Longest Post Ever

I really meant to update this thing when I finished (or even started) knitting my very first garment this summer, but obviously I never got around to it. It was Ophelia by Elizabeth Klett. The yarn I used was Debbie Bliss Stella and I used size 8 needles. My biggest worries getting into the project were seaming, which I hadn't done much of, and working single crochet around the edges. I had nothing to worry about--it was easy. I do remember the yarn being a pain in the ass to work with but I think it came out nice.

I knit my grandmother a shawl for her birthday. It was my first shawl. It's the Celtic Hearts Shawl by Vicki Mikulak. I used Louisa Harding Kashmir DK. I thought the pattern was really neat. It starts with a provisional cast on (my first!) at the top center (by the top I mean the long flat side) and it just grows from there. You're pretty much working in a triangle. I had never done anything like that before so I thought it was neat. This was also the first thing I had to block with pins. My mom helped me with the pinning.

I knit myself a hat and scarf that I absolutely love and wear all the time. I fell in love with the color of the yarn when I saw it at Michael's and could not resist. It's Stitch Nation by Debbie Stoller Full o' Sheep in Passionfruit. When I first saw the yarn I though, "I think this would be good for a cabled scarf," and sure enough there was a leaflet for a cabled scarf for that yarn. It's called Cable Vision by Debbie Stoller.

 

After finishing the scarf I decided I needed a matching hat, so I went and found a cabled hat on Ravelry. It's the Palindrome Hat by Kristin Bellehumeur. I consider this my most successful knit hat--it fits so well! It's a little itchy since the yarn is 100% wool but I don't even care. It's warm and I love it! 

For the White Elephant at work I knit another cabled hat using Yarn Bee Melody Bulky Wool Blend. The pattern was Jellybean! by Samantha Stadter. This hat was exciting because I got to make my very first pom-pom! I messed it up a little bit because I missed the part of the pattern where it said, "Work in a K2, P2 rib for 12 rows." So, instead of a ribbed brim you get the wrong side of the cables. At least it was for a White Elephant, right? 

 Then, I knit a scarf for my sister to go with the hat I made her last year. It's Buninyong by Georgie Hallam. The yarn is spa by Naturally Caron (and was not particularly pleasant to work with). The pattern for the scarf is neat because it's reversible. It was also the first time I had to do a slip, slip, purl decrease, which was kind of a pain in the ass the first few repeats, but I got over it. I remember there being something confusing about the pattern, but I can't remember what it was.

Then I knit a hat and scarf for my mom, but I don't have pictures of them, so I'll have to get back to that later. 

Currently, I am working on a pair of gloves for my dad. He is a letter carrier and could really use a pair of warm gloves for the few days a year it gets cold here. Originally, I was going to make fingerless gloves, but then I asked him about it and he said he wanted fingers, except on the right index finger that he uses to sort mail. I am using the Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns by Ann Budd. It's my first time using the book. It's a really neat book. First you knit a gauge swatch with the yarn you're using and then you have tables with how many stitches to cast on (or knit, or whatever) for your gauge. You can use it for gloves, mittens, hats, scarfs, socks, and sweaters. I've had the book for a long time but this is my first time using it. I will certainly be using it again! I finished the first glove last night (the one with the missing finger). It is knit in Rowan Felted Tweed.

Socks Complete

I finished the socks about a week ago. My boss seemed to really like them. Someone else at work was going on about how I should make LSU scarves and sell them. I don't actually have any interest in doing that at all.

 The pattern is the "Easy Lace Socks" from The Big Book of Socks by Kathleen Taylor. Other than the brief confusion over the heels, they were a very easy knit.
I'm not entirely sure what I am going to make next. I am planning on making a pair of socks for my sister. They were going to be for her birthday but I've already realized there is no way I can make a pair of socks before then (her birthday is Thursday). So, I got her something else instead. I also have some other things I want to make, like a shrug or a tank top. Saturday there was a really huge sale at the local yarn store and I bought a ridiculous amount of yarn so I am itching to use some of that.
I am also still playing Final Fantasy XIII and that certainly cuts into my knitting time. That is probably what I am about to do right now, actually.

Sock Update

So, this sock is driving me crazy. I screwed up the heel (in my opinion, the instructions were a little unclear) then tinked back to where I started doing it wrong but now the stitches are so loose that it made a big hole. So, it seems I am going to have to redo the entire heel. This scares me because I am afraid of dropping those teeny-tiny stitches.

I have a feeling I am not going to have both socks finished (and blocked) before Friday. 

Goodwill Finds

I seem to have forgotten to write for a few months. Oops. I did finish my blanket back in February. I use it all the time.

 I haven't really done much knitting between then and now. I've mostly been playing video games. I picked up The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for the first time since Summer 2008, I believe. I still haven't finished it though. I moved on to Final Fantasy, which I downloaded on the Wii. I didn't get around to finishing that though because then Final Fantasy XIII came out. So, I have been playing Final Fantasy XIII quite a bit lately. I did, however, cast on a sock a few days ago. The weekend before last I went to New Orleans with work and my boss told me she would like me to knit her a pair of socks. Her birthday is coming up, so I am making them for that. Hopefully I will be able to finish them before that.

Anyhow, a few days ago I found some interesting things at Goodwill a few weeks ago. I found an old knitting book (Knitting Made Easy by Barbara Aytes) and a bag full of yarn and someone's unfinished object for $1.75. 

The unfinished objects are blue and white striped in 4x4 ribbing. The first is on size 8 circular needles and the second is on size 8 straight needles. It looks like the second one is the same thing as the first one.

I suspect the yarn may be the yarn from the kit that the pattern is from. The pattern is for a Sears Shell Sweater Kit that was said to contain Sears 100% Orlon Acrylic.

I don't really know what to do with most of this stuff--especially the yarn and the knitting.  I was mostly interested in the old pattern and the cheap needles. Plus, I thought it would fun to handle someone else's unfinished knitting. I also probably felt a little sorry for it, abandoned in the Goodwill like that. And, of course, I thought it would be fun to blog about!

Babies and Christmas

Since I started my last post writing about NaKnitMo, I'll go ahead and give my November stitch count: 43,548. I definitely met my goal.

I had to take a break from the Crappy Stash Yarn Elimination Blanket for baby knitting and Christmas knitting. On Thanksgiving, I found out my cousin's baby shower was a week later. I knit her some cute little booties and a hat. Both were pretty easy, although it was strange using the teeny tiny needles. I used an i-cord instead of a piece of yarn for the laces on the sneaker booties because I thought it would be more sturdy. I was a little nervous about them, but I think my cousin really liked both gifts.

Then, I needed a white elephant gift for the holiday party at work. First, I knit a hat out of some silly yarn that turned out, well, silly--the yarn stretched out way too much. My mom loved it so I gave it to her.

Then, I decided to knit some Christmas ornaments. I had to learn a new cast-on, the Emily Ocker Circular Cast-on. The written instruction and the pattern were not at all useful, so I went to You Tube. I watched a few videos before finding one that was useful. After watched this video about a hundred times, I was finally about to get the hang of it. I thought the ornaments turned out well, but nobody really seemed all that excited about them at the party. I kind of wish I had kept them for myself.

Then I was finally about to start my Christmas knitting for my family. I made a regular guy beanie for my dad--just a simple hat; I didn't think my dad would like anything fancy.

Then, I knit a hat for my sister, the Peek-a-Boo Cloche from Interweave Knits Accessories 2009. It's a really neat hat; it has two layers, the lining on the inside and the lace on the outside. You start off at the top of the lining, work downward, join the new yarn yarn the knit the rest from the bottom up. The most difficult parts were the very beginning because of the small amount of stitches on tiny needles; I had to restart about 10 times. Then there were a few times when I needed to knit 3 together towards the end, and that was a pain. This was my first project that was labeled "intermediate." I'm pretty happy with the hat, except it took forever to dry after blocking because of the layers, so now it's a little stinky.

After that, I knit a dishcloth for my mom, so I would have something to give her for her birthday. Don't worry, I'm giving my mom more than a dishcloth for her birthday: my sister and I are taking her on a cruise in June. The dishcloth has a hummingbird on it, but it was really hard to get a good picture with my phone where you can actually see the hummingbird.

Now, I finally get to finish my blanket. I do have some plans in mind for myself, if I ever get around to it. There is a hat and scarf I want to knit for myself. I was going to do it next but I really want to get the blanket finished.

NaKnitMo and Stuff

It seems I haven't updated my blog at all this month. The Crappy Stash Yarn Elimination Blanket is coming along quite nicely. I'd say I'm nearly halfway finished with it. I'd take a picture of it, but I'm in the middle of a row, so I can't lay it flat. Overall, I haven't had any major problems with it. Right now I'm having a problem where something is messed up but I can't figure out where. I think I have somehow gained two stitches in a previous row. I doubt I'll actually go back two rows to fix it because I really don't care that much, like I did with my first blanket. I'll just cheat and no one will ever notice. I've got a few other rows like that. No big deal. It's a blanket. Who's going to actually go through and analyze every stitch?

I am participating in NaKnitMo on Ravelry this month. It's pretty much knitting's answer to NaNoWriMo. My goal is 30,000 stitches. I'm currently up to 23,357 stitches. I probably would have already reached my goal had Dragon Age: Origins not been released and taken nearly two weeks out of my knitting, aside from a couple rows here and there. I finished the game though and won't get involved with a new one (I already started one) until the end of the month. Maybe I shouldn't get involved until after Christmas since I have a lot of gift knitting planned that I haven't even started on!  Plus, waiting will make the game better, since even though I'm playing differently, much of it will still be the same.

Speaking of games, I am incredibly thrilled that Final Fantasy XIII is being released on March 9. I've been waiting for years, so it's exciting to have a release date (and at least a month earlier than I thought it was going to be!).

I should get to work now. There are many more things I've been wanting to write about (non-knitting things even) but I will have to save that for later.

Bathroom Rug--Finished!

I finished knitting my rug Sunday morning. Then, I started weaving in ends. I didn't think it would take that long as it hasn't for any of my other projects, but then once I got started I realized just what a pain in the ass it it to weave in six ends for every time I changed yarn. I didn't finish until about 30 minutes ago. Anyhow, it is finally complete, and on my bathroom floor and it feels lovely on my feet, even in socks (my big fuzzy socks I knit myself)!

I decided not to do fringe since it's going in the bathroom and it would just get wet and gross and would also  be a cat toy.

I have several projects lined up. The one I most recently decided on is a blanket made of all (well, a portion of) the crappy Red Heart yarn I have (most of which was given to me by my grandmother) using this pattern. The white part will stay white, the rest will be a bunch of other colors, some of which probably won't look very good. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it when I'm done.

Other than that, I'm planning on making a hat and gloves for my dad (shhhh, don't tell him). Those are the only things I can think of that would be manly enough for him! He is the only person in my immediate family I haven't knit anything for yet. I am also planning on making a market bag.