4 feet

4 feet is bigger than I thought it was. 4 feet is equal to 48 inches. It's 121.92 centimeters. 4 feet is also the approximate requested finished size of this baby blanket I'm knitting.

I like the blanket. I like it a lot, in fact. It's very snuggly, and properly baby soft. I'm even enjoying the mindless knitting it provides me while I'm doing something like watching TV. The only thing I don't enjoy about it is the fact that it is 4 feet. This consumes a lot of yarn. It also makes my needles heavier with every row I knit.

In the picture above, I've used two balls of yarn (out of the four that I initially purchased). The blanket is 13 inches. Just so we're on the same page, 13 inches does not equal 48 inches (this is what I want). I realized that having two balls of yarn left (AKA another 13 inches) also does not equal 48 inches. It only equals 26. Hence:

Two more balls of yarn. Pretend you don't see the blue. We can't talk about the blue for a while. Blue is a secret. Shush.

The border section of the blanket in seed stitch takes up more yarn (a few more inches worth of yarn, in fact) than the garter stitched part. Thank God. Still, each ball will only get me about 8 inches, and I also want to have enough to make an itty bitty lace border around the thing. So. According to my crude calculations, 6 balls of yarn should now be enough to complete this. I've been knitting through one 225 yard ball of yarn in two days. I have 4 balls left. This (in theory) suggests that in 8 days time, smooshy 4 foot giant blanket will be finished. One can only hope.

In the midst of the snuggly monotony that is the blanket, I've had time to think about all the other things I'm working on (and want to work on). I finally started fiddly-ass fingerless glove number two for my friend, and want to knock that out by the end of this week. I have no idea when I will knit the next crescendo sock. Frankly, I'm suffering from severe second sock syndrome and a nasty case of startitis. It was everything I could do last night to not cast on for a new footwear design I've been thinking of for several days. I keep promising myself that I won't cast on anything new until the blanket is done. That's 8 days (in theory).

I also really really really really want to make a flowy top. Also my own design. Here's the kicker: I'm dying to make it out of a laceweight mohair blend (held double)...on size 2 needles.

Someone knock some sense into me.

(And knit a few rows on this blanket, too, while you're here)

New and exciting content!

Yay!

Well, at least, I hope it's exciting for you. It is for me. Sometimes.

I've been working on a baby blanket over the last few weeks. It's going slowly because it's huge (a little less than 4 feet across), and because it's just...a blanket. There's nothing terribly interesting about it, although it is snuggly and warm, despite only being about a quarter of the way done.

I bought 4 balls of yarn (225 yards each) for this blanket, which I hoped would be enough, but ball one only got me about 6 or 7 inches into the blanket. I'm supposed to make it about 4 feet square. I'm not sure if I'll have to buy more or not...I did a three inch border in seed stitch, so I'm hoping that maybe not doing that stitch throughout the body of the blanket will help me get more out of my yarn. I hope. I really hope.

My awesome Gram sent me some yarn she bought while on her trip in England, and it hit me one day that it would work perfectly for a halter top design I've been doodling for months. I cast on for it a few days ago. It's worked in three pieces (or so I hope) - the front body, the back, and the boob-holder part. I've worked most of the front already.

This design calls for some negative ease. I'm a big fan of fitted clothing. However, I'm a little concerned that I've placed too much ease in my design. I might end up having to modify the stitch count and redo the whole thing, but I guess that's ok. That's what this process is all about, right?

Here's the part I'm both excited about and dreading (I hope you can kind of see it):

The back of the halter has a lacy pattern on it. It'll be worked back and forth (yes, this top could be worked in the round, but I just had a hankering for straights), and will reveal a little bit of skin on the lower and mid back. I hope this turns into a perfect summery top. I can't wait to get it finished. Let's just hope that it'll fit me.

One more thing: Joann's has a coupon online for 25% their entire stock of yarn! They've got a fairly decent selection, so check it out!

Houston, we have a pattern.

Let's hope it makes a sock that looks something like this:

I have to apologize for the last week's lack of posts, and apologize in advance for this week's lack of posts. I have to be studenty this week. I've got tests and projects and performances and quizzes and discussions all to do within the next three days, or else my grades implode. On top of that, my body is trying to get sick. I grabbed some cold medicine and have been drowning myself in fluids since I got home, so now I'm off to get a good night's rest.

Let's hope I can put a little bit more yarn in this picture soon.

I'm a terrible person.

(Sarcastically speaking)

Here's some reasons why.

1. First of all, I've been tagged by Knitasaur! That's not a reason why I'm terrible...you'll see in a minute. Anyway, I'm supposed to tell you 7 things about myself - random, weird, whatever. So, here goes!

一　日本語を話せます。(I can speak Japanese. It's my major.)
二 I have this really bizarre condition. In a nutshell, I'm allergic to extreme cold and extended cardio exercise. After I've been really cold, and then start to warm up (even slightly), any skin that was exposed to the cold breaks out in hives and itches like mad. As for the exercise one - I was running on a treadmill one day when I felt a weird tingling in my nose...I thought it was just an asthma attack, but the symptoms kept coming - my throat started to close, my skin turned red and I broke out in hives...and then my face swelled up so much that I could see the skin around my eyes in my peripheral. That was a fun day. NOT. So now I do yoga. Hehehe.
三 The worst job I ever had was this summer. I had to stand in front of this 1.2 million dollar RV all day and just smile and greet people. I was so bored I actually asked my supervisor if there was anything I could do. I asked the sales guys for information about the RV so I could answer questions (this was at a 3 day RV show). They all looked at me like I was crazy for wanting work to do. It was the worst, most exhausting job ever because I was standing in the sun for 9 hours a day. On the upside of it was that everyone working around me brought me ice cream and water whenever I wanted it. Hah!
四 I named my site summer-wind after the Frank Sinatra song. Initially, this was more of a collective of my personal interests, but when I started knitting seriously, I realized that I already had a great name for all of the things I designed...I feel like the things I make (or have planned to make) are fresh, but dynamic.
五 Honestly, I think I've been knitting for a little under a year. Maybe about a year. Not sure.
六 I haven't really considered myself much of an anime fan in the past, but this weekend I got SUCKED IN to this show called Deathnote. I watched something like 26 episodes of it on Sunday, and was up until 3 am last night watching more. It's very different from the typical American animation. If you're into drama with a little bit of a supernatural element, it's worth checking out. Here's a link to all of the episodes (with English subtitles).
七 I love goldfish crackers.

I didn't think it would be so hard to come up with 7 things about me, but that actually took me a while. I tried to pick somewhat interesting/amusing facts.

Here's the part where I'm a terrible person: I won't directly tag anyone, just because I don't really communicate with 7 people on a regular basis. So if you wanna do this, just stick 7 facts about yourself on your blog, I guess. I've never really done one of these, so if I'm breaking all the rules, I'm terribly sorry.

2. Reason number 2 why I am, in fact, a terrible person will require a list. Here's the list of things I need to knit:

- Another diamond (blob) glove.
- An entire baby blanket
- The cable luxe tunic
- The crescendo socks.

Now, tell me if any of these pictures look like any of the things on this list.

No? I didn't think so either. That's because I've got some serious start-itis over here. And I mean serious. The spinning I can kind of justify because technically it's not working on other projects...it's a different hobby altogether! Right? And the yarn in the second picture is yarn that my gram sent me while she was on her trip to England! I mean, I had to try to make a Lelah out of it, even though I knew it was never going to work, Right? Just to show that I was grateful for the gift, of course.

And those mittens? All right, I have no excuse for the mittens. At all. I just picked up the knitter's almanac one night and immediately decided that these things HAD to be mine. Who cares if it's getting warmer out and I should be making something more like Lelah? Pffft.

There's a lot of projects that I should finish up, too...

I promised Nate another pair of gloves (that actually fit him!) several months ago. Like...right after I gave him the first pair. So I cooked up this one. The keyword here is one. I think I'm very quickly coming to the conclusion that I hate knitting gloves. Or rather, I hate knitting finger holes for gloves and fingerless gloves. I will never make toe-socks, so help me God. Knitting each little tube is just so damned fiddly! And you have to make five! That's ten fiddly holes for each pair of gloves! I think that's why I enjoy the Endpaper Mitts so much...there are no finger holes. Just one nice, crisp ending. Aaah. That's the way I like it.

I guess I'll have to get over that, considering I have another fingerless glove to do, as well as a second glove for Nate (someday). I still have yet to put some elastic in the bottom of the Shedir I made a couple weeks ago (the ribbing isn't tight enough, it just slides around on your head. Very irritating).

Lots to do, as always. My major allows me a lot of free time in the evenings. The homeworks aren't very challenging, and there's only one every week. In theory, I have plenty of time to knit. I just really need to take better advantage of it, and then you all would see some progress!

Oh, and reason 3 for why I'm a terrible person? I got a good grade on my finance midterm and may have been gloating about it during class to my friend. Oops.

Not as a I promised...

Alternately titled: How to make a mitten, part 2.

I know in my last post I promised shiny pictures of the cable luxe tunic, but I didn't take them. I've been working on the thing, but it doesn't look a whole lot different from the last time it was photographed. Just a little bit longer. Pictures will have to wait.

To distract you from this distinct absence of sweater pictures, look at this! Some handwear for a friend (which you may remember from "How to make a mitten, part 1"). She's requested diamonds in random-looking positions, which I have attempted to do.

I would really have preferred knitting these in wool. The cotton sags and doesn't hold the shape as well as wool does. They look all right when placed on a hand, though.

Tonight I'll do the fingers and thumb, and maybe get started on the second one. In the pictures I tried to adequately depict the diamonds. They're just made with purl stitches, and are kind of arbitrary. I'm going to try to match glove #2. I'm starting to think it might have been a good idea to take notes on the positioning of the diamonds. Oops.

On last post's theme of changes: this weekend is going to be action packed! For me, anyway. Nathan's going to visit here on Friday. My roomie and I are having a few people over for a couple hours on Saturday, and then Nathan and I head up to Washington. A friend is house sitting the most obscenely huge house I have ever been in, and would like us to come and have a relaxing evening. We got the opportunity to do this last year, and it was SO much fun. It was such a treat. The house took an hour just to tour! It sits right on the vancouver river, and has a pool and hottub looking out over the water. I promise to take pictures. It's beautiful, and it's a joy to be able to stay for a night. I think I enjoy the view more than anything else. The house is kind of spookily gargantuan.

I must be brief(ish) tonight - I have gloves to finish, horrible boxed pasta to eat, and...maybe a finance midterm to study for. Here's hoping it goes well!

P.S. A big fat hello and warm welcome to everyone who has found my site via the knitting blog ring. I was getting maybe 9 or 10 hits a day on this site (which I was happy with), but the day I was accepted to the ring, I got 89! Goodness! I hope I can hold your attention for a little while. Leave a comment with a link to your site! I want to see your work!

Success and Change

First comes the success:

Work on crescendo has skyrocketed. I finished the heel today during lecture, and finally get to start working on the highest point of the sock's "crescendo", the cuff. I almost can't believe this pattern is working. I didn't look at anything for any tips when doing the short row heel, and found out that despite having not worked many socks in the past, I'm still capable of doing one.

It came out a little sloppy because I was so excited.

As a result of this sloppiness, my gauge is a little bit bigger than the rest of the sock, but it still fits. The heel is a little on the baggy side, but I'm going to finish up the cuff, write up a rough draft for a pattern, and work the other sock while sticking to the pattern. Hopefully sock #2 will turn out perfectly.

Here's some pictures, because my digital camera arrived in the mail! They're all taken late at night so they aren't perfect, but they're certainly better than what my old one was capable of.

I'm looking forward to finishing this up soon! I'd love to have a pair of them on my feet.

Part 2 of today's post title (change) regards life in general. I'm not unhappy, just getting tired of the same old routine, I suppose. Today I was inspired by the most unlikely source - an article I read while bored at work about other celebrities giving Britney Spears advice.

Here's a quote from the article:

"Rapper-turned-act or Ice-T, once known for his gangsta scowl, looked to his own mom for advice for Spears.

"My mama used to say, 'You keep using the same ingredients, you're making the same cake. If you want to make a new cake, you got to change the ingredients.'""

I like the cake I've got. I like all kinds of cake. But even though I may like all kinds of cake and like my own cake, I still feel like it's time to try some new cake. So I'm changing up the ingredients a little bit. Just a smidge. Little things like rearranging my room (I have so much space now!), really putting an effort into my schoolwork for the last 5 weeks of term, and trying my best to start eating right (and sticking to it!). These changes aren't spawned from unhappiness, depression, angst, or anything like that. I just wanted to try to get outside my routine. Just a little. And see how it goes.

So far, it's going well.

Next update I'll have shiny pictures of the cable luxe sweater! I'm feeling very gung ho about that project at the moment. When making modifications for it, I keep thinking about my body and how it is shaped. I once read something another knitter had written about ensuring that the knitter creates garments for her body, and not for the woman she thinks she is. The importance of measuring and taking the time to ensure a proper fit will have much better results in the end.

We hope.

Noro Scarf

Started Wednesday evening of 1/30/08, finished Friday evening 2/1/08.

Yarn: 2 Skeins Noro Silk Garden Lite
Needles: US size 4 straight
Notes: I dove right in to this one. I picked out two skeins of Silk Garden Lite that I liked, came home, and kind of arbitrarily grabbed a set of US 4's and cast on 24 stitches. I worked in k1,p1 rib for the entire length of the scarf. I alternated which skein I knit from every two rows, and slipped the first and last stitch of every second row of the current color to hide the carrying yarn.
I love this scarf, and my friend seemed to be very happy to receive it. I'm glad I gave it to someone who can appreciate it just as much as I do. She was mesmerized by the colors.

I apologize for the poor pictures - it was very rainy and grey today outside, so I didn't have the best conditions for scarf-photographing. In the process of trying to photograph the scarf, I discovered that trying to take pictures of a scarf is actually rather challenging. These were some of the better pictures I took.

Next up to do is a baby blanket and a pair of mittens. I'm kind of starting to discover that when I knit for other people, I am more motivated and excited to knit. When I knit for myself, I drag my feet and take forever to do anything.

Maybe I can trick myself into thinking that I'll knit that cable luxe sweater for my roommate. I'll let you know how it goes.