Go knit stuff.

2008-02-07T13:55:00.000-08:00

Some knitting as of late. Warning: mass pictoral purge!

This scarf is for sale at my etsy.

And meanwhile, I've been selling a great deal of quick little hats and such. For example,

Currently, the favored project is fingerless gloves. Quick yet delicate.

2007-12-15T14:46:00.000-08:00

Some of the Christmas knitting that's been going on:

Hung with care.

& how to know that you're absolutely out of your mind, or just that finals week is the best time for productive procrastination. Two days, bitch:

2007-10-07T18:04:00.000-07:00

Work in progress.

2007-09-17T09:09:00.001-07:00

So I opened an Etsy shop.
...And made a sale less than 24 hours later! I'm absolutely thrilled.

Here it is, brand-spankin' new:

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5301024

(BTW, the scarf in there now is what I did instead of go to or watch the UK/U of L game. Which we won, and which was apparently a very, very big deal. Sacrifices...)

2007-09-07T13:31:00.000-07:00

Hey, does anybody remember this long-retired flourescent red blob?

It's all right if you don't. It was a vest with a lot of princess-sleeved potential. However, I accidentally lost my ability to count and made one sleeve to mammoth dimensions. By that point I was so frustrated by the scratchiness of the yarn (it was free...and an excellent color) that I kind of pretended that the sweater itself never existed.

Anyway, here are my plans as far as that goes. Rip off the sleeves. Rip off the droopy neckline where I picked up too many stitches. Leave it as a vest.

And in the meantime....

Recreate the whole experience in cotton.

If I'm lucky, I'll have two twin FO's to show next time.

And a pattern.

2007-08-24T10:42:00.001-07:00

I finished the hat. It was a surprisingly quick knit, considering that US 5 is one of the smallest sets of needles I really use. (I'm not exactly your most patient knitter.)

Luckily it isn't for me, because I look so, so stupid in hats, but here it is on anyway:

Also--I visited my new LYS. It was kind of a big deal. Five skeins of Blue Sky Cotton later, I'm already trucking through a new short-sleeve sweater.

Pretty?

2007-08-22T17:58:00.000-07:00

All right, so it's been quite a bit of time since my last post, but that was because I was getting ready to go to college. Which I did.

Here's my cute dorm stash:

There's actually a LYS right across the street from where I live. Literally, right across the street. I haven't checked it out yet because I only just moved in, but it's a priority.

So, I'm basically just getting settled now. All I've got in the way of projects is a rayon hat. Here it is in the only non-cluttered corner of my desk:

Now I'd like to take one shameless moment to blatantly show off the macro setting on my new camera.

2007-07-02T19:27:00.000-07:00

Listen up, Sally. When you knit--you know, with yarn--it's normally pretty important to employ your capability of literacy. See, materials generally come with these paper thingies on them--labels, they're called--that tell you what exactly you are working with.

-EVIDENCE OF DOOM-

Really! Eighteen years old and I'm already experiencing dementia?
I can already hear the frogs awaiting the arrival of their new handknit disaster. No washing machine can award new life quite like the good old pond can.

P.S. I bet Chuck Norris could felt superwash wool.

2007-06-25T18:47:00.000-07:00

exams -> graduation -> work. There was no in between. Now I'm reading in all of my down time--and, until the past couple days, completely uninspired by the thought of wool in my sweaty, calloused palms.
I have, however, managed to squeeze out a hat and a bandana from the beautiful rayon yarn in the previous post. (I forgot to take pictures. They were for a friend.)

Now that I'm back in the swing of things, when I wasn't hauling bags of soil (I work at a gardening shop), biking, socializing, or sleeping, I have recently produced a dull, gray blob of stitches:

I'd like to tell myself that it's a bag; once it has been felted perhaps it will deserve such a title. For now, it's a testament to my sudden urge to be productive once again, and also a pretty sweet exhibition of impromptu shaping. You can't see it, but there is definite use of short rows, double decreases, and kitchener's stitch in there.

Now please, please, felt just perfectly for me?

Oh yeah, and I've also come up with my first ever hand-woven center pull skein.
It's pretty shitty and it looks less like a skein and more like a very large cocoon, but it works.
Here it is, in all its bulky, single-ply, fabulously-dyed glory, coupled by the orchid I'm inadvertently killing.

Hmm, I feel bad about abandoning the internet. I think I'll conclude this post with some pictures from a recent excursion to Cincinnati:

2007-04-20T17:17:00.000-07:00

The past couple weeks have been... well, I won't even sugar-coat it. Terrible.
There are tons of little personal things I won't go into, but inconveniences (like the law) exacerbate my irritation.
Somehow I can't learn how to arrive places at the time I'm supposed to be there. No matter what time I leave, it seems as if I always end up getting there somewhere between one to eight minutes late.
(I am never more than eight minutes late. That's what is so frustrating: if I had known I was going to be behind, I could at least have made the most of it and been really late.)
So I was headed off to school, not two blocks away from my house, thinking to myself: "I can't be late again today because there aren't enough Saturdays left in the school year for all my presently existing tardy-related detentions. On the other hand, I can't really speed here because that one cop has made a habit of hiding in the foliage and making surprise attacks on unsuspecting innocent speeders towards the end of the month so that said cop can meet his quota. I hate that cop... Oh, wait... look, flashing lights in my rear view..."
Clearly I am the victim here.

To make matters worse, I was late to traffic school because I spent the whole time driving there concentrating on the speed limit.
So I have to work on not being late to detention.

Anyway. It's not all bad. I got some yarn in the mail today...

2007-03-28T16:55:00.000-07:00

Who drops by your house when you're out, leaving two skeins of yarn on your doorstep? Seriously, who on Earth is that awesome?

My mom's best friend Miriam, that's who.

I'm going to make her a couple of summer hats with the Cascade Fixation she bought me, knit together (for elasticity) with this hand-dyed rayon demonstration of the divine. Still, yarn on the doorstep. I'm not going to get over that thrill for a while.

In other news, this last Sunday I talked to the owner of a boutique in town about making stuff to sell there on consignment. She's pricing headbands at $15, and told me to produce a small array of them before the weekend, just in time for the Drunk Yuppie Shoppers' Night (not an official title, of course). I figure that if headbands take me two hours to make apiece, and I get nearly $15 per each one, I'm basically making the soon-to-be-ratified new minimum wage. Which I'm cool with, especially since all the work is done when I'm forced to be in school anyway.
So since then I've come up with a small pile to sell:

Here's what the headbands look like on (assuming that the purchaser doesn't look as utterly ridiculous in headbands--or orange, for that matter--as I do):

I showed the owner, Liz, one of the turquoise ones and she said, "Ooh, this color...this color is so in this year! ...And orange." (She talks like that, too, with the size increased on words she likes.) So hopefully she'll like what I've got.

I don't know. The pattern is excruciatingly basic, and loads of the same tiny thing is less than creatively stimulating. Sorry for a boring post. I'm just tryin' to *sniff* earn some money for college! Headbands/hats + a job at a landscaping store + giving knitting lessons to two people this summer (much more on that later) ought to at least put a dent in my room and board. :-/

P.S. John Steinbeck is my herooooooo

2007-03-13T15:53:00.000-07:00

Look at that.
Why, it's a hat.

This was my first ever attempt at a cloche-style cap. I commend myself on coming up with the stitch progression. The shape is a success, albeit a little small around the crown. I was getting impatient, because the yarn (cottontots) was a total pain in the ass! I rarely give yarn a bad review; I'm pretty cheap and easily impressed by anything fibrous and long. But this crap pilled everywhere while I was working with it, and it made my left hand ache. If I do use the remainder of the skein, I need to chill out and work with some fatter needles. 100% cotton. Every knitter's enemy.

You can tell it's been 70+ degrees outside; I've got my picnic freckles!

2007-03-05T14:02:00.000-08:00

I'm finished with the squares. You hear me? Finished!!
Now all I've got to do is fold it in half, pick up all the stitches along the edge, and seam.
It's great fun.

In other news, today was the first day in months that it has been warm and bright enough to take dreadfully sun-bleached pictures outside.
This is facing north.

And this half of a so-called mitten is an example of my perfectionism where you'd least expect it. My second attempt at using this happy yarn, it's going to get run over by the frog bus again real soon. The 3x3 rib is too loose this time (first time was 1x1), the stitch pattern is too sloppy, and, frankly, its parallel texture is just not visually complex enough for me. Next time through, expect cables or something.
Hey, I'm not sick of looking at this yarn yet, which is a good sign.

2007-02-20T15:07:00.000-08:00

Gary, the very squarey Stashbuster, is grooooowing.

At 5 feet, I am looking only about 40% finished with this ample scarf. But that's because, since I deeply deplore the effort of weaving in ends, I am making it double-sided. Isn't it ironic how some knitters (please understand that when I say "some knitters" I really mean just me) are willing to go to great lengths, literally, expressly to avoid a couple hours of finishing? I mean, each of these squares are taking me up to two hours apiece. And I am entirely willing to indenture my soul to more than ten times the amount of work just so that I don't have to pick up a fucking crochet hook? Somehow it's supposed to make sense, I promise.

It's a fun knit, though, to say the least. I have a rebounding appreciation for garter stitch that was lost pretty much as soon as I learned to purl. Now I'm realizing that garter stitch can be pretty dope in its own way. Especially, it seems, in squares that resemble...
a very pixelated coral reef.
Or... hey, now that I think about it, that Windows XP desktop wallpaper of a desert. Nah'mean?

It wasn't intentional.

Not much else getting bigger in the knitting realm, just my big squarey scarf. Also pictured are: Pride and Prejudice on CD (I cheat at school by pumpin' up the Elizabeth Bennet on my car stereo) and a housing application for UK. Go Cats?

2007-02-15T13:06:00.000-08:00

A couple of Valentines Day FO's!
a mitered square scarf and
just enough yarn left for the world's tiniest cabled hand warmers.

Hope everybody had a good one.

2007-02-10T09:24:00.000-08:00

I present to you...
the least convenient time possible to run out of yarn.

So what have I been doing to fill the void in between now and my next trip to the yarn store?

Mitered squares.

So deceptively easy. So much fun.

Also great for stashbusting.

Except...

Anyone ever had this happen to a pair of circs?

Ouch. My heart.

Luckily, I have another pair this size from the new interchangeable set, but It's still upsetting. Masking tape, maybe?

2007-01-23T16:12:00.000-08:00

Ooooooooooooooooooooookay. Be ready for the FO post of a lifetime.

But first! Something that my great-grandmother used that is now mine.
My great-grandmother (or Gramma Great, as we called her) was the coolest lady I have ever had the priviledge of knowing. She made everything, and I mean everything. Even the most obscure materials you could think of, like pinecones or 1/2" wooden spheres or crepe paper, she could use in the most intricate project. She was my inspiration.

This was her interchangeable circular needle set. I couldn't be more grateful for this...see? I'm already putting the 9's and the 10's to work! Like I said, Gramma Great was tizzight.

Now onto the stuff I've made since... was it November? Jeez. Here we go.

Before Christmas I was stressing out about these gloves for my older sister that were supposed to look like trees. What I found out was that, with limited time and the weightiness of worsted yarn, it's really hard to make functional fingers look like leaves. I'm still slightly disappointed with the finished product--but what matters is that they were finished, and I can't say I lost the battle without effort.

I think they look at least a little bit like trees.

Isn't my sister cute?

I also knit a scarf for my best friend, although I don't think you realize how hard it is to get a decent picture of a whole scarf. I really need to get her to model it for me, but she's been sick. :(
Here's the style:

Bet you didn't know I could do entrelac, did you? Because the truth is...I can't. No, really--I tried to learn, but I lose miserably at the "following directions" game. All this gibberish about making triangles and picking up stitches; I couldn't take it. So I just made it up. I have the distinct impression that all the casting on and binding off my version incorporated took a bit more time than normal entrelac, but I am still convinced that MY technique is superior. I will post a picture of the whole scarf when I take one. The middle part fades into black.

Have you ever seen the movie What the Bleep Do We Know?
There is a section in the film about water and how the molecules of it can be affected by messages placed next to the water. For example, the microscopic view of a water molecule exposed to the phrase "Thank you" looks beautiful, while the water exposed to "You make me sick, I will kill you" looks disgusting and vile. It's a real study, you can see more about it here.
Anyway, my mom is totally into that kind of thing. She sells water purifiers, and she's been taping words onto ours. I decided to make her a little mat to go under the water pitcher so that it won't scratch the counter. And it says...

Om.

Let's see, I guess I'm onto the hats now. (I told you that this was the FO post of a lifetime!)

I saw this post on Craftster asking for hats and scarves for the homeless. Here are the 3 hats I sent:

They took me a day each. No patterns, of course, I was just playing around.

I also made two hats for my cousin(ish) Andy. His mom paid me for them--frickin' sweet. The first was plain green and ribbed--not worth getting a picture of because you've all seen one just like it. The second hat was much more fun:

I need to make more earflap hats like this one because I greatly adored making it. The double-sided flaps; the fairisle pattern I've memorized by now; the attached i-cord. It's all so clever and exciting. Maybe only I feel that way, but what could be more genius than this hat?

So now that you've seen everything I was selfishly hiding for so long, here's my current on-the-(new and interchangeable)needles project:

Have I ever described a certain yarn as heavenly before? No, I don't think that I have. But that is exactly what I feel I must call this yarn. The warmth and softness of it in my hands, the simplicity of the single ply livened by the unexpected surges into color. I know what you all are saying: "This girl is nuts--this yarn is just a cheap imitation of Noro; what she is just finding out is something that every Noro knitter discovered a long, long time ago." But the truth is, I am just discovering it. And I'm in love with the bold saturation.
(Oh, what a grand mitten this is growing to be!)

I am also in love with the fact that there is no order to the progression at all. Look at the mitten. Now look at the remainder of the yarn. I've dissected the entire thing, and I am seriously beginning to think that not one color is repeated throughout the entire length of the skein. Is this a blessing, or is it a punishment for only purchasing one ball? Really, if I'd expected to ever see green, orange, teal, or blue again for the rest of this pair of mittens I should have gotten a more predictable yarn. Really, it's psychotic! I'm glad, though. Surprises are my favorite.

2007-01-17T14:14:00.000-08:00

So... sorry that this blog kinda fell asleep over the holidays. I'm going to try to wake it up now that I don't have a million and five places to go, exams to bomb, things to make, people to call, sisters to pick up from the O'Hare airport on Christmas Eve night...

And I bet you are all pumped to inspect my Christmas booty when I get pictures. All in good time. Just remember that I'm still here.

2006-11-30T18:43:00.000-08:00

I made love pie!

Here's what's in love pie: peaches and black cherries. Mmm!
Now, there is a story that goes along with this pie. It has to do with crust. Yes, yes, my skills are awesome with shaping the top crust into hearts and letters (lightning bolts were too hard). But there is more to this crust that meets the eye, and it's not always good.

My friend Lauren and I had the idea to make this pie, so we went for it after school one day. We didn't have any shortening, but no worries, says Mom: there's this Earth Balance margarine in the fridge that works great!
Thanks, mom. (Margarine with no partially hydrogenated oils? What IS it, then?)

Okay, so the pie is made, we bring it to a party, and it gets eaten.
That is, the filling gets eaten... Somehow, strangely, the masterfully shaped crust tasted, well, awful. Really, it was bitter and chewy. No one could figure out why. (And the fact that Lauren's backpack fell on it, projecting excess pie juice everywhere into the car definitely has nothing to do with it at all.)

A week later, it was Thanksgiving! My dad, a connoisseur of delicious piemaking, made two pies to contribute to the feast. (I created decorative designs in the tops of those with a pokey thing. They looked awesome, I wish I had gotten pictures!)
So after Thanksgiving dinner with the whole family, we slice the pies and start to eat them. Before long, the conversation took a violent shift when my great aunt Nancy barked, "John, what'd you put in this crust. It's terrible." Oops. She was absolutely appalled to know that we had actually used expensive, healthy, eco-vegan-approved buttery spread in the pie crust. "What ever happened to lard?" She then proceeded to reiterate the point to anyone who would listen--including my grandmother who, about to stick her fork in, was immediately warned, "wait till you taste the crust."
My poor dad! The sense of wastefulness and shame towards his beautiful pies that, apparently, my great aunt Nancy "wouldn't feed to a dog." The very next day, he went out and bought shortening and made a whole new pie, with good old-fashioned trans fat and everything.
The moral of the love pie story is that if you can't taste your arteries becoming clogged, you're completely okay.

Onward to the knitting content! Check out my hot new addi c tions to the (already blooming to be voluptuous) stash:

When it rains, it pours. And when I get new yarn, I get just a little tiny bit of yarn that appears to multiply post-purchase.

So, who wants some racy closeups? Yeeeeah...

(Again with the nasty lighting--it's late.)
Knit Picks Salishan. DK Wool/Cotton. These colors remind me of Native American stuff. The long, black hair; the red clay; turquoise; brown leather. I was lucky that all the shades Knit Picks had left on sale meshed together so remarkably.

Monidal Genius. Colors that remind me of Valentine's Day, but aren't too obnoxious.

Katia Mexico. Hues that swing through hot, candy-colored pinks, warm sunset orange, magenta, and a little bit of bright blue. Undertoned by grays, purples, and a touch of emerald.
Since these colors perfectly illustrate my friend Lauren, she's getting an entrelac scarf out of this yarn. (Otherwise, none of these new yarn purchases have anything to do with Christmas--isn't that disgusting?)

Ironstone Yarns. I can't find the name of the line, but this is a pretty direct knock-off from one of the dye varieties of Berocco Foliage. That's okay. It was about 50 cents cheaper, that's all that matters.
Are you noticing a trend here? I can't get enough heavy-worsted, single-ply wool in crazy dyes. If different colorways of these yarns were all I could knit with for the rest of my life, I might be okay for a while.

2006-11-19T16:34:00.000-08:00

My school needs to go more days without assigning essays. Because look at all of what I could accomplish in just two of them:
Sorry the photo's so unbearably flashed out. I'm pretty pumped that I could actually squeeze out another pair from the sock yarn I got. Do I wear hand-knit socks? Never. Do I know people who do? I honestly have no idea. Regardless, based solely on entertainment I am still able to maintain my recently drawn conclusion that sock yarn is an entirely worthwhile investment.

2006-11-15T15:04:00.000-08:00

The fruit of yesterday and today's labor manifests itself here, in a most ghastly mess on my hand:

Gloves that look like trees, haha, get it? (By the way--there's nothing to get besides that they're gloves that look like trees.)
They're eventually, after much alteration, going to be a Christmas present for my sister.
Sadly, my first attempt to make this vision a reality is quickly approaching its downfall. The whole knuckle portion is so not knuckle-shaped, and the open stitch I used on the fingers makes the points at the end completely twisted. Not to mention the fact that they don't look as much like trees as I expected they would. I believe when I start freshly from the hand again, I will begin the green earlier (like, start all 5 sections of leaves when the gusset starts) and not go so crazy with the increases. Until then, a hearty frog session is due.
P.S. if you feel inspired, your input is always appreciated. I feel like I'm doing this is a lot more complicatedly than it needs to be.

To close, I got my senior pictures back. I figured I'd exploit my pretty face after alarming you horribly with that wretched post-GWAR photo.

The yearbook shot..............The one my mom likes, played with

2006-11-09T14:07:00.000-08:00

Some of you may have thought I was kidding about my inability to bake without using food coloring.
I really, really wasn't.

This affinity for saturation overload is also reflected in my daily life (as long as "daily life" and "knitting" are synonymous), in projects such as the three sweaters from the previous post, as well as in others.

I guess the point of this is that I found a new resource for free lace patterns, yarnover.net. Really exciting for me, since lace is seriously the one thing I don't know how to "wing it" for. Someday I will be writing my own lace patterns, mark my words. But for now, I guess directions will satisfy. Free directions, that is.
In the name of all that is gaudy, pay no attention to the utter tastelessness of every single picture I post. Displaying distracting yarn in a semi-complex openwork pattern draped across leopard print betsheets?
You bet.
Hey, the disoriented splotches of the different colors almost resemble my face after the GWAR concert a couple weeks ago.

Of course, this picture doesn't capture the "blood" soaking my clothes, or the "jiz" (or was it heroin?) sloshing in my inner ear. Yeah. GWAR is a pretty fun time.

Oh, I almost committed the best felony the other day. (Somehow that doesn't sound as awesome as I wanted it to... hm.) My sister's out of the country, so I was going to vote in the congressional election using her I.D. But alas; for whatever reason, she apparently felt the need to bring her driver's license with her to India.
But really, though--twenty years from now, I would LOVE to be able to look back and say, "yeah man, I to voted with a fake I.D. when I was seventeen." To be able to say that would give me great pleasure. Oh, well. I guess no voter fraud for me. Kind of a bummer.
It's fine, though. I would have gone for a straight Democratic ticket, but upon seeing the results, it looks like my vote wasn't needed after all. :)

I think I've been both innappropriate as well as knitterly enough for one day. Peace, everyone.

2006-10-24T21:17:00.000-07:00

Where on earth have I gone? I do not haste to confess: not far. The essences of college applications, service, and those never-failing seven solid hours of busywork a day are standing on my shoulders and thickening the air around me.

Knitting? I'm in a major era of stashbusting right now, as well as getting some design ideas out of my head and into material contours.

So if you were wondering why God made huge circular needles and enormously fat skeins of janky worsted acrylic ...

It's so that I can do miles and miles of really abrasive stockinette. Truly, that is why.

I wish I could present some exciting documentation of progress, but a more sumptuous image post really doesn't look likely at the moment. I think the three projects so similar in method and material are kind of self-explanatory.
Pray for me that my cerebral cortex doesn't go numb.

2006-10-05T14:23:00.000-07:00

Yeah, new layout. Everyone's doing it.

But not everyone is such a sextacular sock model.

2006-09-30T08:43:00.000-07:00

I am ecstatic. Debbie Stoller, the renowned goddess of the modern world of craftiness (er, one of several goddesses) has selected my pattern to be a part of the new Stitch n' Bitch book. I am going to be in Stitch n' Bitch. Stitch n' Bitch is going to be including me.
I don't know what else to say without gloating so I'll just stop. The pattern is for a fancy little hat, but I'll not spoil the surprise!

Sockies:

Okay, so I really don't have enough accomplished to imply the plural yet, but the progress so far is nice. They are (rather, it is) wooly enough to be warm and snuggly, yet the gauge is loose so that these socks won't be too bunchy or hot. I'd really like to try this pattern again with solid sock yarn, as I think the sporadic yet colorful "lint surprises" kind of take away from the elegance of the fair isle detail.

Aye, what's this? It looks like a back, just chillin' out on my uber-diy blocking board!

Eww, check out that gross uneven tension on the vertical stripes. I've got to go back with a crochet hook and fiddle with that. Then, cast on for the front pieces!
I'll elaborate on this project in the next post. For now, it's a secret. ;)

(And yes, I do have an unbelievably long torso.)

2006-09-20T18:38:00.000-07:00

I promised a WIP update, and I guess it's well overdue.
Currently occupying my #5 dpn's is one electric kneesock with nothing to finish but a toe. Evidently it has shocked itself into a coma, for I haven't been able to get a viable response out of it for days. Either it regains consciousness soon or it is doomed to perish, incomplete, in the single life for eternity.
The red sweater, on the other hand, is very much alive and growing. I'm psyched about how cute it's turning out; if I thought it was at all acceptable to wear a vest outside of my antiquated Catholic school I might actually leave it as-is. But alas. It yet awaits a pair of short sleeves and a ribbed neck band. Ready for the knitting-because-what-else-would-I-do-on-the-night-before-four-tests-in-my-surfboard-boxers shot? Here it is:

I started another pair of socks, too. They're going to be wonderful: blue with just enough tan colorwork to make them visually interesting. I'll post pictures once I have a bit more progress.

Finally, my last work-in-progress happens to be a fantastically planned (okay, I drew it on a piece of notebook paper ... but that is a lot of planning, for me. What, numbers? I'm unacquainted with the concept.) cardigan. I have a clear vision of it turning out terribly cute, the shaping is going to be superb, and the back is well on its way to being finished.

And this is all you're getting.

Cheers!

2006-09-12T21:17:00.000-07:00

It's Autumn. It's time for cranberry walnut pumpkin bread...

(Yeah, the cream cheese filling is purple. I can't remember the last time I baked without food coloring.)

and for woolen tweedy socks...

...and for the new Knitty!
I'm particularly enamored by Serrano, Intolerable Cruelty, Red Herring (who doesn't love Cookie's photography?), and the stitch pattern on the Cable Net socks. But nothing compares to my astonishment, followed by reverent awe, followed by overpowering excitement when I saw this article. I guess I never really considered the possibilities double knitting yields, but I have a feeling I'm going to have a lot more to experiment with from now on. The thought of two socks at once on one set of dpn's makes my heart flutter with anxious desire.

In other news, the best moment of my life occurred a few days ago when I realized that a craft store I hadn't exploited for fabric paint in over a year now carries a larger selection of yarn than my closest LYS. I seriously think I must have made the clerk quite uncomfortable by spending a good fifteen minutes making my way through the many, voluptuous aisles, literally touching every enticing ball of yarn within arm's reach... and then repeating the entire procedure several times. The only conflict I really saw was that the best moment of my life was quickly turning into that horrendous episode where I begin to think that maybe $16 for a 50-yard ball of laceweight fluff is a good idea (whoever Lorna is, I had an urge to kiss her).
Then I remembered that I, as an individual, am very stingy. I did get two substantial skeins of reasonably-priced wool:

Which I stashed. You don't think I already have an idea for this yarn, do you? It was so soft. These tranquil colors, bless my unfortunate camera's poor sight, really bring out the best in each other. Just think of a fair isle hat--I must say, the mind reels pertaining to possible projects with this warm, alpaca-esque yarn--but truthfully, I kind of just like it how it is all wrapped up in the skeins. They bring me a sense of peace and contentment: "ooh, I have soft pretty yarn, in my possession and everything."

I've already made this post too long. I'll talk about WIPs on a later day. Love!

2006-09-03T19:29:00.000-07:00

Tagged by Anushka!

List 10 things you want to do. Today, tomorrow, next week, next year, or before you die. Then tag some other people.

1. Buy yarn. Lots of it. Soon. My diminutive stash is becoming most uninspiring.
2. Polish the Haydn C Major Cello Concerto this semester.
3. Fly a plane across the South Pole.
4. Memorize the words to a Neutral Milk Hotel song so I can sing along real loud.
5. Train myself not to waste so much time on the computer.
6. Take a road trip with my friends.
7. Play cello underneath the stone bridge at the park so it echoes.
8. Go back to Kenya
9. Visit all my favorite places in the world again, taking the insight and maturity I've since gained with me
10. Cultivate a lifelong relationship.

I tag... you!

2006-08-28T17:25:00.000-07:00

The juxtaposition of traditional, Scandinavian-inspired fair isle with the sensibility of a kneesock--and--the most synthetic, retina-burningly flourescent yarn Wal-Mart has to offer?

You already know what I think about that. I think hell yes.

Nothing like a good heavy dose of knitter's irony to kick off a bout with Faulkner under my AP English teacher's unsympathetic negligence.

This sock, this darling sock, has served as a fine breather from this mess:

Why, oh why, am I simply incapable of picking a cable panel and sticking to it? That's twice, now, that I've changed my mind about the pattern 10% of the way through this design and ripped. I still don't understand the concept of commitment. Even worse, I have had more combatting opinions about bobbles in the past week than I even knew existed.
I'm considering just scrapping the whole idea of winging it and submitting to a basic braid or something. You know, something that has already been thought (and charted) out before me.

2006-08-22T22:07:00.000-07:00

Here's the real problem: how about the social injustice fueled by mass produced goods? Has no one realized yet that articles of apparel sold in stores set a false standard of beauty for the general garment? Institutions such as the media and retail stores send us the message that, in order to be a beautiful glove, you must be perfectly machine-crafted and have no loose bits of string hanging off that precariously suggest the whole piece may unravel at a single tug.

I for one, as a natural glove--a naturally beautiful glove, am here today to defy that stereotype. Let's face it: we all have ends, and we're not gonna just sit back and weave them in. Those flawless, wrinkle-free, "finished" gloves portrayed in all the magazine ads were probably airbrushed. The distorted falsities we are fed by pop culture must stop.

P.S. You want a brainful of cliches too? Go to an all-girls' school. Meanwhile, I'm going to cast on for 5874306 new projects and never pick up a crochet hook, ever.

2006-08-17T18:35:00.000-07:00

My most recent urgent and time consuming WIP:
(and by time consuming, I mean, like, yesterday and today)

"Ah," you think, "She's hitching a ride on the bandwagon and making herself a little pair of Jaywalkers."

Close! Guess again.

Whee!

You have no idea how many false starts I had on this glove. I was trying to find an interesting enough stitch pattern that wouldn't get totally swallowed by the haphazard dye job. I think I found the perfect one. The outcome of the pattern is really pleasing, I think, and the simplicity makes it good reading work.
I'm really proud of the shaping on this, especially since I am a glove virgin and have only made my first pair of thumb gussets not two weeks ago (I did it wrong then). The obnoxiously charming colorway (gotta use up those leftovers!) make it all the more exciting to get done.
I mean, check out that finger. It just makes me downright gleeful. My next pair are going to use self-striping yarn, all the way.

Hmm, I never did post a picture of that finished pair of wristwarmers, did I? Here they are:

It took me an obscene amount of time to take this picture. I even tried balancing the camera on my head for a decent angle; I kid you not. :P

2006-08-14T14:36:00.000-07:00

Perhaps a problem with being a Libra rising is that I want to make lots of tiny beautiful things, none of which will be of much use to anybody, but look how pretty!

Luckily I'm a Gemini sun and know how to multitask. Look at that--muckracking, a brainlessly predictable thriller, homework, and a doily all at once! Before this pink, sweet bit of nothing came about I was working on a very large, more incredibly useless swatch of lace stitches, but that's going in the frog pond.

To contribute to this momentary lace spasm (who wears shawls, honestly? But again, I repeat to myself, look how pretty!) the new Knitpicks catalog came in the mail today... and, I ask myself, how is it that I haven't seen this yet? Most breathtaking lace pieces I see are quickly swallowed by that glimmer of logic, the saving notion that I have never known anyone to wear a shawl, not even my ninety-two-year-old great grandmother, let alone been compelled to don one myself. The Rona Lace Shawl, however, all but made my heart stop. Its intricate perfection is enough to set any logic into flames. I want to knit this. I want to spend a little bit of money and nearly one third of my lifetime following charts and getting frustrated over itty bitty needles and slippery yarn-overs just so that I can have the satisfaction of casting off this beauty, blocking it, taking pictures, and throwing the crumpled garment in to the corner of my closet to collect dust. Ooooh, I want.

2006-08-06T13:41:00.000-07:00

To tell you the truth, I've been home for more than a week now. I've simply been far too busy/lazy/buried under my nostalgia to pay any attention to the blog. But oh, I have been knitting.

FO's!!

The bag felted nicely, and I'm afraid I'm in love with it. The bass clef is actually chocolate brown. I wish the whole thing had pooled the delicious way the top three inches did, but such is life--splotchy stripes are whatever, too.

Here's a top that would have been mine if I'd ever bothered to make a gauge swatch larger than two rows of ten stitches. It's too small for me to wear practically, so right now it's chilling/making a colossal fashion statement on my half-mannequin Felika:

(I don't think "knit core" is copyrighted, since I've seen it several different places. Basically, I stole the term because it's awesome.)

Knitty's Topi, which was a very fast (and very purple) knit. Two days, biaatch!
Modified to have a much shorter brim and some decorative little X's on the sides.

WIP--a little fingerless glove experiment. This is clearly not a design for worsted weight yarn, but I had to use it for the test drive of the pattern since I'm currently in lust with these two colors.

Next up, how about a completed pair of these? And what of that knobbly, fugged out scarf I'm halfway through? The woman at this store called Kente International asked me if I knew any local artists and I was like, "uh, me." So I have to make all these quick, popular projects so I can sell stuff there. Eventually.

It's good to be home!

2006-06-23T21:30:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning I'm leaving, bright and early, and won't be back for 5 weeks. I'm going to this cool summer program where I get to study cultural anthropology, make friends, and do lots of other crazy things, but part of it is that we can't leave the college campus for the whole time except for field trips. That means no updates or progress pics until August (unless, that is, I magically acquire access to a digital camera). I shall miss ye faithful bloggers, and the not-so-faithful ones as well. Of course I'll bring lots of knitting!

P.S. I got my driver's license. I look like such a dork in the picture.

P.P.S. Everyone who reads this should buy a copy of Anushka's Shock Paper Scissors. Seriously. I don't have one (yet), but it just came out and it looks freakin' awesome.

2006-06-21T21:05:00.000-07:00

I'm a good girl. Here's why:
1. I totally made that deadline on submitting patterns to SnB.
2. I sent my swap package early! I really hope my partner likes everything.
3. This:

Yeah, I cast on for the second sock right away! Go me!! Hmm... I guess I never blogged about the first sock. I think overall I'm getting better at making socks, even though this one has a hell of a lot of imperfections. It was my first time doing short rows instead of a heel flap, and I like the shape a lot better than the squareness of those silly little flaps. Still not perfectly devoid of holes, though. How do you get those dumb holes on the corners between the heel and the rest of the sock to go away?
Anyway, I'm proud of this one despite its flaws, especially the toe--I successfully did short rows in a movie theatre, and grafted the toe in the car ride home to boot. (Granted I had to frog a few times along the way, but hey, it was dark and I was making it up as I went along.)
I like this sock. It reminds me of mint, and the worsted weight wool makes it very warm. (Can't wait until the temperature dips below 80 so I can finally wear them!)

My other WIP right now (God, it's weird to say "other" like that... I have been so dedicated to only two projects at a time this summer!) is that rainbow tote I've been talking about making.

So far I'm really digging this project. I was anxious to see what the yarn would do when knit up; I think I like what's going on now. I wish there was more pooling on the bottom though. That's right--I love pooling! To be totally honest, I hate those variegated yarns that do nothing when they knit up besides make a mixed, random mess of too many colors at once. I hate them. I like to see each and every color matched up with itself and organized, but stripes can get boring. I love how this is looking more and more like tie-dye, and I hope it stays this cool throughout the bag!! ::nervous squeal::

I love the suspense knitting gives me, which is probably the major reason why I don't use patterns, measure yardage, check gauge, or get too visionary early in a project.

Story time...
Today I went to my LYS in search of Cascade Fixation (cotton/elastic blend I plan to use for socks or a summer top, or both). Unfortunately they don't carry it at the Knit Nook, so I'm going to call Close Knit Cafe tomorrow and ask them if they do. Anyway, while we were there, ogling the miniscule $11 balls of Rowan fancypants soft stuff, my mom (who is thankfully more extroverted than I) told the woman there about how I make up patterns and asked her if they'd ever need any help in the shop. The woman there said that, come fall, they would be delighted to have me knit stuff for them to put on display, sell patterns, or just come in and help them run the store. Imagine getting paid to knit and stare at shelves full of yarn! I practically had a joygasm as I left my name and phone number. I hope it works out.

2006-06-12T20:52:00.000-07:00

My early birthday present from my wonderful grandma was a trip to Joann's. Oh, how well she knows me... (My aunts do too; one got me a beautiful bag for my stash while the other got me a festive monkey tape measure!)
I got new needles and some soft yarn for a nice summer top. You can't go wrong with primary colors...

Later, feeling bad for not getting me any fancy expensive stuff (?!?), my grandma actually let me get into her stash! I took away some odds and ends she won't use anytime soon, since she is currently stuck crocheting millions of identical angels for the hospital out of tatting thread. ::shudder::

They're mostly just scraps, but that blue-green will be great for socks; it's so light and incredibly stretchy. And that orange is fabulously tasty. She said she has no idea where it came from, but the weight varies so much I swear it had to be spun by hand. At any rate, it's all lovely, lovely yarn.

Guess what else we found in the basement...

My great-great grandmother made this little bag. Unfortunately, it's all torn up at the bottom and all the stitches need to be picked up. :( I have no idea how I'd even begin to do that, but if my grandma comes across any more of that yarn we're going to try. It's so beautiful.

My grandma told me that the next time she sees me I "better be wearing a new creation!" She showed off pictures of my prom dress and everything to her friends and she got mad that I didn't bring any new FOs on this visit. :D

Latley all I've been working on is swap stuff, and learning how to drive. Oh, except, except--!--you know Knitta Please? Well, I'm totally ripping their idea off and tagging my city with cool knitted graffiti!! I've left multicolored garters on two metal poles so far (not enough time for a whole stop sign sweater just yet), but I'm looking to add plenty more. I wish I had pictures, but I just don't think to bring my camera places like I think to bring my needles.

This has gotten long and haphazard enough for one post, so I suppose I'll leave you with the wonders of Easter egg dye.

2006-06-06T00:23:00.000-07:00

I've encountered a dilemma.
Y'know how I was working on a certain pattern? And how it was, once written out completely and flawlessly, going to be submitted to Knitty.com?
Well, I've discovered something better for which this pattern shall be equally appropriate:
DEBBIE STOLLER'S NEW BOOK.

Yeah, she's writing another one; isn't that crazy? And freaking exciting?
Here's the problematic part of it--pattern submissions are due June 19th, twelve days before I was originally expecting to have this work complete. So here's the plan:
I take my three (yes, now three) samples and analyze them with such focus and involvement that I discover that none of them is salvagable any longer, cast on for a final one and cram like a big fat Christmas has unexpectedly strolled into the middle of summer and sat on my future.

Because here's my logic--although the most popular free online knitting magazine probably reaches a wider audience than that-lady's-fourth-book-now-and-when-is-she-going-to-stop, (not that I ever want her to) a book is concrete, and a much more serious goal. I've never had my name printed in a book before. The mere (irrational) daydream of all the hundreds of knitters flipping through a book and seeing something I created makes my ego's mouth water.
It's like applying to Cornell when I know I'm probably just going to go to Eastern Kentucky University. There's always that glimmering, wishful vision.
And, of course, when the magnanimous Debbie Stoller inevitably ignores my work, there will always be the winter issue of Knitty. (And when it's turned down by them, well, there's always... wait, what does come after that? Janky, halfass-d.i.y'ed self-publishing and no purchasers? Oh, God, let me get into that book.)

2006-05-30T10:06:00.000-07:00

I'm getting reacquainted with my sewing machine.

It's a big-ass ear on my shirt! It's to share the importance of listening, plus I have a fascination with anatomy. I've had a halfway-finished shirt with inner organ appliques on it for months now, but I really don't want to cut the pieces for the small intestine. The digestive system has to wait. Meanwhile, I've moved onto machine embroidery (I cheat by sewing over paper and ripping it off). I would have done an inner ear because they have those sweet logarithmic spirals, but no one would have known what it was.

Next up in the sewing world will be a bright floral sundress.

I'm not going to foolishly anticipate that it'll turn out even in the remote semblance of the original illustration, but it's nice to have a dream, isn't it?
The fabric's so nice. I think it's rayon, too. Breezy!

I've been listening to the Mountain Goats a lot lately. They've got Weakerthans-Neutral Milk Hotel-esque warbly-voice poetry, but there's also a bluegrassy, nature metaphor Fruit Bats taste to their music. Pretty.

2006-05-29T13:54:00.000-07:00

So here's what's really going on.
I'm working on a pattern that I'm hopefully going to submit to Knitty, if I finish before the deadline, July 1st. I've already completed two prototypes and scribbled down somewhat-patterns for each, I just have to decide which features are going to carry on to the final piece.
Now what I'm really thirsty for is a simple project to work on while I read. School is almost out--I have two exams to take yet, not to mention my four theology projects due Wednesday--then I'll be free! The long weekend has given me a taste of summer already, and I'm eternally grateful for the time I'll soon have to get lost in several new books. Maybe I can finally dig into that Knitpicks Dye Your Own and the PAAS Easter egg tablets to start on a multicolored felted tote bag. I've been planning the project for months. Just think--stockinette on circular needles. My hands instantly rejoice in relaxation at the very thought of it (the Knitty pattern? It's no stockinette.)
I also joined my first ever Craftster swap. Yep, that's right... before May 26th I was a swap virgin. The theme's Fruits & Veggies, and I'm getting so excited over it! I hope my partner is pleased with what I make her; I'm a bit nervous about it. But I am thrilled that, as far as the beginning of the summer before I leave for a five-week Governor's Scholars Program, my only two deadlines shall be craft-related.
Sorry for another pictureless post. Peace.

2006-05-24T14:11:00.000-07:00

I didn't desert my knitting.
I'm just not making enough progress on these brand new projects to really show off anything.
It's been a year since I first started knitting clothes, though. Isn't that crazy? I barely knew how to purl a year ago, and look where I am now... doing lace and cables and colorwork. ::pats self on back:: Good job, me.

2006-05-15T21:19:00.000-07:00

I had a cello recital on Sunday. Hungarian Rhapsody, composed by David Popper.

You can listen to my piece here since Napster is free now. Last track on the album. Just imagine that, only more ammature, and with a piano accompaniment instead of orchestra. It's a really intense, melodramatic, dancy piece. Everyone should be a Popper fan. You know he was a cellist himself?

To emphasize the Bohemian vibe, I dressed up like a gypsy for it. (Because when have I ever passed up the blatant opportunity to transform an average social affair into a costume party? The answer is never.)
Sorry for the blurdom, but here's a picture of me practicing:

(Go-go sixteenth notes in thumb position. I'm proud of my mammoth thumb callous!)
That's a crazy silk shirt, a flowy sequinny wrap skirt, and a glitter head scarf. I had these gaudy earrings and big metallic beads braided into my hair, too. Fun!

Oh, this is a knitting page? Well, I have callouses from that too. Not much textile magnificence amidst preparation for finals, but I'm working on something. Trust me.

2006-05-09T17:35:00.000-07:00

Guess what arrived four days ago.

Lots of goodness! Aren't the colors mouthwatering? Naturally, I cast on seconds after this picture was taken.

Also, I had a crazy decorated letter for my pen pal in the mailbox. (The decorations actually turned out really ugly... but nevermind that.) The front door was left lazily open as I was working like a snail on my history project, and I distinctly heard the mailman come, open the box, giggle to himself about the crazy envelope, and walk away. It made me smile.

Well, I'm going to hit it since Blogger is acting whack right now.

2006-04-30T12:02:00.000-07:00

I am delighted to report that my prom dress was a success. Prepare for a picture heavy post.
(Oh, and blogger is terrible at resizing everything... click the pictures for a large, clearer view.)

I deem it necessary to point out that the stupid flash caused my bright blue shorts to show through much more than they did in real life. My hair, on the other hand, really was that messy. I wasn't thinking very hard when I fixed it into a spiraling, knotted braid at the top of my head with haphazard tangles falling from my head. Needless to say, it promptly fell out into a wild mass of fuzz and barrettes.
One more picture, this time sans the mane:

Yeah, yeah, the dress turned out well, but the dance proved to be a total drag. Most of what the DJ played was new rap music, which sounded like ring tones with vulgar lyrics croaked out over them. It was ridiculously boring, and I danced so hard to Sandstorm at the beginning that my stomach hurt for the rest of the dance. Luckily we got there at 9 and left at 11 (the minimum amount of time we were allowed to be there), and had a lot more fun just hanging out in the car in Steak n' Shake's parking lot, laughing too hard at things that aren't funny. Which is the best. (This was only junior prom, so at least now I know not to waste my time again next year.)

Me and the date

Lauren and the date

Putting table decorations to good use

Okay, so I can tell that by now you are all sick of mine and my friends' collective ugliness. Onward!
Much knitting is to come after this. Now I can finally dig back into my array of knitted beginnings, all of which I was forced to bury for the sake of this dress hanging over my head.
Oh, and I ordered a bunch of yarn from KnitPicks.com this morning, which my mom paid for since I'm a poor, jobless kid. Isn't she sweet?

2006-04-23T15:57:00.000-07:00

Check out my brilliance.

They're made out of a coat hanger. A coat hanger!
I posted a tutorial for them here. Started a sock on them, too. They're size #1's--the smallest needles I've used yet. I was thrilled that they were free.

Dress is 85% finished. Prom is Saturday. I need to stomp on the gas this week.

2006-04-20T17:16:00.000-07:00

I've never been tagged by anyone before! So this is what it's like to have friends...
Clearly I should read more, or at least more popular books. At least this list reminds me of all those things I've been meaning to check out when I have the time (which is never).

Book Meme!
1. Copy & paste.
2. Bold the ones you've read.
3. Add four recent reads to the end.
4. Tag!

The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy - Douglas Adams
The Great Gatsby - F.Scott Fitzgerald
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter 6) - J.K. Rowling
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Animal Farm: A Fairy Story - George Orwell
Catch-22 - Joseph Heller TBR (I read part of it)
The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
Lord of the Flies - William Golding
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
1984 - George Orwell
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3) - J.K. Rowling
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4) - J.K. Rowling
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter 5) - J.K. Rowling
Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut ... I finished it two days ago!
Angels and Demons - Dan Brown
Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Book 1) - J.K. Rowling
Neuromancer - William Gibson
Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson
The Secret History - Donna Tartt
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Book 2) - J.K. Rowling
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
American Gods - Neil Gaiman
Ender's Game (The Ender Saga) - Orson Scott Card
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Good Omens - Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman
Atonement - Ian McEwan
The Shadow Of The Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
Dune - Frank Herbert
The Importance of Being Earnest - Oscar Wilde
Holy Fools - Joanne Harris
The Browning Version - Terence Rattigan
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
Black Water - Joyce Carol Oates
The Giver - Lois Lowry
Naked - David Sedaris
The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck

I tag... I don't know who to tag. I tag anyone who wants to use this (quite effective) tool of procrastination.

Got a recital Sunday! I need to practice!!

2006-04-11T15:27:00.000-07:00

El fin de Rose of Sharon...

Good buttons. That, just as I suspected, is what this sweater was missing this entire time. I can sleep happily now.

(And yes, before anyone appalled enough ships one to me, I do in fact own an iron. Ironing is just a waste of time. Honestly, who wears wrinkle-free skirts nowadays?)

2006-04-09T10:04:00.000-07:00

This spring break I...

discovered the use for, and the desirability of, mercerized cotton
visited Meher Baba's home in the west, Meher Spiritual Center
went to the beach 7 days in a row
used a random hotel's hot tub without anyone noticing we weren't supposed to be there
completed what I venture to say is 2/3 of my prom dress (which shall remain a surprise, as a prom dress WIP is a little embarassing).
taught myself Cat Stevens melodies on guitar by ear
got accepted to Commonwealth Honors Academy at Murray State University, but I probably won't be able to go...
got my first ever penpal, from the wonderful Craftster!

Tonight I'm going to see Madeline Adams play at the park. (Please oh please, click that link and find the mp3's. She has a beautiful voice.)

And, you know, since almost none of this has had to do with knitting, I guess I'll be on my way. I'm going to continue working on that prom dress!

2006-03-31T16:55:00.000-08:00

You know those articles of clothing that look just great, until you try them on? Yeah.

About the buttons, I wanted there to be more than just two on either side (maybe that's why the sweater looks so idiotic right now!) but I haven't bought any yet. These were just 3 spare pea coat buttons and one mismatched black button. Heh.
You know, a row of three or five buttons that actually matched each other would probably make this sweater much less atrocious, but I wanted to post pictures on the blog before I left for South Carolina.

But see the poofiness? See how somewhere along the way I spontaneously thought that a random slit in the yoke would look interesting and neat? See how wrong I was?

I dunno, I guess it's not too bad from the back:

Eh. I like the retro cut. 40s or 80s, or one of those decades with the broad shoulders and skinny waistlines. That part I do like.

I've decided that this week, because the fugly sock from the previous post has been frogged, I will have an adventure with lace! And work on my prom dress...
See ya! (springbreakohsixwhoowhoo)

2006-03-26T18:57:00.000-08:00

Shhh... she's blocking.

I've named her Rose of Sharon, because I started and finished John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath while knitting this sweater.

Plus, the minimal shaping on it sorta makes me look preggo. Haha, no, just kidding about that part. I wish I'd done more, though. It fits kind of funny. I'll explain when I post a picture of it on me, but first I have to find a set of chunky ass buttons.
Because I have to ruin everything I wear with something gaudy.

To fill the void--er, those needles, I've begun a sock:

Just a sock. I'm apprehensive because somehow I find some way to misshape every sock I knit. Such is life.

2006-03-18T20:49:00.000-08:00

At the moment my life looks like a bunched-together mess of panels stretched across eight dpn's.

I took it off, though, once.
The suspenseful second fitting:
(come on, waste yarn. this entire sweater's fate rides on your cooperation.)

The verdict is that this sweater is too small and too scratchy, but none of this will matter as long as I miraculously have enough yarn to finish it.
My attitude with most everything lately has resorted to "not great, but FINISHED." This is the result of being shoved into overdrive with school (I have seven classes a day, and five of those teachers believe that their class is the only thing going on in my life), as well as pushing myself to do too many extracurricular things at once ... What can I say? I'm a generalist and I like being involved in a variety of projects. I spent the past three days at a YMCA mock United Nations convention. I feel bad because I'm missing film club and two separate creative writing events, all things in I'd agreed to be involved in. I have a cello audition coming up this Saturday. That night there's also a show I want to see. Sunday is an orchestra concert for which I've missed three practices, so I'll be up there faking for sure. My friend keeps calling me for reassurance on her rash relationship decisions, and talking to her seems like a good excuse to put off the analytical research paper my English teacher assigned on the same day a different analytical essay was due to her. My boyfriend wants to hang out because we only get to see each other on weekends, but I don't even know if I want to spend all of my free time in another person's company... I kind of just want to knit.
*sigh*
Even if this doesn't sound to you like a lot of things to worry about, I am slightly overwhelmed. I am the kind of person who would sleep twelve hours a night if it was even remotely feasable. But then again, I always agree to do all kinds of things with different groups and then I end up persistently overwhelmed from August to May.

Still puzzled about my prom dress. I don't want the stomach part of it to be just plain old stockinette! I guess if I don't come up with a brilliant lace pattern or design feature soon enough I'll have to leave the plan as it is. But to reiterate, and no, I don't care if my repetition of posting the picture bugs you, I want an idea.

Comments? Criticisms? Remarks? Opinions? Suggestions? Anyone at all?

2006-03-11T11:19:00.000-08:00

I'm sick again. My throat hurts and I'm tired, but at least I get to just sit around all day with a mug of peach tea next to me, knitting and reading people from Craftsters' blogs.
Y'know... exactly the same stuff I'd be doing if I were not sick, only justified. :)

I'm finished with the back of my sweater now! All I have left are sleeves, a yoke, and two faux button bands. You'll understand the need for faux button bands when you see my original sketch:

So you see, it's like a double-breasted jacket ... only a sweater. And a lot different from the drawing, too. I don't know exactly how it's going to look yet, but there's a starting point.
I keep on praying I don't run out of yarn. It took 2 1/4 skeins for the front and the back, and I have 1 3/4 left. I'm crossing my fingers (figuratively, for I can't do that and knit at the same time).

I'm procrastinating on a lot of things right now. Aside from school, (as school is always the same story and I'm always procrastinating on at least two projects and four homework assignments, give or take) I am also procrastinating on practicing cello, learning to drive, and making my prom dress.
I told myself that for Lent I was going to try to practice cello every day. Well, I've already cheated two times. I really hope I don't fall behind, because I've got an audition for a great scholarship program in precisely two weeks. I'm playing Popper's Hungarian Rhapsody ... the piece is magnificent and just sings about gypsies. It's so dancy and fun to play. Must. Practice.

On the prom dress, I have an MS Paint sketch of how it's going to look!
Behold...

My boyfriend said it looks like an elf dress. What a compliment! The top is in the lattice lace stitch(same stitch as on Rowan's Butterfly, I believe, if you're familiar with either).
I've got the bust done and I'm almost ready to start the midsection, except--and this is of utmost importance--I don't want it to be just plain teal. Tell me, how might I spice it up? I thought about beading, but I would have to go out and find beads I liked for it. Maybe some more openwork? I'm quite fond of the feather & fan stitch, but perhaps not for the stomach part of a dress.
Any opinions?
And, also: what color fabric should I line it with? My best friend says bright green. Opinions on that?
I'm really open to anyone's opinion. The design is still in the making, so now is the time for help or constructive criticism.
The only thing I'm not changing is the colors. I love them!

2006-03-08T03:44:00.000-08:00

I've resurfaced from the research paper and the projects. Kind of. School still prevails as a wasteful nuisance, but I think I will live this time.
And they usually let me work on my sweater in at least two classes.

But, dude... look at what I noticed had happened when I actually took the time to look down at what my hands were doing in Algebra:

Know what that hole is? (Oh, and it wasn't so ladderish until I dissected it to figure out what was wrong.) It's where, ten rows before, I picked it up and started knitting in the wrong direction. Rawr! I need to look more. Especially in the morning. So I ripped it out and fixed it, but that sets me back 10 rows. And these are some long-ass, annoying rows. Hrumph.
By the way, if you look at this picture you can see what I meant in the previous post about uneven tension. It didn't show up a bit in the first picture, but up-close you can see how atrociously bumpy it is. I think it's because the yarn is so rough.
But on the bright side, the sweater looks like it's going to fit me. Maybe a mistake was a good thing, because I never really know if something will fit or not until I take it off the needles. Success! ...Well, I'm about a third there, but 1/3 success! Mwaha.

Oh, and I have decided that I am knitting my prom dress. Prom is 52 days away, and I really think that I can make it.
A dress? Kind of big, but not an unrealistic goal.
Lace on size 11 needles?
This project will be a bolt of lightning.

Tee-hee.. on a dorky punnish note, if you knew what color I was using, you'd agree about the bolt of lightning part. It's pretty obtrusive. I'm excited.

2006-02-27T16:04:00.000-08:00

Sorry to be so angsty. I'm not usually like that unless I'm under pressure.
Let me reiterate, though, that I do hate school.
I finished my research paper, but I am yet far, far away from resurfacing from the many projects which have been laid on me mercilessly these past couple weeks.

And, I assure you, I already have lots of things planned for after I resurface.

Amidst all my schoolwork (miraculously), I have worked up this little distraction:

The yarn is scratchy (100% wool, oh my! How uncharacteristic of the Bernat Queen).
And the tension is so uneven, despite how the picture tries to deceive you. Hah, actually, that picture is really nice. It shows the true color. Very flattering to the stitches. I might be getting better at this photography thing.

Anyway. I've been planning this sweater for a long time (sketches in my chemistry notebook date all the way back to January) and I'm really excited for how it will hopefully turn out. I'd rather not explain my mental picture because I like to grace the blog with surprises.
Feel anxious for me to get my schoolwork done. Now.

On another note, I am debating whether or not to knit my prom dress. Junior prom is two months away and, well, I think I'm going. My friends want me to, at least. It's going to be at the zoo.
::shrugs shoulders::
A knitted dress would be cool.

I want my circular needles back.

2006-02-22T19:49:00.000-08:00

I hate school. I hate school. I hate school.

But I started a new sweater.

Does anyone actually read this?

2006-02-21T17:52:00.000-08:00

My grandma got me some yarn for Christmas. (Yes, I am aware that Christmas was two months ago, but I waited until I was actually putting the yarn into good use before I blogged about it.)
Anyway, this yarn is called Angel Hair, and it is every bit as luxurious as the title implies. So soft and fluffy! I'm not one to fall for anything that usually goes under the category of novelty yarns, least of all purple and pink balls of fluff wound into a skein-like object, but this is truly an exception. I mean, it's like knitting with a fucking purple chinchilla.
I'm also not one to whore out close-up pictures of yarn, but this, again, is an exception. It's such a luxury to work with. And it's gonna be a skirt.

If you were wondering, yes, I am aware of how bright, ridiculous, fluffy, and impractical this finished object will be. But I'll love it. Because who doesn't want a gigantic, purple, knit skirt?

2006-02-20T11:24:00.000-08:00

I finished my stripey scarf, whom I have named Marvin for no distinct reason.
Here he is:
Sorry about the terrible image quality! My goodness, that is dark and ghastly!

On another note..
I wish Marvin could have been longer, but I ran out of yarn at approximately 6 1/2 feet. Luckily, this scarf has these magical stretching abilities. And when it isn't wrapped and just hangs off my neck, both ends fall to the tops of my knees, which is just lovely.
It's also quite warm, despite its thin width. I attribute this to the fact that it was made on size 3 needles! When's the last time you made a garter stitch scarf on a pair of 3's?

2006-02-09T19:25:00.000-08:00

I've been sick and home from school the past two days. I wish I could say that it's brought me more time to work on things more important than school (like knitting), but I regretfully admit that yesterday I spent the entire day sleeping, only getting up to see the doctor. On the bright side, I don't have mono, as I feared I would when my best friend caught the symptoms of it a few days after we'd been sharing chapstick (yikes!). Surprisingly, this is only a random minor sickness with coincidential timing.
Today, however, I was slightly more productive. I did finish the book I was reading (Naked by David Sedaris) and I started working on a cool hat.
I decided to do the color/cable work like this solely for the reason that I was thinking about cables in my half-sleeping state and realized that I'd never seen it before. And that, of course, is every reason I need to proceed with something new and unknown. And while it is on straight needles (I know. A hat that requires seaming. Blech.), I have decided that for the look, it is totally worth one tiny seam. And excessive stranding on one side of the piece. And the frustration of not knowing how soon is too soon to decrease, and then ripping out three inches because it was still not big enough.
But it's okay.
The most recent roadblock on it, which prompted me to update this instead of continue knitting myself to sleep, was that I was trying (probably too hard) to wrestle one of the cable twists into position when...
crack!
Ohhhh. That's not a sound a knitter likes to hear coming out of his or her work. At first I thought I'd broken one of my wooden needles, but it turned out to be a little better than that (or a little worse, depending on whether or not you value a quarter of a dowel rod higher than your in-progress piece).
I snapped the stitch. See?
I guess that's what I get for not using a cable needle. Maybe. Or I can just blame it on the yarn gods' contempt for me for treating my stitches too harshly. I guess every time I make a twist I just expect more elasticity out of my yarn than the stitches are willing to give, so I should have expected this retaliation for my heartless abuse.

::shrug::
I'll tie a knot in the back of the piece tomorrow and act like nothing happened. Because I am better at ignoring my flaws than getting too worked up over them.

2006-02-06T21:43:00.000-08:00

I've reached a difficult point in my life, one in which I hesitate to admit that I have, in fact, lost my circular needles.

*gasp* *choke* *sob*

Yes, yes. It is very hard. You see, I know for a fact that I do own four pairs: sizes 7, 8, 9, and 10.
But when, on a cleaner day, one's bedroom looks like this:

locating just one object at a given time can be a consuming task.
(Okay, so it might not even look that bad from the picture, but be reminded that the area under the bed does not photograph well. This is not the worst of it; in the full spectrum this is really just your average corner.)

I have searched for those needles. I have torn my room apart--which is either an oxymoronic or redundant expression to make knowing my room--I do not quite know which.
They are not under a pile of clothes by the door. They are not in the box of knitting stuff. They are not on my nightstand. They are not on the bookshelf, behind it, or underneath the pile in front of it. They are not in the pile of fabric and tangled yarn in front of my closet. They are not under my bed. They are not in my box of sheet music. They are not in the pile of clothes next to my bed, alongside the lamp, or surrounding my cello stand. They are not in my cello bag, backpack, or the bag of stuff I never unpacked from Christmas. They are not in the box of fabric paint, box of felt, or random cardboard box where one might find a high heeled shoe and a marzipan pig.

This is the point where I agree to submit my obstinance to the notion that maybe they really are lost. All four pairs. Now it is time for me to make a plan for how I might go about living my life without them, for which I do not know if I am ready yet. A ceremony? A sculptured monument in their honor?

No one else understands.

2006-02-06T21:27:00.000-08:00

Make way for Ice Cream Hat the Second:

Sorry that picture happens to be so icky. The focus should be on the hat, not the cruddy shower curtain or the scary ass facial contortion.
This one is much taller than Ice Cream Hat the First, which I like. But it's also skinner, which I'm not sure about. Prepare for a third, for there shall be pattern perfections in a final ice cream hat.
Note on the cherry--I like it a lot, but I'm afraid it makes it look too much like a cupcake and not enough like soft serve. So, maybe for the last one, chocolate vanilla swirl? Ponder with me, now.

2006-01-29T12:00:00.000-08:00

My mommy picked up some new dpn's for me, suh-weet! I got started on the first sleeve for my brown cardigan, so now I'm excited about that once more.
I think I'm going to have to make more of those ice cream hats. This girl at school told me she'd pay me $20 for one! Wow! Oh, also, I was given a link to a pattern for a knitted cherry, so that will be perfect for the next one I make. How cute!
Let's see, now... what else have I been doing? Well, I'm working on a scarf:

It's worked on size 3 needles; that's tiny, for a scarf at least! But it's a comforting kind of slow, you know what I mean? I know that it won't get finished too quickly as I sit with it in class or in front of a book. It keeps my hands occupied for long stretches of time while my mind takes in all different ideas.
Actually, this scarf was going to be a project to get me more accustomed to Continental knitting. I read a couple different places that Continental knitting goes a lot faster than English knitting, so I figured it'd be a good idea to at least try it, despite the fact that I've been knitting quickly and comfortably with the yarn between my right thumb and forefinger ever since I learned.
Well... Continental knitting does not go faster. Nor does it make it any easier to regulate tension. In fact, all that wrapping around fingers and winding needles around each other with handicapped ambidexterity is a downright annoyance. All the rows in which I held the yarn with my left hand are considerably looser and more uneven than the rest, so I decided right then and there to give up my attempt at becoming a Continental knitting master and go back to the style that has served me well since childhood. So there!

Ooh, I bought yarn on eBay! Isn't that exciting? 4 skeins of pretty blue %100 wool. Now--promise not to laugh--this is my first purchase of wool yarn. Ever. Yes, that's right... I've been knitting obsessively for nine months and, alas, my stash remains nearly full of synthetic fibers. I suppose the major reason is that I am cheap, but honestly, I find nothing wrong with acrylic yarn. Most knitters out there seem to cringe at the very idea of buying a brand of yarn that is sold at your everyday monstrous retail store, but I truly find nothing wrong with Bernat Super Value, Caron Simply Soft, hell, even Lion Brand is a bit of a luxury to me. I mean, what is so bad about acrylic yarn? It's machine washable, affordable, and it's even softer than a lot of wools out there. So, yeah.. now you know. I love acrylic yarn and I'm not ashamed to admit it.
However, thinking that I must be missing out on something since I haven't ventured past the cheapest yarns stocked at Michael's, I was delighted to find that on eBay I can, in fact, get nice yarn of natural origin for around the same price. This is a revolution. This is a major turnaround in my yarn stashing standards.
Energized from my eBay escapade, I asked my father if he had any yarn lying around from the days when he was really into crocheting. Oh boy, when I was a kid my dad used to make the coolest hand-crocheted ties and billed hats with a teeny tiny hook (all, coincidentally, crocheted in the English style). I knew he didn't really do it anymore since his fascination with making pipes has escalated, so he gave me all of his old yarn. They're mostly pretty boring colors, and I only found a multitude of different scraps each rolled tightly into a ball and piled into a grocery bag (I suppose that mainly crocheters accumulate these bags full of various tiny yarn balls, because I've also seen them at my grandma's house and tucked into my Spanish teacher's purse).
See?

But, yeah, they're all wool. At least my dad wasn't one of those Red Heart Granny Square Afghan crocheters. Oh, not that there's anything wrong with that, of course, but... well... you know.

Luckily, there was one large skein that my dad never broke into, which was exciting to find. It's a dull purpley/blue that would make a nice lace shawl or something, if only I wore shawls. I don't know. I'll decide what to do with it later, but here it is.

2006-01-24T18:45:00.000-08:00

Crap. I just wrote the longest entry in the history of my perpetually brief blog and then Xed it out on accident.
I have homework. I'll get back and retype everything in a couple days.

2006-01-16T15:33:00.000-08:00

I'm back with an ice cream cone hat (already!). I tell you, time flies when you're procrastinating!

I can't decide if it's finished or not. The shape isn't perfect, but I'm not sure what I could do next time. It makes me feel more like a baker or a bishop than an ice cream cone... If anyone actually reads this, it would be lovely to receive any criticism at all from you. I want to perfect the shape of the ice cream. Is it too short? Too bubbly? Any comments at all would be greatly appreciated.

2006-01-16T10:54:00.000-08:00

Wow. Belated happy new year. School's got me too busy to knit (I'm glad that was a lie).
The brown cardigan is ready for sleeves, but I'm not. I need to get new double-pointed needles for it.
To take up the time before that shopping trip, which might not happen for a few weeks, I've started making an ice cream cone hat! It's quite literally going to look like a swirly cone of soft serve... that is, if I do it right. I've already had to start over six times. But I'm excited for the finished product! If not a little anxious. I'll hold off on pictures until it looks a little bit more like it should, because for all I know I'm going to rip back eighty more times before it actually works.
So there's your update. Until next time.

2005-12-29T22:31:00.000-08:00

Whoa, time for a tangent story. That lovely brown and blue pullover? It has gotten more wear than all of my other FOs put together. I still completely adore it and I have already worn it on a number of occasions.
Anyway, I wore the sweater to my cello recital a couple of weeks ago. I finished playing my piece and descended the stage stairs. Just as I commenced recuperating from Van Goens's Scherzo (Extremely fast. Requires recuperation.) my teacher stood up and announced, "Sally is actually multitalented! Not only does she play the cello, but she made her sweater!!" For which I acutally received a second round of applause. It was a humorous experience.

Do you remember how I had to go out and buy a whole new skein of the walnut brown for that sweater? Well, the remainder of that voluminous skein is quickly turning into one of these:

"right" side, but the wrong side looks just as cool (below)

Its future lies in cardiganism. I can't wait. No, I really cannot--I'm using smaller needles than I am used to, so it seems to be going excruciatingly slow. But I really have only been working on it for a week, so I suppose that it's nice progress considering. I worked on it as I walked through an entire art exhibit, stopping to read all the informational paragraphs on the walls and everything, which got me some confused but appreciative looks from the white-haired ladies who work at the art museum. I also knit it all the way through the new Narnia movie, trying not to poke the strange guy sitting next to me. I figure that if I take it more places with me like that I shall have it finished much sooner than I normally would. The only thing, other than the slow progress, is the fact that it really hurts my fingers after a while. I'm not sure, but I think it might be the needles. I don't knit with metal too often, and this thick weight of yarn on the skinny aluminum needles is really fatal to my hands. That's why it's good to have a distraction while I make it--a good movie to watch, another exhibit, or sinking into one of the good books I got for Christmas will make the project breeze by.

Here is Cyndle's elf pixie hat. Well, it's not done at all, but I'm trying to practice taking flattering pictures of works-in-progress, a feat at which I seem to be impaired.

There, now--'twasn't so bad. I'll have it done by tomorrow, I'm sure.

2005-12-19T16:10:00.000-08:00

I started something new on Saturday. Whoops. I do that so much. I'm making a brown cardigan now too, so I'll add that to my growing list of UFO's.
The yarn arrived in the mail today for Cyndle's elf pixie hat! I can't wait to start on it... I guess I will right after Christmas, since it looks like I'm going to be insanely busy in the next couple days (party + Christmas presents + cello + 2 huge last-minute Governor's School for the Arts applications = no time for anything else).

2005-12-06T14:39:00.000-08:00

Whew! So glad to have that out of the way so now I can finally wear it!

Next up? A cardigan. Or a scarf. Or gloves. Or... Christmas presents? Damn it!

2005-12-05T15:01:00.002-08:00

Since the completion of the elephant sweater I ventured out to Meijer to get more yarn. You see, I ran out of brown 6 months ago on this fantastically striped sweater I was making literally three inches before the end, and have been so preoccupied since--oh, a trip to Africa, a semester of school, three other sweaters--that it's taken me this long to get my ass to Meijer for some more. But it should be done by tonight, that is, if I can get my reading done whilst I knit. So hopefully I'll have a new sweater by the end of today!

2005-11-30T15:42:00.000-08:00

Elephant sweataaaarrrrrrrrrrrrr! (Okay, so in my head that was Strongbad's voice)

Yep, it's really done! No, I can't believe it either. It kind of sucks, though, because when I picked up stitches along the bottom the rib got messed up. But it is better to have a messed up rib than it being too short, so at least matters could be a lot worse. Also, the armpits are not tall enough. ::giggle:: Tall armpits--that sounds funny, doesn't it? It's true, though, that they're not. That is why the top of the elephant rectangle pulls to the sides and looks very unrectangly. But it is just because I have never done a raglan sweater before. I could have used a pattern, but it just wasn't an option (because I am too cool).

I have been requested by Janey from blogger and someone from Craftster (it's moving to a new server at the moment so I can't get the username) for the elephant motif I used. I charted it out on the computer, so this will be nice and easy.

Okay, maybe not.

Okay, so blogger doesn't load .bmp or .png and otherwise it loses color information, but I guess a chart is a chart, regardless of how fuzzy, right?

Yay for MS Paint.

2005-11-14T17:36:00.000-08:00

Good news #1: I FINISHED KYLIEGH'S SWEATER.
Good news #2: I have pictures.
(You can click on it for a bigger view)

It's actually a little lighter than it's shown in the picture, more of a light light lavendarish pink. It's that $1 Target yarn. (<----cheapass=me)

and....

close-up detail of my magical skilllllz

The following are things about it that aggravate me:
On one of the lace repeats near the top, I forgot an eyelet row. Probably because I was so excited about starting on the armholes. I dunno.
The back is seed stitch, and it actually pulls up more than the front stitches. So the front is about 3/4" longer than the back. Rawr.
The cables on the sleeves don't line up from side to side. One is placed higher. Actually, they were both supposed to go down from the top of the shoulder, but I didn't want to redo it because I hate seaming. I also figured that people only really see the front of this baby so it's probably okay.
Oh, and they don't twist in an opposite direction from each other, which I didn't even think about until just now.

...Of course, all these are things that Kyleigh will never notice. So I figure it's all right for it to have its quirks because she's going to drool all over it no matter what.

Whoo, that was a nice project to finally get done with.

Good news #3: In 24 hours I'll be seeing Bright Eyes!! I can't believe that Conor Oberst is coming to my town just so I can take advantage of him while he is drunk. How excited am I?!?!?! ::holds out armspan:: THIS EXCITED.
(Don't fear me...go back to knitting, sweet people...)

2005-11-10T17:21:00.000-08:00

I got the second sleeve for the baby sweater done today! Now I just have to seam them all together and make a collar. (And weave in ends, but I don't like thinking about my least favorite part just yet!)
Yeah, in eighth period I wanted to graft the two shoulder pieces together but I didn't have a third needle for kitchener's stitch, so I took apart my pen and grafted the shoulder with the ink cartrige because I'm punk.
Wasn't till I got home that I realized that I did the wrong side, though. Damn.

Oh yeah, and do you remember that red and green thing that was going to be a coat? Yeah, well it was turning out really freaking ugly so I took it apart. I'm still going to make a coat out of that yarn, though. I'm doing wide panels of each color; it'll be tizight.

2005-10-30T10:15:00.000-08:00

Wow... I just realized how much stuff I'm really working on all at once, which is ironic because the craziness of the school year gives me almost no time to just knit. I also realized how much stuff I'm working on that the blog has never seen. So I decided to make this post a visual tour of all my progressions. Sorry, but no FO's--I'm too A.D.D. for them.
This shall be very picture heavy.

This is my elephant sweater. Now that it's fall I finally have incentive to work on it again: firstly because I need more warm clothes, secondly because the colors are yummmm for October.
Oh yeah, and I figured out magic loop for the sleeve; it truly is magic! Haha.

This sweater has been in progress quite literally for months. It didn't take me all that long to get to where it is now, but at the beginning of the summer I ran out of brown yarn. That's right, I ran out of yarn just a couple of inches away from the end. Rawr! And I've been too lazy to go get more, so there it has sat. I'm sure once I finish it I'll wear it all the time, though. I do love the colors.

I presently can't find the baby sweater I'm working on, (poo. messy room.) but here's the sleeve. I'm actually going to frog this sleeve, though, because it looks dumb next to the rest of the sweater. Sorry I don't have a pic of the whole thing, but this at least gives you an idea of the color.

This is my first toe-up sock. I really can't stand it. The toe is too short, the foot is too long, and the ankle is too tight. And it has those annoying holes on the corner of the heel. Socks are not my strong point because there are too many ways they can go wrong. Rawr.

This is the beloved skirt I'm working on! Sorry it looks so funny. It's really white, but my camera batteries were about to die when I took this. Also, it's not going to be funny-shaped like it looks. It's being knit top-down and my circular needles are shorter than the actual circumference, making it difficult to try on. :-P

And finally, I had the brilliant idea to knit a painfully bright, long winter coat. I began to carry that idea out while reading Rappaccini's Daughter. From now on, knitting this will remind me of the story. Does that ever happen to you when you knit and read/watch TV? Anyway, this picture butchered the colors horribly; they're actually very bright and rich.

Haha, that was so much. It's funny, really, how many things I have going on all at once. But it's also exciting to think about perhaps finishing one of them someday. XD

2005-10-09T12:29:00.000-07:00

My art teacher is officially awesome. Why is my art teacher awesome? My art teacher knows a woman who has a basement full of yarn (literally...) that she wants to give away entirely.
So I took this:

Which is about a third of what she brought in... but supposedly the woman says it's just the tip of the iceberg! Can you imagine giving all that away?
I have no idea what I'm going to do with that mercerized cotton. There was a whole garbage bag of those spools, so I was like, "What the hell... one day I'll make doilies."
I'm really excited about the three skeins of teal on top (it's much tealer in real life) because it's oh-so-soft. And I'm thinkin' about a winter coat out of green and orange? That would be incredibly fun. Eeee! Lots of free craft supplies make me salivate.

2005-10-04T14:03:00.000-07:00

I started making a lacy white skirt the other day. To be worn on top of other skirts, naturally. No pattern; everyone knows that's the best way. I'm excited about making it and happy about how fast the work is going (I started it on the first and I already have 10" done... that's pretty good for not bringing it to school). So... yep.

2005-09-26T14:54:00.000-07:00

I made a hat the other day! I was using these huge needles and two strands of yarn together, so it was such a quick knit. Only took me a couple hours.

I had been wanting to make a hat with earflaps in these colors for such a long time, you don't even know. And the pointy top makes it rock more.
I might write up a pattern, someone asked me to on Craftster. How do you get one of those galleries of patterns on one of these blogs? Grr, I don't like coding too much.

I'm making my first toe-up socks. I just finished turning the heel on one today. Short rows are exciting!

The baby sweater is going splendidly as well... if not a little boring. I already finished all the lace on the front, so those couple inches of plain seed stitch are going to kill me. I think I should just suck it up and read a short story while I do it, because that will make it go so much faster. I don't know why I'm such a technique snob now. I'm not even as good as I make myself seem by complaining about how boring a few inches of k1p1 will be. I just tackle new things because I'm not afraid of them. Like, my one friend? She won't learn how to purl because she's afraid of it. She thinks it's going to be really hard and confusing. But when it comes to knitting techniques, you can't let things intimidate you. You just have to do it.
Sillies. Well, that's my input for the day.
I just realized how horrendous my grammar has been throughout this entire post. Sorry, I'm too lazy to change it.

2005-09-15T13:24:00.000-07:00

So my friend and I started this club at school. The "It's Not Just For Grandmas" Club. We are going to teach knitting, sewing, cooking, baking, crocheting, needlepoint, possibly latch-hook and screen printing. I AM SO EXCITED. We had our first meeting and a looo-ooot of people showed up! For the first time I might actually be popular, but it's probably just my club.
I may talk about how it's going later if anything interesting happens, such as a room full of people knitting (imagine that joygasm) or screen printing (which I'm really excited about!). It's not just for Grandmas biiaatch!

I'm finding out which classes it's okay to knit during. Chemistry is definitely okay because my teacher is more excited about what I'm making than whether or not I did my homework. (She's the moderator for our club.) Not history or English because those teachers think I'm not paying attention. Art, only after I finish assignments. Creative writing is okay. Study and Theology are okay, Algebra is always okay 'cause the teacher really just doesn't care. I bet you could be shaving your legs during a test and he wouldn't say a thing.

I'm making a sweater for my friend's 6-month old niece, Kyliegh! I'm excited; I've never had the opportunity to make baby stuff before. It's even more fun because I'm making up the pattern. I'll hold off on posting pictures until I'm finished because it's really hard to make a WIP on dpn's look good.

I'm about 85% done with the body of my elephant sweater. That's pretty exciting, especially since the intarsia part is done. My grandma positively swooned over it when she saw my elephant. I think it's good, but nothing amazing. The yarn is scratchy and I wanted to make the elephant bigger. ::sigh:: Next time.

2005-09-08T17:32:00.000-07:00

It's done! It's done! It's done! It's done! It's done!

Remember that crazy tank top I was working on that required the use of 16 balls of yarn at once because I decided to be ambitious and make vertical stripes with intarsia? AAHHH. It's done.

Now here's the part where I model it dancing in front of the camera like I'm hardcore.

2005-08-17T14:56:00.000-07:00

With school starting and all I haven't had much time to knit. I did go to my sister's going-away party, which was boring, so I busied myself making a pretty blue cabeled ipod cozy. Those things knit up so fast, I swear I could be rich off of them, if only I knew of somewhere to sell my stuff. There's Cherry Bomb and Dot Fox, but I dunno. I'd only get 60% of the profit. :/ That's kind of not a lot for something as time consuming as knitting. Oh well, I could at least start out there.
Ack. No marvelous pictures of what I'm making. I killed the camera trying to take a picture of the bat that got in our house last night.

2005-08-02T14:24:00.000-07:00

Oooh, I have a really good idea for a sweater and some fuzzy yarn. I think it's Lion Brand Homespun, but I can't be sure because my sister took off the label months ago. I hope it works out well without me having to start over eighty times. Normally that happens when I design stuff (which is almost every time I knit). I'm just too magnificent to use a pattern. Haha, no, I just never like the patterns I see enough to follow them directly.
Anyway, I was thinking of a regular sweater... with a twist. Literally, a twist in the front. You know how when you knit on circulars and don't get all the stitches untwisted before joining? I think I'm going to do that on purpose. Now the only trouble will be to make it not look like a shrug. I think I'll have to skip some stitches in the center so it'll twist easily without being bulky, and then make a low neckline so the whole thing doesn't ride up to the top.
Okay, so, I'm going to wing it and basically I have no idea what it will look like, but that's part of the fun, right?! Yesss...

2005-07-30T16:51:00.000-07:00

Going crazy on this post with all the FO's. Don't worry, they're all little things. First of all, the wristbands inspired by SnB's "geek" one:
That's right, they say "wtf". Anyway, I thought it was a little clever. Especially since I made up the chart for them.

Now, on to the iPod/mp3 player cozies...

Well, there you have it, my first endeavors in cabling and more stuff I don't have a use for.

2005-07-23T12:17:00.000-07:00

I made one sock. Who knows when I'll get to the making the match?

And I think it's hawtt that I can graft the toe while it's on my foot. That's what you call impatience.

Also, I made a tomato hat. It was to be a strawberry hat when I, again, got impatient--too impatient to embroider a million seeds on the thing. Thus, the tomato hat + me looking like a myspace whore:

Tomato.

2005-07-20T13:03:00.000-07:00

So here is my bed at the present moment:

Yeah, I'm a hypocrite for saying I'll never do vertical stripes, but it's not my fault that horizontal stripes get a bit boring after a while. And I figured I'd try the intarsia method, so it'll be able to stretch and not be such a crazy mess. Only it is a crazy mess. I had to teach myself to purl backwards for this project, so I won't have to rearrange my sixteen (count them!) different strands of yarn every time I finish a row. Man, this is exhilirating.

2005-07-18T13:07:00.000-07:00

Finished Mr. Dangly the monkey. Here he is on the cymbals:

He's stuffed with lentils and therefore can't hold up his head too well, if at all... but at least he's cute. The colors were chosen after the monkeys on the roof in Kenya:

Awww.

I've quit the shawl again and I've given up for good this time. Shawls are just too boring to finish.

Harry Potter rules.

2005-07-12T18:23:00.000-07:00

I finished this top late last night and I was so proud. :)
Probably going to be sold, since I'll never wear it. But at least it was fun to make!

Ah-haaa, here's the real color!

2005-07-11T18:36:00.000-07:00

Once again, I've become the victim of messing up and having to frog--but this time I think the shawl will actually work out. I'll hold off on posting pictures 'til it's done.

So, the stethoscope covers are finished... too bad when I made them I had no idea what one was supposed to look like, so they're wonkaaay. Maybe a stethoscope will still fit in them, maybe it won't. Hah!

My next project is a strawberry hat. My friend came over last night and decided to knit some of it for me, which is always welcome, by the way. ;D I hope it turns out like I expect it to.

2005-07-07T14:17:00.000-07:00

Ugh. When someone finds an easy way to do fair isle, please notify me. It drives me up a wall sometimes. Like, this was going to be a tank top or something:

But it drove me crazy. See that? I didn't even last three inches. It would have been really cute if I'd just sucked it up and finished, but no. I hated doing it because all that switching around was just a pain in the ass. I envy anyone with the patience to do vertical stripes.

The past few days I've been fiddling around with lace knitting. Learning it, I mean. I've made countless practice swatches with different things and frogged the hell out of all of them. The only lacy-ish thing I plan on finishing so far is this beginning of a shawl... it's so very easy and I think it'll actually turn out cute without too much complication. I'm all about simplicity, man.

After this I'll go on to more complicated lacy projects, naturally.

2005-07-03T19:37:00.000-07:00

I hoped to get some good knitting done when I went to Africa, as I was on three airplanes and traveling for a good 30-some hours straight.

I made my first ever pair of socks, which are crappy as far as hand-knit socks go because of all their flaws, but a.they were my first pair and b.they are still functional as socks.

P.S. They kept my feet warm because planes are way too air conditioned.

Then I made my Charlie Brown sweater. I must say that I am proud of myself for getting it done because I usually lose interest or run out of yarn before I finish a project like this quickly.
I only had one skein of yellow for this one, though, therefore it's a little too small, but I am still excited to wear it.

YAY!

Oh, and I am making a stethescope cover. Who ever knew that knitters out there made stethescope covers? Well, it isn't for me, since I'm not a nurse or a doctor, it is for a woman I met on the trip who requested it. It's a simple, fast project but I haven't finished it yet because I haven't. Such is life; I will get to it tomorrow.

2005-07-03T19:22:00.000-07:00

I feel like a dork for making a freaking knitting blog. But it's okay. I am a dork. And this is only to boost my knitting ego as well as my knitting motivation. So there.

My favorite article I've composed so far has been my halter top:

I made three and was planning to make several of different variations, but I got bored with it real fast. Maybe, hopefully, someday I will remember how cool it is and make more and more and more in every color and sell them.