P.S.: Bonus Useful Link O' The Day

While I was writing down notes for the aforementioned project (needle size, yarn brand/type, etc.) I decided to also write down the WPI or wraps per inch, just in case I wanted to sub yarn later on (I made it in a nice-quality acrylic, but I think it's a design that could benefit from wool or other animal fibre in the winter months). I googled WPI so I could get an idea of how to better use that information later on, and found this page about estimating needed yarn yardage based on WPI. It's a very useful reference and one I'm sure I'll use later on - especially as I may have a sweater commission coming down the pipe (a friend wants me to make him a Christmas sweater - it could be absolute comedy gold depending on what direction we take it in, heh)!

Update On Late-B'day Project

I finished my friend's belated birthday gift today, but realised it would need some stabilising around the edge. I decided to pick up those edge stitches and do a 1 x 1 twisted rib... except that, being a rib, it pulls the item in too far around the face. I don't know, it might work for the recipient, but for me - not so much, as I wear glasses. I think I'll have to pull the rib out and start over... maybe a couple rows of seed stitch? It's so difficult since I have to write in vagaries, not wanting to give it away just in case - however slight - the recipient might be reading (so I definitely can't post pics yet!). I will wait for morning to think about pulling it all out and starting the edge over (it only took about half an hour, so it's not like redoing the whole thing).

Well, I was going to post some pics of other projects, but after hunting high and low I couldn't find the USB cord that connects my camera to the computer, sigh. However, here is a pic of me wearing one of my hats that I dug up on Facebook:

You Can't Blog When You're Too Busy Knittin'

Thank goodness for an internet chock full o' knitters - I was losing my mind trying to remember how to knit a flat circle, and along came this informative tutorial. Whew! (Looks like a kickass blog, too - I'm interested in amigurumi, but I'm so not a crocheter. I totally want to knit adorable things - in fact, one is a secret project right now. If it ever turns out how I want, I will be sure to post about it!).

I needed to know how to knit a circle so I could make an idea a reality - a reverse coaster for wine glasses. My in-laws always put a piece of thin cardboard or whatever is available on top of their wine glasses in the summer, as the wine tends to attract gnats. Well, I saw a need, and decided I could knit something to fix the problem - and make something pretty! I have a design in mind, I just need to do some sketches, some practice knitting, and perhaps learn how to knit with beads.

In other news, I am smack dab in the middle of project land - I am just finishing up a friend's late birthday present (will post pics and details when she receives it!), I have plans for a rainbow shrug that a friend has commissioned, I have plans for my first cardigan (for myself!), some autumnal accessories, and getting my Etsy shop up and running. So busy! The only difficulty is staying focused. That hasn't been going so well lately... perhaps adult-onset ADHD? Heh, I'm far too lazy for that. Doesn't take a whole load of energy to knit up a storm!

Ok, that seems to be my quarterly post, haha. Best get to bed - have to be up early in the A.M. Have been up far too late as it is. ♥

Quick Hit: Clear Clogs

If clear clogs are wrong, then dammit, I don't want to be right!

Socks on Parade

Ok, sock, singular, on parade... and by "parade", I mean "cat":



...at least it proves the existence of one sock. (And one of my amazing, adorable kitties!) If only the second one would just find the exact point in the yarn which will provide a near-identical striping sequence, and cast itself on.

I tried an anatomical toe on this one, since the recipient has more of a toe-angle going on than I do. I remembered seeing instructions for this once on Persnickety Knitter, but since I was doing top-down construction (and I haven't yet tried toe-up - I will take the challenge some day), I did a little more scouting around and found some helpful pointers at Under Dutch Skies. I didn't follow the instructions entirely (I don't have a printer with which to produce the custom knitting chart graph, though that is an incredible, incredible resource), but I did trace Bre's left foot on some looseleaf paper and did some rudimentary calculating based on my gauge, and though she hasn't yet tried the sock on, it seems to have worked out.


Ok, enough faffing about, I should get to bed. But before I do, the Krikki gals want to wish you a happy Easter... and so do Bella and Edward. G'night!

De-stashing, Re-stashing, and All Points in Between

We started to seriously de-clutter a little bit in the past couple of weeks - there have been boxes sitting in our office/computer room/junk room/hobby space since we moved in, and I haven't been making very good use of the bookshelf or my "new" desk that I got Christmas 2007 (it's incredibly lovely, made by my husband and my dad-in-law, but it has unfortunately become a holding spcae for everything except my computer... right now the built-in bookshelf is totally packed, though!). I think in that first 2-day burst of cleaning we threw out about five or six bags of garbage/unwanted items that have been collecting dust since forever.

The big part is that I actually threw out yarn! Not good yarn, mind - I'm talking the cheapiest, scratchiest acrylics from when I began knitting, the fun-fur type stuff I got at Hobby Lobby that is a pain in the arse to knit with and offers no stitch definition (but I bought in the beginning stages of knitting because it was soooooooo fluffy and sooooooo fun! Am I ever glad that I'm over that infatuation phase). I actually did some of that a couple of months ago, too, when I realised that I was never going to fit my whole stash into the super-sized tote box I bought for storage. Which is not to say that my whole stash is even in there, now - there's still some on my desk, in another Rubbermaid tote in the bedroom, distributed among a few knitting bags, downstairs by the kitchen... you get the idea, ha. But I made the decision this year not to buy yarn that I absolutely loved, or had a purpose for. If it was of a poor quality, or not for a specific project, I wasn't going to buy it, even if it was on sale. So far I have stuck to my guns on this and I am quite proud of myself!

So, for my birthday this year I received quite a windfall in Handheld Knitting gift certificates, and while I don't usually go nuts in there (as much as I wish my yarn budget could exceed my food/grocery budget, it's just not feasible, heh), I've allowed myself a few things I couldn't ordinarily afford, such as Tofutsies sock yarn, Opal sock yarn, Mini Mochi sock yarn (hah... seeing a trend here?), some Brown Sheep company stuff and... well, that's it so far, but I still have a bit of credit left. I got the Opal on Saturday, and I'm 3/4 of the way through a sock for my friend Bre. Obviously a second one will follow it, but as with all of my sock projects, it's anyone's guess as to when it will materialise! I tried finding the label (I know I saved it, but can't remember where I put it as I am a doofus), so I can't link to a source, but you can see the sock-in-progress to your left. It is such a yummy colourway - it makes me feel very happy to knit with it, and I only hope I can find more so I can make a pair for me! Although the Mini Mochi (in very jewel-y, ultramarine blue tones) and the very pink Tofutsies are for me... so I might have to hold off on that.


Right now I'm just getting back into the swing of the knitting thing, after a brief hiatus (a large work-related project had me delving into another craft - painting - and left little energy for the sticks), and I'm loving it again. Being in the yarn store is a refreshing experience, a little bit of soul renewal every time I step through the door and let myself think of the possibilities. Today I even stayed a little while and worked on my sock while trying to decide what else to get (it's nice to meditate by the sock yarn!) and chit-chatted with Joy, one of the owners. It was quite lovely.


In other news, my aforementioned friend Bre and I started a new blog, Krikki Watch - it's a Kristen Stewart/Nikki Reed hybrid fansite, for following the gossip surrounding their meteoric rise to BFF-dom and also their movie projects, those done together and seperately. It's a bit of fun and I loved finding a cute pic of them for the site!

Ok, that's about it. I will post more works in progress and hopefully get to that second sock by the time the weekend comes!

2009: Posting More On The Darn Blog!

Hello! (...hello, hello, hello, echo...)

Didn't really get into the swing of updating there in 2008, like I meant to. So my goal this year is modest - way modest. Once a month. I can manage at least once a month, right? Even if I only put up a few pictures and type up what I've managed to knit.

So, I don't have any pictures for today. I really have to get on that. I mean, I have them, but they're on the camera and my desktop computer is all the way upstairs, and I'm lazy... I'll try to add them later. I know, a knitting blog is useless without photos!

This is what I've done so far this year:

Georgian Lace Cap, which is a free pattern from knitpicks.com. Their suggestion for yarn is "Comfy", a cotton/acrylic blend, but I had some of Hobby Lobby's new yarn line, "I Love This..." in wool. It was a birthday gift for a friend, in a cream-coloured white ("Winter White") to hopefully match one of her stylish coats!

A practice version of the Fishtrap Lace Scarf from Arctic Lace by Donna Druchunas. I didn't knit it side-to-side like in the book, as I was actually just knitting my fifty-millionth swatch of the pattern. For some reason whenever I came back to the start, my diagonal eyelets would just be off, by one stitch, even though i was following the chart correctly. It turns out there does in fact exist errata for the pattern, so it wasn't just me! Anyhow, once I finally got the pattern right (almost, I was missing a stitch on one side, but I still made it work) and figured out a way to memorise it (it's a 6-st pattern: the y.o is 1, k2tog is 2, 3-5 knit, and 6 is knit through the back loop), I couldn't bear to stop knitting, so I kept going until I had a length I liked. This one is in "I Love This Wool" in Stonewash and will be a late Christmas gift for an acquaintance.

And my latest work, a pair of mittens in Knitpicks "Wool of the Andes", pewter. (I still have quite a stash from when I bought enough to make a sweater that never happened.) I didn't have a basic mitten pattern on hand, so I googled about and found a basic men's mitten pattern on Knit With KT. My difficulty here was adapting her instructions to fit my gauge. I think I managed it - I mean, they're quite serviceable mittens - but I think it's one thing where chunky yarn might not quite cut it, sort of like socks, where a fingering up to worsted weight will do the job better. Like, the mitten is fine, but it doesn't look very elegant. I knitted them for a friend who has to walk outside a lot, and hopefully he's not as sensitive to bumps and ridges on the inside of knitted items as I am. Everyone who has tried them on and looked at them say they're just fine, but I'm all Princess and the Pea with this stuff, so I think it's just my personal sensitivities creating a bias there.

This week, as long as I'm suitably thrifty, I get a trip to the LYS to buy yarn for more belated Christmas gifts - but the recipients know about them, and even went with me to the LYS to look at yarn, so they know what they're in for. One of them is getting the Fishtrap Lace Scarf, in grey - I'll ask for advice on what kind of yarn, as I want a nice drape (it's more accessory than neckwarmer), and the other is Broadstreet from Knitty, and I'm looking at plum, perhaps in a tweed. I can't wait to go - visiting the LYS is a little bit like going to church. I approach each shelf with a reverent hush and can almost hear the heavenly chorus when I touch something new and pretty. It's magical.

Off to work for me.