add. She tells me she doesn't want a knitted gift, and then she tells me she does, and then goes back to looking disgusted by the idea of it. I'm not sure if I want to knit her anything because I don't know what she'd actually use or like (and it helps a lot that she won't tell me) or if I should just buy her a book of ghost stories and an industrial-sized bag of red Skittles and maybe a lifetime membership to Taco Bell or something.

If I do knit her something, she will love it, or she better pretend to love it when I'm around or I'll cry.

~~~

Okay, so uhhh.. Any want to help me out here: Where the hell did October go? October was my buffer month for the holiday knitting I need to accomplish and it's gone. And November is whipping by and December is not long enough and I am starting to think that maybe, just maybe, I might not get everything done in time.. Oooops.

Part 2: Turning the charts for Onerva into a written pattern (up to row 16)

2009-10-21T17:32:00.002-07:00

That chart for Onerva has teeny boxes and even teeeeeeeny-er symbols. For me, reading charts is hard enough. The stupid symbols tend to merge and get all scrambled together after a while and I just don’t have enough brain function to deal with it by that point. Anyone else like this? Anyone else who’s like me and would so much rather just read a stinking pattern?

Oh, and uhh, anyone need some help figuring out how to start your work because the stupid freaking chart doesn’t include the little starting bit. And it doesn’t show the garter stitch border because the symbol for knit is a blank space. And it doesn’t include the wrong side, only ever other row that is the right side. Yeah, suuuuuper helpful chart.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am your hero. I have written up the chart as a pattern up until the 16th row (so far). You want it? Do you reeeeeeaaaaaly waaaaaaaaaaant it? Well, fine, here it is:

• CO 3 sts
• k3
• k, yo, k, yo, k
• k2, p, k2
• k2, yo, k, yo, k2
• k2, p3, k2
• k2, yo, k3, yo, k2
• k2, p5, k2
• k2, k2tog, yo, k, yo, ssk, k2 (this bit is the first row of the chart)
• k2, p5, k2
• k2, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k2
• k2, p7, k2
• k2, k2tog, yo, k, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k, yo, ssk, k2
• k2, p9, k2
• k2, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2
• k2, p11, k2
• k2, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k2
• k2, p13, k2
• k2, k2tog, yo, k, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k2
• k2, p15, k2
• k2, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, s1k2togpsso, yo, k3, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k2
• k2, p17, k2

On a few obvious notes: the first and past 2 stitches will always be knitted, and on the wrong-side-rows you’ll always purl all of the stitches except for the knitted border. Also, you increase by 2 stitches every right-side row except for when you get to 9. When you increase to 9 stitches you stay that way for 4 rows, I know, it’s weird, but that’s the way it is and it will look fine after blocking I promise. (The first row of the chart is when you have 9 stitches, by the way.)

Abbreviations (I think they’re all pretty obvious except for the long one, but I’ll post them all:)

k: knit (if there’s a number after it, you knit that many stitches)
p: purl (if there’s a number after it, you purl that many stitches)
yo: yarn over
k2tog: knit 2 stitches together
ssk: slip slip knit (or the cheating way like I do it: knit 2 stitches together through the back of the stitches)
s1k2togpsso: (it’s a double decrease, a.k.a. turning 3 stitches into 1)slip one stitch to the right needle with the yarn in the back, then knit the next 2 stitches together, and then move the slipped stitch over the stitch created bu the k2tog as if you were binding off

Okay, well that about covers it. Have I casted on yet? Nope. I missed a few days of school while I was in California, and now I have the task of making up all of my homework. As much as I wish I could knit while doing my homework, it’s kind of impossible. Maybe I’ll cast on tonight after I’m finished my homework.. Mmmm, maybe.

Part 1: Decoding the pattern for Onerva (READ THIS IF YOU NEED HELP FIGURING IT OUT TOO)

2009-10-20T21:11:00.003-07:00

Do you know what is really, really frustrating? Trying to figure out a !@#$%^&* lace pattern when you’ve been awake for 18 hours and you’re only running off of 5 hours of sleep. That is not even close to being enough sleep to function normally, and especially not enough sleep to decode a lace pattern written in Finnish. Well, actually, some other (most likely well rested) patient individuals had already decoded it and made up a chart in English. So technically I’m trying to decode an English chart. And under normal circumstances I can do that. I have Google, I have Ravelry, I can pretty much figure anything out using these 2 tools.

So what happens when Google can’t help me, and not everyone on Ravelry is jumping at the opportunity to decode the pattern for me? Things get frustrating. Insanity levels become moderate. Levels of my patience drop considerably. I become a very hostile knitter.

See, my problem? There’s a preeeeeeeetty triangular shawl. Her name is Onerva. Onerva is Finnish. There’s a language barrier. Then I discovered Onerva 2.0 in English. I just assumed that this Onerva 2.0 would be easy for me considering that any English-speaking idiot would be able to read a chart that’s written in English.. So, so stupid of me. This Onerva has brought me to be my knees, whimpering, crying out in pain, and the worst part? I haven’t even started knitting it yet.

!@#$%^&*. If I am being defeated by a shawl I haven’t even CO for yet, can you only imagine what it will be like once I do CO?! It’ll be a nightmare. A scaaaaaaaaaaaary nightmare in which a life-sized pair of knitted needles stab me in the stomach and a mutant pair of embroidery scissors chop of my head. It’s a gory, terrifying, painful nightmare in which I am the main star.

I figured everything out except for the abbreviation “m”. Nobody knew what “m” meant. Then someone figured it out. “m” means s1k2togpsso. Now if I can just Google what that last part means I’ll be ready to go and WAIT, WHAT?! My Internet got slower, and slooooower, and then it came to a halt. Awesome, just what I need.

So.. No more Internet, no more pattern help, just me. By myself. Confused out of my mind. Getting way more frustrated by the passing seconds. And what do I do? Pull up WordPerfect and type out a makeshift blog that will be posted later when the Internet comes back.

Hey, so uhh, funny thing, I have a blackberry. A black berry with Internet. And while I am not going to blog on my blackberry, I can surely look up what psso means on my blackberry, my blackberry’s Internet still is working. When do I figure this out? Half an hour after I could've originally figured this out.

...

Excuse me while I go bang my head against a slab of concrete and cry quietly for a little while.

Psso means pass slipped stitch over. The entire thing? S1k2togpsso? That’s code for slip 1 stitch to the right needle, knit 2 stitches together, and then pass the slipped stitch over the stitch you just made by knitting two together. It's a double decrease.

That’s simple enough. I know how to do that.

Onerva 2.0 has a lot of abbreviations that took me entirely too long to figure out. And to anyone who can not handle the insanity I went through, I will now post the abbreviations for Onerva.

o (yarn over)

/ (right decrease, or knit 2 stitches together)

\ (left decrease, or slip, slip, knit. I’ve learned this can be more easily accomplished by just knitting 2 stitches through the back loop. It’s exactly the same.)

m (slip 1 stitch, do a right decrease, then move the slipped stitch over the stitch made by the decrease like you’re binding off)

Oh, and for the odd rows? You knit the first 2 stitches, purl to the last 2 stitches, and knit those last 2. The chart doesn’t really show the garter stitch border, but there is one, I promise.

Long, overdue post about buying too much yarn.

2009-10-20T14:35:00.002-07:00

While I was on vacation in Santa Clara I did my best to go to a yarn shop - for the first time ever I might add - and I successfully went to 2. Bobbin's Nest and Green Planet Yarn, both of which were visited twice. The goods (because me? going to a knitting shop and not buying anything?! BAHAHA)

1. 2 skeins of Mirasol K'acha in Sunshine (it's more like a warm, buttery color). It's super soft, and super fuzzy, and super beautiful, and OH MY GAAH IT SHEDS MORE THAN A GOLDEN RETRIEVER IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SUMMER!!

2. 2 skeins of Stonehenge Fiber Mills Sheperd's Wool in Blue Spruce (emerald green + teal = looooooove) and uhhh... some bright cobalt blue color.. let me go check *toddles over to room and rifles for four hours in the yarn bin trying to find the one stinking skein and..* AH! It's good, plain, Blue. Seriously? Lame. Anyways, yeah, in the skein it's alright, but as soon as it hits the needles it gets sooooooft. I can only imagine how much more it softens after a wash.

3. 1 skein of Malabrigo sock in the LAST AVAILABLE SKEIN OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL COLORWAY THAT EVER EXISTED, or Solis. It's variegated with blues and greens and seriously, I'd kill somebody and run around the world naked for a skein of this yarn. And I got it, I'm so happy. I wasn't even expecting to find it because the yarn shop didn't claim to carry it (which they didn't, up until a month prior) and because it's the yarn I need for Onerva and the universe usually hates me in situations like that(rants about this topic a littler later, stay tuned).

4. 2 skeins of Atlante in a pretty lavender color(technically, shade 2107, but that's no fun). It came as a kit for the zig-zag lace scarf, I can't resist kits, they're just so easy. Problem? It's 100% bamboo. What does this mean? That the yarn, despite being smooth and beautiful, is ridiculously splitty and a paaaaaaaaaaain to knit with.

So total? 7 skeins.. And quite a few new sets of needles (straights, curculars, and DPNS).

Oh, and as if I didn't buy enough yarn, lets go off on a completely unrelated rant about how my mother found a pattern at a quilting convention for a handknit tote bag out of pieces of fabric tied together. She picked hot pink, forest green, black with multi-color polka dots, and baby blue. Individually they're pretty, but together? It's relatable to clown vomit. Half-way through me knitting the giant thing, she went off and finally recovered her sanity and decided she hated the colors together(Uhhh, I could've told you that mom) and wanted to pick new colors. You'd just assume I'd rip out the ugly thing and give her the fabric back but nooo, she wants to see how it's knitted up before she cuts more fabric in case she hates the pattern. *headdesk*

~~~

A a few weeks ago I found a pattern called Onerva. It's a triangular shawl and it's beautiful. Problem? The pattern is written in Finnish, the chart is weird and also in Finnish, I've never even read a chart before, I've never knit lace or anything like lace before, and I've never knit a triangular shawl before. Oh, and I don't speak Finnish or know anyone who does speak Finnish.

Of course this will be a piece of cake.. you know, after I find some sort of something on Ravelry that will help me decode this thing. And I did! Obscuriosity KAL, and old one, but still extremely helpful. Bonus: it included new charts in English, and I like things written in English.

Case #1 of the universe helping me out.

Then I decided to go to a yarn shop and see if I could find some yarn comparable to the yarn required for the pattern. Turns out the yarn shop had just started carrying the yarn I needed.

Case #2 of the universe being cool.

Oh, and I found one single skein of the most beautiful colorway that ever existed. They had sold out of all of the skeins except for one, which was all I needed.

Case #3 of the universe handing me everything I wanted.

Oh, and I found the right sized needles, the only pair, hidden behind a bunch of needles that were too short.

Okay, 4 for 4.

So you'd think that as soon as I got home and got my hands on the pattern I would instantly start it up.. right? Maybe not. Well you see, I have a bunch of unfinished projects, and most of them are Christmas/birthday gifts that I should get started on, and well you know how these things are.. FINE, I'LL ADMIT IT, I AM THE WORLD'S BIGGEST WEENIE. Yup. I printed out the pattern, I read everything that is about Onerva, I've looked at 46,856,235 pictures of it and I practically drooled all over my keyboard. Thing is, I've never done this before, and I'm a little intimidated.

Why the heck should I be scared of a shawl. What's the worst that will happen? It won't work out and I'll have to frog the entire thing? Seriously, it's not going to eat me, no one will throw eggs at me if I mess up, it won't kill anyone, I can pretend like it never happened. And hey, you know, I might even be able to do it right and have it look just as fantastically as everyone else's. You never know.

I will knit this damn shawl because I AM BIGGER AND STRONGER THAN YOU ONERVA, YOU HEAR ME? I CAN FROG YOU AND SEND YOU TO THE BACK OF THE CLOSET JUST LIKE SERPENTINA, GOT IT! I AM THE MASTER, I AM KING! (Or er.. you know, queen.)

~~~

No finished objects, just a few WIPs. (I got some serious staritis this week, it was the yarn fumes.)

Oh, and as an added note, my yarn stash is growing at an alarming rate. It's overflowing the 3 available yarn bins I have for it. As of now, I'm on a yarn diet. WOOT!

Magic Ribbon

2009-10-08T19:59:00.001-07:00

I am frightening close to being done with this periwinkle hat. All I have left to do is to work about an inch more, decrease for 2-3 rows, bind off, and sew it up. I was originally looking for some black satin ribbon to weave through the holes created by the increases at the top of the ribbing, and then I found the bright yellow ribbon that was on The Knit that Sami gave me for my birthday. It's fate, let me explain.

1) It's the perfect length. It is long enough to thread through the holes, but short enough to tie into a bow without cutting it.

2) It contrasts the periwinkle/indigo/blue/purple/whatever-the-heck-color-it-is yarn perfectly. Seriously, it's kind of ridiculous how good the colors look together.

3) It's the perfect width. It's not too thick that it over-powers the ribbing, but it's not so thin that it's like thread.

Honestly, this was fate. The knitting gods influenced you to pick out this ribbon, because it is perfect for this hat. Sami, I thank you for the magic ribbon. I'm a big fan of magic ribbon.

Now, if I could focus long enough to finish this damn hat so that (a) I can start something else, and (b) I can wear it to the bus stop tomorrow so my ears won't turn bright red and threaten to freeze and fall off.

Pictures will be posted either tonight or tomorrow.. or in a couple of days because I am laaaaaaaaaaaaazy.

I taught a teenage boy how to knit, hear me roar.

2009-09-26T11:23:00.003-07:00

I've taught my friends how to knit. I've helped them successfully resolve their knitting issues. And I pride myself on being a pretty decent knitting coach.

So when I was told by I boy in my youth group (yes, a real, live, breathing, testosterone-filled boy) that he wanted me to teach him how to knit, I was freaking ecstatic.

We decided I'd teach him at the church lock-in, because teaching someone how to knit is best done in the middle of the night with bad lighting. Yeah.. uhh, no.

Anyways, he went out and bought yarn and needles. (He thought he could use 36" circulars to knit himself a hat. It was hilarious. I ended up trading him those 36" needles for some 16" that would work out so much better.) He already knew how to create a slip knot. I helped him decipher a yarn label. We measured the circumference of his head, and I taught him how to cast on.

Easy as pie I tell you.

Due to the fact that we were in a pretty constant state of either running around or sleeping, I didn't get much of a chance to teach him how to knit, but I'll help him out at the next church service.

I'm so proud of myself :D

Jeeze, this brings my total to 17 skeins in 4 days.

2009-09-24T17:41:00.003-07:00

"Hey, mom, since Hobby Lobby is on our way home, can we stop there? I want to find these needles I've been hunting for. It'll only take a minute or two."
"Sure."

I went in looking for 16" circular needles in any size except for 6.

I found 16" circulars in a US size 5.. and 2 skeins of Wool-Ease Chunky and the newest issue of Debbie Bliss's magazine.

Honestly, people should start locking me in the car or knocking me out when I ask to go to Hobby Lobby or Joanns. I only plan of getting one thing and I come out with 30$ worth of impulse-buys.

My mother is right, I really need to learn how to be financially responsible.

Plum yarn.

2009-09-23T16:50:00.002-07:00

I casted on for a cowl yesterday with the beautiful purple yarn I found and decided it wasn’t working for me and frogged it today.

Oh, frogging. I means ripping out your knitting to re-do it or do something else with the yarn. Whatever, it means taking the stitches off the needles and pulling them out.

Like.. Ripping it out. Rip it, rip it. Kinda sounds like ribbit ribbit, right? I don’t know the full story, but something along those lines is what started the term “frogging” and it stuck.

Gotta love cool knitting lingo. (I wrote this just for you, Sami.)

Oh, back to the almost-cowl. I was in Joanns when a single skeins of bright plum yarn practically jumped out at me and forced itself into my basket. Seriously. It was made for me. I desperately looked and searched and hunted for another skein, but there wasn't one. I had gotten the last one. It was a radiant color, it was a fantastic weight, it's 4 ply, and it is sooooooft. I clutched it tight and practically sprinted to the check-out counter.

I instantly knew it had to be cuddled around my neck at all times. So, I figured, why not a cowl? I grabbed some circular needles that should work and heading home.

I cast on 150 stitches, decided 5x5 (don't ask why 5x5, it seemed like a good idea at the time) ribbing, and starting knitting.

I instantly hated it. The magnificent plum yarn was not feeling it either, so I frogged it. And now I'm back to square one. What on earth to I do with this yarn?

I really should go on a yarn diet... Nah :)

2009-09-22T19:30:00.001-07:00

I was lazily knitting away on the bus, in choir, and knitting in US/AZ History before I finished my hat. I finished the knitting, the binding off, and sewing the top of the hat together to get a bunching-effect.finally It was done... But it looked a wee bit short.

Turns out “a wee bit short” means a whole 2 freaking inches minimum to normal people. I was bummed.

I cut out the top sewing part (and accidentally cut a teeny part of actual knitting. I was way less than amused.) and undid the binding. I put all hundred stitches back on the needles and realized that I had twisted Every. Single. Freaking. Stitch. Did I go back and untwist them all? Nope, just knit along and finished a row before I ran out of yarn.

My once-totally-beautiful hat that I had spent many hours knitting now has a row of twisted stitches and a big 1" square of ugliness where I had to fix the spot where I cut a stitch on accident.

I’m totally bummed. Not bummed enough to frog the entire damn thing and start over, but really bummed.

~~~

After getting 12 skeins of yarn (10 of them were gifted, and I had to toss one of those ten due to a questionably huge stain) yesterday, I got 3 more skeins today. That brings me to a total of 14 skeins in 2 days.

Wanna know what’s even more shocking? I wound EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM into balls and put them in appropriate bagging and into the plastic bins that contain my stash.

On another stash-related note: my current yarn bins are overflowing and can not possibly house the yarn I bought today. Now I have to figure out what the heck I’m going to do and how to store all of my yarn. Maybe stacked plastic drawers? I don’t know, I need to think outside of the box(BAHAHA, that was a totally unintentional pun, but it’s wildly amusing to me. I’m such a dork).

I love Katy Blevins

2009-09-21T18:09:00.000-07:00

I got 12 skeins of yarn today, and 10 of them were gifted to me from Katy Blevins.

Let me repeat that so you can fully understand. She gave me 10 skeins of yarn. 10 huge pretty decent skeins of acrylic (that wasn't too shabby) yarn.

The way to a man's heart is through his stomach, the way to mine is paved with yarn.

I freaking love her.

Oh, and I learned I cannot be trusted to go into Hobby Lobby and not buy at least 20$ worth of knitting stuff.

I'm back at last.

2009-09-08T16:08:00.004-07:00

Oh, goodness, it's been a very long time since I've posted a knitting blog. To be exact, it'll be a month tomorrow. (To who ever reads this, sorry man. I've got a much cooler non-knitting blog that I update frequently. You can read that if you want to.)

I suppose I took a break from knitting. Not that I disliked the knitting, oh no, I still love knitting, but there's been school. And drama. And family emergencies. And homework. All of which have taken up significant amounts of knitting time. But I am vowing here and now to break the cycle and start knitting whenever possible.

I will be starting up on Serpentina. (Last time it almost drove me to insanity. This time, I will stand strong and I will conquer that stupid scarf.)

I'm taking the plunge. I'm diving in head first. I'm doing what every knitter has to do to really become a Knitter. (Or at least get a head start. I still have to tackle lace, Fair Isle, Entrelac, Entarsia, etc.)

I'm going to knit socks.

Yes, I know, socks. Turning heels and grafting toes, not to mention a wee bit of 2x2 ribbing(which I've already shown my severe distaste for). I went out today, bought sock yarn and DPNs and I am going to do this.

First, I have to knit a swatch. I hate knitting swatches, but I must do it to get a good start on my sock or else this may end badly.

At the moment, I've got a nauseating amount of Geometry homework to do, but I'll keep you posted(on the knitting, not the homework).

2009-08-09T18:40:00.000-07:00

I MADE A SWATCH, HEAR ME ROAR.

Today I Made A List.

2009-08-08T19:47:00.004-07:00

1. Buy Lion Brand: Organic Cotton and 16" US size 9 (an size 8) circulars at Joanns.
2. Cast on 66 sts.
3. Work stockinette for a couple inches until I realize the hat looks a bit small.
4. Keep knitting.
5. Notice the bottom edge is developing an unflattering curl.
6. Keep knitting.
7. Realize that this hat is so not going to fit onto my big head.
8. Pull it off the needles and try it on to realize that it will fit my head.
9. Measure that it's 4 sts to the inches, and realize that The Math says it's way too small for my head.
10. Rationalize frogging it by saying how much I hated the curl.
11. After seeing The math, CO 80 sts. to better accommodate my giant head.
12. Knit garter stitch border because garter stitch won't curl.
13. finish border, start with stockinette.
14. Start noticing that this hat is a wee bit big.
15. Keep knitting.
16. Start noticing this hat is actually going to be HUGE.
17. Keep knitting.
18. Start thinking of who has a big enough head to fit in the hat. (Andrew!)
19. Keep knitting a bit more.
20. Notice that the garter stitch border is way bigger than the rest of the hat.
21. Ignore it and continue knitting.
22. Start thinking that this hat is even to big for Andrew's head.
23. Scoff the idea that anything would be too big for Andrew's head.
24. Knit a bit more.
25. Come to term with the fact that this will definitely be too big for Andrew.
26. Decide I can sew elastic into the border, then it will fit! I'm a genius.
27. Keep knitting until I'm almost ready to start decreasing.
28. Start noticing that the border is really ugly.
29. Ignore negative thoughts and keep knitting.
30. Try it on for kicks, and decide that is it completely hideous.
31. Frogged the damn hat for the 2nd time in two days.
32. Decide not to even consider crying, and cast on 80 sts. again.
33. Make sure (multiple times) it isn't twisted before I join the two ends.
34. Start the trusty 2x2 ribbing that is perfect for hats.
35. Remember that I hate doing ribbing.
36. Continue knitting anyways.
37. Start thinking how my ribbing always looks icky and sloppy and bad.
38. Keep knitting anyways.
39. Notice that it looks a bit twisted, but straighten it out.
40. Keep knitting.
41. Notice that it is indeed twisted.
42. Spend 10 minutes trying to untwist it, doesn't work.
43. Violently curse under my breath in the middle of a church service.
44. Take it off the needles and frog it with all my might.
45. Fight the desire to start crying because it should not be this freaking hard.
46. Decide to keep the 80 sts. and cast on tomorrow on size 8 needles for the border.
47. Spends too much time on facebook and blogging about how knitting makes me crazy and come to the conclusion that today just sucks.

Secrets Revealed

2009-08-08T15:47:00.002-07:00

I'll be honest as to why I don't like ribbing. I'm telling my secret to the world, I'm outing myself, and no one can stop me. -gulps in fear-

I kind of.. er.. zone out and lose track of how many stitches I've done.

And I loathe having to count a million stitches just to figure out where I am (I'm more than willing to do that once or twice, but not once every 7 sts when every round has 80.)

I discovered something great. It's a universal tool in knitting that I had for a while but never though of using them.

*cough*cough* stitch markers *cough*

Not like that completely obvious or anything. I mean, that's their purpose! To keep track of your stitches so you have to involve the minimum of brain function. I love them!

I have then every 10 sts. And I know to start the knitting ribbing on the blue, and purl ribbing on the yellow. It's so irrationally simple I don't know why I didn't do this sooner, it would've saved me so much time and effort. Now it's to the point that as soon as I realize I've forgotten what stitch I'm on, I only have to count a couple sts. to know where I am. Genius! (I can whiz through any math class like a pro and pass with a more-than-decent grade, but yet I can't grasp paying attention to stitch-count? Yeah, I'm not sure how exactly that works. Weird.)

~~~

I'll do ribbing for about an inch or two, and then transition into stockinette. There is nothing I love more than knitting something with only knitting. No purling, no yarn-overs, now knit-2-together or slip-slip-knit. Just knitting. Mind numbing, simple, requires-no-brain-function-what-so-ever knitting. Mmmmmm, it puts me into a trance.

And you know what I love more than mind numbing plain knitting? Music that goes with mind-numbing knitting. Like My Heart With You by the Rescues. that's my current favorite song. It's sad, but sweet, and calming. It's a song you can close your eyes and just sway to(while in a candle-lit room taking a bubble bath).

Lesson Learned

2009-08-08T12:55:00.003-07:00

Garter Stitch border of a hat: BAAAAAD.

Stockinette Stitch border: ehh, not as bad, but I don't like the curl.

2x2 or 1x1 Ribbing border: always the best option.

There's only one problem in that.. I hate ribbing. A lot. I hate it a lot. Sure, it's pretty, it looks nice, it's easy, and it functional. So where's the downfall? It's mind numbing. You have to pay enough attention to count the knits and the purls, but it's boring. And you could zone out(like I usually do) but then I'd probably screw up the ribbing. UGH. It's obnoxious.

I either like patterns that keep my mind working, or all knitting so that I can zone out. Anything in between infuriates me.

~~~

So, this hat that I'm making, it's not working out. The edge it nice and stretchy, so it definitely won't be too tight, but there's a bit of a problem: it's not tight at all. Sure, it'll fit Andrew's huge head, but there will be nothing keeping it from falling off.

So I figured.. Elastic string! I could sew an elastic thread through the border, and then it'll fit! But then it'll be baggy(not cute slouchy, but baggy). Baggy is lame. So, I could finish it and sew elastic into it and SHAZAAM, it'll be done, but I can't. It's a bad hat. It needs ribbing. I hate ribbing, but a proper hat needs a proper border and therefore: ribbing. I know I should frog it and start over, it's a quick knit, it's not that big of a deal. But it's already 5.5". It's almost, so close I can practically taste it, ready to get decreasing and then be done. It would take maybe half an hour to finish, it's like being on the last stretch of a marathon, I can almost see the finish line.. But it's a big hat, a bad hat, and a hat that Andrew will never wear because it won't ever fit right.

I know I should frog it, I know I should just take it off the needles and frog it, but I can't. I hate frogging, it makes me sad, it makes me oh so very sad.

-fast forward 15 minutes-

I frogged it. It broke my heart, and it made me sad, but I frogged it. I measured the border, and it had a 26" circumference. So yeah, it was huge. That yarn held up well considering it's been frogged twice now, I'm a bit impressed. I took it off the needles and tried it on before I frogged it, and the stockinette portion fit fine, but the border was the only bad part. So I think I'll keep the 80 sts, suck it up, and do a 2x2 ribbed border. It'll be a nice, snug fit and it'll be fine.

Frogging my knitting always ruins my day :|

I love Elann

2009-08-06T17:06:00.004-07:00

My shipment finally came in! I got 5 skeins of yarn, 16" US 6 needles, 2 cable needles (one for backup), and a copy of the holy Knitting Without Tears.

The caramel colored yarn is Elann Superwash Bamboo, and the blueish-purple is Elann Peruvian Highland Wool.

The bamboo (blend) is ridiculously soft, and the wool is a bit scratchy, but the color is stunning. My camera isn't doing it any justice, but believe me, it's beautiful(It's periwinkle, btw).

-

I picked up some organic cotton from Joann('s) in a pretty blue and I'm knitting it up into a roll-brim hat. I've still made no progress on Serpentina, I'm in slacker mode. And the EOSOD is in it's perpetual state of being slightly less than half-done and obnoxiously colored.

My skeins of Berroco still haven't told me what they want to be, and my Malabrigo is sitting there looking a bit unloved. I am slowly coming to terms with just how picky yarn can be. I may want to make a slouchy beret with the Malabrigo, but no one said the Malabrigo would cooperate. It didn't cooperate, by the way. And now it's looking like it would make such a pretty neck warmer, and the slouchy beret is just so much more suited for the Peruvia. I'm pretty much determined that wool that is too itchy to touch the skin but too pretty not to be worn shall be made into a hat! It's a fantastic plan since now I have 3 sets of 16' circulars (the perfect size for hats).

.....

2009-08-02T17:16:00.002-07:00

Hello. My name is Alexandra, and I am a yarnaholic.

Hello Alexandra.

I'm a bad knit-blogger.

2009-08-01T07:16:00.004-07:00

I know, I know, I haven't posted in a while. This weeks seems to be packed with stuff.

My mama came home from her vacation with Jim(her boyfriend). My sister, Erin, sent me my birthday presents early: the entire series series of Harry Potter books. (Now all my friends adore her because they're all dorks who worship HP. Me? I like it. I'm about halfway through the second book.)

I got a kitten! Finally! He's a black and white tabby, and I named him Mushu. He's adorable.

ON THE TOPIC OF KNITTERLY THINGS:

I haven't been knitting much. Just not in the mood I suppose. I keep looking at it and decide to read HP instead. I haven't given up on knitting, I promise, I'm just taking a break.

Despite that, I meandered over to elann.com and spent about $50 on goods. It always makes me incredibly happy that they sell pretty decent quality yarn for so cheap. I got a few skeins of yarn, 16" circular knitting needles, 2 cable needles, and a copy of Knitting Without Tears by Elizabeth Zimmermann (who I'm told is a genius when it comes to writing knitting books)

Anyways. I don't have any WIPs to show off because they haven't changed, and no FOs. I'm going to work a bit on Serpentina today and get in a couple of rows of the Orange Scarf of D00m.

I love Stephanie Pearl-Mcphee's books.

2009-07-29T07:10:00.004-07:00

I recently got Yarn Harlot, and read it, and I just got Knitting Rules! and I'm working through it.

They're hilarious, and I can relate to them. She's a great author.

Rain, rain, go away, come again another day..

2009-07-25T16:57:00.002-07:00

There are bad days. The days when everything seems to suck, and even the weather is sad. Nothing seems appealing, and everything feels forced.

Yeah, today is a pretty sucky day.

So what do I normally do when I'm in a mood? I knit.

So after I f***ed Serpentina, and realized the pattern was weird for the Slouchy beret (and I didn't have the tools to make it less crappy), all the WIPs I had left were the 3 original ones.

The three scarves made out of three equally awful acrylic yarn. I tried working on the scarf for my nephew, and ended up angry by the fact that the yarn was waxy. Yes. It felt weird, and a little sticky, and really not fun to knit with. So I said "Does a 5 year old who lives in Los Angelasfrogged the damn thing. Same for the scarf for my niece. Ribbit, ribbit.

I left the orange scarf of doom because, well, the fun fur makes it bearable to knit. I do enjoy the fun fur on rare occasions.

And I ditched my grandmother's (knitting) needle case. It was old and made of icky canvas, and poorly made, and I dumped out the knitting needles and trashed it. And I'm going through the needles and ditching a few of those too. Blunt tip that I hate? Bye bye. Awkward short length? Ditching it. Am I ever going to willing use a size 0 needle? Nope, see ya!

~~~

So now I am on a mission to re-make a case for all my knitting needles with fabric that I like, and that's actually big enough. It's going to be pretty, and soft, and it will be perfect. (Considering my mom quilts, she has enough fabric to quilt something to cover the planet. And a sewing machine.)

I epically failed at trying to make one myself, so I'll have her make me one when she gets home next week. really need a crappy scarf?" The answer was no, and I

Ribbit, Ribbit.

2009-07-24T21:18:00.003-07:00

I'm sure not everyone knits like me. I'm positive of it. Every knitter has a different style.

But explain to me how you think you can stretch between 14 and 18 inches of pattern of 24" circular needles. You can stretch the stitches as far apart as you'd like, but it's either not going to happen or it's going to make for some uncomfortable knitting.

In my case: very uncomfortable.

The end circumference of the ribbed portion of the hat would've been anywhere between 14 inches and 18. Trying to force that circumference over 24" circular needles and then trying to do cables every 6 stitches? Not going to fly. Malabrigo was not having it.

~~~

Oh, Malabrigo, you were going to be a beautiful slouchy beret. This wasn't your fault. The woman who created the pattern is apparently out of her mind. Not everyone is good with math, don't blame her, pretty Malabrigo. She didn't mean to make you have to swim through the frog pond. No yarn as beautiful as you wants to ever have to swim through the frog pond, but it's a part of life, we have to deal with it and move on.

~~~

I'm modifying the pattern to start with 16" circular needles, and then moving onto the 24" after the increases, and then down to the DPNs for the final stages of the decreasing. I learned my lesson, I modified the pattern, and I'm moving on. Now I just need to get my hands on some 16" US size 9 circular needles, and US size 9 DPNs..

~~~

That makes for a total of 2 projects I've frogged today -sighs- Did I mention how sad frogging makes me? Answer: a wee bit heartbroken.

Oh forgiving, gracious Gods of yarn, I know you loved me.

2009-07-24T15:52:00.006-07:00

I got my shipment in, and as soon as I ripped it open I instantly fell in love. I saw the skein of Malabrigo for the first time, I touched it, I caressed it, I had the strange desire to roll around in in naked. It's sinfully delicious, yarn should not be this exquisite. It deserves every 'm' in the name Mmmmalabrigo (technically, it only has one 'm', but who cares).

I'm going to knit it up into the slouchy beret and I am never taking it off, and if i do, it will be to rub it lovingly up against my face. Granted, if it turns out ugly, and I hate the slouchy beret, it will be carefully frogged, rolled back into a ball, and knit into something really worthy of it's beauty. Mmmmmm.

~~~

I screwed up and ordered 24' circ. Us size 9 instead of US size 11 (like the pattern calls for). Got everything else right, except for that. I'll just improvise, it'll make a denser fabric and so It'll be warmer. It'll be fine.

~~~

Casted on, and I've got to say: I prefer circ.'s to DNPs. DPNs are weeeeiiiiirrrrrrddd. They're alright, but it makes more work because you have to shift the stitches after every needle of rows, and it's a huuuuuge pain in the neck.

Speaking of pain in the neck, I have this weird pain in the muscles by my right collar bone.. Some sort of strange knitter's cramp or something? I have no idea. It's weird though.

~~~

Do you see how pretty this yarn is? Because if you've never encountered this yarn before, you have no idea. It's like comfort food, sex, a power nap, and an A on that tricky math quiz. Yeah, it's that good. It's beautiful, and soft, and pretty, and yeah. It's fantastic.

I'm willing to bet it's softer than babies. Maybe that's pushing it, I'm not sure yet, but it's reeeaaaallllyyyy soft.

~~~

This pattern is a breeze. It's just some simple cables, a bit of increasing and decreasing, and that's it. You only knit with the DPNs for 5 rounds, and then you move onto the circ.'s, which are lovely.

~~~

I'm pretty sure you could knit on branches from rosebushes with this yarn, and it would still turn out great. That's how wonderful this yarn is.

~~~

Go out and buy about 500 hanks immediately, fill an empty room with them, take your clothes off, and roll around naked in the yarn. Yeah, it's that good.

Frogged the hell out of Serpentina.

2009-07-24T13:23:00.003-07:00

I was at the end of a row and realized I'd forgotten all of my yarn overs. Between losing the ssk(s) and the k2tog(s) from the row I got a bit angry and decided to frog the thing. I suppose I can take this is a good thing, learn from my mistakes, and re-do it in a way where it's better. At least I can start over with a clean slate and no mistakes in it (yet).

Ugh, I hate frogging stuff. People say frogging can be uplifting, but it just makes me sad and angry a bit.

I'm going to go read a book about knitting. Today is not going very well so far.

(And where the F*** is my other package from Webs, I want to get started on that hat. UGH)

Ooh, looks fun.

2009-07-23T15:39:00.002-07:00

Bold for stuff you've done, italics for stuff you plan to do one day, and normal for stuff you're not planning on doing.

Afghan
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with bananafiber yarn
Domino knitting (=modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Baby items
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffitti knitting: knitting items on, or to be left on the street
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Household items: dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies...
knitting socks- or other small tubular items- on two circulars
Dying with plant colours
Knitting items for a wedding
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else's handspun yarn
Knitting with dpns
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with selfpatterning/selfstriping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/armwarmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

Day 2 of Soft Brick Scarf

2009-07-23T14:45:00.004-07:00

The scarf is going well. I got through the first Section 1, Section 2, another Section 1, and I'm working on Section 2 again. It's great, except for one thing.

It's reeeeaaaalllyyyy repetitive. Enough that I stop focusing, thinking I know what I'm doing, then I look down and realize I've knitted the wrong row. Poo. So It's complicated enough to have to at least half-focus on, but not complicated enough to keep me from day-dreaming. It's going well so far, it looks just the pattern says it is supposed to, which is always a good sign.

I already know I'm going to need to block it though, but blocking is magic, so I'm okay with that.

I think I may need reading glasses :/

2009-07-22T18:03:00.003-07:00

I quickly learned that I am so not capable of reading a pattern off my computer. All the little abbreviations all start to mesh together and it gives me a headache(kind of, but not really though). So then I put up a post-it note on the computer under the line of the pattern I was working on, but then I started forgetting what line I was on since the pattern was like "Row(s) 1, 3, 5, 7.." and I got a wee bit confused.

Want to know how I fixed it? I found a blank notebook, and decided to write the pattern down in a way that (a) didn't confuse me, and (b) was super easy to read. I. Am. A. Genius. (probably not since I'm sure that someone has done this kind of thing before, but whatever, I am proud of myself)

~~~

I decided that since I got my yarn today I might as well cast on for Serpentina, and I did. The pattern requires US 7 needles, which I'm sure I had since I have a million pairs of knitting needles, and I went off to search for the pair I needed. I came back in shock because I had one lone US 7 needle. Pffft, what the heck! I have plenty of 8's and plenty of 6's, where on earth did the other 7 go? Where did all the 7's go for that matter? Oh well. I ended up deciding to use Us 6 needles, and I'm glad I did.

~~~

I finished the first Section 1, and it's going really well. I know what all the little abbreviations mean, and I know how to do them (done them before, actually, but that's another story) so I think this is going to be a great first real project! I'm really excited.

I am slightly scared that this scarf is going to end up being 9 ft. long like that pattern says, but I figure I might just end it short. Or not, if I don't then I can wrap it loosely around my neck more then once, which will be nice and cozy.

^^^ It's what I have so far, and I know it looks wimpy right now, but it was achieve greatness someday :)

MY PACKAGES CAME IN!

2009-07-22T14:53:00.006-07:00

Grandpa: "Hey, Alex?"
Me: "Yeah.."
Grandpa: "I've got some packages for you."
Me: "Yeah, uhh, thanks -- Wait, WHAT?!" -sprints down stairs- "These weren't supposed to get here until Friday! *squeals*"

I am officially convinced that some days, everything seems to go right. Like today for example: I finally got my yarn. And it confirmed what I already knew for the most part: I love yarn. Some might call it an irrational love, but it's love just the same. I love getting the shipments in, I love photographing it for blogging purposes, and I love feeling it's softness.

This is Elann Incense in Brick. It's a smidge darker in real life, but just as beautiful. It's 50% wool, 25% silk, and 25% bamboo for all less than $5 a ball! It's incredibly soft, and preeettyy :)

This would be the Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light in Potting Soil Mix. It's a bit darker than in the picture, but not by much. (apparently my camera doesn't photograph yarn well, darn) I'm not entirely sure what I want to do with it yet, but I think it will require more than one hank, it's teeny.
I've already decided to get 6 more hanks and turn this into the February Lady Sweater. It's pretty must a done deal. it's fluffy, soft, and pretty much love in a hank. And it's such a beautiful color.

Okay, it looks gray (which is weird) when it's actually a deep forest green. It seems like a nice, sturdy yarn. And it's smoooooth.

This is the beginning of a beautiful stash :) Now all I'm waiting for is the lone package with the ingredients to the slouchy beret I can't wait to cast on.

NEWBIE!

2009-07-21T13:42:00.004-07:00

I'd like to explain something right now: I am an amateur. I love knitting, I know the magic of it, and I drool over yarn porn as much as the next guy; but I am an amateur. Sure, I am a complete rock star when it come to scarves made entirely out of garter stitch. I know by way around stockinette, and I've toyed around with ribbing. I'm still fumbling around the way of the knitting world, but I have high hopes that someday I can knit up a cabled cardigan like the best of em'(which will be nice, since as of now: I've never even tried knitting cables)

I'm willing to try any pattern once, and you can count that I'll be blogging about how well (or not) it goes and I will be laughing at myself and cursing throughout the entire process. I'll be putting up lots of pictures and telling every hilarious tale I go though.

But I am indeed a newbie, and I hope I won't be for long.

P.S. All my orders have officially shipped and I finally caved and bought a copy of Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter and I'm pretty excited about it. I read the first few pages, and I can't wait to get it.

Current Orders I'm Expecting

2009-07-20T08:34:00.004-07:00

4x Elann Incense in Brick
4x Elann Super Cable Aran in Cedar Green
1x Berroco Peruvia in Aquamarina
1x Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light in Potting Soil Mix
1x Malabrigo Worsted in Indigo
US size 11, 24" circ.
US size 10, 8" DPNs
stitch markers

I can't wait to get my shipments, I'm pretty pumped.

Well, poo!

2009-07-20T08:15:00.002-07:00

"I'm writing to inform you that, unfortunately, one or more items that you requested are on backorder at this time. We do not currently have an estimate for when the back ordered merchandise will be back in stock. On average, it can take 2-3 weeks for most back orders, but some items can take longer."

2-3 weeks! I am in no way, shape, or form patient enough to wait 2-3 more weeks for my beautiful Malabrigo Worsted Yarn! Poo. I ended up calling customer service and changing my order to that instead of the color being Bobby Blue, I'd get Indigo, because indigo is in stock and therefore I can get it sooner. That stinks a bit, but, *squeals* I get my yarn in about 4-5 days along with the rest of my order. I'm pleased, and the indigo is a nice color.

WAHOO! First post. -tasteful happy dance-

2009-07-19T16:03:00.004-07:00

So, I suppose this is the beginning of my knitting blog.

"Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.." (sorry, couldn't help myself)

I'll be posting nifty pictures of yarn porn, (which is the best thing in the world, by the way) pictures of my WIPs, and I'll be keeping you up-to-date on all my FOs. I'll be pointing out the abbreviations, and tell you what the heck they mean because I wouldn't want you to be confused.

My Ultimate Yarn Bin is still in the works, but I ordered some Elann Incense last night along with some Super Cable Aran. I'm still waiting for my shipping notice from Webs, I have a whole beautiful shipment from them coming in real soon.. Hopefully.

So these are my current WIPS:

This one is going to (someday) be a scarf for my nephew, he likes blue and green.
This is another scarf made with cheap orange yarn and fun-fur. I do love me some fun fur.
And guess what?.. another scarf. This time for my niece, considering she's all over pink and purple.

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I wasn't truly aware how much I loved knitting until about a week ago, and up until then I'd been using cheapy-cheap-crap-yarn. All of my WIPs are made of such yarn, and therefore, are driving me insane with they're weird cheap feel(but my niece and nephew won't care because hey, they're cool, and mom will like them because she can throw them in the wash!). PLUS, they're all made entirely out of garter stitch which is nice sometimes, but after a few rows you want to blow out your brains. I need something to occupy my time and also keep my brain functioning or else I may just jam a knitting needle into my eye, thus into my brain.

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My favorite knitting blog is definitely Half Assed Knit Blog. Too lazy to look it up? Why, here you go, a link! Click it, put your mouse-thing over it and click it, NOW. She's got great patterns, hilarious commentary, and just a pretty sweet blog. She only updates it about every.. once in a blue moon, but it's worth it.

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I'll be posting again with some beautiful yarn porn as soon as I get the shipments in (about a week or so)

WIP: work in progress
UFO: unfinished object
FO: finished object
DPN: double-point needles
SPN: single point needles
yarn porn: beautiful pictures of yarn that are drool-worthy
yarn-bin: the safe-keeping place of my yarn

(if I forget to explain an abbreviation or a term, either tell me or look it up)