s u m m e r - w i n d . n e t

NOT THE BLOG

2009-02-04T15:15:00.000-08:00

Hi reader,

my blog is not longer hosted by blogger, I'm hosting it on my own domain name again. You can find me at summer-wind.net.

thanks!

Dear search engine users:

2008-07-21T12:36:00.001-07:00

Thank you for providing me with entertainment. When I read the terms you use to find my website, I am endlessly amused.

Here are some of my favorites (not knitting related):

swapping couple sex chat
summer amateur nude pics
severe wind stomach lemonade
nude erotic art, couples, sex
meet bored horny wives
mature wives cheating on their husbands
fetish mature women personals
big nude ladies
beautiful nude party sex in world
amateur mature sex swap
sexy nude ladies photo only
fat head hats

Guess I should stop posting all that porn, huh?

Oh, and the person who found me via: "I will cuckold you tonight", I am both confused and greatly amused by the search term and can't help but be curious about what this means.

These aren't the only terms people have used to find my site - there were plenty of knitting related search words, but they just aren't as funny. This post is probably going to cause a bunch more hits, now that I think about it. And it's going to disappoint a lot of hopeful people who are looking for something vastly different. Dear those people: I am sorry. Please see the humor in my situation. Good luck in your searches.

Thank you, internet.

Work Ethic

2008-07-19T12:30:00.000-07:00

It's actually kind of funny - when I'm at work now, I get irritated when the phone rings because it takes away from my knitting or spinning time (yes, I've been spinning at work). Nobody has a problem with it, and if anything, people are very interested in whatever I'm doing.

Anyone remember me mentioning a certain Noro hat?

I've already finished up all the colorwork. I was working happily along until one of my needles just...snapped, and now I'm kind of stuck, because I need to knit the inside of the hat, but there's no way I'm doing it all on DPN's - the stitches keep trying to slide off the end. I've got to get a new circular in order to finish this thing. I really want to finish it (and give it a good hard blocking) because it looks super cool.

(roll of duct tape included for scale, it was just one of the things on the table at the time).

I'm going to need to be really aggressive when I block it, because I've got quite a few lumpy bumpy spots where I pulled my yarn too tight. I have a tendency to do that I when I knit fair isle because my right hand (the one I throw with) I get all paranoid about, and so I pull the yarn tighter than I need to. See?

I can't wait to wear this once the weather gets cool again - there are two options for wear: one being with the brim out, so the hat is extra long (a tassel is supposed to go at the tip, too):

Or with the brim folded under, for extra ear-warmth.

I just need to go out and get a new circular needle so I can finish things up!

On the spinning front: I finished up a teeny batch of some wool that had been on my spindle for quite a while yesterday at work. I navajo plied it so I could use it with another batch of navajo plied stuff I spun up a few months ago. I think I've got about 100 yards total of navajo plied yarn that I'm trying to think of something to do with.

This little bit is only about 40 yards, but the other piece is about 66 yards, if I remember correctly. I've predrafted half of the remaining roving I've got lying around, and I'm planning on doing a 2-ply - kind of going for that twisty barberpole look. I think it looks gorgeous. The navajo plying (seen here) really makes the colors vivid, but I'm jonesing for some really neat looking two ply.

On a semi-unrelated note, I've been thinking about what a terrible progress blogger I am (I don't really take photos of my projects in their infant states) so I've decided to expand the focus of the blog a bit. While I'm still going to keep this mainly a knitting blog, I'd like to include a bit of stuff that isn't necessarily related to knitting (for example: sleepwalking stories, stupid customer phone calls, generally hilarious antics, etc.). That way I can keep updating on a regular basis, because lately I haven't had a shortage of things I'd like to talk about - I just tend to want to focus on knitting when I'm here. I hope nobody minds. I promise I won't be posting things like: today I brushed my hair and it was pretty. Don't worry. I just want to update a lot more often with what (I hope) will be entertaining stories about my shenanigans.

Also: the program I've been using for quite some time now to upload my files and photos to summer-wind.net has just informed me that it will no longer be free. Because I am currently existing in a state of voluntary poverty (read: college student) I'd rather not pay for something I'm sure I can get for free somewhere else. Can anyone recommend a good (free) FTP program? All suggestions appreciated!

Garter and Seed Baby Blanket

2008-07-02T18:47:00.000-07:00

I am very happy to say that this is finally completed.

It's been a long time coming, but the end result is definitely worth it.

Although my measurements were a bit off, I've still created something that a brand new baby out there is (hopefully) going to get a lot of use out of.

I loathed the process of knitting this thing, but now that it's done, I really like it.

It's big enough to keep me warm, so I'm crossing my fingers that this will see a lot of years of warming little (and big!) people.

Mostly, I really hope that someone else can snuggle into it and appreciate it for the warmth and comfort it provides.

I know I have in the last couple of days. And weirdly enough, now that I'm finally finished with this behemoth I've had such a poor relationship with the last several months, it's hard to put it in the mail and be done with it. Having to part with this one (simple and plain as it is) has made me wish I had a hand knit blanket I could call my own. There's something about it that feels so much warmer - knowing that a real pair of hands made the object makes it so much better than anything you could buy in a store. I love that about this blanket, and as as much as I didn't like knitting this one, I think I'd like to knit a blanket for myself sometime before the year is up.

It's funny how we change our minds about things, isn't it?

The fates are against me.

2008-07-01T22:11:00.000-07:00

I was all excited to take photos of my things for le blog today, and then I realized I'd left my knitting bag at work. Sigh.

It's underneath my desk and I don't think it'll be disturbed (cross your fingers for me here) so with any luck, I'll get around to the photographic evidence tomorrow.

Just so that my update isn't completely boring, I'll share something exciting:

I had a phone interview today for an internship position with translations.com, and it went really super well. The woman on the phone told me she'd contact me within the next couple of days to follow up on things.

Exciting for me, maybe not quite so exciting for readers, but that's all I've got for today.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll get the opportunity to post the good stuff, as long as no more unforseen circumstances get in my way. Until then!

A preview

2008-06-30T21:48:00.000-07:00

I came home all ready to photograph my knit stuff today, and discovered the battery on my camera was dead. By the time it was charged, it was dark outside. So I've got photographic evidence, but it ain't pretty. So I'm calling this post the preview.

Blanket:

Airy tank top:

The tank top isn't finished yet - it still needs some ruffles and some modifications to make it fit me the way I wanted. I tried it on earlier and I think it'll look about the way I was hoping...it's super feminine, though, even for me.

Tomorrow in the sunlight I'll take a few more photos...and maybe also have an idea or two for the next thing to put on the needles! I've been browsing my queue on ravelry trying to decide what to make next. I need to knit some stuff out of my stash, but it's tough to knit wooly things when it's 85 + degrees outside.

I'm actually thinking Eunny Jang's Print 'o the wave stole will be next. I've got the first repeat of the wave pattern already on my needles in laceweight baby alpaca, and I've been thinking that I might actually like to finish it. I'll be my first lace project! Very exciting! ...I hope.

Turning over a new leaf

2008-06-29T21:40:00.001-07:00

In celebration of the finished blanket and my return to knitting for pleasure rather than obligation, I've created a new layout for my blog.

Pictures tomorrow - I'll have the blanket and an airy mohair tank top to show you! I've been busy getting this layout up and going (my coding skills are a little lacking), and spaced out on the picture-taking scene.

Check back tomorrow evening!

THE EAGLE HAS LANDED

2008-06-25T18:35:00.000-07:00

I am extremely pleased to announce (finally) that the blanket I've been working on for months is finally done. When I took it off the needles and spread it out, I suddenly realized why it had been such a pain for me to work on.

When I made my swatches before casting on for the blanket, I did some calculations to determine how many stitches I would need to achieve a 4 foot by 4 foot square. I cast on this number and knit merrily along for all these months. It got tougher as I went and more and more draining.

When I pulled it off the needles and stood in front of a mirror with it held out in front of me, the reason for my challenge became apparent.

I had miscalculated. By a lot. I'm extremely confused as to how I managed to miscalculate by such a huge number.

I ended the blanket a little bit earlier than expected - I ended at what I though was 4 feet by 3 feet.

Instead, I currently have a 3 feet by 6 feet "baby" blanket. It could almost cover a twin mattress, I think.

I don't have photos yet because I need to weave in ends and also possibly add a little lace border to the piece for a little extra frillyness. I'm not sure if I'll do that because I want to get it to the recipient ASAP.

But it's 6 feet by 3 feet. The crazy part is, every row I knit, I was knitting across the 6 feet. No wonder it was so agonizing to work on! It certainly explains a lot! I'm very happy it is finished...I hope my auntie doesn't mind terribly that it's not the size she asked for. I'm very sorry about that. But on the bright side of things, the baby will be able to use it for the rest of his or her life!

Also exciting: I've got a summer job working as a customer service girl for an airport shuttle service. When the phones aren't ringing, I'm allowed to knit and surf the internet.

I knit all day.

And then get on ravelry.

And knit some more.

I'm halfway through a summery shirt from drops right now.

After that, I'm going to do a project for the knitting olympics.

It's the best job ever.

I mostly just wanted to post so that I could reclaim my status as a knit blogger. I know my updates have been sporadic, but it's because I was always being pulled back to working on this blanket, despite wanting to finish something else. Now that that's out of the way, I can go back to doing things I really want to do.

I hope there are a few readers left out there!

Blanketz "R" Bad for Blogz

2008-05-19T20:16:00.000-07:00

Well, they are.

That big white piece of snuggly fabric looks the same in every picture I take of it, regardless of how many inches have been added to it since the last report. Hence, I do not blog about it. Nobody wants to read endless posts like: "Today I knit 7 rows on the baby blanket. See you next time." "Today I knit 9 rows on the baby blanket. Catch you later!"

No.

I need content! And wouldn't you know it, the weather is FINALLY cooperating with my wishes for sun, which also means that it is NOT cooperating with woolly Noro hats.

As a result, I am left with only one option. This is the only option.

Gotta cast on something new. Something summery. Something that won't make me sweat just thinking about. I might have just the thing (s)!

A 218 yard skein of Jaeger Trinity:

A similarly sized skein of Silky Wool:

The finale to the crescendo socks:

The finale to that summer halter I started a while back:

All of these things are yarns I wouldn't mind working with over the next couple of weeks. I'd like to finish up some projects here and there as well as use up some stash yarn, but I'm not sure what I'd like to do with it.

Sooooo, all 2 of my readers (or whoever manages to stumble upon the blog) is welcome (and asked!) to give me some input about what you'd like to see me work on/take pictures of/drone about while I try my hardest to finish the baby blanket.

I don't like it when my blog is boring. I want to get some feedback (and some ideas) for something fun to create as the warmer summer months approach.

That's all - fire away if you have any ideas or suggestions for me!

Cleaning House

2008-05-07T17:41:00.000-07:00

With the end of the school year approaching (I find myself wishing it would HURRY UP) I've realized that I have accumulated a great deal of...crap. Crap that I no longer use, or even see. I'm talking stuff I haven't needed (or even wanted) since like...high school. That was three years ago, and frankly, I could use some space (and less clutter). For evidence of my junk-filled room, see exhibit A, my closet:

A couple of those are boxes I'm saving for whenever I move out of the place I'm currently in (so they're empty) but the majority of stuff contained in those boxes is basically junk I don't know what to do with. Since I am currently playing the role of broke college student, I've decided to try to sell a few things I think might actually be of value to someone else out in the world. See exhibit B: Pink Express Sweater.

This is a soft sweater that I just don't wear anymore because it's not particularly flattering on me, and a tad too warm for my liking. Here's a picture of the tag:

As you can see, it's certainly made with some nice materials. I would rip it up and try to knit something with it (the yarn appears to be somewhere around a worsted weight) but I can't bring myself to destroy it. If you like this, and want to destroy it to make it into something pretty (or just want to wear it!) shoot me an e-mail - this is one of my "I-don't-need-it-want-to-sell-it" items. Here's a picture of the little details near the bottom half of the sweater:

Next is exhibit C: American Eagle sweater. I've had this sweater for quite a while, but didn't wear it much because the size I bought ended up being a little bit big for me. I dug this out of my closet shortly after I finished my green cable luxe tunic and kind of laughed about how similar the two were.

The color in these photos is surprisingly accurate - the green might be slightly brighter and a little more emerald-y, but you get the idea. If you're interested in taking either of these things off my hands, shoot me an e-mail - I'll definitely entertain any reasonable offers for either of them. All of my clothes come from a smoke free, pet free home and have been well taken care of. If I dig anything else up that is remotely exciting from the dungeon that is my closet, I'll put it up here and see if anyone wants it, I guess.

I've been doing a little bit of "cleaning house" in the knitting department, too. I started working on the Nordic Sweetheart hat some time ago, but sadly, it looks like this at the moment:

Not very far, I know. But I have a good reason. A really good reason. A really really really good reason that will probably make my aunt jump for joy when/if she reads this post.

I've been working on the baby blanket.

This isn't the most satisfying knit on the planet (it is the most EXTREME form of black hole knitting known to man right now) but I'm doing the best I can at the moment. I prop open my textbook, grab the blanket, and go while I'm studying. The blanket doesn't seem to get any longer no matter how much work I devote to it - it's been hovering around the 2 feet mark for quite some time now. One of these days I'll wake up and find that I made it to 3 feet...ah, that will be a glorious day. It certainly is warm and snuggly, though!

I do often wonder - has the baby been born yet? Probably. But I'm bound and determined to provide something snuggly for this child. I probably won't knit another blanket until I have a child of my own (and THAT'S a long way away). I'm going to keep on keepin' on until I realize I've finished.

And then you'll all come out and get drinks with me. Right?

Hat Wars Episode Two: The Lamb's Pride Strikes Back

2008-04-24T16:28:00.000-07:00

It seems like as soon as I blog about something I'm working on, I immediately feel the need to throw it in a corner and cast on for something else I deem more exciting at the time. That's precisely what I did after I wrote about the Nordic Sweetheart hat a few days ago.

Hence the title of this post - I knit a hat (Guinan, from Kim over at Yarn Abuse) out of a skein of Lamb's Pride over about 2 and a half days. I think it needs a good blocking. Right now, I look more rastafarian than slouchy-chic when wearing it, and the latter is kind of what I was going for.

I think I'll give it a bath tonight and check out the results.

Last night I also kept myself busy by doing something I've wanted to experiment with for a long time - making a light box. It's pretty much exactly what it sounds like - a box in which you put...light. And then you take pictures and they look way better than they would if they were not in the light box. I grabbed a bunch of things that happened to be on my desk at the time I finished the project, and then took a picture with the macro setting on my digital camera (which is nothing fancy, just so you know). I am pleasantly amazed.

It's going to take a little more practice to really figure out how best to manipulate the light and the box to suit my photos, but these pictures make me happy. The box cost me absolutely zero dollars, and maybe 10-15 minutes to make. I found the instructions via google, and all that's involved is a cardboard box, some tracing paper (I used regular computer paper, which doesn't let as much light in, but it works), and some tape. That's it. You also need a light source. Here's what my ghetto setup looks like:

Isn't it funny to think that such neat-looking pictures are being taken in something that looks so run-down and funky? Three cheers for whoever came up with this design. The only downside is that my box is rather small - I have bigger boxes, but I have neither the required amount of tracing paper nor the space to store something that large (unless I shove it into my closet, but then it might crumble, and I would cry). Still, it's certainly going to help me with taking pictures because so often the only time I have to photograph things is at night - not the best lighting, let me tell you.

Now that Guinan is finished, the only things I currently have on the needles are the Sweetheart Hat and a baby blanket that is currently 4 feet by 2 feet. I just can't seem to find the motivation to work on that thing. It's soft and cuddly and warm and pretty, but...SO. HEAVY. Someone needs to threaten to smite me if I don't have it finished in two weeks or something. That might do the trick. Or how about...if I finish the blanket, I get to make myself these amazing cupcakes that I saw over at dyedinthewoolhandmade.com? Although I don't usually have much of a sweet tooth, my stomach makes inappropriate noises and I begin to swoon when I see it. I really want to track down the recipe ASAP. Who could resist? Not me. Can you?

Now, I've got some procrastination to attend to, and a baby blanket to think really hard about (better than nothing, right?).

Hat Wars Episode One: A New Noro

2008-04-21T19:13:00.000-07:00

Alternately titled: The day I fixed the blog situation and finally got things back on track.

If you've attempted to visit the site anytime over the last few days, I'm really sorry that it was non-existent. When I got my invoice to renew the site, it said it was due on the 21st (which is today), but they decided my site would no longer be accessible on the 15th or 16th. This caused confusion, which has since been resolved. Hooray - now I can update again!

Since I've been gone, I got to celebrate my 21st birthday a second time! It was a blast both times, and I got to wear my new best friend (read: little black dress) out in public while drinking overpriced alcohol. See below evidence.

In knitting land...I got a gift certificate for my birthday as some of you may remember, so I decided to run out and get the makings for the Nordic Sweetheart Hat. I grabbed a ball of...

Noro sock yarn!

It is so beautiful. I picked the skein with the brightest tones I could, because I'm knitting the hat with one strand of white and another strand of the Noro. I may be addicted to that color changing effect. I am not, however, addicted to the price. Hence the reason I used my gift certificate to purchase it. The hat is still in its early phases. I will post a picture of it when it has reached a point of...excitingness. I have some more rows in the first chart to complete before we reach that stage.

Tomorrow the yarn harlot will be in Portland to do her talk and book signing. I had been planning on going forever, but the gas money and the time it takes just aren't going to figure into my schedule quite right. School and work are keeping me pretty busy lately. I've just taken on a third part time job! That isn't as bad as it sounds - two of them are work from home, and one of them only requires I spend 6 hours in an office on campus doing general office stuff. Still, I stay busy...because I like to pay my bills, don't you?

For those of you who plan on going to see Stephanie tomorrow (or at any of her future tour dates) I hope you have fun!

Quick Edit: 50th post! Yay!

Dear Planet:

2008-04-08T23:36:00.001-07:00

Today I turned 21. In the United States, that means you're finally legally allowed to buy and drink alcohol. I had a really simple, but really great day. I was hit with barrage of well-wishing text messages all throughout the morning, sent a bunch of cards, and got to have an excellent dinner with some friends. I purchased my first drink in public (and yes, they checked my ID!), drank it, and ordered another one.

I had a rather large bill for such a small meal, that's for sure.

My roomie baked me a delicious cake, too!

I was sung to by my friend Max - it was the most hilarious and best birthday song ever. My brother's girlfriend got me a gift certificate to one of the local yarn shops, too! I was so excited! I can't wait to go and spend it. I might be able to make a hat I've been thinking of for a long time!

We then decided it was time for me to buy something in a store. 711 wouldn't allow me to purchase anything, despite it being my actual birthday. I'm not entirely clear on their policies, but even though it clearly said on my license that today, the 8th, is my birthday, the guy wouldn't let me buy anything.

I went to the grocery store across the street - my roommate came in to buy some cereal and milk while I picked out something - anything to buy, and the cashier wouldn't let me buy THAT because I knew my roommate, who did not have ID.

One of my friends suggested the little market near his house, and they all decided that nobody would go inside with me - I would head in, pick something out, and walk away. I just wanted to buy it - that's all. I grabbed a really huge, really cheap bottle of Mike's hard lemonade.

The guy behind the counter asked for my ID, and after verifying it, started asking me a ZILLION questions. He saw that it was my 21st birthday, and asked things like: what are you up to tonight? What did you do tonight? Where did you go to dinner? What are you doing for the rest of the night? What are you doing this weekend? I'm still not sure whether he was skeptical about my ID, if he was just being friendly, or if he was hitting on me, but whatever it was, I FINALLY walked out of a store with my own alcohol in my hands. Triumph!

So now it's late on a Tuesday night, I'm sitting in bed drinking Mike's hard lemonade just to prove that I can, and I've got quizzes and classes to get to tomorrow (not until 1, thank goodness). This Friday, I'll get to have my big birthday party - a big group of friends and I will all get dressed up and head out to dinner together. I'm definitely looking forward to it.

In knitting news (I know I haven't said much about knitting lately, sorry), I ripped out the beginnings of the mohair and restarted. Mohair is not fun to rip, let me tell you.

I much prefer mohair either knit up, or in its ball state. Much more agreeable. Pretty, too! I think it looks like a little puff of snow.

I've re-caston (I'm inventing my own terms now) for the project...on size 0 needles. I think this is probably a really really really bad idea. Size 2 was terrifying enough, but knitting an entire flowy tunic on size 0 needles? I'm going to have to rethink this one.

Also, countdown to the end of the baby blanket - I'm about 2 feet in to the thing. It is monstrous and heavy. It is, however, snuggly and cozy and baby friendly. It kind of makes me wish I got to keep it so that I could snuggle up in it and suck my thumb.

Tomorrow - I want to venture out to the knitting store where my gift card can be redeemed - I've already got a good idea of what I want to use it on. Here's a hint - Noro Sock Yarn + Fingering Weight White Yarn = Hat. Ohhhhhh yeah. Just you wait. You'll want one too. Maybe. I hope.

I'm so confused

2008-04-02T21:47:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the blog lately - something really strange is going on, and I don't know how to fix it. Several times over the last few days, for no reason at all, my blog has reverted back to really old entries from November, and I don't know why. It's really really frustrating, and I have no idea how to fix it.

Bear with me while I try to figure this out...and if anyone has a clue why this is happening, it would really be helpful to me!

Recovery

2008-03-30T10:55:00.000-07:00

I'm back! From my trip to southern California, that is. Having a few days of sunshine and getting the chance to visit with my Grandparents was superb. Getting there and back was difficult, though - our first flight left late, so my parents and I ended up having to run to our connecting flight in Las Vegas only to get to the terminal just in time to see the plane pulling away from the building. Spending the night in an airport is NOT on the list of things I ever want to do again, that's for sure.

We wandered around some boutiques in the downtown area of my Grandparents' town. My Gram took me to the LYS...I'm not sure if any of you remember me mentioning a certain flowy top I wanted to create with mohair held double on size two needles, but...um....let's just say there are 7 balls of Crystal Palace mohair in my car right now and there's a size two needle holding some stitches in place.

I also got to see Oklahoma(!) live. Entertaining, if a little long.

As for knitting, I've only done some small things. I just took a set of size 2 DPN's with me so I could work on a sock or something while I was on planes, but that didn't really happen. I made a cute little ipod case with a wooden button with some leftover silky wool I had. Nathan and his family bought me a brand new ipod as an early birthday present. I was (and kind of still am) speechless. My last ipod was either stolen or severely, severely misplaced. It was a really wonderful birthday gift. I need to brainstorm some ideas to make sure his 21st birthday (not until September, foo) is just as good.

Thursday before my flight out of LA, my Gram and my parents and I went and wandered around Rodeo drive, which was pretty neat. My Gram insisted that I get a dress to wear out on my 21st birthday, so I'm now the proud owner of my very own "little black dress". There will be photos next week, I promise.

I know I don't have any pictures today, but I just wanted to make sure to get a post up here to prove that I'm alive. Spring term classes start tomorrow, so I'll be back to school-work-yoga-knitting again soon. I've been told that the big beastly baby blanket doesn't need to be 4 feet after all, which is both good and bad - good because I don't have to knit 4 feet of blanket, and bad because I already bought the yarn. Oh well, can't win them all, eh?

In other news, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (aka YarnHarlot) is going to be in Portland on April 22nd. Anyone from the area heading up? I think I'm going!

Simple Cabled Bag

2008-03-21T19:12:00.000-07:00

Here's that secret project! It was my Mom's birthday present this year (her birthday is on the first day of spring!), and she absolutely loves it. She claims it will accompany her the next time she visits Saturday market.

Here we see the bag, studying up on its astronomy.

I'm actually going to put up the pattern for this one because a) it's really simple and b) I think it makes a cute and functional little market bag. I've even put buttonholes on this one, so that buttons can be added in the future.

The bottom of the bag is plain reverse stockinette, and then simple cables up the body of the bag for just over a foot. The top of the bag is seed stitch, and then I created two "ropes" of I-cord and twisted them together to make the strap, which I quite like.

I've got one (rather poor) shot of the bag in action, but I swear, it looks better when being properly used.

I'm very happy she likes it, and I'll put the pattern up (free!) this week.

Yesterday, Nathan and I headed home to Central Oregon. We're officially on Spring Break now (yay!). I took a couple of pictures on the way home just because I think Oregon is fantastic.

Here's a shot of how green the world is in this part of the country:

The greens are so vivid! I always think of movies like the Lord of the Rings when I drive through this part of the forest. I half expect to see hidden castles on the other side of the river. It's very beautiful!

Then, just a few miles up the road, we see this:

I drove through all kinds of weather yesterday! Sometimes I really like to just appreciate the natural beauty that I'm fortunate enough to live in. It's really something, isn't it?

On Tuesday, my parents and I are heading down to sunny southern California to visit my grandparents. It'll only be for a few days, but I'm very excited. I hope I can decide which knitting projects I want to take with me, and I really hope they don't make me give up my size 2 DPN's before I get on the flight!

Until next update...Happy Spring to everyone!

Happy Green Sweater Day!

2008-03-17T20:47:00.001-07:00

Yeah, that's right: Green Sweater!

Pattern: Cable Luxe Tunic (Purchasable from Lion Brand online)
Needles: US size 8
Modifications: I made this into a fitted sweater rather than a swingy tunic. I also made the sleeves fitted rather than flaring open, and I decided to go with a k2 p2 rib for the yoke instead of garter stitch. I wanted to create an edge that was stretchy/fitted enough to stay up at my shoulders. The end result is exactly what I was hoping for.
Notes: I was thinking on my way home from Nathan's house last Monday morning about how Eunny Jang supposedly knit her Venezia sweater in 5 days. I needed something green to wear for St. Patrick's day, and I decided I would knit the remainder of my cable luxe tunic by Saturday. And man, I did it. I was weaving in the ends Saturday afternoon. I couldn't be happier with the result.

Check out those seams.

I've gotten a ton of compliments and looks of amazement from my fellow college-going friends, and my parents can't wait to see it when I head home for spring break (yeah!). I'm so happy that everything worked out precisely as I wanted to and I ended up with a great sweater. I have to admit, I kind of feel like an invincible knitter at the moment. It feels pretty good, and I'm looking forward to the next project (which is a secret for another few days. Then you'll get the updates). My sweater and I wish you a very happy St. Patty's day.

Foiled!

2008-03-16T20:52:00.000-07:00

I had high hopes for my most recent post. It was going to be awesome, it was going to be stunning, people would weep for joy and be inspired. That's how good it was going to be.

However, I need my camera for it, and right now, my camera isn't turning on.

Everyone project nasty thoughts at my camera battery (because it's totally the battery's fault I am without camera-action) for robbing you of your glorious post.

Aforementioned post will have to wait until tomorrow, I suppose, when I go home and have a chance to charge the thing.

Until then!

(Ooooh, the suspense!)

Blobs are a girl's best friend

2008-03-09T13:39:00.000-07:00

Because I certainly don't think they look like diamonds.

I decided this would be my first attempt at being "funky", so the gloves don't match. The diamonds are in different positions on each glove. I even did the thumb gussets differently. Yeah, that was totally on purpose. Totally.

I'm just glad to have these off the needles. It'll mean I can focus my full attention on the baby blanket (HA) and get that finished asap. Then I'll be free to focus on my own fun designs and all the projects I have laying around to finish up.

I'm glad the recipient of these gloves likes them more than I do. She picked up a finished one and put it on, then said: "Oh my God! It fits like...like...a glove! HAHAHAHAH!" Yeah, she couldn't believe she actually said it either. I hope she gets lots of wear out of them.

I wasn't planning on making a pattern for these just because they're so simple, but if anyone actually likes them, I can put up some guidelines or something for how to create them.

I know the people who visit the blog typically are more knit happy than spin happy, but I wanted to post this image just because I think it's an interesting comparison.

The little skein on the left was created using the navajo plying method, and the skein on the right is a 2 ply. It's pretty amazing how big the difference is, I think.

Now that I've finished something up, I have to go and continue my war with the baby blanket. Wish me luck.

A case of the mondays

2008-03-03T17:31:00.000-08:00

I seem to come down with a case of these once a week. Thursday night through Sunday evening is usually prime time for me. But Monday? Monday is relentless. Monday never fails to smite me like the fist of an angry God. Well, maybe that's a little bit too severe a phrase to use, but you get the point. First, let me backtrack a bit.

Thursday evening, after a nice session of yoga, I come home, and successfully bake myself a tasty cake from scratch.

Alisha: 1 Universe: 0

I let it cool (I think), and then attempt to move the cake onto a plate. Cake splits in two, and tasty crumbs go all over my counter.

Alisha: 1 Universe: 1

No problem. Cake may not be pretty, but cake is still tasty. Roommate confirms this. We stand in the kitchen picking bites off the side of the cake and saying "mmmm" repeatedly. I make a note to make this cake more often...without breaking it into pieces.

Friday: Head up to Nate's house. Discover that he is feeling stressed about his education and his future. Discuss options, give girlfriendly support. Succeed in (seeming to) make him feel better. Spend an excellent evening with friends.

Alisha: 2 Universe: 1

Saturday: Do a weensy bit of grocery shopping with Nate. We both decided to roughly split the cost of groceries, since I eat half of his food on the weekends, anyway. I handed the checker a card, and was told the "account number was invalid". Confusion results. I try again, and get the same message. I am told that this establishment does not accept "Debit visa" cards. I stare dumbfounded at Nate, who is holding a Debit Visa card he has just successfully used. He looks as confused as I do. I break out a different debit visa card, and it works. Unfortunately for me, I was doing my best NOT to touch any money in that account (my primary checking account). At least I know that if anyone robs me (god forbid) over the next few days, all they'll get out of me is about 4 dollars and some change.

Alisha: 2 Universe: 2

Sunday: Successfully complete business project on time and submit it. All group projects for business are now officially finished. Rejoice.

Alisha: 3 Universe: 2

Monday: Head back home. Successfully make it to class. My Japanese skeelz were actually applauded by my classmate and teacher today. I attempt humility, and likely fail.

Alisha: 4 Universe: 2

Head to work. Work let me know a few weeks back that they would be hiring an administrative assistant as a full time position, since my hours are very much part-time. They told me my role in the office would change a bit, but they'd like to still keep me. No problemo. The new administrative assistant lady was in the office today, and I was introduced to her. They showed her around the building, talked with her, and introduced her to the rest of the staff. I worked away at a big stack of papers. One of my coworkers (he's a professor at the university) walked into the room where my desk is and said: "You know...right now they're trying to figure out how to make this new assistant thing work without having to fire you."

Alisha: 4 Universe: 5

Thanks, man. Thanks a lot. To make matters worse, after he said it, he just started to laugh. I panic, and bring home a giant stack of papers to get as many hours in as humanly possible just in case I need to look for another job sometime in the near future.

New assistant doesn't start till April, but that's my birthday, and call me selfish, but I'd hate to be stressed out about jobs and money and miss the chance to properly celebrate my 21st.

Right now, the universe is winning, but only by a little. I figure that as long as I stay on top of it, I'll conquer all the irksome little things that have been popping up for me to deal with lately. I'm going to be busy. It's going to be OK, though, because I have yarn and candy. Plus, something I once read on Yarn Harlot has stuck with me for a very long time: "It's all going to be OK in the end. If it's not OK, it's not the end." Yeah. I like it.

4 feet

2008-02-27T20:44:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-02-25T20:36:00.000-08:00

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.

2008-02-18T23:39:00.000-08:00

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.

2008-02-12T19:56:00.000-08:00

(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...

2008-02-06T20:29:00.000-08:00

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

2008-02-04T22:58:00.000-08:00

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

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

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.

I blame Noro.

2008-01-31T13:12:00.000-08:00

Firstly, Rebecca, if you're reading this, stop immediately, and go do something else. You are forbidden from this blog entry temporarily.

Now! My aforementioned friend and I decided last weekend that we would do a crafty-trady-thingamajiggy. I'm the yarny fiber geek, and she makes all kinds of really neat things from beads and hemp. So we decided to do a trade!

When we made this decision, the very first thing that jumped to mind that I thought would be perfect for her is a Noro scarf. You know, the ones that alternate between two different colorways of Noro to make that amazing shifting striped effect? Yeah, that one.

This project marks the losing of my Noro virginity, by the way. A moment of silence, please.

*Ahem*

Anyway, I bought two skeins of Silk Garden Light because my LYS had one for 10% off, and because each skein had 137 yards in it, which is more than either Kureyon or plain Silk Garden. When I got them home and pulled them out of the bag, even my roommate realized there was something Godly about this particular fiber. She kept saying: "that's soooo pretty!" I read to her the fiber content (45% silk, 45% kid mohair, and 15% lambswool), and her eyes got big.

But then I started to knit. And I lost. my. mind. Here's a timeline for you.

5:30 I arrive home from the LYS and plop myself down on the floor. Didn't take off my shoes or my coat or anything. I swatched using three different needles for the baby blanket I'm supposed to make (because I got the yarn for that, too). Once I decided on a size 9, I shifted my focus to the Noro.

6:00 I grab my size 4 straight needles, cast on 24 stitches, and start working a 1x1 rib, alternating skeins of Noro every two rows. I chose to slip the first and last stitch of each color change's second row in order to hide the yarn as I carry it up the side.

I am entranced after...maybe an inch.

6:30 I have not moved. At all. My knitting is several inches longer and I'm staring at it as it comes off the needles, probably open mouthed and drooling.

6:45 My stomach starts to rumble. Somewhere in the back of my mind I remember that the last thing I ate was a sandwich at like...2 PM.

7:30 My stomach is making obscene noises. I wonder whether eating or Noro knitting is a better option. I am seriously weighing these decisions while sitting on the couch.

8:00 I finally decide to put down the scarf long enough to make myself a huge tasty honey mustard grilled chicken salad.

8:30 I am knitting again. I wonder how badly I really need to study for my midterms.

This stage lasted for quite a long time.

I think I finally put my needles down and called it a night at around 1:45 AM. The scarf is just about 4 feet long. I want to put another 2 feet on it tonight and then give it to my friend tomorrow or Saturday. I can't wait to see the finished results. I kept saying to myself: " I just want to see the next color change, then I'll be done. Promise". Yeah...no.

I've read lots of interesting debates about how Noro is good/bad/ugly/beautiful/expensive/unneccessary/overrated/etc. Honestly, though, for my first time knitting with it, I love it. It's certainly unlike any other yarn I've ever encountered, and it definitely has a very distinct character. When I say that, I mean that you're knitting with singles (it's not plied), the colors are very unique to the brand, and there's occasionally little fuzzies and bits of hay still stuck in parts (they're not huge, and they've just fallen out while knitting. No problems). This yarn seems to have such a rustic beauty about it...I just can't put it down. I was knitting this morning while I waited for my bagel to toast, and even in those few minutes I was still amazed. I never really understood the Noro fascination until I'd knit something with it.

That being said, I don't think I'll get to knit with it very often. My student budget will only accomodate a scarf like this every once in a while.

Also, I have some great news for the blog - last night I ordered a digital camera! It's the same one that my younger brother has. I used it to take pictures of my crescendo socks (which I've been working on!), his mittens, the beginning of my cable luxe tunic, and my spindle. It's a great little camera, and I got it for $120 cheaper than he got his, plus the seller is throwing in an extra battery. Hooray!

Anyway, yeah. Riveting update at the moment, sans pictures because I refuse to take a picture of this scarf with my horrendous camera. Photographic evidence tomorrow. Noro is ruining my life as a student. Well, for these last two days, anyway. I have two midterms to study for, homework to do, quizzes to take, and what do I do? I knit a scarf. Damn you, Noro, damn you.

First person to tell me that I need a lesson in self discipline gets slapped with a ball of Kureyon.

Sometimes I knit things...

2008-01-28T13:42:00.000-08:00

I know the blog has been really spinning-oriented lately. But that doesn't mean I haven't been knitting! In fact, here's a list of my FO's, just for good measure (most of which you can see on this page by scrolling down).

- Mittens (from "how to make a mitten, part 1")
- Cable Luxe Sweater
- Baby Blanket (not yet begun - does that count?)
- Coffee Sleeves (you'll see these soon)
- Crescendo Socks

That's a pretty fairly good sized list, I think. I like to stay busy. I'm not as busy today as I'd like to be, though. Why? The area I attend school in is...unaccustomed to getting snow. It snowed several inches here over the weekend while I was visiting at Nathan's place where he attends college (about 40 minutes north of my school). I'm fine to drive in the snow - I've done it plenty of times before because my hometown gets snow fairly often in the winter. But the thing about living here is that when it snows...you also get ice because the climate is very very wet. Some people here call the rain "liquid sunshine". Interstate 5 this morning was like a sheet of ice.

I had two classes and a few hours of work scheduled...but...no. I'd rather not risk my life (traffic reports were saying that cars were simply "sliding off the road", and two semi trucks jacknifed in the southbound lane) for a couple of classes and some work I could do from home. Work ended up emailing me and telling me to just stay put where I am. I got a snow day, sort of. Hence, I blog. And show some "terribly exciting" FO's.

I finished Nathan's Shedir! I want to steal it. It's way better than mine.

I don't have much to say about this one. I had one repeat and the ribbing done on Saturday, and went a little crazy with working on it. I had it finished by 12:39 that night. I was so happy. The texture of the silky wool is wonderful and just the right amount of warm.

I've made a few of the little reusable coffee sleeves, too. With the weather getting cold out, these are great to use on a hot or cold coffee drink. I made the bind off edge a little tighter than the cast on to prevent any drinks from slipping away. The ribbing gets pretty stretchy. I made both of these with some leftover yarn bits.

Functional, earth-friendly, knitter friendly...what's not to love?

Lastly...you knew I was going to put up some yarn I spun. You knew it. I had to. Anyway, here's the result of my first attempt at plying with the roving I bought from pigeonroof studios on etsy. The colors aren't perfect, but they're pretty darn close. I have about 68 yards total of two ply.

(singles)

(plied skein)

This was a joy to spin. I can't wait to make some more. It's a little thick-thin, but I kind of feel like it's perfect the way it is. This is about a DK weight. I just measured about 11wpi. I'm so excited about that - I actually set out to make a DK or sport weight yarn with this, and succeeded! I feel so accomplished.

Now! I have to make some mittens. Wish me luck. I'm finding I'm not such a big fan of the cotton/acrylic blend. It's not "grabby" and "sproingy" enough for me (we like to make up words here at summer-wind.net). I'm not really enjoying the knitting process. But I must. Here I go!

I like to spin.

2008-01-23T23:16:00.000-08:00

I've been spinning a lot the last couple of days. The roving I received in the mail got me so excited! It doesn't look like very much when it's all braided up, but there is a TON.

Here's a little photo of the recently spun stuff (taken with the webcam, sorry):

The leftmost one is that blue and pink blob I showed a few posts ago. It's 20 yards. The brown blob in the middle is some of my alpaca! I realized that I had enough to give plying a shot, so I did it tonight, and I ended up with only about 30 yards, but it was fun. I haven't washed it yet, and I'm eager to see how it will change.

On the right is the "drift" roving, and oh mama do I wish everyone could poke and squeeze it. It's only a single, but it's 75 yards of single, and it is soft and squishy and wonderful. It's also fairly evenly spun. There are a few little bumps here and there, but I almost feel like it suits the color and feel of the overall skein. It makes me think of seaweed and ocean. I love it so much. I hardly made a dent in the roving, too. I can't wait to spin up another 75 yards or so and ply it. It's gonna be a winner.

I'm kind of worried I'm not going to want to knit with it! I just want to look at it and poke it! I may have made my roommate poke it. I'm not sure she understood why she was poking the yarn, but at least she seemed somewhat interested. She said: "you made that?! Neat!" Yes, it is neat!

I love spinning. That is all.

Stay tuned for "how to make a mitten, part 2". Let's hope this edition of the series will be a little more successful. Although I think I'll end up keeping the steps where I consume caramel. Can't hurt.

How to make a mitten, part 1.

2008-01-23T00:29:00.000-08:00

1. Decide on a pattern.

2. Buy appropriate yarn.

3. Think of funky texture details to add to mitten while washing hair in the shower.

4. Sketch out rough design for mitten, based on similar objects previously knit.

5. Walk away from pattern to spin until shoulder nearly detaches itself from torso.

6. Return to pattern, create excel chart of previously imagined funky embellishment.

7. Completely disregard fiber content.

8. Begin to knit.

9. Finish cuff. Finish most of funky embellishment.

10. Realize mitt is huge. Mitt is stretchy. Mitt will not fit recipient.

11. Stab dpn through center of gargantuan mitt (and its ball of yarn).

12. Consume caramel.

13. Consider trying to immediately redo mitt. Do not.

14. Realize it is 12:40 A.M.

15. Begin: "Mitten Fixing Procrastination Time".

16. Consume more caramel.

17. Smile.

...now with more knitting pictures!

2008-01-21T20:41:00.000-08:00

This entry will actually feature some pictures of knitting (no way)! But first:

A friend requested a pair of fingerless gloves in green, so I ran off to get the yarn for it today...when I noticed something different about the place. There seemed to be boxes on tables...boxes with patterns in them...for low prices! The yarn I needed was only around $5.25, so I perused a few of the bargain bins. There were three copies of Rowan 34, but nothing really stood out to me, so I didn't pick it up. I did, however, notice one more box near the cash register marked "Free patterns."

Upon noticing the box, I may have jumped slightly with glee and practically raced across the store.

I flipped through a few that looked kind of interesting, but then...right at the very back of the box was a book of patterns I never thought I would ever see.

Rebecca! I've perused the site before, I loved the patterns I saw, but the cost (and how long it would take to ship to me) have always kind of deterred me.

In the box was a book that's not even on their site - it's #9, and it's not in English, but it still seems to be straight forward. Nathan looked at it (he speaks some German) and was reading article titles to me. EDIT: I am stupid, and there's a booklet inside the magazine with all of the english translations of the patterns. Cool. Here are a few pictures of some of my favorite patterns:

Needless to say, I'm very excited about all the neat things I could make. I can't decide what I like best. But it'll have to wait until I finish up this one:

That's the finished cable yoke and part of the back. I'm apprehensive about the changes I'm making to the pattern, but every time I get nervous I just think: "learning experience...learning experience..." Progress is unfortunately slow on this one...I should reasonably be able to sit down and finish the back in one day (or two) but I never put more than a couple of inches on it at a time. I really want to see the finished product...I gotta kick myself in the ass and get working on it.

My last exciting photo is of Nathan's Shedir, which I'm making from a mossy colored silky wool. It looks really pretty, but it has quickly become apparent to me that I've made a mistake somewhere, because stitches are not in the correct position, and I'm "missing" a stitch at the end of the round. Bah.

I feel bad because I told him he would have a nice new hat this weekend, but it just didn't work out as well as I had hoped. Fooey, maybe next weekend. Maybe. And that's a big maybe, because my package full of fiber-y goodness arrived on Friday, and I can't wait to spin it up! I'm eager to see the colors in yarn form.

With all of these works-in-progress, my next update had better be exciting. And hopefully not five days in the making, like this one was. Oops.

Cash-strapped college student resorts to desperate measures

2008-01-16T19:46:00.000-08:00

Ever since I spun with those little sample-size bits of roving, I've been craving the stuff. Roving is so much easier for me to spin (consistently!) with than the locks of alpaca that I've been using. I'd love to be able to make roving out of my alpaca, but that requires the use of expensive equipment. The combs used to process the fiber are (at the lowest price I've seen) at least $45, which is outside my meager budget at the moment.

So...I started thinking.

Combs are used to process this stuff...

I have combs...that I use to process my hair...

I don't have a diz, but I do have a needle sizer...

Hmmm...

Desperate times call for desperate measures, my friends.

Shown here are two wide-toothed combs (that I already had), my needle sizer, and one of the bags of alpaca.

Before I show the rest of these pictures, I have to say that yes, I know that this isn't the best way to prepare my fiber, and there's probably a billion reasons why I probably should not be doing my fiber prep this way, but I'm impatient, and..."creative", and it was fun. That's my disclaimer

First, I loaded up one of the combs with some fiber.

Next, I took the other comb, and brushed the ends of the fiber, gradually working my way inward, until I had most of the fiber moved from one comb to the other.

This was about how much I had left on the brush after the first combing:

I smoothed out the brushed hairs into a cone-ish shape, twisted the end slightly, and pulled it through one of the holes on my needle sizer (I think I used size 6, just for the sake of hilarious detail).

I took the brush away from the fiber and brushed out the end I hadn't pulled through the diz yet. I repeated these steps and added to my "roving" by twisting the joins of the fiber together a bit before pulling them through my "diz". I ended up with about 5 feet of "roving" which I then spun.

It fell apart in (surprisingly) only a couple of places. It made spinning faster, easier, and more fun! I love how easily the alpaca pulls apart when I'm drafting. I was making much more consistent yarn, and I spun a TON in a small(ish) amount of time.

I've also knit 3 rows on been working on the back of the cable luxe tunic...I don't know why it's so hard for me to work on things I'm making for myself. You'd think that I would have more fun when I know what I want and can make exactly what I want...but progress is unexpectedly slow.

So is the progress on Nathan's shedir...I'm not sure why...I love the yarn, I love the dude, I love the pattern, and yet it is still not past the first repeat of the pattern. Sorry, man.

Lastly, my auntie has asked me to design a baby blanket for a friend! And I need yarn ideas. She has specified that it needs to be machine washable and dryable, and should be white - maybe sparkly. She wants it to be about 4 feet (square). I get to choose any kind of design I'd like. Anyone have any ideas?

I am so happy.

2008-01-12T20:50:00.000-08:00

My happiness stems from a number of things.

First and foremost, I finished up shedir a few days ago - here are a couple of less-than-gorgeous pictures of a hat that actually turned out really neat.

It was a fun, quick knit, despite all of the twisted stitches. It only took 2 or three days to do the entire thing! I've been getting all sorts of compliments on it, even from a woman working in the yarn shop. Nathan wanted one, so I picked up some yarn (Silky Wool, mmmm) today. It's a greenish grey heathered yarn, and when I showed it to him, he yelled: "YEAH! That is such a F***in cool color!" So...I think he likes it.

Also at the LYS, I picked up a few little bags of some plain old wool (not sure exactly what type of wool, the package just read "wool". I chose shockingly ridiculous colors, and picked up a half ounce of each (barbie pink and bright teal). These were prepared rovings, and ohmygod when I spun them I finally experienced that "ah ha!" moment. THAT is what spinning is supposed to feel like. It was so much easier to maintain the correct amount of twist on my yarn, so much easier to draft...so much easier to do everything. So I've decided I need to transform the remainder of my alpaca into Alisha-friendly roving. I'm on a tool hunt.

Here's what I spun today. These are the singles, sitting in their own little cups, while I prepare to ply (for the first time!).

The pink one was a bit overtwisted, but the teal came out just about right. It's so satisfying to see it all get better, little by little. Here's the plied yarn, still on the spindle:

And then I turned it into a skein, stuck it in one of those teeny little cups, and put a penny in it (so you havea better idea of how thick the stuff is). I didn't make very much out of this stuff - somewhere around 10-15 yards, I think.

It was so much fun! I have to wash the skein to set the twist, and then maybe I'll knit a teeny swatch so that I can say I have officially knit with yarn I spun myself. It'll be a giant ego boost. I will revel in my own awesomeness.

Today was also the day of the next big update by pigeonroof studios. I was watching like a hawk for the perfect roving. A few I liked came and went (quickly! you people are FAST!). But finally, I saw the drift roving. I had seen it before, and I loved it. I fell head over heels the first time I saw it on her blog, and then it popped up on her shop page, and I lost it. I HAD to have it. So I got it. Here's a picture of the beauty that is my soon-to-be new roving love.

I can't wait! She still has (at the moment of this post) some more DELICIOUSLY beautiful things up for sale, so definitely check it out. I swore that I would only pick one thing for this purchase, and it was a hard decision, but I'm definitely looking forward to getting my squishy package in the mail.

I've been working on the cable luxe sweater, but I don't have any updated pictures. The yoke is done and I've been working my way down the back. I've been figuring the math for the modifications I want to make...and it seems like it's all going to work out fairly simply. I look forward to wearing it!

Until then...I'm going to be spinning my ass off. Whoever turned me on to spinning should be ashamed. They have created a monster. A monster!

Who cares, this is fun. I love fibers. So much.

Butter knives CAN be dangerous.

2008-01-09T15:54:00.000-08:00

Here's yesterday's progress on Shedir - I hope to have it finished tonight...tomorrow at the latest. I could really use a snuggly new hat. It's pretty damn cold out.

It's coming along beautifully. I just finished the 3 repeats of the pattern (making it shorter, like many have done) and will now begin the decreasing section.

The title of today's post comes from a recently acquired wound. I was rushing to make myself a bagel this morning (because I had to make and eat the bagel in 5 minutes) and was about to cut it in half. The bagel was rather tough, and instead of puncturing the bread part of the bagel, when I made my "stabby" motion, I instead, slipped across the skin of the bagel and gouged myself in the finger with a butter knife. Hooray.

It is eerily similar to the one Nathan accidentally gave himself about a week ago - his is on the knuckle of his RIGHT index finger, and mine is is virtually the same spot, with the same weapon on my left index finger. I told him we would have morbidly cute symmetrical scars.

The downside of this (other than proving that I am both impatient and rather moronic, AND that I now have a cut on my finger) is that it is located on the knuckle. It's making knitting slower than usual. I have to keep the finger relatively straight, because if I bend it too much, I split the wound open again and it gets all oozy.

Eeeew.

So I'm not entirely sure whether or not Shedir will get the attention she deserves tonight, but I'll sure try. I'm ready to wear it already!

And now...

2008-01-08T01:37:00.000-08:00

...for a visual summary of my weekend (AKA: where I show that I have, in fact, been taking my required pictures.

January 4th:

This is a really wretched picture, I know, but I took it in the evening, and that's the time of day that's worst for my poor camera. This is a picture of the finished cable section of the yoke of my cable luxe tunic. It has since been sewn together. However, I'm faced with another design dilemma. The pattern asks me to (quite reasonably) pick up stitches along one edge in an area I have marked out (to be the back). I, however, have decided that I do not like the way it looks to pick up said stitches.

The way the yoke was knit has left a 1 stitch ridge on each edge of the yoke piece itself. It looks like this:

\/-----{0}-----\/

I know it's a horrible representation, but pretend the V's on each side are knit stitches, the dashes represent the purled area between the edge of the piece, and the O with the brackets is the cable.

I like the knit stitches where they are. I would not like to pick them up. In picking up these stitches, that dimension disappears and the whole thing smooths out. I've decided I don't want that. So I've been trying to think of a way to get my ideas put into action. I thought about maybe picking up from the purl bumps just next to the knit stitches, but I'm worried about pulling the fabric in funky directions. I'm currently mulling over the idea of a strip of single crochet on the yoke, from which I could pick up the stitches without ruining the effect the edge has on the piece.

That might have made no sense. I guess it's kind of hard to explain without a decent photograph (here's the part where I hope everyone reading glares really hard in the general direction of my poor, defenseless camera). I want to figure it out soon - I'm excited to get to work on the body of the sweater.

January 5th:

Ahem. Do note, however, the presence of the cough medicine in the foreground.

January 6th:

This is due to that sickness I posted about on the 5th. It was like a short lived cough-cold thing that I had pretty well beat after only 2 or 3 days, a lot of liquids (non-alcoholic, thank you), and some rest. It's just about gone now.

January 7th:

I started work on the new shedir! And now, I'm happy to say, I absolutely love it. I'm using the Bernat Soy Blends I picked up at Michael's not too long ago, and despite the high acrylic content, I'm very impressed with the softness and the stretch in the yarn. And the stitch definition! My little twists and ribs are turning out beautifully, if I do say so myself. I sat down and worked through the 9 rows of ribbing and about 1 of the pattern repeats before doing this blog entry. It is absolutely whirring by.

It's interesting to note the things I've learned since the last time I tried to make this. The first time, I was using a really splitty sock yarn on a circular needle that was too long, and too pointy. I was trying to muscle my way through the pattern by staring at every stitch, and just found myself getting more and more frustrated every round because I would make one small mistake. This time, I am able to look at the pattern, and see that: "In this round, they simply want me to do X." And then I go around without even looking at the chart. It's so much more enjoyable to knit this time! It'll be finished very soon. I'm very excited.

Today I also picked up Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitter's Almanac. Just flipping through it I smiled at some of the phrases I came across. Things like: "And now, I must go through the unappealing process of calculating my gauge." When I handed the book to the cashier, she smiled and said: "Ah! You've got the master, there!" I nodded.

How cool would it be to have people call you "the master"? Not just in regards to knitting, but anything! To be able to be recognized as having complete mastery of a subject (be it knitting or car building or...waffle making) must be a neat thing. I wonder how many people think they are a "master" at what they do? It makes me think about things I'm good at, and about the things in which I still have room to grow. I'd like to master something(s) someday. I mean, it's not like anyone ever reaches a point in their life where they stop and say: "All right! That's it. I'm done. I've learned everything I'd like to learn, I'm ready to stop now." Mastery of a subject comes with the ability to evolve with it...to be ready to learn new things all the time, despite knowing so much already.

I guess this thinking spawns from college and career-related discussions and thoughts I've had lately - I'm just so excited to have an area of expertise and get the opportunity to use it, I can hardly wait.

Are you an expert at anything? Would you like to be?

I, for one, would currently like to be an expert on inventing methods of picking up stitches on sweater yokes.

But that's just me.

Here's a "nothing" post.

2008-01-05T20:18:00.000-08:00

I don't really have anything riveting to discuss. I haven't been spinning much because I've got a sickness. It's just enough of a sickness that the act of spinning seems like it would be completely exhausting.

I would post my "365" pictures, too, but my picture from yesterday is just a progress picture of the yoke of my luxe sweater. Terribly boring. I'll probably do a picture update tomorrow with a whopping 3 pictures.

Just a forewarning for the blog, though - my winter term classes start on Monday. I don't have a very busy schedule in terms of classes, which is good, but it might mean that I won't be able to update every other day, like I try to. Although I knit every day, my camera sucks, and until I get a new one, I kind of feel like I shouldn't update with a billion super-wordy posts.

I could write about spinning, or my attempts at plying, but I'm just not sure how good that would be for the blog without pictures. We'll see.

So...as the title implies, this post is mostly about nothing, and is very possibly brought to you today by Cruzan Mango Rum. I apologize for any incoherent parts.

I shall update (hopefully) tomorrow with a few pictures, and try to spin a bit. Here's hoping I improve a bit.

This is the part where I pretend I know what I'm doing.

2008-01-03T19:42:00.000-08:00

Today was finally the day I got to try spinning on my new spindle. I guess the best phrase to use would be that it was a "learning experience". I mean, I didn't expect it to be perfect or anything. It was really fun, despite the result looking like crap. You can't just go from exactly what a book or site tells you to do, either. It seems like a lot of skill in spinning comes from intuition and experience. I have neither. But I learned a bunch. Here's a really terrible picture of my first day's worth of spinning that alpaca (the brown). I'm sorry it's so horrible, my camera really is awful. There's a new one that'll be heading my way within the next week and a half, though.

I know you can't see it, but there is a visible learning curve on the spindle. The first bits I spun varied from so thin it was breaking to having virtually no twist in it at all. And in the last hour I was spinning today, I finally started to get the hang of things - learning that if you want your yarn to look the same, then you actually have to have the same conditions for all of it - it doesn't just magically happen. I look forward to doing it again tomorrow. I'm just worried about the twist factor. This yarn I created seems to be way way way over twisted. When I put it in a skein, it all bunches up on itself, and I can see little squiggles ALL OVER the skein where yarn is forming twists. I have yet to find that "happy place" where the yarn is adequately twisted, but will not curl on itself so much.

Also, I know I missed posting yesterday, but I did take my picture! It was at around 11:30 PM, but I remembered. You can't really see it at all because my camera sucks. But Nathan and I went to play board games at a friend's house, so I grabbed the camera and took a blurry picture of him reading the rules. Riveting, I know.

I hope that once I get a new camera, my "365" images will be a little more pleasant to look at. I promise, I DO know what a good picture looks like. Really. Probably.

No knitting today, because today was devoted to spinning. I'm only about halfway through the cable yoke of the luxe sweater. It takes me almost a half hour to do one 16-row pattern repeat! And I'm not even using a cable needle! That sweater is going to take a while, but I think it'll be worth it. The more fabric I see coming from the needles, the more I love it. I'm very excited.

Now that I've blogged my first spinning efforts...it can only get better from here, I guess. Here's hoping!

Both terrified and excited.

2008-01-01T12:23:00.000-08:00

Yesterday when I got up, I found that a family friend had dropped this off:

It's 3 bags full of raw, unwashed alpaca fleece. Two bags of black, and one very full bag of brown.

I know that the black is hard to see in these photos - I used up all the battery on my brother's camera and so resorted to using my Mom's, which didn't like the lighting. It is very very soft, despite all of the dirt and vegetation still in it. I was pulling pieces out to look at them, and it's got pieces of hay and plants still in it. I've been doing my research, though, and it seems as though you don't actually have to wash alpaca before spinning it, because it doesn't contain the same kind of greasy substance that wool does. I will, however, need to do a thorough combing of it. I'll probably end up washing parts just to check out the difference between the washed and unwashed fleece. I've got to get some combs first, though. A trip to the yarn/fiber shop might be in order today.

I know alpaca probably isn't the best thing to learn on...but it's what I've got, and it was completely free, so I guess I don't really have much to lose. Plus, it'll be a good learning experience in fiber preparation, I suppose. I don't plan to dye this stuff...just one more thing to have to learn before I actually get to try spinning. I want to make something (likely a scarf) for the friend who gave this to me. He's very interested in seeing what I can create from his animal's hair. I hope I do it justice. It's very pretty stuff.

Nothing on the knitting front I'm afraid - I spent 5 hours driving over that hill I mentioned in my last entry, and was a little exhausted by the time I reached my destination. It was a nice, quiet new year's with friends...although everyone is slowly becoming either sick or crippled - two of my boyfriends housemates are sick with something, Nathan is coming down with a cold, last night the trunk of a car fell and nailed me in the shoulder, and this morning Nathan practically cut his knuckle off with a knife he was washing. I think there's one person left in the house who has not yet managed to contract some kind of illness or been subject to some freakish accident. I think I'm going to hide in a corner with my green sweater for the next couple of days. Less chance of being hurt that way.

I hope.

Edited to Add: Thanks to Knitasaur, I have joined Ravelry's 365/52 ring/pledge. I have to take a picture either once every day or once every week, and post it (at least once a week). I think I'm capable of doing that, but no promises that they will all be good. My camera sucks, so I always use someone else's. I'm excited, though. And off to a good start so far, too!

I'm gonna be busy.

2007-12-31T00:09:00.000-08:00

Before I launch into the reasons why I'm going to be busy, I have a finished set of mittens that need their proper glory time: my brother's squarish mitts are all finished up and officially gifted to him.

These were kind of weird to knit. I could only find 3 size 5 DPN's, so I knit the gloves (both of them!) on the three size 5's and a size 4. They fit, but it's irking me. That and I somehow didn't match the shaping at the top of one mitt, so it's slightly bigger than the other. The tops are square instead of rounded. I think I'm going to just say they were "architecturally inspired" rather than pointing out the fact that I am rather lazy. You won't tell, right?

My crescendo socks are really uninteresting to look at. It's just more of the same (mostly). I got caught up in something else (you'll see later) but you can barely see the tiny beginnings of phase two of the sock.

I'm changing up the texture in the middle a bit by replacing what were previously knit stitches with purl stitches. I hope it looks the way I want it to.

For Christmas, Nathan's parents gave me a gift certificate to Michael's. So my mom and I were out shopping a couple of days ago, and we stopped in at the store to spend it (I already knew what I wanted). I picked up 8 balls of Lion Brand Wool Ease, 3 balls of Bernat Soy Natural blends, 2 balls of Patons Classic Wool Merino, a new set of size 8 straight needles (one of my others snapped), a painter's paintbrush roll (perfect for needle storage) and a nice little basket.

Yee-haw. I'm planning to give shedir another shot with the soy yarn, and make a pair of these knee-high slipper/sock things out of the Patons Wool. The Wool Ease, though, is the thing that is holding me back from further sock designing. I've been lusting after (my own) version of the cable luxe tunic for some time now. The yarn snob in me was telling me to blow the whole gift certificate on 100% woolly goodness, but the practical college student in me was telling me to get something I could throw in the washing machine with the rest of my clothes. Practical college student won. Yarn snob is currently pouting in the corner, huddled under a mountain of natural fibers.

The wool ease is 80% acrylic and 20% wool, and it's the yarn the pattern calls for (the pattern is lion brand). It's actually kind of fun to work with. The acrylic isn't bothering me so much. That teeny bit of wool it has in it makes me feel like it will still be properly warm, but will also be practical for my current lifestyle.

I started working on the cable for the yoke of the sweater last night (but decided my brother REALLY needed a second mitten first). Hence, there's not a lot to show. But I'm so excited to see this thing take shape! I have a lot of modifications planned for it. Weirdly, although there are a bajillion cables for the thing, the pattern uses no charts. I'm thinking of charting out the main parts of the body (the part that gets repeated) because I think it would help to make my modifications easier. I don't want that flare at the waist, and probably less flare in the arms as well. I tend to like my clothes to be a little bit more fitted, and if this works the way I hope it will, I think it'll be a winner.

Next up in the exciting things department is news from the spinning front. My Mom bought me a newbie's spinning book with zillions of illustrations for both spindle spinning and wheel spinning.

There's tidbits about the history of spinning, pages devoted entirely to learning about different kinds of fibers, and sections on preparation, dying, plying, EVERYTHING. This is very useful, because a friend of the family just sheared their alpacas, and they have 3 bags of raw (unwashed) alpaca they are willing to part with. I'm definitely going to need to read that washing section a hundred times. I know alpaca probably isn't the best thing for me to learn to spin on, but if it's free...I don't think it could hurt, could it? We'll see.

Lastly, tomorrow I (weather permitting) hop in my car and drive back over to the region where I attend school. I had a really nice visit with my family and I'm actually kind of sad to have to go. Cross your fingers it isn't snowing and treacherous at the top of the mountain I have to drive over. It's supposed to be sunny, but you never know. Wish me luck, and if I don't blog tomorrow, have a safe and happy new year!

Sock it to me

2007-12-28T23:49:00.000-08:00

Now that Christmas is over, I feel like it's time to give back. To myself. And giving back to myself means knitting something for me. I had purchased a shiny yellow yarn to make Eunny Jang's Bayerische socks, but after multiple attempts, I've just decided it isn't going to happen anytime soon. They are immensely beautiful, but right now, I can't handle the billion twisted stitches each row (not to mention this yarn is a little on the splitty side in parts from having been worked so much).

So I went in search of the perfect pattern with which to adorn my precious feetsies. Lots and lots of beautiful socks presented themselves to me - cables, and lace and stripes abounded! But none seemed to be quite right. None of them really seemed to scream "Knit me, woman! I want to warm your feet until my fibers fall apart!" So, what do I do? I start thinking. And thinking hard.

No more stockinette socks. I need something with a little ACTION! A little excitement! A little spice for my sun-shiny yellow yarn. I cast on and knit up a toe. And then I got to work. Brain abubble, I actually managed to formulate a pattern that I think might actually work.

These are the beginnings of what I'm tentatively (or maybe permanently) calling my "Crescendo" socks.

These socks will be knit toe up, with an increasingly dramatic pattern moving its way up the foot and leg - shifting from something that is merely texture to an actual cable. Or so I'd like to think at this point. We'll see how it goes. The name seems to coincide perfectly with the concept I have in my head, and it also goes back to my musical background. In order to effectively perform a crescendo (this is what it means to get louder, gradually), one must start small in order to get bigger. Cross your fingers that this one works. I really think it will, and I'm excited!

Also, if you're reading this, and you like to smell good, get yourself to bath and body works. Because Nathan and I went on a gift-certificate spending spree today, and the store is having a sale for only like 4 days or something. I walked in with a $25 gift certificate. The sale was so huge that I got $77 worth of merchandise for $21. Yeah. Pick your jaw up off the floor and go get something.

And then watch as I try to design a sock. Yee-haw!

P.S. - To whoever it was that reached this site by googling "alisha round and brown super fine", I'm terribly, terribly sorry to have (probably) disappointed you. I wish you all the best in your future searches. And thank you for providing my significant other and I with a very good giggle.

Happy Holidays

2007-12-25T20:36:00.000-08:00

Today marks Christmas, and I hope everyone has had an enjoyable and safe holiday. I got to spend a happy day with friends and family. The knitting I finished was appreciated, and so I couldn't be more elated. Here are the finished pictures.

Hemlock Ring Blanket:

I have never been so proud of a creation. I think this is probably the most beautiful thing I've made to date, and my parents are proudly displaying it in the living room. I love it so much, and I'm so glad I could give to people who I love (and who will appreciate it!)

I ripped out and re-knit from the end of the gusset on one of my Dad's socks last night...it takes a lot longer to knit half a sock than I thought. My Christmas knitting was done today at 6:02 AM. I was gifting at 11:00. I would like a nap, but I am so satisfied with the way things turned out. My younger brother ended up with only one mitten (and a matching one I drew on a piece of paper), but he appreciated the first one and is ready to have the other one. He still gave me a big hug and a thank you for his lone mitten.

I knit the entire Nereides for my Grandma over the course of a few days, and ended up doing the fringe last night while playing games with my family. It too, looks beautiful.

My grandma wore it all day. She absolutely loved it, and loved that I made it (on the needles she gave me!). I wanted her to know that her needles had been passed on to someone who was going to use them!

My parents gave me a college-cookbook (for those of us with little money), and a basket full of cooking basics so I can go home and make cakes and cookies. Hooray!

Nathan, that oh-so-sweet man in my life, presented me with this:

If I remember correctly, this is a 1.4 oz Chestnut and Mesquite top whorl spindle. The initials of the maker are written on the shaft of the piece, and the colors of it are beautiful. I love it. The yarn on it is a sample - I tried to spin with the tiny little bit of fiber attached to it, but it just sort of wilted away. I'm going fiber hunting tomorrow.

I think I was more excited to give my gifts this year than I was to get them. I was so focused on getting everything done in time and making sure X item would fit X person that I think I kind of forgot that people might be getting me things too. It was almost a surprise to see the kind things the people in my life presented me with. I had so many practical gifts this year. I got absolutely NO JUNK gifts whatsoever. This is glorious. I will use every last thing I received. This is the first year I can say that! I mean, even my stocking had a knitting magazine and an investor's magazine in it. Everything was useful.

I wanted to end the day kind of reflecting on the last few weeks. I mean, now that it's all over and done with, what exactly do I do? There's no more deadline to meet, and besides another mitten for my brother, I get to stop and relax and try to make my hands look like hands again (not claws). Giving things I've truly put my love into this year made them so much more meaningful. I loved it so much. I look forward to knitting for my family again in the future. But until then...

I think I owe myself a nice pair of socks.

Happy Holidays.

FINISHED: "BARBIE" ENDPAPER MITTS

2007-12-18T13:50:00.000-08:00

Pattern: Eunny Jang's Endpaper Mitts
Yarn: Dale of Norway - Dalegarn Baby Ull
Needles: Takumi size 0 DPNs, Susan Bates size 2 DPNs.

I love this pattern so much. I would have enjoyed working on these more when I didn't have Christmas knitting to do for my own family (these are a gift for a friend's mom). They turned out looking great, though. These are always a winner. I may have even had a celebratory drink...or three...when I finished.

This means today I get to work on sock number two for my Dad. I mostly finished the first one, but the heel on it looks really strange. I think I had some gauge issues - after doing miles of stockinette for the body of the foot, I had to then turn the heel and I think that my brain had some trouble shifting into "purl" mode so the heel is of a different gauge than the rest of the sock, despite having been knit on the same needles. Nathan tried it on, and confirmed that the heel felt too big. So I'm putting the sock on some spare needles, and I'm going to knit up the other one and see what I can do about the heel. If I can fix it, I'll just rip the first sock back to the heel and redo it. It's worth it - the socks are really neat. When Nathan tried it on, he said: "You know, if these weren't for your Dad for Christmas...I would steal them. 'Cause they're pretty sweet." YES! Words a knitter loves to hear from her significant other. Maybe there are some socks for him in the near future. We'll see.

Lastly: There is a mooch in the house. She eats your food when you aren't looking, she jumps into your arms while you're standing around. She'll lick you like there's no tomorrow, and she is a hopeless attention whore. She also likes to try to eat yarn and needles, if she sees them. Interfering with knitting photoshoots is also a recently developed skill of hers. Who would do such things to an innocent knitter such as myself?

Cleo would.

This means war.

Yes, I am a knitter

2007-12-13T13:02:00.001-08:00

And today I finally have the evidence! I actually have been knitting up a storm. Yee haw.

First up, is a pair of socks knit for my mom:

These socks are knit in the "Brown Badlands" Colorway of that interesting Ditto yarn I picked up a few weeks ago. They're kind of more purply-red and not so barf yellow-green like the picture shows. When I took these, I was severely lacking natural light, so the colors are a bit off.

Next are the barbie endpaper mitts. This mitt has been sitting at this stage of completion for around 3 days now. It needs one more repeat of chart A (which is 10 rows) and then some ribbing and a thumb. I just can't bring myself to do it for some reason. I don't know why. But then I think of how I still have to knit ANOTHER MITT and I want to curl up into the fetal position and not do it. Ack.

I think they're coming out pretty stinkin' cute, even if they're a bit lumpy in parts. I think a nice bath when they're done will probably help...but these are a gift for a non-knitter, so somehow I doubt they'll care (or notice). We'll see how I feel later.

I realized a few days ago that the skein of ditto I bought to make my dad socks just wasn't gonna cut it. Men need more than 220 yards to cover their big feet. So I went a-hunting at the LYS here, and found a neato sock yarn called "San Diego". It's a self striping yarn, and I tried to pick out something with manly-ish colors. I think I succeeded. This sock is soooo cool. I did end up having to rip and re-knit it because my gauge is a little bit off, and the sock was just too big (I tried it on Nathan's foot - he and dad have about the same size feet). I love the striping and the colors.

I mean, even though there's purple in the sock, it still looks neat, right? Right? I'm really enjoying the knitting on this, just to watch it all come together. Fun.

And last, but CERTAINLY not least, is our dear friend hemlock. Hemlock's knitting was actually finished last Thursday, and it's just sort of been hanging out with all of the other WIP's by my bag 'o knitting. The color in this photo is finally kind of close to what the actual color of the blanket is, too:

Not the best picture, I know, but at least the color is semi-accurate. All hemlock needs is a nice bath and a good blocking to flatten it out, and it'll be beautiful. But then again...it's not like it isn't beautiful already.

Hee Hee.

12 days.
1 scarf for my brother
1 scarf/shawl/wrap for my grandma
1.5 socks for dad.
1 more glove for Nathan
1 more endpaper mitt.

I went to the local LYS here to get yarn for Dad's socks and the Nereides Wrap for my Grandma, and checked out their fiber section and got to talk with the owner for a while about learning to spin and all that jazz. Because I really want to, but it'll just have to wait until after the Christmas frenzy. She stuck me on their mailing list for knit nights and things. And then I made myself look really cool when she asked me what I was making with some of the yarn I was buying (it's a pretty blue slightly variegated nylon/acrylic yarn, something easy for my grandma to take care of), and I declared quite proudly that it would be a "sharf". Which I guess is kind of appropriate, given that it's like a shawly-scarfy thing. I'm not entirely sure she even noticed that I was making up words. I had to explain it, though, and she nodded approvingly. Go team.

I can't stay any longer. I need to bathe and knit. Because there are only 12 days left and I have lots to do. But here we at least have evidence that I am trying. Really.

I swear, there's been progress.

2007-12-03T21:21:00.001-08:00

It's just that in the last week, my body decided to strike me down with not one, but two sicknesses. Sickness one had me waking up on Wednesday with the worst sore, swollen throat and fever. I had to go to work, because...if I don't go to work, I don't have a place to sleep/can't eat/can't drive my car/can't buy yarn. So I went...and drank MASSIVE amounts of hot, wonderful tea. Thursday was better. No more fever, no more sore throat. A little bit of a scratch remained, but I felt tons better.

Saturday, though...I get knocked down again with some cold from hell or something. It's only around in the mornings and at night. I swear. It's nocturnal. My whole upper body is congested and so I breath through my mouth when I sleep and I wake up feeling like poo. So then I'm grumpy until I've eaten and showered and brushed my teeth (all of which makes me feel progressively better). Then as soon as I lay down at night, wha-BAM! Congested again. And I can't help but wake up every few hours realizing my nose is no longer functioning.

That was probably way more than anyone wanted to know about the recent activity here at Alisha's body, but it's the reason for the lack of blog posts/knitting activity. When sickness mode 1 hit, I was incapable of doing anything. I was good at one thing: laying around miserable until falling asleep. So there was no knitting, despite the gung-ho attitude on the hemlock ring of awesomeness.

Sickness mode 2 (this weekend's sickness) has left me with the late morning to the evenings to knit. And knit I have! I finished my friend's oh-so-manly fake isle hat with earflaps and tassels. However, I am stupid, and forgot to take a picture of it before giving it to him. He is very very happy with it, and even asked me how to take care of it. What a good lad. He is very grateful of its woolly goodness.

I've started round 3 of the endpaper mitts (cast on last night and knit the ribbing for the cuff). Today I worked the 3 repeats of the fair isle at the bottom, and I think over the next two days I'll do the thumb gusset part. That part takes a while.

Lastly, hemlock and I have renewed our love for one another, and I'm chugging along. I just timed one of my last rounds (just knitting) and ladies and gents, it's taking me 12 minutes just to do a round. Aaaah! I even tried to figure out about how many stitches I do per minute. I think I'm pretty slow - only about 35-40 stitches per minute, but then again, I'm shifting the stitches around on the cable needle because the whole project is getting sooo heavy! Eeek!

I would stick a few pictures of it up, but it LOOKS exactly the same as the last time I took a picture of it. It's just lumpier and there are somewhere around 150 more stitches on the needle. It's boring, I swear. But two people actually added it to their favorites on ravelry! Wow! I was so excited. And then I looked at the pictures I had put up of it and went: "...why?"

Guess I need to take advantage of Nathan's camera a little more often. I think I actually use it more than he does. Hehe.

Also in the land of good news - I'm all set up to work from home over the winter holiday break from college, which means that while I work and wait for pages to load and things, I can be knitting! I love multitasking! I'll be making money, and making presents! I just have to resist the urge to cast on for a new pair of socks for me. I had to restrain myself from restarting my Bayerische socks just a little while ago, actually. They'd just be sooo pretty on this shimmery yellow wildfoote sock yarn I have. Ah, I want them.

Next time: I hope to have the lace edging started for the hemlock going. That's going to take a looooong time, and I'm going to have somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 stitches to work. Oh my god. Also, here's hoping I'll have the pink endpaper mitt #1 close to finished. And then I have to work on the print o the wave. And my brother's scarf. And another glove for Nathan. And socks for mom and dad. Oh my goodness. How many days until Christmas again? Let the countdown begin.

22.

*runs screaming*

Can you say "gung-ho"?

2007-11-27T21:47:00.001-08:00

Last night I cast on for the hemlock ring blanket. I ventured into the land of magic loop (for the first time ever!) successfully on my shiny new 40" size 10 Inox needle. I am very happy with my purchase. It was very affordable and is doing an excellent job. I knit like I was possessed.

Today is day two of knitting, and I have passed 57 rounds on the blanket - 216 stitches currently on the needle. this is a very satisfying knit. I stopped just to take and edit a (crappy) photo and update on the progress. I'm going to have to wind up another ball here tonight!

I know that people who have knit this blanket have said that it goes fast, but I didn't imagine this. Once you get past the initial flower, there's one row of increases and decreases for the feather and fan pattern, and then 4 rows of plain knit. This makes for great T.V. knitting. I pay attention for one row out of 5 and it's flying by.

Because this is going by so much faster than I anticipated, I think I might cast on for my third pair of endpaper mitts sometime within the next two days. Those usually take a couple of weeks of non-diligent knitting to knock out, and they need to be done ASAP. One thumb on glove one (or three) for Nathan and that's done...and then the real challenge of the season will be to do the print 'o the wave stole for my grandparents.

Ever since I had my wonderfully quick repeat worked (12 rows) I haven't touched it. That's the next big thing on the list after the blankety goodness is done. Here I go to work on it! ...and then wind some more yarn! One skein in a day (ish?) I don't know what has gotten into me, but it feels great.

Involuntarily blocking my head pieces is un-fun.

2007-11-26T19:14:00.000-08:00

I just rode my bike home in the midst of what felt like a small monsoon, but was really just boring old rain. I actually had to peel my pants off when I got home - I was that soaked. I had my 100% wool calorimetry on my head, though, and it seems to have stretched out a bit - it's been falling down my face for a few days, and now it's just flopping at me. Woe. But now I'm warm and dry and have fed my face and am ready to do some homework and some knitting, because my 40" needle came in the mail today!

So Nathan got me 3 skeins of cascade 220:

I was messing around with the image in photoshop in an attempt to make the webcam picture look less like crap, that's why it looks strange. In doing so, the picture is neat and all, but the color is waaaay off. Just pretend it's a nice burgundy. Yeah, see how nice it is?

Technically, I could have started working on the blanket with my size 10 dpn's a long time ago. But for whatever reason, I had it in my head that I couldn't start anything until I had a 40" circular. Oh well. Tonight it begins! Hooray! I've been wanting to cast on for this project forever!

...I get to do it right after I finish my physics homework.

Ah, post-holiday holiday knitting.

2007-11-24T17:45:00.000-08:00

I have to apologize for the lack of posting. I promise it isn't from a lack of knitting, it's just that I think too many word-filled posts are boring, and since my digital camera takes really horrible pictures, I don't use it.

I hope everyone had an enjoyable thanksgiving experience. Mine was pretty nice, although a little more time visiting with my parents would have been nice. A full house makes one-on-one time kind of difficult when there are always people talking to you. But it was nice to have the time I did have.

Nathan and I ate two thanksgiving dinners - one at his family's house at 3, and one at my house at around 6. I didn't feel so good that night. Hehehehe.

But now that the feasting is finished, the knitting is looming before me. The list I have of the things I need to knit is taunting me, challenging me. This will be the biggest challenge for me yet as a knitter. I visited a local yarn shop a couple of days ago to stock up on a few things I needed:

one ball of lamb's pride worsted weight wool/mohair in green, one ball a heathered brown
one set of US 4 straight bamboo needles
one set of US 2 DPNS

The lamb's pride is for gloves (round two!) for Nathan. He liked the ones I made him, and has been wearing them, but the fingers are too short. I made the fingers just a teeny tiny bit too short, so he's worried about them getting ripped up. But he has commented on how warm they keep his hands, which is what I was going for. So I've got a pair of green gloves in a thicker material with longer fingers going right now. Glove one needs 3 more fingers.

The bamboo needles are for the print 'o the wave stole. I was using some of my grandmother's metal needles, but the points were blunt, the needles were horrifically slippery, and I was almost to tears with frustration at how slow things were going by the time I finished the first pattern repeat. So I went out and bought some bamboo needles, and the first repeat went by in about a quarter of the time it took me to do on metal needles. Hooray, it suddenly seems like I might actually be able to finish the piece!

Lastly, the DPNS are for socks. I have some size twos (all of my needles were a gift from my grandmother. Her hands just don't have the capability to knit anymore, so when I picked up knitting, she walked into her office, rooted around for a while, and returned with a box marked "knitting needles" with old circular, plastic, and metal needles, along with a few vintage patterns. YAY.), but they're plastic and kind of bendy and I'm always afraid I'm going to break them, plus I just don't like the way they feel. I got metal DPN's...some for socks, and some for doing yet another set of Eunny Jang's endpaper mitts. This makes 3 pairs for me! Haha!

In other news, I finished my friend's hat. It was submitted to him for approval a few minutes ago, and he loves it! Pictures to follow tomorrow, provided I can find Nathan's camera. His room looks like a clothing bomb went off. Aaaah!

Hooray for updates, eh?

...got a fat head?

2007-11-16T15:27:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure exactly where the line between "normal" and "fat" head is drawn, but I'm going to guess that 24" is probably a fairly large noggin. Why am I wondering about hat sizes? I've been starting, ripping, and reknitting a hat for a friend of mine for the last two weeks. Either I'm unhappy with the design, or I make it too small...or I just hate it in general. But now, I've decided on the design, I've been working on it, and I realized that I messed up in my gauge measurements.

This is helpful to illustrate with an image. Here is the previous incarnation of the hat:

I measured my gauge from this k1, p1 ribbing and determined I was getting 7 stitches to the inch. I made all of my calculations and looked at a few other men's beanie patterns and decided a 21.5" circumference would be good - enough room to fit, but fit snugly.

So I started knitting.

In stockinette.

...yeah...

I am now getting 6 stitches to the inch, and it appears as though hat is headed for a circumference of 24". I haven't ripped it yet, just because I am going to ambush the recipient with a tape measure either today or tomorrow. He's a rugby player, which, for some reason, makes me think he has kind of a big head. I'm not sure why I have that thought in my brain, though. Fingers crossed - let's hope his head is somewhere in the neighborhood of 25"-26". If not...I'll rip, and redo my math, and finally get the thing done for him.

Knitting would be so much easier if I took the time to do all the things I needed to do before starting! Heheh.

FINISHED: NATHAN'S SIMPLE GLOVES

2007-11-15T15:23:00.000-08:00

Pattern: Knitty's Cigar.
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca, less than 1 skein
Yarn Source: The Knit Shop
Gauge: I dunno. Heheh.
Needles: US size 5 DPN's
Pattern modifications: I made the gloves a solid color, and continued all of the fingers rather than only knitting to the knuckle on three fingers, like the pattern does.

Notes:
He wanted some really simple, really warm gloves, so that's what he's getting! The colors seem to change every single time I look at this yarn...I hope he isn't too bothered by that. He said if I knit them, he would wear them, so I guess they'll work out. I'll give them to him on Saturday.

Also, these were super fast to knit. Although I know it took me somewhere around 2 weeks to do this, you could probably easily do these in a day, as long as doing all of those fingers doesn't drive you crazy first. I hate weaving in ends. But the end result looks pretty good. Hooray!

Holidays...what?

2007-11-14T20:42:00.000-08:00

So I recently realized that it's November. And November is typically followed by December which means it's that time of year...and this year I'm knitting things. This is new for me. I knit a few things last year, but they weren't very well planned out, or the things I was going to try to make were rather unrealistic. This year, I've tried to stay on top of things. I bought some yarn (and a friend bought some yarn for me to make her something, too) last weekend.

There's some pink and pink yarn for yet another pair of endpaper mitts:

Gotta love the baby ull. Mmmmhmm.

Also, I picked up some really neat sock yarn that was on sale. I cannot resist le sale bins. I've never heard of it before. It's called Ditto, and it's a 75% superwash 25% polyamide, which is fine. I've started knitting with the more brightly colored of the two balls, and it looks REALLY neat. I'm looking forward to finishing a few pairs with this stuff.

Lastly, I grabbed a couple of balls of this really really nice 100% baby alpaca laceweight yarn. I asked the woman at the store where I could find lace or cobweb weights, and she said: "You're pretty brave!" I'm not quite sure what that's supposed to mean, but she was very friendly and showed me a few example pieces of the laceweight yarns she had available. This stuff isn't terribly fuzzy, which I like. It's a gorgeous deep reddish burgundy with a little bit of shine to it. This will definitely be a Christmas present/housewarming gift for my grandparents. Mmmhm. Print 'o the wave stole. I hope.

I have two more fingers and a thumb left to go on Nathan's gloves (by Saturday). No sweat there. I did rip and redesign (again) my friend's hat, but I think I've finally got something that'll work. I seem to recall having said something like this last time, but oh well.

Boring update I know, but since I'm doing knitterly things, I felt the need to share.

Dude.

2007-11-10T15:14:00.000-08:00

I was browsing blogs just now, and I was reading over at dogged knits when I found a link to what is called Irish Cottage Knitting. In the link, the Yarn Harlot demonstrates this method of knitting. Check it out. Seriously, go now if you haven't already seen this.

Ok, watched it?

My God.

Now, I know I'm not a very fast knitter. But I can still make a fairly good amount of progress on a piece in a day, even knitting in my own weird little way (I have a bizarre purling method, but it works for me). But this method seems so unbelievably fast! I'm not really sure if I'm capable of learning it anytime soon, but maybe it'd be worth it to give it a shot the next time I'm making a plain old sock. I sure wouldn't mind being able to knit that fast! It'd definitely have an impact on how much faster projects get done, for me.

Whew.

Makes me wanna cast on for something else now, even though that probably isn't a good idea. At the moment, I have these things in progress:

Gloves for Nathan (1 down, halfway there!)
A hat for my friend which I keep ripping and redesigning because I'm masochistic or something
The second of two swirly socks for me (am I ever going to finish it?)
The variation of the Norwegian stockings by Nancy Bush (You know, the ones that sucked? And that I knit way too small for some reason?)
My brother's Boston scarf, which needs to be ripped and re-knit.

I guess that's not actually as much as I thought. Huh. BUT! Next week I'll be getting the materials to start the Hemlock Ring Blanket for my parental units for the holiday season. I'm also really strongly considering knitting a throw or shawl or something as a housewarming present for my grandparents, who recently moved into a new house in southern california. While I was re-reading Eunny Jang's blog I noted a cobweb weight yarn she used for a few projects, and I think I might be in love. It's Merino Oro, and comes in skeins of around 1300 yards for $16.00. That's a college student deal if I ever heard one.

The drawback to this is kind of...icky.

I don't have a ball winder.

Ouch. We'll see. I'd love to do it, though.

Hooray holiday knitting, eh?

Getting organized

2007-11-09T00:24:00.000-08:00

Yesterday when I came home, I walked in and one of the first things my lovely roomie said to me was: "Hey, do you think you can move your knitting stuff to the cupboard under the bar?"

I started nodding before I even looked at the mountain that had started to form around the chair I had been sitting in lately. I'd been meaning to take the stuff back upstairs or at least try to figure out a way to make some semblance of order out of all my knitting bags and baskets. Somehow about half of my stash (and my needle box) had managed to migrate downstairs. I brought down the remainder of my stash and started to sort. I found no less than 4 old acrylic, huge, giant, crappy beanies, a ton of acrylic yarn, and a bunch of stuff I had no idea what to do with.

So I sorted.

And sorted.

And ended up putting all 4 hats on my head at once, too.

I went from this:

to this:

No, all of the yarn did not get tossed. I sorted it. I can't believe I finally did it, but I sorted it. I now have bags in the aforementioned bar cupboard stuffed with yarn, and I have them categorized. There is a bag with really old acrylic stuff I'll likely never use. Maybe I can make some dishtowels out of it or something. There is a bag of stuff that an auntie brought me once - her twin daughters had a knitting fad...and then it wore off, and they had a ton of yarn lying around the house, so I got it. Most of it is either homespun or exciting novelty yarn - I might be able to use it someday. Then, there's the bag of things I should really rip out. This isn't a very big bag - just stuff that I need to take care of so that I can save the yarn and put it to good use somewhere else.

So, what's in the knitting bag now? I stuck my current projects there - they're small at the moment. I also included the yarn that I'll probably be using soonest in the future - the last of my rowanspun dk, some more silja sock yarn, and a few other miscellaneous bits. I feel so...organized.

Now there's just my room to tackle. Trust me, you don't wanna see pictures of that one.

Feeling grumbly...

2007-11-07T14:27:00.000-08:00

Ever just have a day or two (or even a month or something) where you just feel grumpy, for not really any reason? I'm in a funk like this. It was worse yesterday, but it has kind of carried over into today. I'm not upset with anyone or anything, I'm just kind of..."eh" about things at the moment. I did have a few moments of sheer idiocy this week that may have contributed to this grumbly feeling, however.

Upon arriving home monday morning and moving to make myself some coffee before work, I managed to peel back the lid of the tub 'o coffee, catch coffee grounds with the edge of the lid, and fling coffee grounds into a corner of my kitchen. Grumbling ensued, and I was 15 minutes late to work cleaning it up.
This morning, after eating my breakfast and drinking my coffee before work, I stood up to leave the house when I checked my pocket and found my keys were missing. I ran upstairs to check my purse - nope. Ran back downstairs and checked around in all of my knitting stuff - nope. Checked my backpack - nope. I finally discovered the keys were already in the pocket of my sweatshirt, which I had on under my jacket. I am ten minutes late to work (I don't think anyone noticed).
Upon arriving to work, I discover that I have completely forgotten to bring my usual can 'o soup lunch. I even have a can opener in my bag, but no soup. I do, however, have a granola bar. This probably will not sustain me until six, so after Japanese, I go to a place on campus to see what I can get a lot of for cheap. Panda express sells a pretty big box of fried rice for $2.85. Perfect, that'll do it. I order my rice, go to pay for it, and hand the girl my card. "EXPIRED!" she says! I want to slap myself in the face. I have the new one at home, I just completely forgot it. So I relinquish my treasured debit card and trundle on back to work.

I'm currently reporting from work, and I'm kind of afraid to move for fear that I will cause a small explosion, what with the luck I've been having. On the bright side of things, however, I have a bunch of yummy rice to eat, I have some homework to do so I can stay busy, and I only have one more day of "blah-ness" (that's a technical term) until the weekend is finally here. My goodness, it can't come fast enough.

Last night I took some pictures of things in the works. I bought some yarn yesterday for a friend who has asked for a hat:

This is one skein each of lamb's pride superwash in Lichen (the green) and Sable (the brown). 200 yards in each ball, and it's something that can be thrown in the washing machine without worry, which I figured was a good idea for something a college-age man is wearing. I just have to somehow get him to remember not to throw it in the dryer.

Next, I've nearly got the first of Nathan's gloves finished:

It would have been done a couple days ago, but I just typically don't have much time to sit and knit when I'm here at home. I hope to finish this off tonight - it'll give me a week to do glove number two. I like it when I don't have to rush projects.

Lastly, just for giggles, here's the sock that reminded me that I am perfectly capable of making stupid decisions for no apparent reason. It looks so pretty and innocent in its reds and whites...the cuff simply calls out: "try me on!"

So what can I do but listen to the sock? After all, I am merely a weak mortal, and this sock is too tempting to pass up. Of course, this is when I am slapped in the face:

I sigh, and repeat to myself slowly: "I like knitting. I like knitting. I like knitting" before reaching for that superwash beanie on the circular needle. Silly.

I am king.

2007-11-05T17:25:00.000-08:00

I just had to notify the world that yes, indeed, I have moved to a blogging service that I am at long last happy with, and that functions PERFECTLY on both Internet Explorer and Firefox. Other browsers, I'm not so sure. But I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

New blog is pretty. New blog functions correctly and I actually know how to update it because all of the information I need is contained right there in one little HTML file. I couldn't be happier!

On the fiber front:

I've got some 50% alpaca, 50% wool gloves on the needles for Nathan for our third year anniversary. I swear, this yarn...(Berroco Ultra Alpaca) when I picked it out in the store, I saw reds and browns in it. It practically oozed manliness. When I wound the ball, it looked kind of brownish maroon. Yet, when I'm knitting it, depending on what light I'm in, it looks kind of purply-blue! Nathan has pointed out to me that these are rather unmanly colors. But he still smiled and said if I made them, he'd wear them. Aww.

I also spent several hours of my Saturday knitting a REALLY COOL sock that doesn't fit. I have no idea what I was thinking, seriously. I calculated my gauge, found a neato Fair isle pattern, and successfully knit the whole thing, then tried to stick it on my foot, and couldn't get it over my heel. Then I found out that I'm an idiot. I needed 8 inches around, I knit 6.6 inches. I think someone needs to slap me for that one. I honestly have no idea what I was thinking.

Good story, I know.

Lastly, Nathan has notified me that for our third year anniversary (as his gift to me), he wants to take me to a yarn shop and let! me! pick! out! something! for a project! Just as long as I promise not to like...leave him homeless or anything like that. He told me about this grand scheme because he wanted me to have time to think about a project I'd like to make and what I would need to make it. So, I think it'll have to be the Hemlock Ring Blanket by Jared Flood. I've wanted to make it for so so sooo long, and it'll make a great Christmas present.

I can't wait!

Ugh

2007-11-02T11:26:00.000-07:00

So I'm really making an attempt to get the blog to do what I want, but greymatter just isn't powerful enough. There's just not the same features with greymatter as there are on say...movable type or wordpress. I'm toying around with wordpress now and I'm going to see if maybe I can convert the whole thing over...I'm slowly beginning to learn that my knowledge about HTML is horrifically outdated. And that validator button in the sidebar is terrifying.

I'm sorry!

On the bright side, I got some yarn. And I started knitting a new sock.

UPDATE: Okay, screw it. This blog functions correctly and I'm just too technologically stupid to figure out how to make everything work. So too bad. Bleh.

Goodbye

2007-11-01T12:52:00.000-07:00

Today I finally made the decision. The pattern which I have abandoned and then returned to (and then messed up and thrown in a corner) is no longer of this world.

Goodbye, Shedir:

Instead, it'll be some (hopefully) really neato socks I'm trying to cook up.

We'll see!

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T11:07:00.000-07:00

Or, Alternate Title: "C-C-C-Calorimetry!"

Happy Halloween to any and all readers out there in cyberland...I have no plans really, except that NATHAN is coming to visit me tonight! Yay! But we probably won't do anything. We're kind of partied out from our fantastic shindig last weekend. I have the photographic evidence from my costume...but the only catch is that this photographic evidence is currently located on my roommate's digital camera. I will have to prod it from her later tonight. The party was indeed a success, as was my costume.

Today, at work, I get to be (for the first time EVER, I'm so excited) a candy-hander-outer person. That's the technical term for it, of course. I work in a building on campus that helps with the education and special services for youth and children with disabilities. Some of the autistic kids are going to come up and trick or treat me - they have been learning how to say "TRICK OR TREAT!" and how to just take one, and keep their hands to themselves, etc. I'm so terribly excited, I have a bowl of candy ready for action on my desk and even brought some cat ears in to wear when they come in. I am prepared!

Also, as the alternate title suggests, I did, in fact, knit a calorimetry.

I was overcome by an intense need to create something. And then finish it shortly after starting the creation process. Read this as: "I want to make something, NOW."

So, I looked around for a good stashbusting project on Ravelry, something that would be a one-skeinish project, and found Calorimetry. I used one skein of Crystal Palace Fjord Solid, and I even swatched (!), so I was terribly proud of myself. I ended up knitting the thing on size 7 needles in stead of the required size 8, because my little swatchy friend told me (because I TOTALLY even washed it) that it would stretch a bit. It fits perfectly, and I even found a button to stick on it. It has been effectively warming my brain and my ears for the last two days. I am terribly happy.

Photographic evidence to be added later! Happy Halloween!

UPDATE: As promised, calorimetry pictures.

The button was just one I happened to have in a little tin I keep miscellaneous things in. It worked out all right, I think.

Venturing into the crafty world...

2007-10-25T17:43:00.000-07:00

Today I went on a glorious adventure into the land of paper mache. Or papier mache. I'm not sure how it's spelled and I think there's supposed to be an accent over the e in mache, but I don't know how to make it go. So you get paper mache. Behold:

This ball of goo will soon become part of my master plan for my Halloween costume. While at the moment it looks suspiciously like a ball of goo surrounding a balloon that is hanging above the sink in my kitchen, it is actually the first phase of an essential accessory for my costume. What is my costume, you ask? It'll have to wait until Saturday. That's when I'm sure there will be photographic evidence. I will tell you, however, that the goo ball is going to be a ball in its next life. That's really all I can say on the subject. No further questions please.

In knitting land, disaster struck this afternoon when I arrived home and kicked off my shoes. What could this possibly be?

There is a hole in the toe of one of my Baudelaire socks. Not just like...a huge stitch or anything, but I have physically snapped the yarn at the toe and it is now doing its best to unravel, and I have absolutely no idea how to stop it! No! It cannot be! My precious Baudelaire sock! Such a shame! I need to figure out how to fix this crisis to prevent it going any further...as well as just for the sake of my own knowledge.

Lastly, I present this:

"This" is a swatch that I made for a design I've been drooling over in my brain for the last few weeks. It's for a really summery halter top, and some kind of starry-flower thingamajig (such as this particular one) belongs in it. This is really a doily pattern I found on Ravelry. I have to tweak it to make it so that it's not knit in the round, but still maintains some of the features that I really like. This wouldn't be all that difficult to do...if I just had some time to sit down and do it! I think this weekend will be an excellent opportunity. Almost all of my midterms are done, and the Halloween partying shall commence. Yes, oh yes, it shall.

Also, note to reader - today's pictures were brought to you by the shiny new laptop I am now in possession of. It has a webcam on it, and I figured the webcam quality pictures would at least be a teensy bit clearer (and less glowy) than my digital camera pictures. So I apologize for some of the weird angles in the pictures, but at least I've got a method of providing evidence effectively now!

That's all, stay tuned for updates on the gooball, and hooray for tomorrow being Friday!

ALL RIGHT!

2007-10-24T17:38:00.001-07:00

So, it took me only a matter of hours to get the new greymatter up and mostly running. It should work in both firefox and internet explorer. The only thing still irking me is that damned sidebar - I can't seem to figure out how in the world I'm supposed to make it sit where I want it to...without messing everything else up. If I move up the sidebar, the links in the main part of the blog stop working. And if I leave the sidebar where it is, the everything else continues as planned. Bummer, but it's something I probably shouldn't be working on right now, because I have a big ugly physics assignment to work on that's due by 11:50 tonight, and I have seriously spent nearly 6.5 hours today (AT WORK) trying to figure out how in the world to make blog go.

...I promise, I had virtually nothing to do at work. I should have been doing homework, at least.

So woohoo. This means that blog is at least looking pretty and running smoothly and will do what I want it to, even if the sidebar will still require some tweaking. We'll see. YAY!

At long last

2007-10-24T15:36:00.000-07:00

It's official. Movable Type and I just weren't mean to be together. We had a very dramatic breakup this morning, and I told it I was leaving and going back to my old flame, Greymatter.

I'm so happy to have you back, oh blog love of mine.