Where Does The Time Go?!

So, I haven't really written here in a while. I would say the main catalyst for this was when I broke my left hand back in... February? It's easy to forget once you've healed up and started taking twice-daily calcium supplements. Well, the short version is that I was running over to my register in order to take care of a customer, and I whacked my hand against the counter-top. This is an ordinary occurence - inanimate objects tend to get in the way of my path of energy, heh - but this time it was significantly harder and I could swear I felt a crack. The pain was excrutiating. I managed to get in to see my doctor that day and had an x-ray, and lo and behold... yes, it was broken. I saw an orthopaedic specialist and got all splinted up for the next month. I managed to hold it together and work with one hand, but knitting was nigh impossible. It was especially frustrating as I was getting really into lace and had just placed special orders at work for "Arctic Lace" by Donna Druchunas and "Victorian Lace Today" by Jane Sowerby. After I had successfully healed up it took me a little while to get back into knitting and I have all but abandoned my Ravelry profile since there weren't any projects to enter in. I hope to rediscover the fun of Ravelry, but I at least have been tackling small projects and getting back into Properly Obsessed With Pointy Sticks Mode.

Here's what I've been working on:

- The Lacy Hug-Me-Tight from "Knit 2 Together" by Mel Clark and Tracy Ullmann. I showed the photos to a co-worker and she loved it immediately. She wanted something light but warm to accompany the dress she wants to wear to a wedding later in the year. I spent about a month practicing the lace pattern before I bought a skein of the Blue Sky Alpaca Silk and swatched up properly. Oh my STARS. That yarn is so super soft and so beautiful! It was a joy to knit with and produced a beautiful fabric. However, I'm looking at trying a cotton blend for now (understandable; the alpaca silk is quite expensive). The slight skein I bought was definitely not a waste, though!

- the Foliage hat from knitty.com. I had a lovely ball of Lamb's Pride bulky in a vareigated pink, and it was just right for this hat. Unfortunately, I misplaced the right-sized circular needle for it (I have since found it and put it in a safe place!) so when I got to that point in the pattern, I sighed and undid my knitting. I ended up knitting a plain beanie with about 2" of ribbing at the bottom, on DPNs. It only took a couple of hours over the course of a weekend, and at the time (a couple of weeks ago) it was totally appropriate because the weather was playing up and going from warm to cold at the, well, drop of a hat. Now it's warm again and we're gearing up for summer. At least I'll have something cute to wear when fall rolls around again.

- Socks! On my birthday yarn binge (see the yarn bought in the two previous points!) I also got some On Your Toes in the Carousel colorway (pictured). Until I started knitting with it (last Tuesday) I didn't realise that it was self-striping/patterning. It's amazing and so soft! Last night I finished the first sock and cast on right away for the second. I stayed up until about four in the morning (they were showing the entirity of "Grindhouse" on Starz... knitting + schlock horror = awesome) and got halfway through the heelflap!! I would be even further along if I hadn't caused myself some problems with decreases and increases (I was trying not to have slouchy socks; when I went to increase back for the ankle and foot, my increase caused holes, so I ripped back to fix it. Added about an hour of finagling to my progress, argh). I rented a couple of promising looking titles yesterday ("Cherry Falls", "Terror Tract") so I'm confident that I will at least be done up to gusset decreasing by the time I have to go to bed tonight!

I actually have some plain sock yarn I bought from KnitPicks in order to dye myself with Kool Aid. I hope to get some of that done really soon so I can make yet more pretty socks. My goal for 2008 is to get as close to perfecting my sock knitting as humanly possible!

Wonderful News! (Also, An Opportunity To Increase Knitting Skills)

My best friend back home, J., and her lovely boy, B., are getting married...!!!!! I am so excited for them I could just cry, but instead, I'm going to commit myself to laceweight and tiny needles and attempt a wedding shawl. I know there are books out there, so I'm going to take a look and consult with the ladies at my LYS and see what I can find. There's really nothing in the knitting world that I'm afraid off (except deadlines, and that applies to everything in my life, really) so I am totally going to take it on.

Watch this space for more information - and congrats to my lovelies :D

2008: Ready, Set, Knit!

At least, that's how I'm looking at the year. I don't really have a whole lot by way of knitting goals, though I want to:

* sew up the cardigan I knitted for my mum-in-law for Christmas;
* knit the sweater I promised my dad-in-law for Christmas (I have ordered the yarn and picked a pattern! That's a start!);
* knit myself a sweater or cardigan;
* get all of my Christmas knitting done by the end of November;
and
* figure out all the maths so I have sock knitting down to a science.

That's a pretty modest list, right?

More later when I have access to my own computer and photos and an update on my works in progress! (So far for 2008: I'm in the middle of a thick-yarn cosy beanie as a birthday gift for a friend. I'm also expecting some dye-your-own sock yarn to show up in the mail any day now.)

♥

Holiday Knitting and Tea Parties and a Neice or Nephew on the Way!

Long time, no blog! I've been so busy with the holiday knitting and my new job (I'm not working in an office, as I had hoped, but I rather like my new retail environment - plenty to keep me busy and lots of cool folk to work with) that blogging has been the last thing on my mind - but I'm here now, no pics unfortunately but I hope to upload a ton after Christmas!

1. Holiday Knitting

I have finished two of the minor items, although one still requires having the ends weaved in. I'm 20% through one of the bigger projects, have barely started one of the others, and won't even be able to start the last one because I have no yarn for it. (I know which yarn - bare, 100% Peruvian wool from KnitPicks which I want to dye myself with Kool Aid, and which pattern - time and money have both been a factor, though). So I'm feeling pretty good about what I've managed to get done. I'm going to make a miniature version of the last project in acrylic just to show the recipient what he's getting. I hope he'll be pleased.

2. Tea Parties

Okay, well, just one tea party :) I went to an ornament exchange tea party this weekend. There were twelve of us altogether so we each brought 11 ornaments, and enjoyed Christmas music, a lovely spread of finger foods, and had great fun exchanging decorations. (This is the first year my husband and I have had a tree so it was exciting to have some sweet, hand-picked ornaments to put on it!) It also snowed lightly all afternoon, and cardinals gathered in the tree by the hostess' deck. A picture-perfect sort of outing!

3. My sister informed me earlier last week that she's expecting in March! I'm very excited for her and my brother-in-law, and hope that my nephews and neice are excited to have a new arrival too! I'm also excited that I might be able to do some newborn/infant knitting. I didn't knit when the other three were born so I had nothing hand-crafted to give them (though I've been trying to make hats and things to catch up), so I'm already giving thought to what I can gift the new baby. I also want to make something for the two big brothers and big sister so they're not left out! I have three months to get on it, so if you have any suggestions for a favourite baby/infant project, feel free to leave a comment, I'd love to hear from you!

Well, guess I'd better get some dinner and get on with that knitting! I hope to post again before Christmas, but if I don't, I wish you happy holidays and peace and joy and all that jazz ;)

♥

FO: Knucks, on my hand

FO: Knucks, on my hand
Originally uploaded by sammygirl

Well, "knuck", really, as I've only made one. I wanted to make these for a specific person, but how can I make it if I've never practiced the technique? So this week I finally sat down and got over my fear of learning a new skill (since teaching myself how to knit last year... I've had to do that a lot!). On Wednesday I alternated with another Christmas gift project so I only had the fingers done and put on two needles by bedtime. The next day I started on working the fingers into part of a cohesive whole. By the time I went to bed that night, the thumb was on and the gusset was being shaped. And by dinnertime the next night, I had a glove! It's a bit short for my liking but I can fix that on the next one.

Here's a pattern link. It's a bit tricky at first but it's not as hard as it looks... though I will say that I surprised myself by completing something categorised on Knitty as "piquant"!

Well, best get to more knitting. Only 16 more knitting days until Christmas (AUUUUGHHHH!).

♥

FO: Wrist Warmers (finished at long last!)

FO: Wrist Warmers (finished at long last!)
Originally uploaded by sammygirl

For this one, you might want to recall this entry from all the way back in July. That was one wrist-warmer in that lovely biscuity coloured Vanna White yarn. Last night I finally cast on for the second one! I don't know why I put it off for so long - I think I was convinced I didn't have enough yarn left to start it. I ended up weighing the wrist warmer and then the leftover yarn and found out I would have enough. Got an inch or so done last night before bed, and I finished it while I watched TV tonight. Even wove the ends in! This is unusual for me, it's the one dread job of knitting, the weaving-in-the-ends. Anyway, I've even included a picture as proof! I feel like I've come pretty far - knocking out the second one was a breeze. The first one felt like a major accomplishment akin to climbing a mountain or running a 5K!

They sure are clunky, but they're warm. And since I have to be at work at 6am tomorrow, that's good enough for me!

Colouring My World With Kool-Aid!

WIP Update: I finished Nathan's hat on Saturday night and hope to post a picture soon. I'm actually quite pleased with the way it turned out - it definitely looks handmade but not crappy. I'm paranoid that the things I make look silly and that any gift recipient is really just being super-polite (but thinking inside, "I really hope she doesn't expect me to actually wear that"). The ol' self-esteem well is a little low today, but I think once I put on my pink earflap hat and get some coffee into my system I'll be fine. ;)

WIP Update II: I started on yet another Christmas Knitting Project (which I can't disclose here in case of accidental click-throughs on my family's part!). What I will say is that the yarn is extremely nice - Mission Falls 1824 Wool. Superwash merino! It's so soft! Me + Mission Falls = ♥

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Yesterday I started researching Kool-Aid dyeing. I've been taking a good, hard look at the world of yarn, and realistically, my bank account can't take the hit for some of the yarns and projects I'd ultimately like to try. However, KnitPicks sells some very reasonably priced undyed yarn (an amount of fingering-weight yarn good for a pair of socks comes in at about six bucks!) and I would love to custom-colour some sock yarn (also some Peruvian wool for a slightly ambitious sweater project). Kool-Aid is getting some very rave reviews as a dyeing method, and is quite affordable for my bargain-basement budget, so for my own future reference - and yours too! - here are some very quick links to some Kool-Aid dyeing how-tos:

Dyed In The Wool (knitty.com)
Dyeing Tutorial (free, Knitpicks.com)
Kool-Aid Yarn Dyeing (Quantum Tea blog; it's not a step-by-step but there are some really pretty pictures)

Hopefully I can post more after work. I definitely plan on documenting my first dyeing experience, so stay tuned! ♥