It's been a minute

Well... It's been more than a minute since I updated this blog. To be fair, I haven't knit much in the last few years. Time got away from me while I was finishing up my degree, I think. The good news is that I am officially a college graduate! Hooray! On top of that, I started a new job less than a month after graduating. Life has been super busy, but I'm starting to settle into it a bit now.

I should mention that I had to move in order to take the job and I didn't have a lot of time to pack and prepare... So, I have almost nothing knitting related with me. Okay, I don't have a couch, TV, dining table, or microwave so it shouldn't be terribly surprising that I didn't bring my knitting stuff. Eventually, I will get all moved in over here and I think I will start knitting again. I miss it. I miss the calming, zen-like state I enter when my hands move easily through a simple scarf or dishcloth pattern. I miss the feel of the yarn in my hands. I think I even miss the cursing when I realize I've made a mistake and have to rip back hours of work to fix it.

You know what? I really want to make that peacock feathers shawl. I realized recently that I was needlessly complicating the pattern. It's in me to make that shawl and I want it. I want to knit more dishcloths, too. I love using them and giving them as gifts. I miss wearing socks I've made with my own hands.

Yes. It's clear. I am a knitter and I've been away too long.

Cheating with a postal scale

My mom bought me some really weird pink yarn while at a quilt retreat recently. I was having a hard time deciding what to do with it, but I finally decided to just make a simple knit 2, purl 2 scarf. So I cast on and started knitting with it. I made it rather wide, but I liked it. However, I realized quite quickly that I didn't have enough to make a scarf of any real length. What's a knitter to do? Well, I decided I would just get a contrasting yarn to put in between 2 lengths of this random pink yarn. I decided to try something new to me from Patternwork's called Meredith Bay. It just arrived today! I was surprised at how small the balls were, but I think it will work out just fine. But first, how can I be sure that I'm using half of the pink yarn before switching to the black Meredith Bay I bought? Easy! Bust out the postal scale. All I had to do was put the part I've already knit on the scale and weight it against what I had left. Of course, I had to put a needle with the unknit portion to ensure accuracy. I wasn't too far off! I will have to unknit a few rows, but I love this cheating method. It's so easy. :) Thank goodness for postal scales! :)

Still around... I promise!

Ahhh... in the immortal words of Barenaked Ladies, "They say absence makes the heart grow fungus" and I have a feeling my heart is officially a mushroom. I've really neglected my knitting blog and, let's be honest, my knitting in general. Yes, I've knit a few small projects and I did work on my (evil) Peacock Feathers Shawl for a good week or so before it made me mad. But, overall, I haven't been knitting too much and I really haven't been blogging about it. Perhaps it should be my New Year Resolution to update again? I'm not sure. I'm a total commitment-phobe, even when it comes to resolutions. :)

So, let's see. I made another cotton shopping bag but it still needs handles. I made a small scarf for my 6 year old cousin and a new scarf for myself. I've made 2 unsuccessful mittens for my mother and that's making me crazy. Her hands are just so different from mine that I should make a 3-D model at this point. Argh! I'm working on socks for myself from More Sensational Knitted Socks that are going well. The yarn is ugly, but it was on super clearance at a store closing, so I'm not going to really complain! I've been playing with some new orange colored yarn I bought at the same store closing. I am thinking that maybe I will try to knit some quick hunting socks for my uncle out of it, but I'm concerned. I know I should do them toe up because I don't know how much yarn I really have, but I HATE doing toe up socks. Overall, the yarn is taunting me until I can decide what to do. The best project though? I started knitting small scarves for my cousin to use with her Bratz dolls out of scrap yarn. It's fantastical! I don't know if she will like them or not, but I'm having fun, so it's all good. So far I've been sticking to sock weight yarn scraps and it's been great.

I must admit that I'm not very happy with how my Peacock Feathers Shawl is coming along. I really want to use a different yarn. The Knitpick's yarn isn't bad, but it's a bear to rip back. Even with a life-line in place, I find that it sticks to itself and generally pisses me off. Argh! I need to just suck it up and work on it again. I'm actually getting to the point where I can imagine being done. We'll see. Maybe one day I'll decide to hit it again. Cross your fingers, light a candle, dance naked, etc. etc. for me! :)

Devilish Baby Blanket

Devilish Blanket 010
Originally uploaded by NotHelmut

Recently, I read Crazy Aunt Purl's Drunk, Divorced, and Covered In Cat Hair, which I absolutely loved. She included a number of patterns in the book and one caught my eye right away. It was a hooded baby blanket with devil horns and a tail. Immediately I wanted to knit it but I don't have any children and I just didn't have a recipient that I thought would appreciate it. But then, a young cousin of mine got pregnant and I thought she just might be the right person.

The baby shower was this weekend and my cousin Bethany LOVED it. Hooray! Not only did she love it, the baby's father loved it too. In fact, I think Josh may have loved it even more than she did. Her mother loved it and it made a much bigger splash at the shower than I thought it would. I guess part of me knew that it would spark a few comments, but it really was a big hit. Bethany said it just might be her favorite gift from the afternoon. That's quite awesome, if you ask me. :) I was so glad she liked it and wasn't offended! lol! There was that teeny tiny worry in the back of my mind that she might find it offensive, but luckily that wasn't the case. So, yea! I'm really happy I made it and that the family dug it.
Of course, since it is going to a new mother, I put aside my personal feelings and made it from acrylic yarn. I know, I know. I know all the arguments for and against acrylic, but in the end, I decided it would be for the best. This way, my cousin can just toss it in the machine when it needs to be washed and I feel confident it will get the job done. The funny thing is, however, it turned out quite nice. I actually didn't mind the yarn choice and I love the finished object.

Yarn: Caron One Pound in scarlet and Caron Wintuk in black.
Needles: Size 7 (mostly because I have size 7 tips for the Knitpick's Options needles. I was able to put it on a super long cable and that made life MUCH easier).
Notes: Obviously, I used a contrasting yarn for the crochet edging. The red and black combination appealed to me and turns out to be a favorite of the baby's father. Who knew? I also made the horns in the round on DPNs to save myself some sanity. Why don't more pattern writers make things like that in the round? They can't honestly prefer to sew up that many pieces, can they? It must be so that the pattern can be labelled as easy for beginners or something. But, honestly, it would have made me crazy to sew all those pieces together!

Overall, I'm so pleased with the result and I hope one day that I can get a picture of an actual baby in it. That would be awesome! It will be at least another 3 weeks though before my cousin gives birth. But, maybe one day soon I'll get my wish. :)

FO: Naive Socks

Well, there's actually a bit of a story to why I chose to knit these socks. A friend has asked me to make her some very tall and cabled socks in the future. I told her I would consider, even though I'd never finished a cabled project before. I did try making the Irish Hiking Scarf a few years ago, but I never finished it. It's actually a very simple pattern that is perfect for beginners, but I may have been looking for a bit more of a challenge at the end of the day. Anyway, it was high time I tried a cabled pattern again and I figured a sock pattern would be a good idea. So I browsed all over Ravelry and found this Naive Socks pattern. It looked like just the thing. It featured several different cables that weren't always crossed on the same row. Additionally, the pattern is carried down the heel somewhat and it really added a fun element to keep me motivated.



Overall, I really like these socks. They fit very well and are quite comfortable. The yarn feels just a little thicker than some of the other fingering weight yarns I've been using recently. I would highly recommend the yarn though because it really sparkles and I like the color changes. I considered matching the stripes on each sock, but I didn't take the time to really do so. But, I actually really like the way they came out. They match without being too matchy matchy. :) I am pleased to say that I learned how to cable without using a needle on this project. It was a little scary at first, but much quicker and easier than I anticipated. I've also discovered that using a size 2 1/2 needle for the toe works wonders for me. I shall have to remember to do it every time. It makes the toe fit so much better for me.

Pattern: Naive Socks (see link posted above)
Yarn: Schoeller + Stahl Fortissima Colori Disco Socka
Needles: Size 2 and 2 1/2 (for toe)
Techniques learned: Cable without a needle

FO - Everlasting Bag II

My friend Tawah bought this fun green cotton yarn a while back, but she was having a heck of a time trying to make it into a bag. She told me that she tried several patterns and none of them were working out correctly. She asked if she could send me the yarn so that I could take a stab at it. Naturally, I thought that sounded like a fine plan. So, she sent me the yarn and I decided that I would make a modified Everlasting Bagstopper. The yarn is DK weight though, so I couldn't use the numbers from the pattern, even if I had wanted to. But, I do love the construction of the bag, so that's what I went with.

I cast on for this bag and went to work. Everything I tried seemed to go wrong. The bag was either too loose, too tight, too big, too ugly, or some combination of these. It was a bit of a nightmare really. The problem? Tawah only had 1 skein of this yarn for me to use. That meant, it had to be just right or I would run out of yarn. I ripped the bag out at least 4 times that I can count because of the yardage issue. I tried at least 3 needle sizes, trying to get a good looking product. Finally, after several months of playing around, I figured it out.

I used size 7s for the bottom and then 10.5s for the body. I did decreases in the stockinette portion of the bag before starting the pattern. After much debate, I went with a simple stitch pattern because it worked. I also worked a few decreases at the top in the seed stitch portion of the bag. I wanted it to be just a little tighter at the top because it is likely to stretch with use. After all was said and done, I really liked the finished object. It's useful and that really is what matters for me. I met Tawah in Indiana just before Easter and gave it to her. She seemed to love it! Hooray! We loaded it up with snacks for her car trip and it worked beautifully. Next time she wants me to make a bag for her though, she's going to have to send me more yarn! That's all there is to it. :)

In case you are curious, that's a laptop inside the bag. I wanted to try and show how big the bag could actually become. :) You can see the fun pooling effect of the yarn in this picture. I'm not sure why, but it is much more apparent in the pictures than in person. Go figure!

Crazy Veil of Leaves socks

It all started innocently enough. I was at a somewhat Local Yarn Store (LYS) and I noticed a new sock book. It wasn't just any new sock book though, it was the magical New Pathways for Sock Knitters Book 1 by Cat Bordhi. Wow. Let me tell you, the book will catch the eye of any sock knitter. I flipped through it a few times but kept putting it back down because I thought I didn't need another sock knitting book. But, there were interesting patterns and new ways of sock knitting included that I ended up getting it. The first pattern to catch my eye was Veil of Leaves. I don't know why, but that's the one that did it for me. I wanted to make them so much that I ended up just casting on for them in December of 2007.

I finished the first sock in record time. It was interesting. The heel damn near killed me, but I just kept going and got it done. I put on my new sock and felt... well... okay with it. It just didn't look as good on my foot as it did in the book. Not only didn't it look as good, I don't think it fit very well overall either. I was disappointed in it, and not sure what to do. I thought I should try wearing it a few times before making a final decision. So, I did and it never really ended up being a favorite. The short row heel wasn't as comfortable as a heel flap for me and they end up slouching a bit around the ankle after I wear it for a while. I put the project aside for a bit to clear my head. Then, I took out the magical book and did all the math properly. I decided to change a few things here and there to customize the fit. Hell yeah, I was ready to get down to that second sock now!

But, alas, the second sock isn't perfect either. :( I did fewer wraps, increased my wing stitches, decreased the total number of stitches after the heel, and started the toe a little later than in the first. That should basically make the world's most perfect sock for me. But, it's still just not quite right. I really dislike the short row heel, even after trying to modify it. It doesn't fit my foot very well. I'm a heel flap girl I guess. So I finished this challenging and new pattern only to find that I'm not as over the moon as I thought I would be. Oh well. I will continue to wear them and I will likely tackle other patterns in the book. But, I've got to figure out a way to make the heel more comfortable on my foot. I'm going to have to read through all of the information again and see what I can come up with. In the meantime, here's a pic of the socks for your viewing pleasure! :)

Dishcloth Central

Well, I'm not sure why, but Januaray became my month for knitting dishcloths. It all started when I accidentally stumbled across this Illinois Dishcloth pattern. I thought it would be a fun gift to make for some friends of mine. So, I charted the pattern out and got to work. It went so fast, it was practically instant gratification! I made 2 of them back to back so that I could send one to Tawah and one to Alicia. But, Alicia was born and currently resides in Pennsylvania. So when I saw there was a pattern for a Pennsylvania dishcloth on the same site, I made one of those to send to Alicia as well. I must admit, the Pennsylvania dishcloth was a bit boring to knit, especially compared to the Illinois one, but it went so fast that it didn't really matter. Overall, I love them and I hope my friends will love them too. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I only needed 1 ball of yarn to make all 3 items. The yarn I used was on sale at Jo-Anne's one day for under $2, if I remember correctly. What a great way to stretch a dollar! I was able to get hours of entertainment, plus a useful household item, for very little investment. Awesome! :)

Patterns: KnittingKnonsense.com
Yarn: Lily's Sugar'n Cream cotton yarn
Needles: Size 7

Mismatched Mittens

Ahhh mittens. I love them. It can get very cold here in winter and you must have something to protect your hands from the elements. I made a pair of mittens last year based off the Peekaboo Mittens found over at Magknits.
However, they seem to be hiding from me this year. I thought I put them in the top of my closet, but I didn't see them this year. Oh well. It seemed like a good excuse to make a new pair and so I did.

I found last year, that I never used the peekaboo on both mittens at the same time. I would occasionally poke my fingers out from one hand in order to open my purse, or grab money, or something like that. But, I never needed both. So, I decided I would make 2 different mittens from the same yarn. Here, they look identical, don't they?But, of course, I didn't call them Mismatched Mittens for nothing. The mitten on the left is a standard mitten. However, if you look closely, you'll find the mitten on the right is a peekaboo mitten. It's the perfect solution as far as I'm concerned. They are very pink and warm. I love them and I can't wait for it to get cold enough to wear them. Wait? Did I really just say that? It's official; I've been in Michigan for too long!

• Yarn: Plymouth Galway
• Needles: Size 6 and size 7 DPNs
• Pattern: Mine but with lots of inspiration from the Peekaboo Mittens and the general mitten guidelines found in The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns.

Rummikub Bag

Well, not long after I finished my first Veil of Leaves sock, I cast on for a small game bag. You see, we bought a Rummikub game for a family friend as a Christmas gift. It's a really fun game and Pam loved it! However, the down side is that it's a tile game that doesn't come with a bag. It is so much easier to throw the tiles in a bag and pass the bag around while playing. I made one for our Rummikub set when I first learned how to knit and it is ugly but functional. For Pam, however, I have a few more years of knitting under my belt and I was ready to design a better bag.

I love how it turned out! I used elements from several different sources while creating this bag. It has a bottom similar to the one featured in the Everlasting Bagstopper from Knitty.com. Then it has shaping similar to a bag in 25 Bags to Knit. Finally, I used a drawstring with tassels similar to the one seen on the cover of Last Minute Knitted Gifts. The great thing is, however, that I modified each of these elements to make it look how I wanted it to look. It is entirely my own design at the end of the day. It came out even better than I thought it would. To top it off, we tried it out the other night and it was perfect. Hooray! I love it when things work out right, don't you?

• Yarn: Plymouth Encore
• Needles: size 9
• Pattern: Mine