Needling About

Green Socks

2007-04-18T14:47:00.000-04:00

These socks have been knit... I don't know how many times. The gauge advertised online when I bought turned out to NOT be the gauge that the yarn actually knit up to. So it turns out that I had much less yarn that I originally thought when I started knitting these socks. After numerous attempts at my usual top down sock pattern, I gave up and switched to a toe up pattern so I could actually have a whole foot.

Notice that the green stripes on the socks are reversed. This is a result of me starting the socks on different ends of the skein. I wish I could claim that I did it on purpose to give the socks a little character... but that would be a lie. I got fed up with the one sock and decided to just start knitting from the other ends and unravel my work as it knit it up again. Indecent, I know. Oh well.

Not my favourite pair of socks. But handknit socks are handknit socks and I'll still wear them. I'll wear them and think of the number of times I almost cut them into shreds...

Bridal Shower

2007-04-15T18:15:00.000-04:00

My friend is getting married in May and this afternoon was her bridal shower! The theme was lingerie. So naturally, I decided to knit something a little naughty and a little nice.

Voila! Mon petit chou from Knitty.

I had to knit it rather quickly and was able to finish it in a week! That's quite a record for me! One minor complaint though. The pattern is mighty difficult to keep track of since every row is different and on the screen it's just a big jumble of letters and numbers. I know I should have printed it out and kept track on paper... but I'm cheap and want to save paper and ink (and the environment!)

I'm rather proud of the end result. (Especially since I was up early this morning putting finishing touches on it and I'm pretty sure it was still a little damp when I wrapped it up.) But I hope the bride to be will enjoy it!

Back from Africa

2007-03-22T13:20:00.000-04:00

Since I graduated, my school has generously disabled my email account and along with it all of the images I had uploaded for my very academic blogging use. The unfortuate result is that I no longer have any of the images I used on this blog and so I decided on a redesign.

But because I'm really not that html/css savy, I just went with one of Blogger's tried and trusted pre-designed templates and attempted to modify it as much as I could to make it my very own. It's not ideal, true, but I've given up trying to make the computer do things that it obviously doesn't want to do... and it looks like I don't know the magic words. Oh well.

Alas! No fear! (I've always wanted to say "alas". But I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm not using it right...) I do have knitting content in this post.

May I present Dashing from Knitty (link found in sidebar). Apparently, I have bad circulation. So when I sit in front of the computer for a long time (as I am oft prone to do), my hands turn into icicles. Especially my right hand. Probably because my left hand gets the pleasure of being tucked under my large bum for warmth while my right hand is left with working the mouse. Just a theory. Thus, my attempt to keep my hands warm:

The second one is half way done. No picture because it looks like the one above... except only half.

I've also had a lace shawl project going for a very long time (Candle Light Shawl from Knitpicks, link also in sidebar). It's only now just beyond the half way point so there's still lots to be done. Despite the lengthy process, I'm quite enjoying this knit. I'm excited to block it out and see it in all its glory finally. Two shots: one to actually see the thing and another one because I was trying to be artistic and obviously failed.

Village Life

2006-12-12T06:37:00.000-05:00

Some pictures of knitting life in the village.

Rhoda learning to knit on my sock... yes that's the same sock from a couple of posts ago. Yes, I realize that was quite a few months back. My only excuse is that it's the other foot and I've had a lace project that I've been knitting on quite a bit.

Me with a bunch of kids from the village and Rhoda still holding the sock in the background.

Greetings from Kenya

2006-12-11T08:57:00.000-05:00

Not sure if anyone reads this anymore since I haven't updated in a long time. I just wanted to share the news with the world that I have brought my knitting obsession to the rural villages of Kenya.

Yes, that's right. I am living and working in a rural village in Kenya, complete with mud huts, firewood cooking, dam water fetching, carrying stuff on heads, and no electricity. It is the quintessential African village.

But I brought my sock along for the ride because how could I go anywhere without something to knit on and now the teenage girls are just as obsessed as I am. Luckily for me, my office had a shopping bag of knitting supplies donated to them a little while ago that they had no idea what to do with. (Apparently, 20-something African men don't knit.) So I've taken it upon myself to teach the villagers how to knit.

This is a little bit of a paradox since it's a consistant 30+ degrees celcius in Kenya and I have a complex everytime I want to knit. Do I want to die from lack of knitting? Or do I want to die from excess heat from the wool? Regardless, the babies and children all wear knitwear and sometimes, when there's a nice cool breeze out, the adults wear knitwear as well.

So they're all into knitting and there's one lady in particular who is interested. She already crochets so knitting isn't that much of a stretch for her. My plan is to teach as many people as I can to knit and then hand the bag of knitting supplies over to this one lady and put her in charge of distributing it appropriately. Hopefully a village knitting committee will spring up and maybe they could sell their projects for extra income, or knit electricity lines or piped water or something.

Anyways, just wanted the world to know: knitting is now in rural Kenya. If I do nothing else in my time in Africa, at least I've done this much.

Socks, Again

2006-08-25T13:44:00.000-04:00

Simple stripes in needles that are larger than my normal (ie. 2.75mm as opposed to 2.25mm).

I'm not certain that I like the result, although, the sock will definitely not be too small. In fact, it may be too large. I was actually aiming for 2.5mm needles but I can't seem to find them anywhere (this is a little misleading since I only looked in one place). Who would have guessed that 0.25mm would make such a big difference? Crazy!

There's a bit of extra fabric behind the ankle area. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not. While I'd rather not have extra fabric hanging around anywhere, my other socks were too tight around the ankle. So the extra-ness might help with the "I-need-10-min-to-pull-on-my-socks" problem. Or I might try go down some stitches to make up for the looser gauge.

Hey, I thought socks were supposed to be easy to knit. And after 5 pairs, who would think that I'm still messing with gauge? I still haven't found that "perfect" sock needle size to number of stitches formula. Argh.

In other news, I'm headed off on a 6 month contract job with Samaritan's Purse. I'll be roughing it in Africa while working on a water sanitation project. The next 6 months will consist of building sand filters and educating about community health and hygiene and HIV/AIDS. Blogging may be sporatic. Oh wait. Blogging is already sporatic. Sorry... Not even sure if I'll get much knitting time in. I'll try my best to keep you updated, though. Cross your fingers for me!

Until next March...

More Knitting, Finally

2006-08-22T11:47:00.000-04:00

Here is a finished Sheer:

The Peruvian Baby Silk feels like heaven on my skin. Unfortunately, I ran out of yarn before I could finish the pattern. But the beauty of the pattern is you can get away with no knitting the whole thing. The only drawback is my cast off edge is too tight and I can't lift my arms past a few inches away from my sides. Oh well. I thought about ripping the bottom and casting off looser. Or I could just leave it as it is.

And I bought yarn! Sock yarn from Knitpicks because of my recent obsession with socks. Parade in Daffodil and Simple Stripes in Autumn.

I've cast on with slightly larger needles and now I'm paranoid that the sock is too large. Seems as if I'll never get it right...

I think the colour of Simple Strips is a little off. The "brown" colour is definitely much more purple, which makes the stripping look rather clownish. Now that I've knit with it, I don't think I like the colour very much. But I guess it's going to be on my feet and no one else is really going to see it, right?

Finished Socks

2006-08-10T11:08:00.000-04:00

These socks took an inordinately long period of time to complete. Also, I have gotten lazy at posting. I seem to be lacking knitting inspiration. The other strange thing is that every subsequent pair of socks I knit seem to be more poorly made than the previous pair. Either my feet are getting fatter, or I'm knitting tighter or I'm improperly ignoring gauge. Regardless, these socks are a tad tight around the ankle/heel area which is threatening to cut off circulation to my foot, but I refuse to rip them because I'm lazy. So if that means I will risk amputating my feet, so be it.

Other than the fact that they are slightly tight, I'm rather happy with them. Yay! I'm also itching to knit more socks. Maybe I'm subconsciously trying to prove that I can knit a pair of socks that will fit properly...

I Have Forgotten How To Knit

2006-07-09T17:24:00.000-04:00

After a couple of days away from knitting (due to an unfortunately misplacement of a double pointed needle) I have honestly forgotten how to knit. There I was, staring at the Tiger stripped sock, not really sure what I was looking at. Multi-coloured string with some pointy sticks and I had absolutely no idea what to do with it.

Which hand does the work start in?
How does the needle go into the first stitch?
Should the working yarn be in front or behind the needle?
Which is the right side and which is the wrong side?

What in the world am I doing?!?!?!

After staring at the thing for a couple of minutes and quite a few false starts, I finally figured out how to knit again.

No pictures, sorry. The cord for my camera has gone missing. I hope I don't forget how to use it when it reappears.

Progress, Finally

2006-06-24T09:48:00.000-04:00

One Opal Rainforest Tiger sock, done!

Sorry about the yellowish pictures. I can't seem to find a good balance between too little sunlight making things all dark and too much sunlight making things all yellow. Still working on it...

And progress on Sheer (done in Peruvian Baby Silk Moroccan Olive) as well:

I'm totally excited about this shawl/poncho/wrap thingy. It looks rather small at this point and I hope it'll somehow grow into something that fits. But since I didn't swatch... it'll be a surprise!

I Am A Slow Knitter

2006-06-19T20:13:00.000-04:00

After 5 weeks with one project, I am this far...

That is the first sock of a pair... slow going, eh?

But my slow knitting has not detered me from starting another project:

This will become Sheer from Magknits.com. This yarn has seen so many incarnations that I've lost count. But hopefully this time it'll work the way I want it to!

Socks!

2006-05-15T17:41:00.000-04:00

Socks, I have decided, are the perfect travel project. They`re small and portable with varying patterns and colours. The different parts of the sock require different techniques that always keep things interesting. They`re perfect!

The greeny socks I just finished were made from Fleece Artist sock yarn. Absolutely gorgeous. Soft and silky and feels like heaven on your feet.

Now? I`m working on another pair of socks with Opal Rainforest sock yarn in Tiger. It strips like tiger fur. So cute! I`m not sure how it feel on feet yet, since I just started, but I`ll be sure to let you know once I do.

Pictures will be scarce since I`m saving camera room for scenery pictures while in beautiful Quebec. But I promise to show them to you come mid-June.

Long Time No Post

2006-05-11T18:39:00.000-04:00

Besides being completely overwhelmed by school and work, I guess there's another reason why I haven't posted in months. Reason: I've only knit one thing since the end of January. Wanna see?

Pretty eh? I thought so.

I especially love the pattern. It reminds me of seashells.

Speaking of school. I have officially graduated from university! Absolutely terrifying in every way imaginable. But I'm glad it's over and I'm looking forward to a relaxing summer of travels, fun and friends before settling into the job hunt come September.

I'm off to the lovely province of Quebec tomorrow for a month stay in Jonquiere, a couple hours north of Quebec City. I hope I'll run into some lovely yarn stores while I'm there and stock up on stash. Posting might be limited, though, since I won't have my own computer and knitting time might be slightly limited, too. But I'll do what I can. See y'all when I get back!

School Just Gets In The Way

2006-01-29T22:30:00.000-05:00

If only school didn't get in the way of knitting. It's not like education is important or anything... sheesh...

Okay, update on the goings on of my knitting life.

This is done! At least the knitting part is, anyways. It's a little scrunched up at the moment, but hopefully a good blocking will fix that. Note that the stripping of colours remained fairly consistent throughout. All without manipulation on my part either. Very nicely done. And notice that the size is good. (Not that you can tell from the picture. But take my word for it, it's a good size.) Rather proud of this one, if I do say so myself. Now I just have to will myself to block... hum...

Greeny socks are sure taking a long time to knit. I suspect it's that wonderful (but rather time consuming) seashell pattern. I'm not complaining though. It's beautiful and I love it.

The one thing I thought I had conquered, but obviously haven't... laddering between the needles. I don't know why, I just can't make it go away. I pull yarn tight, I tug at the neighbouring stitches. Everything that USED TO work, has now failed me. It's like the yarn is purposely trying to foil my attempts at perfection. Or it's like bacteria that grows immune to antibaterials. Gotta find a new drug...

And lastly, I've been commission to knit a big red scarf for a play happening at my school. (Play as in dramatic production.) It's big. It's red. It's 100% acrylic. It's killing my hands. The only upside? I get complementary tickets and I'm practicing my continental knitting. (Okay, I guess that's two upsides.)

A question for anyone who regularly knits continental-style. Does it hurt your left hand? I find after a while my pinky gets really sore from holding the needle and adjusting the tension on the yarn at the same time. And right at this moment, my left thumb is killing me. I don't know if it's actually related to knitting continental... but I'm gonna blame it on the knitting anyways.

Lately, I've been craving a large, cabled cardigan to pull on when it gets chilly. Hum... large, cabled cardigan...

I Suck At Taking Pictures

2006-01-12T16:34:00.000-05:00

Is it me? Is it my camera? I don't know. But either way... I suck at taking pictures. I mean, really suck. Hum...

The mitts are done done!

And I've moved on to other things. A sock from here:

And a closer (but blurryer) shot of the pattern:

I really like how the colour goes with the pattern. The colour variations are still very distinct and doesn't get lots in the pattern and vice versa. Very seashell-y. And even though it takes me forever to knit it (I think that's because the pattern is worked every round rather than every other round), I really like the result. Just gotta knit faster, I guess!

And I must have knit and ripped this thing 4 times! First it was a mistake rib scarf. Rip! Pattern's too plain for the cool varigation. Then I tried some short-rowing scarf a la the multi-directional scarf. Rip! The fabric was getting wonky 'cuz I tried something new and it didn't work. THEN I tried for a triangular shawl similar to this one. Rip! I couldn't get the bottom (or top?) edge to form a straight line. Rip! Finally, I figured out I have to increase on either end of the row as well as down the middle... so voila!

I'm liking it! It'll need a good blocking though... In my attempt to make it reversible, I alternated stockingette and reverse stockingette stitch every six rows. But the wonders of blocking should save me from the curling up, so I'm not worried.

So that's where I am. And knitting time definitely decreases as school time increases, an unfortunate inverse relationship that we must find some way to conquer.

Mittens Are A Curse

2006-01-05T00:24:00.000-05:00

The left mitt is done!

Pretty, eh? I think so. Several complaints, though. My ssk's are UGLY. I mean, UGLY. You can sort of see a row of them on the top right side of the mitt. See the UGLINESS? It's UGLY. But I can't get them to stop being UGLY, so I just left it.

Also, I seem to have a problem with thumbs. The last pair of fingerless mitts I made had funky thumbs that pulled at the palm. It happened again. See? Right there. Where the thumb connects to the palm of the hand. See the slight pull? It's annoying. Especially when it's on my hand.

The problem goes away when I twist the mitt a bit so that the thumb is more to the side of the palm. But then the decreases at the top get twisted, too, and the cable doesn't go down the centre of the hand. Oh well, I'm too lazy to rip back and fix it. Hopefully I can figure out a solution for the right mitt. (Which has been cast on to avoid the second sock/mitt syndrome. But I'm definitely feeling the repetitiveness... I wanna knit something new!)

Oh! And I complete forgot to show you this! Turns out I did do some knitting shopping on boxing day.

Bookbookbook2 by Ms. Stephanie herself. I love how it's small. I've been carrying it with me since I got it and whipping it out to read a couple of pages when I have time. Gotta love her writing. She's genius. Genius, I tell you! So genius that I haven't worked up the nerve to email her yet... one of these days... promise.

That Was Fast

2006-01-03T21:19:00.000-05:00

It's Done!

Probably one of the fastest patterns I've ever made. 3 days! That might not seem like such an accomplishment for some of your super-knitters out there, but it's certainly an accomplishment for me. I got the pattern from this lovely lady, and I must say that I would never be able to create a pattern like that on my own. I have enough trouble fudging numbers so I don't have to change gauge! And instead of the suggested number of stitches, I followed this lovely lady's lead and cast on 90 stitches for an extra pattern repeat.

On to the mittens!

These will be made to match (hopefully!). Numbers are taken from the Stitch 'n' Bitch book and fudged so compensate for the cable and different gauge.

Too much to knit and too little time! I can't believe I started classes today... it seems just like yesterday that I finished exams... such a shame.

Cable Hat

2006-01-03T00:09:00.000-05:00

As soon as I got my hands on my circular needles, I cast on for this Cable Hat. It's so pretty!

Now, be warned. I usually look HORRIBLE in hats. They just don't sit on my head properly. I want them to cover my ears (otherwise my head is still cold and then there's no point in wearing a hat), but then it looks like I'm getting my head eaten by some giant knitted creature. Not a pretty sight. But hopefully the cables will tame the overflow of yarn a little bit and it'll look more like a hat on my head...

I've tried it on my head already. Doesn't look half bad! But I don't want to get my hopes up until it's all done and finish. Then we'll see how head-eating-knitted-creature-ish it looks.

ps. I must continually apologise for blurry pictures. I have to admit that my camera is rather old... and doesn't seem to like taking good pictures anymore. That... or I just don't know how to use the thing properly. Either way, a thousand apologises.

Stashing

2006-01-01T20:36:00.000-05:00

The day after boxing day was earmarked for yarn shopping. (Boxing day was filled with pushing through crowds, a trek through Toronto and no yarn shopping.) While I promised myself that I would be "conservative" with the buying, I ended up spending so much more than I had anticipated. Funny how that happens, eh?

From the top: Yummy Fleece Artist sock yarn in a greeny colour way; Mission Falls 1824 Wool in a grey/beige colour (I'm working on expanding my colour palette... doesn't seem to be working, eh?); Lang Yarns' Tosca in a variegated white/baby blue/pink colour way (there's the expanding colour palette attempt).

The sock yarn will become... well... socks. The Mission Falls will become a hat and mitt set, hopefully. And the Tosca will become a scarf, I think.

Snowdrop Shawl update. It's big. See the foot for comparison

See the prettiness?

Unfortunately, I've run into a wee problem. I can't tell from the photo how wide to make the shawl. And I can't seem to understand the instructions either. This has me quite worried because Stephanie wrote the pattern. And even though I have never met her, I feel like she would be pretty clear in her patterns. I feel like she understands the frustration of not understanding a pattern and would be extra careful in making everything clear. But I just can't decypher how many repeats to go...

And so I decided just to move to the next step... but I'm not good with the picking up stitches unless the number of stitches I need to pick up match exactly the number of rows I can pick them up from. Make sense? Nevermind. It does in my head, but that doesn't always mean much.

Anyways, I've needed to set the shawl aside for a little while to get it out of my system. I might even work up the courage to email Ms. Stephanie to ask for help... we'll see how well that goes.

Happy New Year!

Update #6

2005-12-28T13:26:00.000-05:00

I've had Peruvian Baby Silk from Elann sitting in my stash for a while and I couldn't figure out what to make with it. Frankly, I still can't. I thought I'd make a short sleeved t-shirt, but the pattern lost it's appeal and I ripped. Now, I've cast on for a shrug using ideas and numbers from here and here while fudging the rest.

Since the photo was taken, I've started raglan decreases. But it's not really growing on me either... I keep thinking it'll be too small. And it probably will be... argh. Maybe I should just rip it? The gauge is much more suited to lace and shawl type projects... maybe I should try for a small shawl? Hum... such a dilemma! This is what happens when I buy yarn on impulse... I end up agonizing over what to make it into. It's really stressful!

The other day, my friend and I made our way to Michael's. There was supposed to be a sale... but I didn't see anything interesting (and cheap!) enough to buy. I did find this though...

(Sorry... really bad picture that doesn't show the important part... she's got mitts on her hands that are still attached to a ball of yarn sitting in her left hand. There are needles sticking out of the ball.)

For only $1!! Totally snatched it up and glared at anyone who would have thought to take it away from me... too bad no one really cared, it might of made an interesting scene. Oh well.

Anyways, I don't usually DO cards... so now I don't know what to do with the pack of 8. Do I send them to friends, even if they don't knit? Will they appreciate the meaning? Or should they be reserved only for knitters? Hum...

Update #5

2005-12-25T14:53:00.000-05:00

For some very strange reason I've had an overwhelming urge to crochet. I don't understand it. It's unprecedented! I don't like crochet. I've tried to before and I don't like it! But it's like a complusion... I MUST CROCHET...

Fortunately, my mother crochets. This never meant much in the past since my mother only knows the name of the stitches in Chinese and I need to read patterns in English and the whole language translations thing was too much to handle. But this time, because of my overwhelming urge to crochet... it wasn't a problem anymore. She showed me the basics, I did some googling and matched up the descriptions with what she showed me and VOILA! I can crochet... sort of.

Don't ask me what that was... I have no idea... doesn't matter, though, it doesn't exist anymore.

But like knitting, crocheting random squares (or rectangles) isn't nearly as much fun as making something pretty. And since I've been seeing TONS of crocheted flowers everywhere, I googled some patterns (I love google, it's a great invention).

The white block of something was ripped and re-crocheted into another flower, same as the purple one. I tried a couple of other patterns, too... but since I'm sort on yarn right now, I had to rip and re-crochet.

**It's entirely strange and unfamiliar for me to type "crochet" rather than "knit." I feel like I'm a traitor, betraying something. But what?! No clue... it's just strange.**

Anyways. The plan is to use up scraps of yarn and make pretty little flowers and then sew them into a funky scarf. Who knew I'd be a crocheting girl? Strange...

Merry Christmas!

Update #4

2005-12-24T17:14:00.000-05:00

My office at work is FREEZING. And although it is in the middle of the building and my co-worker and I have a little portable heater in there, it's still FREEZING. Probably because it's also conveniently right next to an outside door that gets opened a lot. (Yes... I know that's a confusing description. No worries. The important thing to know is that it's FREEZING. Capital letters.)

Anyways, since I need to type and move a mouse and write, it's a little difficult to do my job with mitts on. So I made up some fingerless mitts from scrap yarn. (Notice a trend? I'm using up scrap yarn 'cuz I'm poor and I can't afford to buy shiney new stuff. By the way, it's Bernat Satin something. Cheap acrylic, but still very soft.)

The pattern is a blend of numbers from the Stitch 'n' Bitch book and Interweave's editor's mitts thing and some fudging on my part. So while it was a quick knit, I had to rip it out several times to get it right. It's still not perfect, but I can live with it. See how the thumb attaches to the hand in a strange way? The hand gets pulled a little... strange. But I couldn't figure out how to make it stop, and since it still works.... meh, oh well.

I have made the other hand, but I still need to rip it out and change a couple things for the two to match up. And since I needed one hand to hold the camera, I decided not to show the unfinished one... good plan, eh?

Stay tuned... more to come tomorrow!

Update #3

2005-12-23T20:10:00.000-05:00

I was in the mood for a quick knit one day... and it just happened to be the same day that the new Knitty came out. Okay... maybe a couple of days after, whatever.

Anyways, I found some scrap yarn and come with this:

See how the little loops are messy? It's driving me insane. Some of them are fine and lie nice and flat and pretty. Other ones are devious and evil and twist and curl on me. It was worse. And then I did some makeshift steaming over a pot of boiling water. (One must be creative when lacking essential tools.) I haven't gotten around to steaming it properly so I'm hoping that the devious loops will straighten themselves out by then. Anyone have ideas of other reasons why the loops hate me?

Funny how things never look as nice as the pictures when I knit them... hum... something to think about...

I have lots to show, still!! But I need to do a photo shoot before anything can be posted... more tomorrow!

Update #2

2005-12-22T18:47:00.000-05:00

The other major project I was working on before I dropped off the face of the earth was the Snowdrop Shawl. Unfortunately, I have very bad photography skills (you should know that by now... when every single picture is blurry... there's gotta be something wrong), but this is the best I could do.

The last time I kept track, it was taking me an hour to knit 4 rows. Yes, that's how sad it is. The shawl is beautiful, it's just my slow knitting speed that is sad. Next shawl I knit, remind me to try something that gets gradually narrower rather than gradually broader. Otherwise, I'm loving it!

It's also taking much less yarn that I thought it would... I've got three hanks of the stuff and I've only worked my way through half of one. So I think I might have lots left over. Or will it all suddenly disappear at the end? No clue...

Sorry, this post is rather random and not very coherent. Maybe I should just stop before I say something I'll regret...

More pictures to come tomorrow!

Update #1

2005-12-21T17:45:00.000-05:00

A little while ago I was whining about knitting socks. I loved them, then I hated them, then I loved them again. There was something about consistently making them too small. Highly unfortunate.

I am glad to show you, however, that I have overcome the "making socks that are too small" syndrome and have completed one pair that I had a particularly difficult time with. I hated the colour. It was retro... I don't do retro... but I found a lace pattern that obscured the retro-ness enough to make the socks bareable. The consequence is that the lace was obscured, too. I guess I can't have everything my way.

Here is it in all it's retro lace glory!

And a side view to better see the lace... sort of...

As you can see in this picture, the sock is a little too lengthy for my foot. It fits perfectly if I wiggle my foot around and spread my toes out and try to make my foot even fatter than it already is. If I don't... it's a little roomy. But that's fine. The leg part that goes around my ankle is a little tight, so there's the trade off.

I really need to learn how to knit socks that fit.

More photos to come soon...

Uh... Hi.

2005-12-19T01:05:00.000-05:00

Not too sure who will be reading this... or if there are still people who bother checking it... but if you are reading this, thanks!

If you haven't noticed, I dropped off the face of the planet for a little while due to a minor annoyance I like to call school. But I am officially done school for the semester and I am FREE!

Knitting as also been limited (again, school), but there has been some progress. There are no pictures today since I haven't had time to take any. But I will be posting progress reports in the next few days. I figured I'd spread them out a little more and try for consistent blogging, something I've been sorely lacking.

So tune in sometime in the next few days... I promise there will be something to look at!

Ideas, Anyone?

2005-11-17T00:17:00.000-05:00

I saw the most interesting scarves today. They were ribbed. But not normal ribbed. They were ribbed so that one side of the scarf (ie. the right side) was one colour and then the other side (ie. the wrong side) was a different colour.

I stared at it for the longest time, but couldn't figure out how it was done! The I stretched the scarf width-wise, the gaps in between the ribbing didn't look as they should. Instead of the little bumps from the purl stitches, there were "V"'s. Weird, huh? I think it is the most amazing ribbing I have ever seen.

Too bad I didn't have a camera with me... should have taken a picture for you guys... anyone have any idea what type of pattern it was?

Short Rows Are A Curse

2005-11-12T23:32:00.000-05:00

I've decided that I hate toe-up socks. I've known this for a while, but I just had to reaffirm the belief. I have yet to knit a short row toe or heel correctly the first time through. In fact, it takes me a good 2 or 3 days in order to get it right.

It's all the stop somewhere along the row and knit or purl some odd number of stitches together and then turn and then slip a stitch (maybe) and the knit or purl along the row until you've gotten to another random point on the row and repeat.

It's too much for my already crammed brain to handle.

The Falling Leaves sock #1 is past the heel. Don't ask me how long it took me to knit the heel. It's embaressing. I'm knitting up the leg and I'm TOTALLY not looking forward to the second sock.

I'm Still Alive... Barely

2005-11-07T16:13:00.000-05:00

I could say that I've been attacked by a polar bear (since I DO live in Canada, ya know) and that I've spent the last couple of weeks recuperating. Or I could say that I was kidnapped but the abominable snowman (since I DO live in Canada, ya know) and held hostage in his igloo. Or I could say that I've been running for my life because some secret spy organization was trying to do scary human experiments on me (okay, that one has nothing to do with Canada... I hope.).

But honestly?

I've been completely stressed with school and mid-terms and papers and quizzes and readings. I know, not quite as exciting as you expected, eh? Such is the life of a student....

So that's why I haven't posted in almost a month. But fortunately, I have been knitting!

See?! Finished pair of socks! And OMG! Fleece Artist socks are SOOOOOO comfy! It's like wearing heaven on your feet. I could just sit at my desk all day and fondle them with my toes. Yes. That is a slightly disturbing image. Can you say fetish?!

Anyways, I have also began working on the ugly 80's socks. I had knit up one sock in the middle of the summer. Then realized that I hated the colour. Then I finished the one sock. Then I realized that it was too small. So then I ~~threw it across the room~~ put it gently aside to knit on something else. After I finished the Fleece Artist socks, I decided that I really needed to pick it up again. So I did. Then I promptly frogged it.

No fear. It is being reknit! As the Falling Leaves socks from Knitty.com. (Although, to be honest, I really don't see how the lace pattern resembles falling leaves. It is a beautiful pattern, that's for certain. Just not falling-leaves-ish.) But because of the ugly 80's colour way, the sock isn't as pretty as it could be. It's almost a waste. But really, the lace is the only saving grace. I just couldn't bring myself to knit an ugly colour in a plain pattern with nothing to distract from the ugliness of the colour.

Picking up from the "I'm a student" theme from above, I've decided to go on a yarn fast. Not because I have too much yarn (I don't think too-much-yarn is a real problem, honestly) but because I have no money. Like none. Like I go to my parent's house to get food because I do not have money to buy my own. Yes, it is sad. How long is this yarn fast? At least until the end of the year. We'll reassess the situation then.

As for now. I will be relying heavily on Stashbusters to help me get through the random little skiens of stuff I have lying around. Anyone have suggestions for projects that only required one ball of yarn?

Sock #1 - Done.

2005-10-16T20:36:00.000-04:00

Or should that be Sock #2? I'm not too sure. Either way, the first sock that fits(!!) is done. And the second one that will fit - hopefully - is being cast on as I type... Well, not exactly as I type... Because I can't type while I knit... Although I should really look into perfecting that skill...

I Can Knit Socks Again!

2005-10-15T11:09:00.000-04:00

A little while ago I developed an abhorrence for all things socks. It may have had something to do with the two socks that were both too small. And then I lost the will to continue knitting on tiny needles with tiny yarn to make something that was tiny... too tiny. I have also decided that I have big feet. Or fat feet. Either one will do.

I'm happy to announce that my anti-sock phase is now over!

Yes, that is the Fleece Artist sock yarn. No, the second sock is NOTHING like the first sock. With all my bad luck with sock sizing, I decided to play it safe and go back to a tried, tested and true pattern that I KNOW will fit. So what is the fate of the first Fleece Artist sock? To be ripped and reknit into a third sock that matches the second sock. I hope I don't get sick of socks again any time soon. Socks may be the bane of my knitting experience. That won't be pretty.

And since I thought that my scarf collection wasn't quite big enough, I've finished another one to add to it.

Just a simple 1x1 ribbing that sometimes drove me insane. But I got through it and did something I never thought I would do.

I fringed. Liberally. And did funky knotty things. I'm rather proud of myself.

And lastly, but certainly not leastly (yes, I know that that isn't a word)... Simply Marilyn

Done and blocked over Thanksgiving Weekend up in the Great White North (which isn't white at all yet, thank god). I still have lots of yarn left over and am contemplating what to make. I've been eyeing those shrugs everyone's wearing... they seem like the perfect fall adaptation to summer tops... hum...

I've Been Bad... But Not That Bad

2005-09-24T13:34:00.000-04:00

Okay... so I've recovered from my ball winding spree, sort of. I love how I can wind anything I want into a wonderful, neat ball whenever I want! The freedom! Who could have ever imagined such joy! I don't think I'll ever be the same person again. Really, I won't. It is a happy day.

In the midst of moving back to school and going to classes and buying books and reading until my eyes fall out, I've been neglecting my knitting. I know, it's terrible of me. (I did wind inordinate amounts of yarn! Does that count?) Here's where I'm at.

The Fleece Artist sock does not have a partner yet. And I'm seriously considering if I want to give it a partner at all. The past two socks (not a pair, just two socks) have not inspired me to make any more. Maybe it's because both were tighter than I expected them to be... or maybe I just have large feet. I never considered my feet all that big, but then I never took the time to compare them to other feet. Maybe they are big? I don't know. But regardless, sock knitting is on hold for the foreseeable future. I'm sure I'll have another urge at some time to pick them up again, but not now. Good God, not now.

The Snowdrop Shawl was moving along quite nicely before I got back to school. Several repeats every day and it was growing quite large. I haven't touched it since I set foot into my house at school. This type of delicate lace knitting requires attention. This is attention that has been ~~wasted~~ invested in reading and writing and all those things we associate with academia. So unless I learn how to knit lace while reading (which I highly doubt will ever happen), this is going to be on the backburner.

The Ribby Scarf has been growing. The easy (and boring) 1x1 ribbing is definitely mindless enough for me to read to, but not interesting enough to post a picture of. Scroll down to that picture of the scarf several posts ago... now imagine it longer. Yups, that's it. The plan is to knit until 3/4th of the last skein is left and use the rest for fringe. I'll show you something when it's not just a long rectangle.

So when is the productive part coming? RIght now! The old Banff sweater has been nice and frogged (and wound into balls!), so Banff is no longer. Instead, Marilyn has been born.

I'm An Addict.

2005-09-20T17:05:00.000-04:00

Sorry... Nothing Yet

2005-09-18T00:06:00.001-04:00

If you have come here expecting interesting and exciting knitting content, I'm sorry but I'll have to disappoint you. You see. There has not been a lot of knitting going on around here. (Well, that's not entirely true. There has been knitting, just boring knitting.)

For some reason, none of my current projects are keeping my interest. There's just nothing about them that draws me in. Ususally, there's a pull, an invisble force that completely envelopes my senses. At every waking moment (and some dreaming ones, too) I feel a great need to be knitting. When I'm not at home, I want to be home to get my hands on some yarn. When I am at home, all I can manage to do is sit and knit while reading knitting blogs. Alas, I have felt none of this magic from the yarn and needles sitting by my desk. It is a sad day indeed.

Yet, in my great need to procrastinate (because that is an essential part of any university student's life), I have forced myself to pick up the Ribby Scarf and at least try to put wasted time to good use. Do you know how long it takes to read 90 some odd blog posts? Quite a few hours, I assure you. While not all of those hours were utilized, I was able to multi-task for some of them and now the Ribby Scarf is longer. It is still incredibly boring, but it is longer boring. Hence the lack of pictures of longer boring scarf. Everything else looks exactly as it did in the last picture filled post.

And no... the ball winder and yarn still have not found their way onto my doorstep.

Winder On The Way

2005-09-15T11:57:00.000-04:00

First, I have to apologize for not linking yesterday. I fully intended to link to the ball winder I was considering but unfortunately got lazy and forgot. Sorry... I have now corrected my mistake and you can find all the appropriate links in my last post.

But since then, I've gone ahead and ordered a ball winder from elann.com. Who would have thought these things were so expensive? What exactly is in a ball winder that lets manufacturers jack up the price? Hum?? I wonder... Now that I've ordered it, I can't wait for it to arrive! Yes, I know it was only 12 hours ago that I placed the order, but come on! Shouldn't they have people filling orders at all hours of the night? And should shipping companies ship packages as soon as their ready? I mean HONESTLY, is it too much to ask that it be at my door step when I wake up in the morning? Well.... maybe it is.

And because I felt weird just ordering the ball winder by itself (it would be lonely in the box, really, it would!), I also ordered some yarn. 8 skiens of Peruvian Collection Baby Silk, to be exact. In Moroccan Olive. I'm excited. Really. I am! What exactly it will be used for is still up for discussion, but I've got a couple of ideas floating around.

Now I'm going to go sit on my doorstep and wait for mailman to arrive. (Yes, I know I may be waiting for a long time, but one can hope, no?)

To Wind Or Not To Wind?

2005-09-13T19:38:00.000-04:00

Whoa... I just had one of those moments where I completely forgot how to spell a word. You know when you stare at a word for too long, it begins to look wrong? Yeah... "Wind" for some reason, just looked like a foreign mix of letters that made no sense to me. No worries, though. A quick trip to dictionary.com cleared up any insanit on my part.

Anyways, back to the post. I've been thinking seriously about getting ball winder. Since I don't have easy access to a local yarn store (mainly because I'm lazy), I tend to buy most of my yarn online. And usually this is fine if the yarn comes in skeins. However, if it comes in hanks (as was the case for the Alpaca Cloud and the Shimmer I bought a little while ago), then I have a problem.

Also, remember the sweater I'm frogging? Well, currently the frogged yarn is all sitting in hanks made by my pseudo swift (ie swivel chair) (Whoa... it happened again... who knew "swivel" was spelt "s-w-i-v-e-l"?). And how I'm going to knit from those hanks is beyond me. I am certainly not looking forward to winding them all by hand.

So I'm thinking the best solution to this problem of mine is just to invest in a ball winder... what do you think of this one? Frankly, it's the cheapest one I could find so it's at the top of my list. If anyone comes across a cheaper one, please let me know. At this point, I'm figuring that all ball winders are pretty much the same in quality and I need to save money. So yes, any help would be highly appreciated.

I was thinking of posting pictures of knitting... but since there has been a lack of knitting, there's nothing to take a picture of.. sorry.

Wanna See Worms?

2005-09-10T17:18:00.000-04:00

Yes... that used to be Banff, remember that sweater I knit about a year ago? The sweater that was ten times too large for me? Well, I finally got around to frogging it. And instead of leaving it as a pile of worms I needed to figure out what to do with it...

I turned my swivel chair into a make-shift swift.

It works quite well, actually... although slightly too small... if only it made bigger loops like a real swift.

And because of the smaller than optimum loops, I get little lumps of yarn rather than hanks like I was supposed to. But better lumps of yarns than piles of worms, right?

So what is this stuff destined to become? To be honest, I have no idea.... I've been thinking about the Simply Marilyn sweater from Interweave Knits. The only questionable thing is whether the colour will work as well as it does in my head. The sweater doesn't really suit a tweedy type yarn, does it? So if this sweater doesn't make it on the needles, I'll probably made something similar. Perhaps a plain sweater with a cable running down the front? For some reason, I'm so set on knitting cables. I figure it's about time I learned how to do them.

Also on the needles...

Although, to be honest, I'm very bored with this. It's just a 1x1 rib that screams BORING! Yeah...

And this is how far I've gotten on the Snowdrop Shawl. I'm actually very facinated with this. I can't help but stop at the end of every row and admire my work! It's like, "wow... I'm knitting something that resemebles dental floss and it actually looks like the picture! Wow!" Yeah...

See? See the resemblance to the real thing? See? Yeah...

Woah.

2005-08-30T15:26:00.000-04:00

Anyone have suggestions on how to wear this thing?

This thing is truely massive and I kind of feel like I'm drowning in green, blue and yellow yarn. Wait a minute.... maybe that's not such a bad thing, hehe.

I guess it won't feel so big in the dead of winter when I want something warm to curl up in. And you all know how damn cold it can get up here in the Great White North. Funny... that image doesn't quite fit the 30+ temperatures we've had this summer, does it?

No, I'm Not Dead

2005-08-29T20:26:00.000-04:00

Nor have I been abducted by aliens, or recruited by some secret spy organization (although that would be rather cool). No, I've just been lazy. And then I was in Cuba. But now I'm back and finally decided to get off my lazy ass and post something before I get kicked off the GTA Knit Bloggers Webring for not posting in over a month. Can you say, "Opps!"? Why knew a month could fly by so quickly?

So I guess I'd better have something to show for the month's absence, eh? Okay, well. Here goes.

Remember the Mission Fall Skirt that I was designing/hodgepodging from other patterns? Yes, well. Here it is:

And here it is while on me:

The skirt was my Stashbusters project for July. I think I missed the deadline by a couple of days. But nothing inexcusible, from my point of view. But then, since I'm blogging this about a month too late, I could say whatever I wanted and you'd have to believe me, right? But I wouldn't do that because I'm an upstanding citizen who doesn't lie, right? Right....

And then remember how I abondoned the Toe-Up Socks? Well, I abandoned them for Fleece Artist socks. It's an Interweave Knits pattern. Something about flows and going with them.

And then the side view:

If you haven't noticed yet, I haven't bound off the toe yet. It's still sitting there on three needles waiting for me to graft it together. Do you know how long it's been waiting? A couple of weeks now, at least. When do I intend to graft it together (nevermind knitting the other sock)? I have no idea. Personally, I'm not so fond of doing the finishing on projects. This does not bode well for my knitting future.

And then somewhere in there I bought some Noro and made the Multidirectional Scarf #2:

I made it narrower than the first one, and so it is longer than the first one. I think I like the shape of this one better than the other. But I'm rather doubtful about the colour... I'm not sure if purple and green is quite my thing.

And then I was supposed to move on to Clapotis for August's Stashbusters. After much indecision about what yarn to use, I finally settled on good old acrylic. Yes, I know. It seems like a disgrace to the pattern. But I honestly don't have the month to spend $40 plus on yarn for a scarf/stole thingy. Anyways, I found a cool colourway that doesn't match anything in my wardrobe but just spoke to me when I was at the store:

Have I mentioned how big this thing is? I'm knitting it to gauge and I have to say that it is huge. No, it's HUGE. I mean, it's MASSIVE! I feel like it's going to grow legs and sharp teeth and then chase me around while trying to eat me. Well... maybe not that drastic. But it is big. Here's my foot for size comparison:

I didn't think it would be so big when I first started knitting it. If I ever decide to knit this again (which I'm not sure if I would), I'll definitely try for a smaller version. Maybe something that will actually fit around my neck.

Oh, by the way, Clapotis isn't finished yet. It's almost finished, but not yet. Do you know what this means? It means that it will grow even bigger. Yes, that's right. EVEN BIGGER.

And then I got some stuff in the mail that I bought from KnitPicks.com. I believe I have mentioned this purchase before on the blog? It arrived in heavenly softness and I really could not stop caressing it. My mother thought there was something wrong with me. Anyways, when it arrived, it was in hanks. But since I do not have a swift, nor a ball winder, it was a little hard for me to knit with it. I took a trip (walking trip, under the hot August sun. This is the level I will go to for knitting) to a local yarn store that had the equipment I needed and I begged them to let me use it to wind goods that were not bought at their store. They let me:

This is Shimmer in Morning Mist. I also recieved some Alpaca Cloud in Smoke. I've already started knitting it into the Yarn Harlot's Snowdrop Shawl. This is what I have so far:

As I held those balls in my hands, I was scared. Honestly. Like, heart-pounding, fast-breathing, palms-sweating fear. I cast on for the Snowdrop Shawl and nearly pissed in my pants. The stuff is so fine and slippery that I nearly dropped stitches and tramatized myself. I can only knit with this stuff for short periods of time or else I'll give myself a heart attack or an anerism or some such disaster. I'm telling you, laceweight can be DANGEROUS.

And then since I used their swift and ball winder, I couldn't very well just up and leave the yarn store, could I? So I bought some of this stuff to make a chuncky and funky scarf:

And hopefully, it won't turn into a MONSTROUS (and I mean that in a good way) sized thing like the Clapotis.

And so I leave you with what I was surrounded by all last week. Hopefully this will be soothing enough so that you can forgive my grave crimes against the blogging world.

So Close!

2005-07-28T11:26:00.000-04:00

I am *this* close to changing colours in the Mission Falls Skirt. If I haven't told you yet (and I'm thinking I haven't), I'm making the skirt in black and at the bottom I'm having a strip of a greyish green colour. It should be about 5 inches long. And I'm almost there! I can't wait to change colour, omg. You don't even understand how tired I am of black stockingette stitch.

I've been thinking about that strip though. How should I combat that curling thing that stockingette stitch does? I like the look of seed stitch, so I was thinking I could end the skirt with about an inch of seed stitch. But would that be weird? I mean to have a black skirt, then 4 inches of grey stockingette, then an inch of grey seed stitch? Should I do the entire grey part in seed stitch? I'm actually really torn about this... if you have suggestions, I'd welcome them.

I'm also really impatient to start a new project. Michelle at Fickleknitter has kindly suggested that I start something new and I have to say that I agree with her. So I guess I'll be casting on that Fleece Artist sock tonight. Oh why can't Canada Post work faster and get me my Knitpicks yarn?!

The Wave Effect

2005-07-27T09:06:00.000-04:00

It always seems like things come in waves. Life is filled with crap and then all of a sudden, things take a turn for the better.

Two days ago, I finished the Multidirectional Scarf. (I guess I should call it the "Multidirectional Scarf #2", so as not to confuse it with "Multidirectional Scarf") I realized that while I liked the colour when it was still wound up in a skein. I didn't like it so much when it was knit up into a scarf. The colours are nice... they're just not "WOW!". It's a pity. Maybe I can find someone who would like to give the scarf a loving home... 'cuz it might find my home a little lacking. But we'll see. Maybe it'll grow on me.

I also finished the first Toe-Up sock yesterday. It's a tad tight around the heel and it's majorly ugly. Really retro looking, except in a bad way. The girls at work keep saying that it looks good. But come on now. They don't knit. They don't know the difference between a good-looking sock and a bad one. I've got a definite case of the second sock syndrome. WHY do I have to knit the second sock?! Especially since I've got Fleece Artist sock yarn waiting for me to knit it? I don't want to be a responsible knitter and give the UGLY SOCK an UGLY COMPANION. I want to indulge my wickedness and knit the Fleece Artist.

Yeah... sometimes I shame even myself. I'm gonna go now...

Time-Waster

2005-07-25T14:46:00.000-04:00

I was bored... this is fun.

Make Your Own

I've Been Bad

2005-07-22T16:26:00.000-04:00

**Blogger just lost my original post. Argh. It's actually the first time it's happened, so I've been pretty lucky, thus far. No more, I guess. SO not impressed.**

After work yesterday, I headed over to The Butterfly. Remember The Butterfly? It's the little yarn store by my house in Hamilton.

Okay, really. This shop is totally not healthy for me or my bank account. I mean, how am I supposed to function properly knowing that there's easily accessible yarn so close by? How? Seriously.

Anyways, I went over initally looking for something to make Clapotis. I wanted something with a nice drape and a nice colour varigation. Something a little more decadent than I'm used to, but wasn't in the "bank account suidcide" catagory. You know. Something nice.

But I obviously wasn't thinking very clearly because I expected to have a large selection to choose from. I completely forgot that they haven't been open long and thus are still playing catch up with their stash. Argh.

So after looking around a bit and realizing that I wasn't going to find what I wanted, I settled for a couple of skeins of Noro Kureyon to make a second Multidirectional Scarf. With just the Toe-Up sock and the Mission Falls skirt, stockingettle stitch is getting a little boring. Actually, no. A lot boring. Like I'm crying, it's so boring.

Last night was spent casting on for the new project and getting my dose of New Project Vibes. Yeah. You know what I'm talking about. The adrenaline that fills your veins when you cast on for something new. The uncertainty of what path it will lead you down and where that path ends. The excitment of a new idea materializing beneath your very fingers.

Yeah... I know it's just a scarf. But after round after round of stockingette stitch, can you really blame me? I didn't think so.

Earlier today, I went to Knitpicks.com and bought some more stuff. I'm definitely in this stash enhancing/money spending/horizon expanding mood. It's a little scary. I picked out 2 hanks of Shimmer in Morning Mist and 3 hanks of Alpaca Cloud in Smoke. They are destined for Clapotis and Snowdrop Shawl respectively. Hopefully. And you know what? It wasn't until after I placed the order that I remembered my lack of a swift or ball winder. Hum... this should be interesting...

Knitting Convert

2005-07-21T09:17:00.000-04:00

Last evening, my friend and I went to Walmart. Beloved Walmart! Yes, yes, I know. Walmart sells cheap yarn. But that's just it! It's cheap! Hello!

Anyways, we picked up some nice cheap yarn and then went to her house and ordered pizza. Yum. Pizza. Yum.

As we reminisced about our childhood days, we munched on pizza and drank Long Island Ice Tea. Yum.

AND THEN!

I taught her how to knit! Yes, sir.

Last week, she accompanied me during my trip to Lettuce Knit and was seduced by the wonderful things you can make from string and two sticks. So we agree to meet up and I would introduce her to the wonderful world of knitting. It was fabulous.

I taught her a 1 x 1 ribbing that she picked up amazingly quickly. (She's a smarty-pants) And I worked on the Mission Falls skirt while using my brand spanking new stitch markers.

I'm always so glad when I can make another convert. Not only is it gratifying to share my passion with someone else but it also adds to the ever growing world of knitting. It's another person who I can obsesses about yarn with! Sweet....

ps... I just realized this, but today is my one year blog-iversary. Go me!

Randomness

2005-07-20T08:58:00.000-04:00

Last night, I sat down in front of the TV, turned on Canadian Idol and made stitch markers.

The stitch markers are done and I think they look pretty cool, although I have to say that my beading skills can DEFINITELY improve. Yes, lots of room for improvement. Since my camera is still be de-sanded, I will take pictures of them at the earliest possible time... you might be waiting a while.

I've been debating what I should do with these Toe-Up socks. Since I really don't like the colourway of the yarn, I was thinking that I should try to knit and entire sock with one skein. That means making it really high... that way I won't have any ugly yarn left over. At the same time, I really don't want to keep knitting these for longer than I have to... ahhh!! Dilemma.

Two days ago, my co-worker's father passed away. He was in his late 40's and his death was very sudden and unexpected. Apparently, he sat down to lunch while at work and just fell over. I remember talking to my co-worker that day before she had found out and life seemed so normal. She had just gotten married a year ago, her sister had a son at about the same time, and everything was going so well. Then without any notice someone she loved was taken from her. I haven't spoken to her since it happened, but I really wouldn't know what to say if I saw her. What words are adequate for such a time?

I've been wondering if there is something I can give her to help through this time. The office is putting together a small plant and a card for her, but I feel like this is so insignificant compared to her loss.

Whenever tragic things happen, I am always reminded of the fraility of life. Go hug someone you love and make sure they know you love them. You never know when it will be your last opportunity.

Shopping Is Good

2005-07-18T10:20:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, my good friend and I were supposed to go watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. While she is a huge Tim Burton fan, I was only going because of Johnny Depp. Yeah... Then as we were making plans, she brings up Parti Gras at the Distillary District. And guess where we ended up going?

Yes, that's right. We took the TTC down for an adventure filled day in the big city! And since we were going to be downtown, guess where we went? Yes, that's right. We went to Lettuce Knit! YEAH!

A quick stroll through Kensington Market brought us to a wonderful yarn haven where my friend was inspired to learn knitting. Another convert! While I would love to drain my bank account on the stuff they have there, I settled for some Fleece Artist sock yarn that has been sitting there taunting me to knit it since we left the store. It's driving me crazy! I was tempted to pick up another pair of dnp to start knitting it, but I didn't have a chance to get to the store.

The toe-up sock is slow coming. The hideous colour is kind of a turn off and makes me not want to look at the thing, never mind actually knitting it. Argh... but I'm determined to finish the darn thing. This is my over-achieving, perfectionist self kicking in. Sometimes perfectionism puts a real damper on creativity.

Yesterday, as I was knitting on the Mission Falls skirt, I broke two stitch markers. I was completely dumb founded. I had heard of people breaking super thin knitting needles, but I have never heard of anyone breaking stitch markers! Shocker! I guess that's what I deserve for getting cheapy stuff from Walmart. Argh...

So today after work I'm am off to the store to pick up another set of sock gauge needles and some more stitch markers. Since I've been itching to start some kind of beading project, I'm going to try make my own stitch markers... keep your fingers crossed for me.

I also need a pattern that will do the Fleece Artist some justice. Anyone have suggestions?

**The camera is still being cleaned of unruly sand so pictures will not be available for the next little while**

Round and Round, Part 2

2005-07-12T18:30:00.000-04:00

I'd take a picture of the Mission Falls Skirt, but really there's nothing to show. Go look at the last picture I took of it. Now imagine a black tube that's slightly longer. That's what the skirt looks like now.

The other reason I'm not taking a picture of the skirt is because I do not have my camera. (That's a good reason, isn't it?) A Canada Day trip to the beach didn't sit so well with the thing and I think it got a little too friendly with the sand. My daddy currently is in possession of the camera and is attempting to stop the unheathly grinding sound that happens everytime I turn it on. Can anyone say, "opps..."?

Anyways, since I've been knitting away at the Mission Falls Skirt (I haven't hit the 75% syndrome yet, so the skirt is still safe) the Toe-Up socks have been seriously neglected. I hate to say it, but I really don't like the colours of the thing. Way too retro 80's for me. Yuck. I'll finish it eventually, promise!

But the lack of really interesting knitting has me prowling knitting websites in search of my next big project. I'm thinking something lace, I'm thinking something verigated, I'm thinking something handpainted. Perhaps something along the lines of Clapotis or the Snowdrop Shawl in a fairly inexpensive but still pretty yarn? What do you think?

Round and Round

2005-07-07T18:20:00.000-04:00

I've been knitting away at the Mission Falls skirt. To be honest, it's quite boring. Think about it: black stockingette stitch in the round? It's the epitome of boring! And all I have to look forward to is the occasional increase row. Serves me right to want such a plain looking skirt.

In other news, I went to the H&M at Oakville Place yesterday. $127 on clothing. Ouch. That's gonna leave a bruise.

Pictures, Finally!

2005-07-04T17:51:00.000-04:00

After the long delay, I finally have pictures to back up my claims of progress.

Here is the lovely Soleil blocking. I think the blocking has solved the curling crochet edge problem. What do you think? I've yet to try it on, so I don't know how it fits...

Soleil

And here is the Toe-Up Sock. Doesn't it look retro? I'm not so fond of the patterning, actually. I find it kind of ugly. But no matters. It's a learning experience and besides, they're on my feet! Having completed the heel, I think I may like top down better than toe up. There's more variety. But maybe I'm bias.

Toe-Up Sock

And here is the Mission Falls skirt. This is a close up of the first inch or so including the eyelets where the icord drawstring will fit.

Mission Falls Skirt - Close Up

I'm basing the pattern off of The Skating Queen skirt from Knitty.com but minus the pleats.

Mission Falls Skirt

I've also taken the plunge and bought a couple of beads from WalMart. (Shh... don't tell anyone. I actually LOVE WalMart.) And I'm getting my beading friend to teach me what to do with them. I also bought a kit to make a matching bracelet and necklace set out of wire. I'll show you a picture when I'm done.

Lastly, I've been scouring the Internet for cheap all inclusive vacations to Cuba. The plan is to head down the last week of August with my mummy. Anybody have advice for a trip to Cuba? Types of projects to bring? Is it too much to hope that Cuba has some special kind of yarn that I can splurge on?

Discovery!

2005-06-24T23:35:00.000-04:00

I was able to leave work early today so I could go visit the NEW YARN STORE that I discovered in Hamilton. Can you believe how exciting this is for me?

Up until this point, I had always been rather disappointed with the locations of the yarn store in my area. While there were several that were close to my house, none were very bus accessible. And since we all know that my poor student's budget cannot pay for a vehicle of any sort, I am wholey reliant on the transit system. This was an unfortunate situation to say the least.

Several days ago, I was surfing around the Internet research yarn as I am known to do and I stumble across one of those yarn store directories. Now this is always an exciting find for me. I always hope to discover some wonderful gem of a store that is hidden away somewhere close by, but usually I come across those familiar names that give me the warm fuzzies on the inside. This time was an exception. I discovered a little store named The Butterfly situated not too far from my house and, more importantly, not too far from an easily accessible bus route. Can't you just feel the exciting rolling through me at that very moment?

Needless to say, I had to leave work early so I could visit this yarn store in person and tell the rest of the knitting blog world about it. It is actually two store in one. It is a yarn store and a jewery store. Yay! Owned and operated by one of those cool mother types, it is small but cozy and at the same time very simple but well-stocked. Having just opened last September (not even a year old!), the owner is still playing catch up with various pattern books and the latest styles of yarn, etc. But she's well on her way. Mondays are closed because that's when she's off to her suppliers to pick up special order yarns placed by those she calls, "her ladies". And she has no problem bending over backwards to accomodate the needs of practically every person who walks in her door. However, she will absolutely, under no circumstances carry "crap yarn" (think stuff found in Walmart, etc.)

Uh... hum... I'm thinking to myself I tend to use quite a bit of "crap yarn". But I don't think she'd appreciate that very much... maybe I'll just keep my mouth shut.

I fully intended to max out my credit card when there. But then I had a case of committment-phobia and wasn't able to decide on what I wanted. Instead, I bought a bottle of Eucalan to try. I've heard amazing things about it. And since I hate hand-washing maybe it'll make the process just that much easier. We'll see.

No, I do not have my camera back yet. Hopefully tomorrow, but I'm not promising anything.

The Patons Kroy socks have been cast on and is well on its way to becoming a toe-up sock. Remember the fiasco with my last toe-up attempt? I was determined to conquer the toe-up sock and I think I may have done it. Half way to the gusset of the first sock and the toe is looking pretty cool. Yeah!

I've also done up the mathematics for the Mission Falls skirt. I cast on and knit several rounds. Then tried to insert stitch markers and realized I had miscounted the cast on and now have to rip out an entire evenings worth of work to add more stitches. Argh. Oh well. Maybe it's time to buy more yarn...

ps. if anyone wants more info on The Butterfly (ie. address and phone number, etc.) leave me a comment and I'll send the info your way.

Uh... help?

2005-06-21T20:20:00.000-04:00

Hi, I can still use help on the crochet edge if anyone is willing to lend wisdom.

Also, I got a discount at Yarn Forward. $20 off any purchase over $100 before the end of June. I cannot justify spending over $100 on a student budget, but would gladly split an order with someone if they are interested. Browse their website and let me know.

I Am An Idiot

2005-06-20T18:12:00.000-04:00

This past weekend, I had plenty of opportunities to steal my camera back from my parents... but I forgot... they even reminded me to take it, too... argh. Another week with no pictures, sorry.

I have finished Soleil! Well, only technically. I just finished crocheting the edges, but have yet to block. But I have a problem that maybe you wonderful knitters can help me with. After doing the single crochet around the neck and arm holes, the edges roll in A LOT. This sort of makes sense considering I'm crocheting around stockingette stitch which naturally curls in on itself. Except that I thought the single crochet would stop the rolling in the same way a garter stitch around the edge would stop rolling. Am I wrong? Or do I have to block the thing first to stop the rolling? Or should I be increasing my single crochet stitch to stockingette stitch ratio? (like... 1:2 instead of 2:3) Or is this all gibberish?

I have swatched for the Mission Falls skirt (I need to come up with a name for this...), but I have yet to find a gauge that I like. Going off of the other skirt patterns online, I think I want to tighter gauge so the skirt doesn't just flop. Cause flopping is bad.

My Camera Has Been Kidnapped

2005-06-13T22:21:00.000-04:00

Over the weekend, my parents kidnapped my camera to take pictures at a friend's party. And they conveniently forgot to return it.

Unfortunately, this means that I will have no pictures to show you this week. It's all part of a big conspiracy, I tell you. They purposely stole my camera so I would be shamed in front of my blog. They wanted me to become a disgrace to the blog community. It's sad. I know.

Anyways, I have been furiously knitting away at Soleil. When I get hooked onto a project, I just can't put it down. It's like a good book with an amazingly complex plot and nuanced characters and an inner drive that carries you away like a leaf in a river. You never quite know what wonders the next page (or in this case, stitch) will hold and you can't wait to dive right into the promised adventure. It keeps you on the edge of your seat. It's wonderful. That's where I am at with Soleil.

Neckline has begun to take form. Back has been divided from front. I am working back and forth creating from two sticks and some string what will become the back of a knitted creation. Mind-bloggling, isn't it?

The 75% syndrome has not yet reared its ugly head. Hopefully, I will be zoom-zooming through it so quickly that it does not have a chance to settle in.

Next up will be an attempted design project. Words cannot describe how utterly terrifed I am about this. But hey, I conquered The Chart. An Attempted Design Project can't be that bad, right?

Next weekend I will be embarking on a covert operation to retrieve the camera. Wish me luck.

Local Yarn Store

2005-06-11T19:08:00.000-04:00

I made my way to my local yarn store today. It felt a little strange, yet familiar. Like finally coming home after a long trip away and finding yourself among all the things you loved but didn't realized you missed until you got back. That was my local yarn store today.

Being away at school certainly has its perks. Living away from parents and being independent. Can stay out as long as I like without having someone calling my cell phone every 2 seconds. Can eat when I like and what I like. Can stay awake all night without having someone telling me to go to sleep.

But being away at school also means no car. This, unfortunately, translates into very limited access to local yarn stores. I make do with Internet shopping, but there's nothing quite like walking into a room filled from floor to ceiling with yarn. It's heavenly.

Today, at my local yarn store, I encounter some gorgeous yarn that goes by the name Hand Maiden (or something close to that). Cashmere and silk. Oh. My. God. I picked it up and could not put it down. I just kept petting it. It became a little embarressing. Then I looked at the tag to see what I was fondling so intimately and discovered the name and the content of the yarn. But then I also saw the very large number that immediately made me drop the yarn. No, it wasn't the dye lot. I can deal with a dye lot with many numbers. But a price tag with many numbers is a little more scary. I was tempted to buy a couple of skeins, just so I could pet it once in a while. But the thought of my going into debt and being kicked out of school because I can not pay tuition didn't go over so well in my head.

So instead, I settled on some Mission Falls cotton. It's discontinued. Unfortuately. It's good stuff. I've never knit with it before, so I thought I should pick some up just so I can say that I've knit with it. Just you wait and see... I will fall in love with it and will no longer be able to find it anywhere. That's usually what happens with discontinued yarns, isn't it? Anyways, I got black and a greyish-beige colour. I'm hoping to create a skirt with it but I do not have a pattern. The plan is to look up some skirt patterns and follow the appropriate numbers while making up the rest... keep your fingers crossed!

Oh... and Soleil is making good progress. Pictures soon.

Ripped

2005-06-09T21:14:00.000-04:00

See that pile of wavy red stuff in the top part of the picture?

Soleil

Well... that stuff was once twisted and looped onto itself to form a wonderful looking stockingette with subtle decreases for the waist shaping.

And then I actually read the instructions.

What? Decrease the 6 row pattern twice more? But I thought it said decrease the 6 row pattern 6 times more.

Obviously, I thought wrong.

So I ripped back about half of the what was currently completed and now the waist shaping is truly subtle. This is probably a good thing since I do not have massive hips and boobs paired with tiny waist in manner of Cindy Crawford or Tyra Banks. In the end, everything has turned out for the better so there was really no harm done.

Except maybe to my reading abilities...

Discovery!

2005-06-06T17:20:00.000-04:00

Update with Pictures!

Why do I get so excited every time I have an update with pictures? Weird... it should be the standard thing to do, shouldn't it? And yet, it's not. I just get too lazy with pictures sometimes. But anyways...

Here is what I have so far on Soleil. The lacy bottom is done and I am now decreasing for the waist shaping. I really love the yarn and the colour. It's just fabulous!

Soleil

Last weekend, I discovered the library. I know, I know. Having been a student for the past 18 years of my life, you would have thought that I know what a library is. But apparently, I didn't. So off I went to the local library and to my surprise they have knitting books there! Last week, I picked up a Vogue knitting magazine which I forgot to take a picture of. And yesterday, I got this:

For The Love of Knitting

I am just itching to read it. All those pretty colours..... A book review will be in order.

I Have Yarn!

2005-06-02T18:16:00.000-04:00

My order from Yarn Forward has arrived! And I am so excited! Yay! But first... an update (no worries, shouldn't take long... I'm not really knitting much at the moment)

Here is the Itsy Bitsy from Knitty.com knitted from Bernat Handicrafter Cotton. I have only had to rip this once and I'm about half way done. Yay me!

Itsy Bitsy

Next is the almost completed Coral Socks. See how I only need to graft the toe and weave in the ends? Yes. Well. Hopefully the toe will be grafted soon. As for the ends? If I tuck them into the sock no one will see them!

Coral Socks

And now... for the yarn...

Yarn!

The Amazon Cotton in Wine (on the right) will become Soleil, my June Stashbusters project. And the Patons Kroy Socks in Paint-something-something (on the left) will become another pair of socks. Duh.

That's it for the knitting update with pictures!

My Deepest Apologies

2005-06-01T18:02:00.000-04:00

I have been around. Really, I have. Just not around... yeah...

Sitting in front of the computer all day at work leads me to avoid my computer at home. Highly unfortuneate, I know.

Also sorry for the lack of pictures. Soon, promise.

May has come and gone and the Shrug? for Stashbusters is done. Scroll down for some pictures. I blocked it out and tried to fixed the odd shaping thing it had going on, but I don't think the blocking session was very successful. It still feels weird when I put it on... although, it does look good lying on the ground. Oh well. I'll make myself wear it a couple more times this summer. Hey, I might even try my hand at another shrug! Don't hold your breath, though.

So what's next? Well. The Coral Socks are done minus grafting the toe together. I have started and ripped the Kitchen Sink bag more times than I would like to count. So I decided to try the Itsy Bitsy first, instead. It's going well. I've only ripped it once so far!

For June Stashbusters, I think I'm going to try Soleil from Knitty.com. I have ordered the yarn from Yarn Forward in Ottawa and am awaiting the package in the mail. I will take pictures when it arrives.

I came across a brand called Kings Yarns and they make one particular brand called Kelly. From the pictures, the colours look gorgeous! Very delicate fading from one brilliant colour to another. Has anyone heard of it or worked with it or can comment on it?

Blocking Party!

2005-05-23T21:15:00.000-04:00

I finally dug out all my dirty knitted laundry and handwashed it all today. I'm very proud of myself right now. Let me explain: I HATE HANDWASHING. Absolutely abhor it. But after leaving some knitted sweaters sitting in the laundry basket all winter, I was able to work up the energy to wash them just in time for summer... when I no longer need to wear thick knitted sweaters... I know, the irony.

I was going to take a picture of the many knitted items all layed out on the floor... but I forgot... sorry...

I am still knitting away on the Coral Socks, but since I running low on knitted projects, I'm trying to make it last as long as I can. I have to wait for another pay cheque before treating myself to some yummy yarn. Until then... SLOW knitting is KEY.

Recently, I've been having the itch to try my hand at beading. It really looks like a lot of fun and I think it'd be cool to make my own jewelry. But again, any new purchases will have to wait until the bank account is more cushioned.

*Sigh...*

Yawn

2005-05-20T23:23:00.000-04:00

I have been ITCHING to start new projects! Not having yarn, though, sort of puts a damper on things. Everytime I sit down to my computer, I'm browsing through various websites trying to plan my next couple of projects before I stop and remember, "Wait. I have no yarn! And I have no money to buy yarn!" Damn.

This is the truly crapy part about not having an abundance of stash lying around. I can't just rummage through bins or bags to dig up yarn for projects. I have to figure out what I want to knit and go buy the yarn for it. I've tried to accumulate stash, but I'm just not good at it. Way to timid to buy yarn indiscriminatly. I know, this is very un-knitter-like. Forgive me.

Anyways, I still have the Coral socks on the needles. I have turned the heel and am working on the gusset. Nothing special to see... just another blob of red. I have started on the Kitchen Sink bag from Knitty.com in a burgandy Handicrafter Cotton from Bernat. (Thank goodness for Walmart... I never thought I'd say that...). But I am stuck on the bag due to a lack of circular US9 needles. This means that I must once again go out and spend money that I don't have. (Again... thank goodness for Walmart).

Sorry about the horribly boring post. What can I say? My knitting life is horribly boring right now.

Photo Shoot

2005-05-17T17:15:00.000-04:00

Here is me with the Shrug? on. As you can see, the sleeves are LONG. So long that I rolled them up to the elbow... which looks bad. The more I think about it, the more I am disappointed that the shaping is weird. Maybe it's because I haven't blocked it yet. I should do that, eh?

Shrug?

Anyone have tips on how to block mohair?

FO! Take Two!

2005-05-16T22:17:00.000-04:00

Yes, that's right, folks. Two Finished Objects in one day! Whoohoo!

The Shrug? is done. Although I have to say I'm only moderately happy with it. I lengthened the sleeves a little too much and now they are almost at my wrists rather than just below my elbows. And the supposedly large torso area is not as large as I would like. Ideally, it would reach around the front so I can pin the front parts together with some cool broach. But in order to do that the back does a funny folding thing. So yeah, anyways. It's done!

Shrug?

This one project a month Stashbusters thing is really motivating. I thought I'd be at the tail end of the month trying frantically to finish my project. But I'm WAY ahead of schedule! (Not to be boasting or anything.) If only I was this motivated during the school year!

FO! Coming Through!

2005-05-16T17:38:00.000-04:00

I have finished the Multidirectional Scarf. It is a great knit! Easy but amusing and keeps you distracted but not TOO distracted. And the yarn was fun to knit with. too! I found that the second skein didn't have as much variation in the thickness of the yarn, which made me quite happy. But the second yarn also didn't have little flecks of green in the black which made me a little disappointed. In the end, however, I think it came out on top!

Multidirectional Scarf

I still need to weave in ends and give it a good blocking. It's a little on the short side, but I think some dunking in water can help fix that.

Next up (besides the Coral Socks and the Shrug?): The Kitchen Sink/Itsy Bitsy bag(s) from Knitty.com. I picked up some Handicrafter Cotton yesterday so I may just cast on tonight!

ps... notice how I don't mention Bejewelled 2? That project has discretly left in the corner to be forgotten. I'll get back to it eventually. Promise!

You Like Me! You Really Like Me!

2005-05-11T20:49:00.000-04:00

Okay, sorry. That title sounds kinda creepy... I just couldn't think of anything better. I will explain the significance in a little bit. First off, pictures!

Here is the progress on the second Coral Sock. Looks a lot like the first one, eh? Who knew?

Coral Sock, Take 2

And here is the half-finished-waiting-for-more-yarn Shrug? I have no yet gotten around to calling the yarn store to see if they have of the same dye lot left over. I tend to procrastinate a lot. I'm a procrastinator. The annoying thing with this Shrug? is that it looks almost done. The collar should be a little longer (ie. the top ruffly part), but I can live with a less ruffly collar. The problem? There isn't enough yarn to sew up the sides. Yes, this is quite a problem.

Shrug?

And lastly (picture-wise), the Multidirectional Scarf knit with the wonderful Noro. It's pretty, isn't it? I know this is said a lot, but I'll say it again: I LOVE THE COLOUR! It's just fabulous. Something I don't love, though, is the huge variation in the thickness of the yarn. Sometimes it's sock weight thin; sometimes it's chuncky weigh thick. It's starting to annoy me a bit.

Multidirectional Scarf

Okay, so to explain the title... I was tagged by Icord over at KnotInMyThread to complete a meme. It's the first time I've been tagged! At first I read her post and thought to myself, "Oh look. There's another knit blogger that has the same name as me. Oh look. She even named her blog the same as mine! Oh wait. That's me!"

So without further a due... 10 things I like:

1. Music... I love to sing and play the piano and the guitar. I am a music junkie.

2. Metal needles... they just make things go so much faster! And trust me, at the rate I knit, I need all the help I can get!

3. My Mac Mini... Honestly. In. Love. With. This. Computer. (and I hate computers) Plus, it's pretty!

4. Alias... so addicted to this show. It's the best thing around. You should watch it!

5. Reading... I'm on a 10 book challenge for the summer. Read 10 books in 4 months. I also want to start my own library

6. Spring flowers... any flower that comes under my care will surely suffer a pre-mature death. But I love the beauty of spring flowers sprouting from the ground.

7. Thunder storms... as I sit by a fireplace with hot tea, listening.

8. Writing... I always dream that I am a writer. But when I'm honest with myself, I don't have the words to properly describe anything.

9. My parents... I often complain about them. But really, I love them.

10. Knitting... ask anyone who knows me. One of the first things people learn about me is that I'm a knitting fanatic.

5 things I may or may not have done and would like to learn or try again:

1. Learn how to be read and write Mandarin. I have spent many years trying to learn this language with no luck.

2. Travel to a foreign country. Anywhere other than Canada, the United States, and Taiwan.

3. Act. I sometimes have fantasies of being an actor. Sometimes I'd like to see if those fantasies can become reality.

4. Work in a Third World country. We do way too much talking over here. We should take what we say and act on it.

5. Go bungee jumping. Enough said.

I tag Laura at cosmicpluto knits! and Aven at Is It A Sweater Yet?. Feel free to ignore the tagging!

Damn.

2005-05-08T01:07:00.000-04:00

I did run out of yarn.

The sleeves of Shrug? are supposed to be 10 pattern repeats long, but I cut it down to 7 because of my modified gauge. I thought this adjustment would leave me with enough yarn to finish off the thing, but obviously I was wrong. I tried to make the collar smaller, but that still left me with the side seams to sew up and no yarn to sew with. So this means that I will have to some how secure another skein of yarn, make the original collar size (which means ripping mohair... just thinking about it makes me cring), sew up the sides before officially finishing the project. I honestly don't know how the store was able to knit up the sample with only 2 skeins. I'm going to end up using 4! Yes, I altered the pattern, but even if I did follow it to the tee, I wouldn't have gotten away with just 2 skeins. Weird, eh?

I think the most annoying thing about having to get more yarn is that I will only use a TINY bit of the last skein. I just have one more pattern repeat to knit before sewing up the seams. Having almost an entire skein left after a project always gets me annoyed. Just that little difference and I could have saved the extra money on the skein. Oh well, what can you do?

116

2005-05-06T19:20:00.000-04:00

That's the number of posts I still have to read on Bloglines. There are 7 blogs that I have completely neglected. Other blogs are getting close to being neglected. I don't think there's anyway for me to catch up on them all. After a little while of sitting in front of the computer, my eyes start getting blurry on me. This blurry-eyed problem is compounded by the fact that I stare at a computer all day at work. So I really don't think adding all those blogs to Bloglines was such a good idea... oh well, hopefully by the end of the summer I'll have gotten around to reading all those posts. Don't hold your breath though...

The second Coral Sock has been cast on and is my official "sitting-at-computer-reading-blogs" sock. You know what? Knitting the exact same pattern the second time is kinda boring...

The Shrug? is also progressing along nicely. I'm about half way through the sleeves, but I'm afraid of running out of yarn. (I have a habit of doing that, don't I?) Icord had the running out of yarn problem and I think I will be the second victim of the deadly disease. But since I don't have easy access to the yarn store where I purchased the yarn, I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Maybe my fairy yarn-mother will decide to grace me with her presence and magically produce more yarn. One can dream!

Do You Believe in Beginner's Luck?

2005-05-03T23:11:00.000-04:00

I have knit several pairs of socks before. Three pair, to be exact. All three times I have done a top-down pattern that required kitchener stitch to finish up the toe. All three times I been able to produce a satisfactory result. Why is it that this time the kitchener stitch looks like such crap?!

Maybe it's the cotton. I am forever cursed when it comes to cotton. I love the stuff, but it obviously doesn't love me. Oh well. What is a girl supposed to do? Ignore the fact that yarn doesn't like her and wear the darn sock anyways!

I would show you a picture of the mis-behaving sock, but my camera is also mis-behaving. (It also needs to be charged) So hopefully I will have pictures to show soon. Just wanted to let everyone know that the first Coral sock was done and the second one already cast on!

ps. Lisa, I used an online pattern called the Six Hour Sweater. I've linked it for you... the link is also on the sidebar under Stashbuster's April projects.

Update!

2005-05-02T17:52:00.000-04:00

Sorry about the lack of posts in the past couple of days. I was busy in Toronto with work training and wasn't able to upload pictures until today. So, it's time for an update!

Here are the Coral Socks. Or rather... sock. Since the photo shoot, I have started decreasing for the toe and should be ready to graft it together soon. I never know when to start decreasing. On the last pair of socks I knit, I must have ripped out the toe 10 times before getting it right. Sometimes I decrease too early and the sock is too small... sometimes too late and the socks is too large. Really, isn't there a hard and fast rule about stuff like this?

Coral Sock

And my foot is 9.5 inches long! I'm only size 8, but I held up 9.5 inches on my measuring tape and it is freakin' long! Who knew feet were such massive things?!

Here is my progress on Shrug?. Sorry about the shrunched-up-ness of the thing... its hard to see what it actually looks like without spreading it out. I've lenghtened the sleeves so they are 3/4 instead of short. I'm really liking the pattern so far and the yarn, too. Except for one little detail. There seems to be a flim on the yarn so my hands feel all greasy after I knit with it. I'm wondering if that phenomenon is specific to Stop Mohair or if it's common to all mohair. I knit a couple of scarves with other brands of mohair before and I don't remember having this feeling. Weird....

Shrug

My second April Stashbusters project! Ribby Tank is done! It's very warm. Probably because it's knit with two strands of yarn. That would be the obvious explanation. But then my arms are left rather cold. Oh well. You can't win them all! It also makes me look rather chunky. Which is not that great. But I still like it. (The tank... not the chunkiness. Who likes chunkiness?)

Ribby Tank

So while I was in Toronto, I HAD to go visit some of the yarn stores I'm constantly hearing about (or reading about) on the GTA Knitters Blog ring. So I walked for a really long time (probably an hour in total) to visit Lettuce Knit in Kensington Market. I met Laura, whose wonderful blog I read religiously. While I was at Lettuce Knit, I HAD to get some yarn. So I got this... can you tell what it is?

Yarn!

It's Noro Kureyon!

Noro!

That's all for now, folks!

I AM Crazy

2005-04-26T23:42:00.000-04:00

Thanks, ladies, for your wonderful comments. I really appreciate them!

So remember how I added a bunch of blogs onto my bloglines subscription? Well... since adding them, I have not had less than 90 new posts to read everytime I log in. The posts are piling up and I can't keep up! There are some 5 or 6 blogs I have completely neglected due to lack of time. Since I started work on Monday, my days are no longer quite so free for blog reading. You can't even imagine how excruciating it is to sit at a computer all day and not be able to read blogs. It's physically painful.

Anyways, I have sewn up the Ribby Tank. I took a picture of it today but it was hopelessly blurry so there was no point in posting it. Tomorrow evening after work will be another photo shoot and I hope it goes better than today.

I'm tired... and this post isn't making sense anymore. Right now, I'm not even quite sure what I'm typing. So yeah... I think I'm gonna head to bed.... *yawn*

WARNINGWARNING**

2005-04-25T20:21:00.000-04:00

This post will be image heavy (finally!)

I am glad to announce that I now have picture posting capabilities again. So, to catch everyone up photo-wise. Here is Rosedale lying on the floor:

Rosedale

This is me wearing Rosedale. You can't really see it, but the raglan shoulders are a little wonky. I need to block the thing again, but I haven't gotten around to it.

Wearing Rosedale

This is the Matrix Scarf waddled into some weird shape.

Matrix Scarf

Bathroom shot, yeah! Sorry about the weirdness of the shot... it's hard to take a picture of yourself in the mirror! Did you notice the weird patterning? The top part of the sweater pools nicely which is probably because I was increasing for the sleeves. Then the rest of the body has that spiral thing going on. I'm not quite sure if I like it.

Overall it fits fairly well. The length is still a little too short for my liking and it has a tendency to ride up when I move. The body is also a little loose. This means that it is due for a blocking. Hopefully, I'll be able to pull the downwards and increase the length while tightening up the body. Oh... by the way, this is Bad Penny if you haven't figured it out yet.

Bad Penny

Next up are the Coral Socks. This is Coral Sock #1, knit using a normal top-down sock pattern taken from Chicknits. The colour is a tad washed out. It is supposed to be a little more coral-y than that. (Yes, I know that "coral-y" is not a word.)

Coral Socks

Lastly, this is the Ribby Tank. It is the front/back. Since both the front and the back are exactly the same, I didn't bother showing both. (Although, technically, I have....) Anyways, I am going to go watch 24 and start sewing this baby up!

Ribby Tank

So remember that I'm knitting my socks with US1 needles. And the Ribby Tank is knit with US17 needles. So for fun I thought I'd put them next to each other for comparison.

Needles

So that ends the whirlwind tour through my month without a computer. I hope you have all enjoyed the trip. Please remember to support the local economy and stop by the gift shop on your way out. Have a safe trip home and I hope to see you here again soon!

I Must Be Crazy

2005-04-23T19:49:00.000-04:00

I really love reading knitting blogs. My friends make fun of me, "You already knit so much, you have to spend more time reading about other people's knitting?!" Frankly... Yes, I do.

Today, I was bored. Bored out of my mind. I've called a couple of people, written up a couple of cover letters, talked to people online. I'm all caught up on One Tree Hill and Grey's Anatomy and 24. All the shows on FoodTV are reruns. I've checked bloglines three time for any new postings. I'm thoroughly bored.

So I decided to add more blogs onto my bloglines. Which ones? All of the blogs on the Toronto Knit Blog Ring that weren't already on there. Right now... I've got 148 posts waiting for me. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea... especially since I start work on Monday. I will SOOOO be tempted to blogread while working. But I can't just delete the blogs now! That would be so rude! What was I thinking?

It's About Time!

2005-04-22T16:52:00.000-04:00

The Coral Socks have finally decided to co-operate with me. I have cast on for a normal pair of top-down socks with no fanciness following the tried and true pattern from Chicknits. If this doesn't work out, I will do something drastic. Let's hope it never comes to that.

The Ribby Tank has come to stand still while I wait to get another skein of yarn. Who knew two skeins wouldn't be enough?! (I'm being sarcastic there, in case you didn't know). Knitting it on US17 needles, I thought I could get away with only two skeins. Apparently, I can't. So much for getting the thing done by tomorrow, eh? Oh well, worse things have happened.

IT'S HERE!!!

2005-04-21T15:33:00.000-04:00

Remember back about a month ago when my computer died? It was around then that I could no longer post pictures. Then remember I decided to get the MAC Mini and ordered it online? Well, guess what?!

IT'S HERE!!!

The minute I saw it I started hyperventilating and jumping up and down and yelling, "OMG! IT'S HERE! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S HERE!" My parents probably think I've gone insane.

It's so small and so pretty and I can't wait to get it hooked up. But unfortunately, I will have to wait until Sunday night to do that. Argh... more waiting. I can barely stand it anymore!

Dear Mr. Instant Gratification, where are you?

Speaking of Instant Gratification, I have finished the front of the Ribby Tank. It took a total or 1.5 hours. Roughly. Maybe even less. As soon as I finish writing this post, I will cast on the back. Then maybe I will sew tomorrow. And then perhaps I will have a new tank top to wear the day after. This is optimism speaking here.

This morning I went on a mini-shopping spree. I headed to The Wool Bin in Old Oakville. Such a quait little strip that reminds me of Streetville (another quait little strip just minutes from my house that houses two yarn stores). As I drove down the crowded streets, I realized why I try to avoid such places. There is no parking. Before this morning, I cannot remember the last time I parallel parked. It is a scary business. Especially with a gazillian pedestrians on the sidewalks and just as many cars behind you... all laughing (or cursing) you as you weave your car in and out of the tight little spot. Someone please just pave a nice big parking lot! (Sorry, that was very unenvironmental of me. It was my inner consumer speaking out.)

So anyways, here's what I picked up at the yummy little yarn store. Three skeins of Stop Mohair to make the cute little shrug they have on display. Icord is making the same one and since she's the one who introduced the pattern to me, I should give her credit.

Since I had some time left on the metre after the yarn store, I stopped by the LCBO down the block and picked up a bottle of Bailey's. YUM... Bailey's.

Then I went to the bookstore and picked up At Knit's End. Stephanie, you rock my world. Enough said!

Next!

2005-04-20T17:10:00.000-04:00

So, a little while ago, I finished Bad Penny and I have to say I love it! I didn't run out of yarn, thank goodness, and I was able to length the body a bit, too! After trying it on though, I kind of wish I had added a couple more centimetres, but oh well. I'm not going back to add length. (I avoid frogging as much as possible). I was wondering if I should block it... it seems to look fine the way it is. I hate blocking, it is evil; I will avoid blocking even if it's against the rules, I don't care. The only reason I would block it now is because the sleeves feel a little snug. But I think I'll just wear it around the house for a while and see how I feel. If I can deal with the snugness of the sleeves, I will forgo blocking.

I would take pictures of it for you... but my stupid computer situation is still not worked out and I have no way of uploading pictures. So sorry...

Since finishing Bad Penny, I have knit on the Coral socks and then frogged the Coral socks 4 times. Yes, that's right. FOUR times. I tried several toe-up patterns but they were either too small or didn't look very nice or I messed up. Then I said, "screw this" and went with a top-down pattern. That time, it was too small so I am frogging yet again. I'm beginning to think this yarn does not want to be made into socks. Well, I'll teach it! It will now sit in the corner and think about how it has been a bad yarn and what it needs to do to be a good yarn again. And when it is done thinking, it will come apologize and we'll see where we go from there.

So instead, I have cast on the 6 Hour Sweater which I will rename the Ribby Tank. 6 hours! That's crazy! But I guess that makes sense since it's knit double stranded on US 13 and US 17 needles. I feel like I'm knitting with branches, hehe. I've been knitting for about 30 minutes and I'm half way through the front. Crazy, eh?

I was tempted to make the Ribby Tank my May project for Stashbusters, but I think that would be cheating. Afterall, I could finish this before May even gets here! So on second thought, I'm adding it to my April project. After all, I was 80% done Bad Penny when I assigned it April project status.

That's all folks!

That Wasn't So Bad

2005-04-14T14:20:00.000-04:00

After reading Aven's wonderful advice, I forged ahead with the chart knitting. And I must say that it wasn't as hard as I was making it out to be. I have a tendency to freak myself out, have you noticed? But anyway, I have finished knitting the charted part of Bad Penny and it doesn't look like crap so I'm happy. Except now I am dangerously low on yarn and trying not to freak out about it.

I WILL have enough to finish... I WILL have enough to finish... I hope.

So, Dani started a knit-along thingy called Stashbusters and I've officially joined. She also has a wonderful button that I'm supposed to put up on my blog... but since my computer is busted and I don't want to save the picture onto my friend's harddrive, I can't upload it. If you're reading this, Dani, bear with me for a while, sorry! The other thing about Stashbusters is that I'm only supposed to use yarn I have in my stash. This is also a problem since I only buy yarn when I have specific project in mind. So I actually don't have enough of one kind of yarn to knit up a large project like we're supposed. I actually joined it because I like the idea of knitting one large project every month. So yeah... I guess I'll have to bend the rules a bit.

(I actually thought about not mentioning this bending of rules and pretend that I'm using yarn already in my stash... but that would be lying and I can't lie to you ladies!)

Charts?

2005-04-13T13:47:00.000-04:00

I am almost at the point where I embark on my first ever chart. I am terrified. You don't understand just how frightened I am. Just picture it: I am cowering in the corner hugging my knees and sucking on my thumb, trying to shield my eyes from the big bad chart hovering over me. If my mom was around (and I was a whole lot younger) I would crying, "MOMMY!" and hiding behind her legs. I am that scared. Which is maybe why I put off knitting the chart on Bad Penny all last night. Instead, I read. Hum... maybe this being-scared-of-charts thing isn't so bad after all. At least I'll get some work done.

But alas, I know I must face my demons and forge onward with the chart knitting. I think the main reason why I am so terrified by charts is that I've never knit them before. If each square is supposed to represent one stitch, what am I supposed to do with a symbol that says "knit two together" but only occupies on square? Same questions goes for yarn overs. And am I supposed to start working from the top of the chart or the bottom? I guess I'll never figure it out until I actually tried it.

You know there are things that seem so easy when read in a book. Just follow the instructions! Yet when it comes to actually doing it, it turns out to be the hardest thing in the world. Knitting charts is that thing.

Finally!

2005-04-11T19:05:00.000-04:00

I was finally able to make it to the store and pick up some needles for Bad Penny today. As soon as I got home, I continued knitting on her and am proud to announce that I now have an inch of ribbing. Yay!

The picture of Bad Penny on knitty.com makes her look a little short. I don't really like wearing shirts that show tummy skin, it's usually not such a good view down there. But I'm wondering if the tummy skin is showing because the model has low rise pants on. And if my pants aren't as low rise as hers will my tummy skin show? It's an issue that has been floating around in my head for a while now. So I've decided to make it a tad longer than I'm supposed to. Except I might run out of yarn, which is a bad thing. So I'm stuck right now and I'm not sure how much I want to extend it and it's all a big dilemma. I'll update you as the issue progresses.

I knit on the Coral socks all yesterday and I think I'm going to frog it. It might be too small. I didn't think my feet were all that large so I cast on for the medium size and that was probably where I went wrong. Last night, just to check, I stuck my toe into what I had knit and was horribly disgusted by the sight of the yarn stretching. It looked like the fabric had been attacked by some kind of yarn-eating disease. Ew... it was gross. All that laddering I was spewing about yesterday manifested itself in ridges along the knitting and.... oh ew... I don't even have the words to describe how gross it was. Absolutely horrendous. I'll spare you the details. So I will frog it and cast on for the large size and hope somehow to avoid the laddering. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

3-4 Weeks, Baby!

2005-04-11T00:57:00.000-04:00

It's done. The Mini has been ordered online and will be here soon. I can hardly wait! I've been so giddy over this, it's ridiculous. But at least I'm not the only one. My housemate and I have been chatting non-stop about how wonderful it will be. We've decided that he must be there when I open to box to take pictures of it. Yes, like a new born baby. I understand how wrong this may seem. I don't care.

Okay, so time for some updates.

I have tried numerous things on my mom's laptop including downloading some driver thingys, but it refuses to cooperate. And so I am still picture less and getting more pissed off with every passing moment. I can now say with certainty that blogging is as much fun without having photographic evidence of my accomplishments. I could say whatever I wanted here and you have no way of know whether I was lying or not. For all you know, I could be an alien with green skin, football-sized eyes, and antenna. And besides, I like to show off and being picture-less severely inhibits my pride, hehe.

I have finished the Matrix scarf and it's very cool looking. I realized that weaving in ends on lacy stuff is a tad difficult. Where am I supposed to hide ends when there are gapping holes in the fabric? If you know, please tell me, thanks. I wore the scarf today and got rave reviews, yay! It's drapy and I love it.

I have started the Coral socks following the toe-up pattern on Wendy Knits. Although I really like how the toe works, its seems like a lot more work than top-down socks. Having to do a crochet chain was certainly an experience. My, my, my. I don't think there ever existed an uglier single chain. Trust me, it was very ugly. And as with all short rows I do, I always forget which row I'm on and manage to screw up somehow, so I had to do the toe twice before getting it right. Toe-up isn't the easiest thing to knit!

I have also decided something about cotton. Whenver I knit with cotton, it always ladders me. I've gotten over the laddering between dpn so that's no problem anymore. No, instead, cotton ladder in the middle of the needle for no apparent reason and it doesn't even matter what kind of needle it is! The Coral socks is using a cotton/acrylic blend on dpn and it's laddering. Bad Penny is using 100% cotton on circular needles and it's laddering too. Cotton just doesn't like me that way. Too bad I love cotton so much. Nice and soft and airy, just wonderful. So I tend to ignore the laddering, pretending it's not there. But since I'm a little obsessive compulsive, I waver between, "Stupid stitches, why are you laddering?! You better watch yourselves... I know where you live!" and "Whatever, it's not there. Laddering doesn't exist. Laddering? What laddering?" It's like Jackell and Hyde. It's insane.

Thoughts... and stuff.

2005-04-07T10:26:00.000-04:00

So, instead of studying like I should be, I've been thinking.

Everytime I pull out my knitting among a group of friends, I always get asked, "Why do you knit?" I always reply, "Because it's soothing." And it is. But I think there's a little more than that. In the past year or so, knitting has become a type of retreat from the hectic world in which we live. With everyone in such a hurry to get from one place to another, it can be a relaxing change to simply sit and knit.

Knitting is mystifying. To watch a ball of yarn become transformed into a piece of fabric. To watch that fabric evolve into a functional (or sometimes not so functional) garment. To know that it was all done using two pointy sticks! Think about it for a minute: it's an absolutely incredible thing! This craft that we engage in is completely magical and surreal. If you don't believe me, go to a non-knitter and hold up a piece of your knitting. I have full confidence that they will be utterly speechless and dumbfounded by it, wondering how you manipulate such simple tools into something so complex. Sometimes I am speechless. (usually when I'm looking at my own work it's because it's so ugly. But when I look at YOUR work it's because it's absolutely amazing!)

As a university studnet, I tend to stress alot. And what do I get out of all this stressing? Mountains of notes taken from lectures and written papers that aren't worth a second glance. After my 4 years at university, what will I have to show for all the work I've done? A piece of paper that says I am smarter and more knowledgable than when I started. But am I really smarter and more knowledgable? What have I learned? How much have I learned? How do we go about measuring this learning? When I emerge from several weeks bent over a piece of knitting, I can hold up a finished product. I can tell you when I started and when I ended, the materials I used and how much time I spent on it. Anyone who cares can examine the piece of knitting and evaulate it for quality. I can say I have accomplished something and I have proof of that accomplishment. I can even type of a piece of paper documenting it if I want!

While all these reasons are true and wonderful... I think I knit because I'm greedy. I love the idea of adding another piece of clothing (or assessory) to my wardrobe and I can pursue that love through knitting. Okay, let's pause here for a minute because I know that knitting is least efficient way to go about wardrobe-enhancement. It's expensive, it's time consuming, it can be frustrating, and you never know if it'll turn out exactly how you want it. Sometimes I want to pull out my hair because something isn't knitting up how I want it. It takes me a good month to finish a sweater. And my bank account is truely suffering as I try to supply my need to knit. If I want wardrobe-enhancement, I really should just take a trip to the mall (which I do, regularly). Yet, despite all these drawbacks, I like the idea of creating a piece of clothing and knowing exactly how it came to be. I like wearing a new sweater and have my friends ooh-ing and ahh-ing over it. And I know this makes no sense whatsoever, but there are something I would NEVER buy at a store but I have no problems knitting up. (For an example, please refer to the Matrix scarf... or for that matter, any other scarf I have ever knit)

So to recap, I knit because it takes my mind off of the other stresses of life and replaces it with knitting stresses. I knit because I'm greedy and I want more clothes. I knit because I like attention and I want people to faun over me. Yes, that's why I knit.

Help!

2005-04-06T00:53:00.000-04:00

I think I may have learned how to knit again. After toiling away on and 20-stitch Matrix for the whole day, I've knit a whole foot! Yay! (I'm actually not sure whether I should be celebrating or crying. 20-stitches on US11 needles, for goodness sake! How long should it be taking?)

I've decided that I want to try a toe up sock for the Coral yarn I've picked up. Just a plain toe up so I can learn how to do those tricky short rows I keep hearing about. Anyone have any suggestions for a simple pattern I can follow? Send them my way, please!

So Close

2005-04-05T10:25:00.000-04:00

I am so close!! And yet so far...

I've finished the body with 3 inches of yarn to spare. Talk about skill! Actually, it's more like good luck, hehe. The next step would to be do the trim around all the holes, but that requires smaller needles that I do not have. It's just like to me knit almost the entire garment before realizing that I don't have all the tools I need to complete the thing. But all this means that I have to wait until this weekend before going to the store and picking up the needles I need.

In the meantime, I feel like I'm re-learning how to knit. A little while ago, I picked up of Bernat Matrix to make a lace scarf/belt thingy. Following the Eros pattern from Chicknits, I've cast on with the ladder yarn. OMG. Where does this needle go? What are all the funky looking holes? Where do I wrap what yarn? Needles are falling out of my hands and stitches are falling off the needles and everything is falling to pieces. It's crazy!

And yet, I will persevere. Yes, I will persevere. I'll let you know how far I get before giving up.

Sorry!

2005-04-02T12:50:00.000-05:00

I'm super sorry for the long absence. I really have no excuse. But despite the lack of posts, I have been knitting away and am making good progress!

I've worn Rosedale out in public! And although the shoulders feel a little too tight and it is in dire need of a zipper-like contraption, it recieved rave reviews. I can't help but beam when people notice a new sweater that I knit, especially when I love the darn thing so much. The strangest praise I've recieved must be, "Eileen, can I touch you?" HAHA!! (Not in any perverse way, of course.)

Since then, Rosedale has been carefully folded and placed in my closet until I can find a zipper-like contraption or until I submit to the urge to cuddle with it 24/7. I'll let you know which comes first.

On to newer (but not necessarily better) projects! Bad Penny has been emerging from rapid moving needles for some while now. Since it's knit in the round (have I mentioned before that I absolutely love things that are knit in the round? Who came up with this ingenious idea? I have to give them a hug) I don't have to worry about no stupid side seams and sewing the darn thing up. Nope! The body is nearly done. Another 2 inches and I'll be switching colours and starting on the ribbing for the both the bottom and the two sleeves.

Over Easter (Happy Easter, by the way), I bought a couple of skeins of cotton in a coral colour. This is a drastic step for me because of my abhorance for anything remotely related to pink. I hate the colour. And yet I feel the need to expand my colour palate, venture into new and dangerous terrority. Who knows what I might come up with? So while there was no way I'd go with a baby pink, I figured a coral colour will have to do. The two skeins are destined to become socks, but since they're aren't officially sock yarn I'm a little scared about how they'll turn out. Cross your fingers for me!

Glancing over my posts for the last little whie has been a little depressing and greatly frustrating. I want pictures!! I've even gone so far as to take the pictures... but I have no way of getting them onto my mother's laptop. Trust me. I've tried. All the stupid computer does is spit error messages in Chinese (which I can't read) and laugh in my face while I pull out my hair.

**Aside: Yes, my mother's laptop is equipped with a Chinese verison of Windows because she is new to this whole computer thing. Her English is horrid so at least with Chinese she can guess at all those little pictures mean. While my own computer is lying in pieces in the corner of my room, I've commandered her laptop. The only way I can nagivate through Windows is by relying on the icons and clicking on random things. There have been several close calls where the thing starts acting up... wow... so sketch.**

Alas, there are still no pictures... my humblest apologies... I hope you can forgive me.

Rosedale, My Dear.

2005-03-27T23:45:00.000-05:00

Rosedale is finished blocking and she's is a beauty! Love her to death.

The only strange thing is... (okay, there are two strange things)

1. There are little bumps that come out around the hips and I don't know how they got there... actually, that's a lie. I know how to got there, I blocked them there. I don't know why I shaped the body to have little bumps come out at the hips. And I also didn't think they would be so obvious. Oh well, the next washing session should take care of that one.

2. The collar is quite a bit smaller than I had anticipated. It still works fine, just smaller than I would like. The next washing session should take care of that problem, too.

All in all, I'm absolutely ga ga over this cardigan. I have realized that I need some sort of enclosure for the front though. It sill simply not do to have it hanging open. But an enclosure will have to wait at least until school is over.

So something kind of sad that I've discovered about my computer. (Yes, the one that died) It was what kept my room toasty warm. Now that it's gone, my room is absolutely frigid! At time I'm huddled in the fetal position trying to think warm thoughts and fall asleep. I've had to wear socks to bed! Oh dear. Who knew the piece of crap could have played such an important role adjusting the temperature of my room?

YEAH!!!

2005-03-26T02:31:00.000-05:00

Guess what I just finished?! Rosedale! That's right! As of two seconds ago, Rosedale is done!! It's looks fabulous although still a tad small.

Tomorrow I will grind my teeth and block it. Cross your fingers for me that it will stretch a bit.

Oh, what I would give to have a camera and a working computer right now.... it's definitely not as fun sharing a FO when I don't have pictures to back up my story. For all you know, I could be lying to you while poor Rosedale is in pieces. But I assure you, I am not lying and she is finished.

The possibility of possessing a Mac Mini sometime in the near future is becoming more real every second. This is Very Exciting.

Good News and VERY BAD NEWS

2005-03-23T14:25:00.000-05:00

Good News: I have finished the yoke of Rosedale without having to rip back again. Yay! I've finally learned how to use stitch markers! I'm now working up on the collar and it seems to going pretty quickly. After the collar it's the button bands and I'm done! I haven't decided whether I want to go for the zipper or not... The other choice is little toggle thingys. But to put on any type of enclosure means extra non-knitting work and I'm not usually so fond of that. So we'll see.

Also, it knitting up to be just the right size, if not a little snug. I'm hoping that blocking will loosen it out a little bit so that blood can still get to my hands when I'm wearing it. Anyone wanna confirm that for me? (and if you're wondering how I figure out it was tight around the arms.... yes, I tried it on whie it was still on the needles, horrific I know, but there you go. Please don't judge me.)

VERY BAD NEWS: I would absolutely love to post a picture of Rosedale for you. Mostly because I want to show off and brag. But alas, that is not possible at the moment. You see, on Sunday night as I was working away on my term papers, my computer up and died on me. Completely dead. It could have unplugged itself and hurled itself off the CN Tower and would not be more dead. (makes me wonder... did I really treat it that badly? Was I really such a disappointing and abusing owner? hum... maybe I was.) We should have held a funeral for it. So not only did I loose all my information for my research papers (which were due yesterday) I now no longer have a computer. No computer means no pictures. Sorry.

The only good news to come from this event is that I may be able to get a new computer instead of getting the old one fixed. (It was a very crappy computer... see? Not such a good owner, oh well.) I've been eyeing the Mac Mini and the more I look at the thing the more I want it. It's absolutely adorable. Go look at it. It's so cute! Anyways, to get a physical computer in my hands might take a while (shipping for the Mini takes 3-4 weeks), so that means I won't be able to post pictures for at least that long. So diappointing. Sorry.

And for those who care: my housemate has lent me his laptop and that's what I've been using to put together a couple of half-assed papers. One professors has given me an extention until Friday (yay! Love her!) and the other one doesn't quite believe that my computer's fried. I'm tempted to drop it on his desk and say "Let's see you fix it!" Sheesh.... okay, I'm done ranting.

So Screwed And Falling Asleep

2005-03-20T13:20:00.000-05:00

I'm this close to going insane. *imagine me holding up my thumb and forefinger... they are nearly touching*

There are times (like this one) when I wonder why I do the things I do. For example, why do I pay thousands of dollars in tuition and living expenses so that professors can conspire against me and plot the fastest way to send me to the "hospital"? Why do I convince myself that I want to be in school when all I really want to do is sit around a knit? Why? WHY WHY WHY?!

Can you tell that I'm not doing very well right now?

Anyways, I have been knitting and it is the only thing keeping me sane. Well... actually... maybe I spoke too soon. I suddenly remember the murderous rage the Rosedale cardigan put in me a couple of days ago. Stupid raglan sleeves... But we've seemed to come to terms with each other and she is finaly co-operating (albiet under a very tight supervision consisting of counting stitches every two seconds) and I have not had to rip back since the post.

Speaking of ripping, I had fun watching my housemate's eyes pop out of his head a little while ago. We were watching TV (which happens WAY too often), and I was ripping back the raglan decreases. So I pull out the needle and start unravelling the thing and all he can do is stare at me with an absolutely horrified look.

"What are you doing?!"

Oh, it was classic! You really should have been there to see it. Wish I had a camera so I could share it with you all. I should do things like that more often... it's so very entertaining.

I Am Procrastinating.

2005-03-16T22:51:00.000-05:00

Stitch markers?! What stitch markers?!

I obviously do not grasp the concept of using stitch markers. You know those rings that go on the needles? They tell you that you need to do something once you reach that point in your knitting, right? See? I understand it in theory, but not in practice.

I've joined the yoke on Rosedale. It's looking fabulous. I love it. I'm getting comments everywhere I take it. People are fancinated that I am knitting a caridgan. It's great.

So what's the problem? I'm working away on the raglan decreases and I think to myself, "Self, you should probably count stitches right now to make sure you have the right number." Then I respond, "Good idea, Self! I'll do that right now." Then I count the stitches and realize I have too many. What happened? I forgot to decrease at the stitch marker. So I rip it back and reknit it again.

And I keep working away until I think to myself again, "Self, you should probably count stitches right now." And I respond, "Good idea, Self!" And I count and I have too many again. Yes, once again I forgot to decrease... at practically the same spot at before. So I rip it back and reknit it again.

And then I'm working away, trying to make sure I decrease where those lovely little rings are. And I think to myself....

Are you detecting a pattern here? Because I am.

If you're guessing that I had to rip back the stupid raglan 3 times to fix a mistake I made at the same spot everytime, then you're right.

Oh, and those lovely little rings? They're more like spawns of the devil. Harsh, I know, but these are desparate times.

Making Progress

2005-03-11T14:38:00.000-05:00

Rosedale's body is finished! Wow... that was a lot faster than I thought it would be. The last time I knit a sweater, it took about a hundred years. I'm so surprised how quickly it is knitting up. I've moved on to the second sleeve and will hopefully finish it soon. I hate giving a tentative timeline because I know as soon as I do, the project will end up going out of the window... which is bad. Very Bad.

I Actually Forgot To Post

2005-03-07T14:55:00.000-05:00

It must have been last week... when I was still on that spending high, remember? I made my way to elann.com and bought this:

It's destined to become Bad Penny from knitty.com. I'm a little worried, though. You see, as much as I like to spend money, it actually scared me quite a bit. To be honest, I'm terrified of spending money. I'm afraid that I would get what I'm looking for and by the time I figure it out, it'll be too late to return it. Does this stop me from buying things? Absolutely not! But it does make me think twice before handing over the plastic.

This purchase was definitely a rushed buy. I didn't take as much time as I usually do to ponder and debate with myself. And I'm not sure if I'm completely satisfied for the colour, either. The varigated is for the body and the solid is for the trim. I initially hoped that the solid would match with the varigated, but the colour is a little off. I wonder how noticable it will be when knitted up.

Now, you should be asking me: when are you going to knit this puppy? My answer: I have no freaking idea.

Show And Tell

2005-03-04T22:53:00.000-05:00

Sorry about the lack of posts this week. It's been hectic.

So I lied earlier... I didn't exactly finish the Broadripple socks... I didn't weave in the ends of one of the socks... but I didn't care and I wore the socks tonight anyways. They're so soft and comfy! The strange thing is that they don't breathe as much as I thought they would... after all, they're cotton! Oh well. I still like them.

Here's a picture of them on my feet.

And here's a picture of them on the floor.

I also have pictures from Rosedale. I have finished the first sleeve but left them on the needles instead of transferring them to scrap yarn. I was too lazy. I'll do it when I need the needles for the second sleeve.

And here is what I have of the body. I have finished the decreases for the shaping and am working my way to the arm hole.

It's knitting up a little smaller than I thought it would. But I'm not worried yet 'cuz I figure it will grow during blocking. I'm right, right? Please tell me I'm right.

I've also ripped out the trim around the Diamond Vest and am re-knitting it with more stitches than before. I had initially picked up 1 stitch for every 2, but that made it way too narrow. So I've picked up more this time and it's looking good!

That's all for now. Hope everyone has a wonderfully knitty weekend!

Psst!

2005-03-04T16:01:00.000-05:00

FYI, Broadripple socks are done as of 2 minutes ago. I assure you, they're yummy. Pictures to follow either late tonight or tomorrow.

Quickie

2005-02-27T13:10:00.000-05:00

Just a quick post saying that I have finished the first sleeve of Rosedale and have started on the body.

Broadripple sock #2 has stalled due to the frantic knitting of Rosedale.

I bought two balls of Matrix by Bernat to make a fancy scarf/belt thingie. But that will have to wait until I get caught up with school work... or drop out, either will do.

Progress

2005-02-24T20:30:00.000-05:00

I went to Jack Astors today for the first time in a LONG time. And guess what? They've done a major renovation! They've upgraded the decor a little bit and added a lot of plush booths instead of the old wooden ones. And they've redone their menu. But I have to say that I'm disappointed. The menu is tiny with very little selection. The pan bread that used to be unlimited with entrees now cost $1.25 each. And there are no vegetarian meals! Not one! I didn't like the old Jack Astors at all. Not I really don't like the new Jack Astors. I don't reccomend it at all. In fact, I reccommend that you don't go. It's really that bad.

On a knitting note, I have been making progress with both the Broadripple and the Rosedale. The heel of the Broadripple (sock #2) has been turned and I'm working on the guesset. And I'm half way through the first sleeve of the Rosedale.

After the Rosedale is finished (and I don't know when that will be), I'm going to start on spring and summer stuff. Hopefully, if I begin knitting that stuff now, it'll actually be done for summer! Keep your fingers crossed!

So that's all I have to say... wow, these posts are getting rather boring, aren't they? I'm just going to have to knit faster and finish these projects!

Rosedale

2005-02-22T23:56:00.000-05:00

I started the Rosedale Cardi yesterday! This is a very exciting experience! I started with one of the sleeves and I've found that the Highland splits quite easily. While this isn't so ideal, it still knits fairly nicely.

For the past couple of days I had a very strong urge to spend money. This was a very bad craving, but I was able to satisfy it today. I went shopping with a friend and spent a lot of money. Lot of clothes which is always fun. I also picked up needles that I need for the body of the Rosedale but I probably won't need it for a while.

I really want to make fun lacy scarf for the summer. Hopefully one that can double as a belt. I'm thinking of making it out of Eros or Matrix (from Bernat). Anyone have a good pattern for it?

Well, that's about it... nothing interesting, I know. I'll have to find some time to take pictures of the Broadripple and the Rosedale... by the end of the week, probmise. Anyways, hope everyone is having a great week with lots of fun knitting!

One Done

2005-02-21T21:55:00.000-05:00

I have finished one Broadripple sock. And I made it too short. Actually, my foot fits inside just fine, but it's a tad on the tight side. I made it about 1/2 inch shorter than my actual foot because the Esprit is so stretchy. But I think it will be more comfortable at full length. So instead of ripping it out now, I'm going to start on the second sock and make it full length, then go back and lengthen the first one.

The colour way of the Esprit makes rather strange patterns on the sock. For instance, one side of the sock have very clear blue/white strips while the other side is all baby blue. Kinda annoying, but I'm way too lazy to try and change it. So I'm going to ignore it.

I had an hour to waste today so I headed over to Chapters to look at knitting magazines and books. They made me wish I was a faster and more efficient knitter so that I could make all those cool sweaters. But for now, I'll have to settle for my slow knitting.

ps. I have a really strong urge to go and spend money... not a good sign.

Wow

2005-02-20T17:57:00.000-05:00

I am obviously blind.

After writing the other post, I went merrily away to do other things. Then I came back to check the blog and realized that the post had gone through. Twice. So I lied. Well, anyways, now you have two renditions of that post. Hopefully, I won't be as blind in the future, but I highly doubt that. Oh well.

Argh

2005-02-20T16:04:00.000-05:00

A couple of days ago I had written out a really great post saying that school was stressful, but I had found sometime to start on the Broadripple socks. Well, my stupid computer decided to play a nasty trick on me and deleted the post before Blogger could upload it. I haven't had to time to post since then.

So let me repeat myself.

Last week was horrid. I really don't understand why professors all decide to pile on the work at the same time. Most likely it's a conspiracy. They want to incapcitate us all before Reading Week so that we can't do anything but stare at the wall while our brains readjust to reality. But despite that, I have started on the Broadripple Socks. I love this pattern! And I love this yarn! The Esprit knits up so quickly that before I knew it I was turning the heel. (Or maybe it was because the yarn was so yummy that I couldn't bare to put it down... and as a result failed my geology class... that's besides the point.) The Espirt has some elastic in it, and I have to admit that it took some time getting used it. It felt very odd to have the yarn stretch so much under my hand, but after a few rows it was fine. I am working on the gusset of the first foot (after I got to the heel of the sock I really had to put it down and get some work done).

Anyways, I am now home for the week. I left the Bejewelled Shawl at school because, let's be honest here, there's no way I'm going to touch it. I've got a box of Highland waiting for me and I'm waiting to start swatching for it. So excited! I think I'm going to force myself to finish at least one sock and start the other before getting to the Highland.

Oh! And my dad has been complaining about the neck and arm holes of his Diamond Vest. Completely understandable and I know what the problem is. I picked up one stitch for every two, but that made the holes much to small. So I'm also going to fix that up before starting on the Highland.

That's all for now, I'll keep ya posted!

Quickie

2005-02-18T01:56:00.001-05:00

I'm headed off to bed. I just wanted to say that I LOVE the Esprit. It's such a joy to knit with! I think it's the cotton part of it. I just love cotton! The elastic stretchiness was a little weird at first, but easy to get used to.

I also love the Broadripple pattern. It's knitting up so fast! I just started yesterday and I'm already at the gusset of the first sock. I've never knit a sock so quickly! But that may have something to do with the wonderfulness of the yarn and my subsequent inability to stop knitting on it.

Mid-term tomorrow, wish me luck!

Picture Day

2005-02-16T14:17:00.000-05:00

Guess what I got in the mail on Monday?!

That is destined to become the Broadripple sock from Knitty.com. I can't wait! I also received my Highland, but I don't have a picture because I left it at home before coming back to school this week. It would be WAY too distracting and I have enough to do as it is. I'll just say that I LOVE the colour and will be attacking it during Reading Week (3 days and counting!). I will take a picture of it next week and hopefully it will turn out nicely.

I was able to the needles I was missing and so prompty finished the Shaker Rib hat once I was back at school. This is what it looks like (don't mind the ends... I was too lazy).

The problem with this hat is that it's much to big for my head even though I used smaller needles than suggested. So it's destined for the frog pond and perhaps I will decide to reknit it with even smaller needles. I haven't decided and frankly I'm bored with it. This is what happens with people who have short attention spans.

I also got some black mohair (Paton's Devine) over the weekend and am in the process of reknitting the Bejewelled Shawl for my mother. I'm not sure if I like it with the black mohair, especially since it's a much thicker yarn than the Jewel FX. I'm worried that the bits of Jewel will get lost in the Devine and then what's the point? I'm also worried that the black is too much and a little too overwhelming. I haven't decided.... but here's what I have so far.

This is going to be a hard project to keep going. I think this must be the 8th time I've reknit it... argh. Let's hope I can stay motivated. Here's a close up of the stitching.

Well, that's all folks. Let's hope that I can survive until Friday before school rears it's ugly head and eats me alive.

Pause

2005-02-12T18:40:00.000-05:00

I've reached the point on the Shaker Rib hat where I need dpn. But I have a problem. I do not have dpn in the size I need. Again. What's with the lack of needles around here?! This is probably just as good considering that die week I've got coming up. I really need to concentrate on writing papers and studying for tests. I really shouldn't be browsing knitty.com and compiling a list of patterns I want to knit. I really shouldn't be looking up yarns all over the internet and wondering where they would work with a certain pattern. I really should be doing work, but I'm writing a post.

This is my solution. I am off to buy needles on Monday afternoon. (I need many sizes, if you've been following along.) I will finish the Shaker Rib hat during "spare time". I will do work all week, hand in all assignments on time and not fail my test on Friday. After Friday, I'm free! Then I can knit to my hearts content for all of Reading Week while neglecting sleep, food, and general health and hygiene. It will be great. Wish me luck!

Needling About

Green Socks

Bridal Shower

Back from Africa

Village Life

Greetings from Kenya

Socks, Again

More Knitting, Finally

Finished Socks

I Have Forgotten How To Knit

Progress, Finally

I Am A Slow Knitter

Socks!

Long Time No Post

School Just Gets In The Way

I Suck At Taking Pictures

Mittens Are A Curse

That Was Fast

Cable Hat

Stashing

Update #6

Update #5

Update #4

Update #3

Update #2

Update #1

Uh... Hi.

Ideas, Anyone?

Short Rows Are A Curse

I'm Still Alive... Barely

Sock #1 - Done.

I Can Knit Socks Again!

I've Been Bad... But Not That Bad

I'm An Addict.

Sorry... Nothing Yet

Winder On The Way

To Wind Or Not To Wind?

Wanna See Worms?

Woah.

No, I'm Not Dead

So Close!

The Wave Effect

Time-Waster

I've Been Bad

Knitting Convert

Randomness

Shopping Is Good

Round and Round, Part 2

Round and Round

Pictures, Finally!

Discovery!

Uh... help?

I Am An Idiot

My Camera Has Been Kidnapped

Local Yarn Store

Ripped

Discovery!

I Have Yarn!

My Deepest Apologies

Blocking Party!

*Yawn*

Photo Shoot

FO! Take Two!

FO! Coming Through!

You Like Me! You Really Like Me!

Damn.

116

Do You Believe in Beginner's Luck?

Update!

I AM Crazy

**WARNING**WARNING**

I Must Be Crazy

It's About Time!

IT'S HERE!!!

Next!

That Wasn't So Bad

Charts?

Finally!

3-4 Weeks, Baby!

Thoughts... and stuff.

Yawn

WARNINGWARNING**