Knittalicious

Lots of stuff

2010-06-27T16:48:00.006-04:00

It has been way too long since my last post, and I actually took kind of a break from knitting for a few months. But I'm back at it with a pair of socks -- I'll post a picture when I finish them... or 5 months after I finish them. The yarn is BEAUTIFUL but it's that variegated purple yarn that I was using for those "Spot Check Socks", but I'm worried about how it will look knit up. We will see! The pattern I'm doing is the Berlin Muster one I've done before and loved, but I'm being reminded now how much of a headache it is. You have to follow the chart so closely or else you mess up.

Here are my finished projects from winter:

1) Felted Fair Isle Hat. I was actually intending for this to turn out as a beret but it didn't really look like a beret at all and just looked like a big hat. So I felted it! And it worked pretty well. Kind of tight in one area but not bad! So that was exciting. I made up the pattern based on looking at other fair isle patterns, and when i got to the decreases, completely improvised. It luckily worked. :)

I also made these ADORABLE little felted star things that are supposed to be ornaments but they are just little stars right now. I don't have pictures of them but I will take some and post them because they are really cute.

2) Shifting Sands Fingerless Mitts. Okay. Just for the record, before I knit these guys, I was SO not a believer in fingerless mitts. What was the point? They don't keep your hands warm because your fingers are the parts that get cold. Well I was wrong. I love them! Granted, they're not for outdoors in the harsh winter of South Bend, Indiana. But they are great inside in our cold, carbon-friendly apartment! They're very comfortable, and I'd wear them around the house all the time to keep my hands warm while I'm on the computer or doing stuff around the house.

I used some of my purple Malabrigo yarn that I love so much to make these and they feel so amazing on my hands. They do pill, but I've read that a textured pattern like this helps to keep the pilling down. But I love the color and the pattern really highlights the kettle dyed yarn so well. LOVE LOVE LOVE them. And knitted up so quickly!

3) Glittens! I don't really know what the proper name for these are, but I am also so proud of these! I bought this yarn at the South Bend Farmers' Market (from Alpacas of Algaesia) and it is so soft and great on my hands. I've been wanting to make a pair of these convertible glove/mittens for a long time now, so I am happy to say I've marked this one off the list.

Mittens...

Gloves!

That's all for now!

Hemlock Ring Blanket

2009-10-22T10:22:00.009-04:00

Mystery knit revealed: A wedding gift for my sister and her husband!

I spent all summer knitting it, and I'm very pleased with how it turned out. It does still ripple a little, but from what I can tell, most people's Hemlock Ring Blankets do.

No real adjustments, except I made the flower a couple rows bigger.

Overall, I loved the pattern. It was difficult and challenging and required a lot of concentration in the beginning flower part, but once you get the pattern down, it's fine. Though, I still messed up and had to do some parts over! Luckily, I got it figured out.

The yarn I used was Cascade Ecological Wool, as the pattern was written for. I was hoping to knit it in something softer, but this was really the best option I found when I went into the yarn store. It wasn't my favorite, but it certainly seems durable, and it did soften up some after washing it. But the funniest part was that when I did this pattern, I did the full extension by the Rainey Sisters, and when I was halfway around the bind-off I RAN OUT OF YARN! Keep in mind that Ecological Wool only comes in 450-yd skeins, so I was freaking out a little. But luckily I found a friendly ravelrer who sent me extra yarn she had :) Phew!

So, yay! Finished (and finally blogged)! And, more importantly, happily married!! :) :)

Hiatius from blogging, but never from knitting!

2009-07-05T15:52:00.006-04:00

So many things! I'll go over them quickly. I lost my camera case a little while back, so I improvised and knit up a new one with some of my extra Peace Fleece, the same yarn I used for my sweater.

And what would a camera case be without an embroidered sheep on the back?

I also started a pair of Spot Check Socks, but I probably will never finish them. I'm not going to have enough of the green yarn and I'm not extremely in love with the color combination. I think it's a fabulous pattern for variegated yarn - it shows off the spectrum of colors without overwhelming the eye. But of the projects I've seen, my favorites are when the solid yarn is a color within the spectrum of the variegated. Oh well. Maybe I'll frog them someday when I have a solid color that I like more.

And for Kristen's baby shower!! I made up a chart for a cardinal because if the baby is a boy, my cousin Charles refuses to let him wear a blue hat in the hospital lest he unconsciously be swayed to cheer for the wrong team in his impressionable infantile stage. I love how it turned out, but I really need to work on my tension while color knitting.

And I've resumed my argyle hat project from a year ago!! This time not making the hat in the round, and it's much more manageable. I'll go back and do the criss-crossy lines afterwards because it sounds like that's easier.

And now for my current project!! It's a mystery knit! ;) I arrived in Beirut not quite two weeks ago and on the long plane rides over this is what I did while I wasn't sleeping. It's coming along nicely, but I still have a long way to go!

Here's a bit more of a hint at the pattern, some knitters may recognize it from its stardom on Ravelry. It's a fun knit, but does require concentration, at least every 5th row.

Well that's all for the knitting! I have (of course) already found out where a knitting store in Beirut is, but have yet to visit. Sounds cute though. I'm sad though because I apparently missed some competition or contest they had going on with a display of a bunch of people's work. Maybe next time! Maybe they have some knitting at the sou' (the market that they have every few days). I'll keep you updated!

Mrs. Darcy Cardigan

2009-04-12T21:20:00.016-04:00

Finished!!!!!
Pattern: Mrs. Darcy Cardigan
Needles: US 9, Addi Turbo -- THE BEST EVER. I'm addicted to these needles.
Yarn: Just barely over 3 skeins Peace Fleece Worsted, color: Shaba Green, from the Red Purl, of course :) The yarn is a little itchy, but if I'm wearing it over a long sleeve shirt, it doesn't bother me usually. I just need to wash it with some lanolin, I think.

Modifications: I made the bottom part under the twisted rib a little bit longer, but it still feels a little short. Next time I make it I will probably do it longer and maybe start with fewer stitches and increase for a more fitted sweater. I also had read that the shoulders tended to be a little small, so I made the sleeve cap a couple rows longer than the pattern called for, but I realized afterward that the problem is that they would fit better if there were one more increase before starting the sleeve cap. But my shoulders end up fitting fine. I also did the decreases on the neckline more spaced out to make it a narrower neckline, and I like how it turned out. I wrote out all the exact stitches for my mods so maybe I will post those on my Ravelry in a few days.

Aren't the buttons cute?

I blocked all the pieces, and then seamed them all together, which was much less painful than I was anticipating. Though I just kind of made up what I was doing at the shoulders. Meh. It works I guess.

The whole thing took me about 8 weeks but it really should have just taken me like 4 or 5. Oh well. I ran out of yarn twice and then had to bum a ride off a gracious friend (Thanks again!) to the yarn store when my car was broken.

But it's done. Yay. Also, Trevor's hat is like SO CLOSE. Next week. Like Tuesday. I promise.

Forever-Scarf is FINSHED!

2009-02-21T23:51:00.007-05:00

And isn't it pretty on her? :) It did take me forever, but I do think the finished product looks really nice. Especially after I blocked it. I didn't realize what wonders blocking does for such little trouble! I was dreading blocking, but it was so not bad. I just soaked it for like five minutes, till the yarn was saturated, pulled it out and laid it out on a towel. Then I put another towel on top of it and walked on it so that it'd dry more. Then pinned it out, and let it dry overnight. And then it was good to go in the morning! Amazing! So easy! And it really retained its shape. I will never question the greatness of blocking again.

The details... (also on my Ravelry)
Pattern: Clapotis
Needles: US 6
Yarn: 3 skeins of Blue Sky Alpaca & Silk
Modifications: I did 4 repeats of the increases instead of 6 repeats. Then I did 2 extra repeats of the straight rows.

That's it for the Clapotis! Finished finally. Then I went about a week and a half without knitting anything (It was rough.. my needles were starving!!), but I got more yarn yesterday, to start on the adorable Mrs. Darcy Cardigan. I cast on last night, and worked on it all day today. Made quite a bit of progress!

Exhibit A (morning):

Exhibit B (evening):

Aaaand, I got some yarn for a hat for my sister's fiance.

Well, is that enough pictures for one post? If you can't tell, I'm happy to be knitting again. I also bought some sleek new needles that I'm making this cardigan on. They're so slick and fast. Love 'em. Worth the $15.95 I guess.. eek! But they are great.

The end.

Quickest Project Ever

2009-01-31T10:19:00.009-05:00

I made this cowl in less than 24 hours. I even blocked it because it went so fast. That's a big deal. I've never blocked anything before. It helps that school hasn't really picked up yet, but it was just a really quick and fun and pretty knit. I had been wanting to try this pattern for a while now, and it was a nice break from my clapotis for my mom, that is still taking me forever. I'm actually getting close to finishing the clapotis though, but I ran out of yarn (as expected), so I'm getting some more today.

Anyway, back to the cowl. Pretty pattern, especially with this yarn. It is very similar to the pattern for Beth's hat, and the yarn is almost the same, too, just slightly lighter than the purple in her hat. I like it, but it has a bad habit of slouching. I even made it on smaller needles than the pattern called for, but it won't really stand up straight. Can't figure it out. And I couldn't have made it even smaller because then I'm pretty sure I couldn't get it over my head.
Well, enough of the goofy pictures, I was just having fun with the color accent on my camera, but the true color is in the photo below.

Also, the details.
Pattern: Crofter's Cowl (available on Ravelry)
Needles: US Size 7
Yarn: Malabrigo worsted merino, about half a skein.

That's it. More yarn today, hopefully I'll finish this forever-scarf by next weekend.

XOXO.

Appropriately Timed

2009-01-16T14:45:00.007-05:00

Just finished my first sweater ever!! And I wore it today and it kept me warm in weather that feels like it is -30 degrees out. YIKES. WHY DID I COME SO FAR NORTH FOR SCHOOL???? I don't understand. At least my knitting gets put to use.

But yeah. It's a sweater. I'm so proud and excited! And I finished it in just under 3 weeks! Not bad, huh?

Again, here is the pattern: The Laura Sweater
Yarn: 2 skeins of "I Love This Yarn" ($2.79 a skein. SCORE!) from Hobby Lobby
Needles: US size 8

I have a few notes on my ravelry about this pattern because I was trying to adjust it to my size/gauge and I didn't do a swatch because I never do swatches because... I'm lazy. It's a little tight in the shoulders and the collar tends to puff out at the bottom but some people have said they liked the look of it? Dunno. Whatever, IT IS A SWEATER AND I MADE IT. And that's cool. I want to do a winter photo shoot wearing it outside when it warms up a tad.

Knitted Gifts Galore!

2009-01-05T00:14:00.006-05:00

Here is a long overdue post. I'll try and be concise because I have a lot of things to talk about and I usually ramble..

Finished Objects:
1.) Beth's Dashing Wristwarmers!

Beth picked out the yarn (and paid for it!! What a perfect deal for both of us!). She picked out nice yarn too. The charcoal colored yarn is 100% baby alpaca wool, turned out gorgeous and so warm and fuzzy and sooo soft to knit with. It doesn't have great stitch definition, which the pattern does look good with, but I still like this pattern with the alpaca wool. They didn't photograph very well, but you can see the cables in real life, and the wristwarmers have a great texture and body to them. Knitted on US size 5 needles.

2.) Beth's Meret

This gorgeous yarn is Malabrigo merino wool. It was fun to knit, and it felt perfect on bamboo needles. I trimmed the wristwarmers in this wool too, and the alpaca was used for the rim of this beret. Knitted on US size 7 needles. Maybe a little tight of a gauge, but it worked. I agonized and agonized about blocking this hat (Beth can attest) but in the end, I didn't. I think it would have looked prettier lying flat if I had blocked it, but I like the shape it has when worn without blocking. And it was finals week, so yeah...

Of course, we closed out the evening with a fabulous photo shoot of Beth in her matching warm accessories.
OK. Now fast forward to break-knitting.

3.) I'm working on a Clapotis for my mom. It was supposed to be done by Christmas and a surprise. Now it is neither of those things. Oh well, such is life.
Just look at that gorgeous yarn. 50% silk, 50% alpaca by Blue Sky Alpacas.

I'm not even doing the full version of this wrap and it is still taking me forever. I think I'm also a little annoyed because I'm knitting it at a pretty loose gauge, using size 6 needles for what I would normally use probably size 4 needles. Well, I got a little bored, and so I have moved onto my new project....

4.) MY FIRST SWEATER EVER. OMG.

I'm getting there slowly but surely. I was just able to try it on today, how fun. It is going to be for my sister, but she has warned me that turtlenecks aren't her thing, so maybe I will end up keeping it.
Haha, so obviously I'm not stopping at this awkward length of a sweater, and I will attach sleeves, too. But I was so excited to try it on! It's going to be a real sweater! And the best part about this pattern is that it's knit top-down, meaning NO SEAMS. Wow, awesome. Also funny that I chose this color yarn. I'm kind of sick of it now because it is just about the exact same color as the one for the clapotis for my mom. But nice sweater color, no? Oh another funny thing. This yarn was SO CHEAP. Hobby Lobby. I swear I got enough yarn for the whole sweater under $5. Not bad, huh?

5.) Number five isn't a gift from me, but rather gifts FOR me. Sadly, no pictures yet. But descriptions!! Elizabeth came back from Australia with some yarn for me from New Zealand... An outrageous pairing of animal hair: sheep and POSSUM. what. I know. But she swears it's all the rage in New Zealand. It's really soft anyway. And such pretty colors. Purple and green, my favvvvss :)

And Joe brought me back yarn from the Aran Islands!! So much too! And so pretty. It's like a maroon-ish color, but more pinkish than the stuff I've been working with lately. Fuschia. It is a lot though, so I want to try and make something big maybe (This is fun, knitting big things..). Or a few little things that match.

Ok, that is all. I'm done. PHEW! What a giant post. And this is just the beginning of my pictures. If you are not satisfied you can see the rest on my flickr page.

Also, I want to apologize to Ellen, because my post is too long and too soon after hers. So read hers now please, her mittens are beautiful. :)

Ellen's first pair of mittens

2009-01-03T21:58:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone! Its Ellen and I have finally posted on the knitting blog. These are my first pair of mittens!!! Exciting right?! I gave them to my mom for Christmas. I am working on my second pair and they are looking even better! So I hope that everyone is having an amazing beginning of 2009. :)

See you all back at school.

More Mittens

2008-12-14T17:23:00.004-05:00

Quick post during finals week...

My second pair of mittens are finished. Have been for a few weeks actually. The first one is a little to tight right after the thumb, and the other one is a little too short. But they were good enough, so I didn't redo them or anything. I have been wearing them a lot actually. I like these colors more than the green ones, but those are kind of fun too. I worry that they look a little frumpy though. Sidestory: I was walking one day with a friend and telling him how I worried that my green mittens looked frumpy (I was wearing them) and we passed another girl I knew and she complimented me on them. We both started laughing after she had passed because I wasn't sure if she had heard our conversation and was trying to boost my confidence or if it was actually genuine. Anyway, here are pictures of the finished mittens #2! I don't have that many either, but maybe I'll take more soon.

Also, be on the lookout for another post soon of Beth's wrist warmers and beret! Finished that project last night and ended the evening with a FABULOUS photoshoot.

(One last picture, where you can see the rim of marron at the bottom of the cuff. I like it.)

Mittens!

2008-10-09T19:05:00.012-04:00

It's been way too long. Knitting has been kind of slow since I've been back up at school, but at least once a week during Gossip Girl Mariel and I get some knitting in. At the beginning of the year I was trying to do that argyle hat, but it was such a mess. I noticed when I searched online, most people do argyle knit flat and then seam up the socks or hat or whatever. But I wanted to be brave and do it in the round. (Actually, I'm just scared of seams.) But sure enough, it was just an absolute mess and I kept messing up each time I started the hat -- probably four or five times. So I've set that aside for a while. I'm determined to someday do it, but it takes much more planning and patience than I realized before.

So what HAVE I been knitting then? Mittens! As promised! I finally picked up that fun green yarn that I bought at the Knit Nook last winter and decided to learn how to make mittens. I guess I had put off making mittens because I thought they were going to be hard. So I searched for a very simple pattern, one without any increases for the thumb. They went really quickly and they were pretty fun to knit. And the best part -- they were easy!

Pattern: Instant Mittens
Needles: US size 8
Yarn: Tessin, 43% super wash wool, 35% acrylic, 22% cotton; color 65806; (not quite) 1 skein (110 yds)

I'm pretty pleased with the way they turned out, at least as a first pair of mittens. But I only knitted from one ball of yarn, so I didn't get the double warmth thing the pattern talks about. And I think I would increase for the thumb after all because there are a few holes near the thumb. We'll see how they actually hold up when winter hits in a few weeks.... Eek!

So one pair down. Then two weeks ago, a few of us girls from the dorm went to this knitting shop, the Red Purl, which I had found online when I was craving yarn. It's in Niles, MI, just about 15 minutes away, in the most adorable little neighborhood! The store was so cute too! Funky red woodwork with stuffed sheep in the window decked out in cowboy hats and boots. And they had a dog! And CAKE. Because we just picked the best day possible to go - their one year anniversary. So there were a bunch of women hanging out and knitting and there was cake and, best of all... ALL THE YARN WAS ON SALE! I was pretty ecstatic. Yarn shopping just puts me in the best mood. So I got some Malabrigo yarn for 25% off and some pretty maroon yarn for 10% off.

I have no idea what I'm going to do with the purple yarn. I bought it because I was just enamored with the color and, again, the gorgeous subtleties from the kettle dying. I should try that... Anyway, I do have something to show for the maroon yarn.

More mittens, of course. ;) Notice how well it matches my bag! I'm convinced my knitting bag must have subconsciously inspired my color choices. Here is the pattern I'm using. This one has thumb increases, but I think I'd tweak the pattern if I used it again. I still am getting this mitten thing down.

It's midterm week so I haven't gotten to work on them much lately, but Fall Break is coming, and we all know what that means -- knitting time!

Till then,
Teresa

Not Socks!

2008-08-05T20:47:00.012-04:00

So I haven't posted in a while, but that doesn't mean I haven't been knitting! Though, as promised, there have been no more socks! (I just offered to make my sister a pair yesterday, though...)

Here's what I HAVE been up to. I made two hats, one for each of the kids I've been babysitting this summer. Hat number one: navy blue regular old beanie, knitted for a boy.

The first go was too small, so I redid half of it and made it bigger so that it could cover his ears and give him some room to grow into. And then he said he wanted me to add some red ears to it, skinnier than bunny ears. I thought it'd be fun to put some wire in them so that you could bend them and so they'd stay up more. So I bent up some paperclips, wrapped them in red fabric, and stuffed them inside.

Then I closed up the bottom, and attached them to the hat. I tried it on and bent the ears so that they flopped down, but then I was SO SAD because they looked like either devil horns or bull horns. I thought his mom would not approve. But I unbent them and just let them flop and thought I'd see what they thought. They loved it!

I don't remember the yarn I used because I got it so long ago and threw away the label. It was knitted on US size 6 needles, I think I did 88 stitches around.

One down...

The second hat, I went out and bought some pretty, girly yarn. Hand-dyed yarn with subtle variations of pink, orange, and fuchsia. It was so soft and pretty and such a fabulous texture (Araucania: Patagonia Nature Cotton, hand-dyed 100% cotton yarn, color 223)

I'm disappointed that this hat went so quickly. I used size 8 needles, so I guess that made it zoom by. I started while watching Jerry Maguire (why isn't real life like that movie?) and knitted the ear flaps. I started with a 3-stitch I-cord and then to make the earflap, I increased to 17 (I think?) stitches and then did a few plain rows to add length. Repeated this for the other ear flap. Then I adapted this recipe, which I've used before, and I really like for earflap hats. I had 13 stitches in the back of the hat and I think 23 (accidentally) in the front. A little ribbing. Anyway, what I was saying is how this hat went too fast. I finished the rest of it in like 2 hours. Well then I added the pom-pom and tassels, but that didn't take any time either.

Isn't it cute? I love it. It looks way cute on her, too. Oh, haha, funny story, though. I totally messed up the decreases. I accidentally stopped decreasing one seam, and then just started back up like 5 rows later. I thought it was going to look bad, but you can't tell at all unless you look really closely. Phew! I guess that story wasn't really funny...

Anyway, I knitted hats like I promised. On my queue of hats to knit is an argyle hat for a friend. A couple weeks ago, I had my wonderful, knitting, wise grandmother give me a lesson in intarsia. She used to knit argyle socks in her college days! How fun! I'll try that sometime, I'm sure... But before I jumped into this argyle hat business, I had to practice. Coincidentally, Elizabeth sent me a package a day or two later, and in it was a perfectly appropriate (and ADORABLE) sticker.

Haha, how cute, right? Thanks, E! But yeah. Argyle is a mess. But I think I've got it down. And now that I have my kiddos' hats finished, I'll get started on the argyle hat!

I also finished this scarf that I had halfway finished since June, and finally picked up more of the yarn that I needed to finish it. I'll post that later though because I forgot to take pictures. I still have some yarn left so I'm thinking I might try and make a hat out of it. Maybe I'll do like two more hats, and then start on a mitten kick. I started one pair of mittens a long time ago, but I wasn't following a pattern so I had to stop after the cuff. Enough, Teresa! Shut up, already!! Okay. Goodnight, knitters and friends.

Knitted Organs... Weird.

2008-07-18T15:31:00.002-04:00

Look what crazy knitted stuff my infallible friend Tina found!!

Since I'm assuming these photos are copyrighted, and I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post them myself, I'll just give you a link.

Socks for a Lady

2008-07-13T21:38:00.024-04:00

Haha, ridiculous title, I know, but don't these socks look like they should be worn by a lady? Aren't they graceful? The lace and all? PRETTY! And I love purple. It might be my favorite color again.

So... Berlin Muster socks: Finished!! Took me about 2 weeks. Actually it was more like 3 weeks, but there were a number of days in there where I didn't work on them at all, so I'm calling it two weeks.

Anyway, I bought the yarn at the Knit Nook. It is TOFUtsies: 50% superwash wool, 25% soysilk fibers, 22.5% cotton, and 2.5% chitin ("Chitin is fiber from shrimp and crab shells! It's naturally antibacterial!"). There were 425 m of yarn, but I probably used 2/3 - 3/4 of the ball of yarn. So I've got EXTRA! Which makes me excited because I had fun with this yarn.

Pattern for free here. The only adjustment I made to the pattern was that I purled 4 on each round so that I'd have 64 stitches around instead of just 60. Oh also I did a 2x2 ribbing at the top, knit 2, purl 2, instead of the 1x1 that the pattern says. But that was mainly an accident.

This pattern was really hard for me the first few repeats, but by the end, I had gotten the hang of it. It has 16 different rows that you have to do for one repeat, so you really have to pay attention. But it was a nice challenge for me, and I think it is such a pretty pattern.

So, then the Knit Nook had a SALE yesterday too. It rocked. I went in there and spent like an hour and a half trying to pick out what yarn I wanted. Jeez, it was way overwhelming. Like, I should have thought it through a little more beforehand, picked out a project so that I knew how much yarn I needed, and had an idea of colors. But instead I just wandered in clueless and hoped to be inspired. I bought this expen$ive yarn that was marked down 15%, but still was a lot for just about 400 yds, which probably isn't enough for a whole project. So I don't know what I'm going to make out of it. I love the colors and I love them together.

The blue yarn is soooo pretty, and it has all these subtle color variations in it that were hard to photograph. I am thinking about making a sweater, bolero, something like that, but I still need to find a pattern. I might go and buy some cheap-o yarn to do for the bulk of the sweater and then do stripes or something fun with the blue. I have no idea really. I'll probably save it for a while, because I don't want to knit impulsively with such pretty and pricey yarn. My God, I can ramble. Stopping now.

I think I am going to start knitting hats after all. And maybe a sweater. AH that scares me. We'll see.

Summer of Socks

2008-07-02T23:26:00.007-04:00

So here are my green socks. I like 'em. 60 stitches around, though, a little small. So I had to make them shorter than I would have hoped because I couldn't pull them up any higher. Sad!

Pattern: Rib & Cable Socks - Nancy Bush. Well I didn't exactly use the pattern, I just copied off a picture.

Needle: US size 2

Yarn: Wildfoote Luxury Sock Yarn, Deco Lime; 75% washable wool, 25% nylon

Yay! These were another pretty quick knit. About a week. Oh, and I did the toe like this, and it looked better than the yarn over method.

This is really fun, knitting so many socks. I am trying to get this whole sock thing down. I think I'm getting there. I'm working on this pair of socks now, the pattern is called Berlin Muster. I linked to it at the bottom of my last post. It is such a pretty pattern. And so frustrating. At least it was at first. I've kind of gotten into a groove now, and it does take me forever but it's going faster now.

Look! I finished the first one :) This might be a cheesy shot, but I looove the yarn.

Summer's fun. My knitting companion has been my laptop these days. I'm catching up on all the old Gossip Girl episodes that I never saw. They are SO GOOD. I think I have fun watching them because they are so opposite of my life. Here I sit, staying in and knitting socks, and admiring the glamorous, drama-filled life of rich beautiful kids in New York City.

Yay, I really like how these socks are coming along. Except this one is a little tight. I should have done another row or two before starting the toe. But it's good enough. It was kind of weird, because with the lace pattern the number of stitches change every row, and the row I ended on was the closest number of stitches to the number of stitches used for the toe part. This is getting too confusing. Maybe I'll think up a creative solution next sock around.

Time for another episode of GG. Signing off.

You know you love me. XOXO.

Sheep Farm Visit! (finally)

2008-06-27T16:55:00.005-04:00

OK, so this has been a little ridiculous. I went to the sheep farm, what, almost 2 weeks ago? And I'm just now blogging about it?? I am normally so much more internet-savvy than this. Time to cross this one off the list. But that isn't my attitude towards this blog at all! Not just some obligation to fulfill. I LOVE it. So why has it taken me so long? I have no idea. Regardless, here goes.

My mom, my aunt, and I all went out to Springfield, Kentucky to visit Norma Jean Campbell and her sheep. It was just awesome. This woman was so interesting and hilarious. She gave us a tour of her entire house, and told a story about almost everything in it. Great storyteller.

The sheep for her and her husband are, from what I gathered, basically a hobby. I don't think they really make any money off of them. She makes some crafts and sells those, but I don't think she makes enough money to make a living off of. Sad to hear, because that means it is less likely that we will get a sheep farm. They have cows too, probably how they make ends meet. Aaaannyway, they have 36 sheep that they shear themselves. She keeps all the wool, yarn to use herself. After shearing, she puts the wool in these machines that I have no idea really what they do. Comb it out or something. Make it smooth enough to spin.

Then sometimes she dyes it as wool. Or she'll spin it and then dye the yarn. She uses all natural dyes. She has a little garden with some of the stuff she likes to dye with. What she said she does is boil the plant, or root, or bugs (yes, bugs) in water till the color comes out for like an hour. Then she uses the dyed water and simmers the wool or yarn in it. Oh but you have to get something to set the dye too. Some chemical. There are a few different ones you can use.

I want to try dying my own yarn so badly. With BUGS. My favorite dye she had made these really gorgeous red, pink shades. It turned out it was cochineal (the picture to the right), which is this insect that comes from Chile. She said it only takes a couple cochineal(s?) to get a good color. So maybe I'll order some. Maybe next summer. It's so cool, though, she said she went down to Chile to try go collect some cochineal herself. But apparently they didn't find them when she went. But STILL. This woman rocks. I totally want to just go live with her for two weeks or something and learn her ways of yarn, dying, spinning, etc. More pictures now.

Here is Norma Jean spinning wool. I so wanted to try, but she was talking about how new spinners always spin unevenly and it takes a while to learn. So I didn't want to mess up her yarn. But it was sweet. Christmas gift, Mom?

This is her loom room. Norma Jean said she didn't really knit or crochet. Her specialty is weaving. She had all of these homemade projects all OVER the house. Table runners, rugs, bedspreads, clothes, and then she also was selling several things. I got a cute purse.

She also makes a lot of these dolls and other felted things out of wool and a felting needle. She showed me how, you basically wrap the wool around a wire or something to give it shape and then just poke it with this needle till it starts to take the shape that you want. Lots of poking. And it makes the most adorable dolls.

There were just so many cool things she had there. She also had a bunch of these dolls she had made from clay that she had dug up herself. And some of her wool she didn't run it through those machines, but just kept it curly and then hand-painted it with dye and then put it in the oven. COOL. She doesn't have a website, which she really should have, and my mom suggested that I go live with her for a week or two and just soak up her knowledge and, in exchange, I could make her some simple website. Maybe I'll do it.

In knitting news, I finished a pair of green (my new favorite color) cable-knit socks. I'll blog about those soon. I still need to wash them and take pictures. And I just started some purple socks yesterday. The pattern I'm trying to do is this lace thing, and it looks so pretty, but it is such a monster and it is taking me so long, so I'm not sure that I'm going to go through with it.

Completely unrelated is this cake I made the other night. The woman I babysit for told me she had bought a bunch of chocolate chips and they had melted in the car and she wasn't going to be able to use all of them before they hardened into one block. So I took them and called up a few friends and we made this Death by Chocolate cake. It is so horrible for you but soooo delicious. I highly recommend indulging in this recipe.

That's all from me, now. More to come soon.

-T

PS- I went into the Knit Nook yesterday, found out they're having a SALE July 12. Cannot wait.

Summer of Knitting at ND

2008-06-21T21:30:00.007-04:00

So I'm almost half way through a summer of orgo at ND. blah. Pretty much the only thing keeping me sane are the projects I'm working on. I'm actually trying my hand at crocheting right now so I'm working on some pretty basic shtuff. But the cool thing is, you can do a lot more at the beginner crochet level than you can at the beginner knitting level. Plus I think crocheting is definitely easier than knitting, although it did take me a while to get used to holding one hook instead of two needles. It just felt so wrong at first.

I've been working on a granny square blanket for a while as a present for my little sister (who is going to be a freshman at ND next year!!!) I got the pattern for free from the lion brand

website. You do have to be a member to get the free patterns. Basically I have to make a ton of little granny squares, connect them, and then make a border. It's taking a lot longer than I expected because I didn't notice at first that the pattern is for a baby blanket, so I'm having to quadruple the pattern. I'm using lion brand microspun yarn, the same kind Teresa used for her purple and orange socks. =) It's really soft and comes in tons of bright colors.

I'm also working on a fishnet shrug right now. I got the pattern from "Stitch n' Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker," the book that I learned how to crochet from. I actually already finished the shrug, but realized too late that it was totally the wrong size, so I had to take the whole thing apart and start all over again. =( Serves me right for never making a swatch to check the gauge I guess.

That's all I'm working on right now. I also just got an invite to ravelry. I'm quite excited. Is anyone else on ravelry?

Hope everyone is having a great summer!

<3>

Socks 4 Mary

2008-06-15T19:08:00.028-04:00

Pattern: Jane's Hedgerow Socks, but with a short row toe
Needle: US size 2 (although I was wondering the whole pattern through if it would have looked better on size 1 needles.)
Yarn: Sockotta - 45% cotton, 40% superwash wool, 15% nylon

The pattern was pretty tedious and took a lot of attention and more time than knitting usually takes me. I like it, but I kind of wonder if just a regular ribbed pattern would have worked better with this self-striping yarn (best stuff EVER. especially after trying to get rid of the jog in stripes. go with self-striping.), and I think you might have been able to see the pattern more on a solid sock.

Cute, though. Right? I think I could have done with just a couple fewer stitches in my gauge for a cozier fit, but maybe if I run them through the dryer they will shrink just enough. Speaking of drying and stuff, guess what I did last Friday night. I washed all three pairs of socks I have knitted thus far! The sad part was that I actually enjoyed myself. A lot.

The yarn I used says it's machine washer-friendly, but I wanted to hand wash anyway because socks are supposed to hold up better if you do. And the color is supposed to last longer. I followed directions I found here on how to wash socks, and just used lukewarm water and shampoo to wash and a little bit of conditioner in one of my rinses. The website said to rinse the socks until the water is clear. This yarn was bleeding, though, so I ended up rinsing these socks waay more times than I did the other two pairs. The water never really got clear, so I just stopped eventually because I was getting frustrated with the process and because I didn't want the socks to lose too much of their color. After seeing the socks dried, I regret rinsing this many times (I don't know how many times, maybe like 6 or 7?? Way too much. I rinsed the other socks 2 or 3 times.). They did lose some brightness in their color. But that means if I (or Mary) had thrown them in the wash, they'd have bled all over the other clothes, right? Or is that only a problem when you put them in with white clothes? Harumph. I think I'm being a perfectionist now.

Another fun thing, I finished this pair of socks pretty quickly. Definitely under a week. And casted on another pair of socks the same night I finished this pair and washed my socks. :)

This has basically (basically, Teresa?)... OK, it has COMPLETELY been my summer so far. I have done nothing else. I start working tomorrow (nannying), but I'm sure I'll be able to find time for knitting. I love knitting. And I am totally addicted to socks. They're quick so I don't get sick of the yarn in the time I'm knitting them, and they're fun to knit. I absolutely love turning the heel. Plus there's generally a lot of stockinette, so they're easy. And double-pointed needles are just cool, if a little awkward.

YAY KNITTING!!!!!!

Omg, AND, my mom and I are going to be visiting a SHEEP FARM sometime this week! It's in Kentucky, and my mom decided a while ago that she wants to get some sheep. I, of course, am completely in favor of this plan. I think the woman who runs this farm spins her own wool (!!), so maybe I can get a tutorial. And maybe I'll buy some and dye it myself??? Regardless, I will post more next week. Can't wait!

The second sock... for the second time!

2008-05-31T16:57:00.019-04:00

I finished my second sock about a week or two ago, and I was excited, of course, especially as it had gone so quickly. So I eagerly tried it on, and it was HUGE. Realized I forgot to do two decreases in the gusset. Are you kidding?? Haha, what a stupid mistake. The pattern explicitly says "make sure you have 12 stitches on each needle", and I definitely counted, but I finished up the foot with 14 stitches on two of the needles. Boy, oh boy.

It was way too big for me to wear. How annoying, right?? So I asked Elizabeth what I should do. Her words of wisdom: "I was reading this book about knitting one time and it said that part of making projects you like is being willing to rip out and redo them over and over until they're right." Well, I listened to my wise, patient knitting partner and unraveled the foot of my sock. Redoing it really took me no time, and I am very glad I did it because now I can actually wear them.

I like them!! And see? They fit! Actually, though, they don't fit perfectly. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm definitely pleased with how they came out, but here's the deal. The smaller sock (on my right foot) seems to fit better, but the heel seems to slide up as if the length of the bottom of the sock is too short. But the top looks perfect.

The sock on my left foot kind of looks big on the top, but the heel sits in the right place on my foot. E, do you have this problem? I think next time I'll try adding a row or two to the bottom of the sock and THEN start the toe. Oh, but that might not work on second thought. Hmm. I can't quite picture it. Maybe I'll ask the people at the Knit Nook what they think. I wish I were working there this summer.. sigh.

Now, the stripes (see pic to left). I think they turned out better this sock around, at least by the end. I know I messed up a few times and forgot to slip a stitch or something, but when I did it right, the diagonal line was much less noticeable this time. I guess it was just practice that helped. But I'm still going to see if I can find a better way to do stripes. Oh, and I wish I had thought to make the diagonal line go down the SIDE of the sock instead of right smack dab in the middle of the front.

I love these socks. I really do. They were a fun, quick project and I think they're adorable. The yarn I used (Lion Brand Microspun in Mango and Purple) is comfy and it was nice to knit with because it is pretty soft.

Now I'll leave you with a picture of my socks matching oh so well with my orange slippers. It just makes me so happy. Aren't they cheery?

Love, T

PS- Do you like my white sheet and natural lighting?

The Knitty Gritty

2008-05-29T22:13:00.008-04:00

Yes, I know. I am a GUY posting on a knitting blog showcasing my handiwork. For all you guys out there that skeptical, knitting as two advantages that you should realize: 1) Knitting increases your manual dexterity (which is actually why I asked Teresa to teach me, since apparently dental schools like this) and 2) DA WIMMINZ realize just how good with your hands you really are. I was actually skeptical with the whole thing at first, but it really did turn out to be fun. It's a mindless activity that keeps you from not being bored. Plus, knitting really isn't that different from making lanyards, which I used to do all the time at Boy Scout and church camp.

Before this project, I did not know ANYTHING about knitting. Teresa bought me the yarn and the needles and even casted on for me (if you need to know how to cast on, visit the Knit Witch. She is our go-to woman). I remember the day quite well--I went over to her dorm room one Thursday night and she taught me how to knit whilst we watch Lost. I started with something easy--a scarf--which is essentially just row after row of stitches. The scarf is thirteen stitches across (unlucky, I know), and I just ended up knitting until the yarn was gone.

This was the start of my scarf. If you notice, the width of the scarf gets smaller as my knitting progressed. Though I must tell you, there are some phantom knitters around University of Notre Dame that you really have to look out for, but I will explain about that later. I advise any beginner knitters out there to pull on the loose yarn after every stitch in order to keep everything tight. You will definitely get better as you get more practice.

I don't know if you can see it, but the middle portion of the scarf in this picture is EXPERTLY knitted. The stitches are pulled tight and the width of the scarf is even. Like I said, it's those phantom knitters! So heres the story: I kept my knitting in Teresa's and Elizabeth's room and during the school year, I really didn't work on it that much. Apparently, Elizabeth, who is absolutely amazing, wanted to work with bigger needles than the ones she was using and just decided to knit a bit on my scarf. Whenever I started again, I could NOT figure out why that part was so good. I just thought that I must have been on fire during that particular knitting session. It wasn't until I was closer to finishing that Teresa let me in on the secret! I was sooooo angry, but since I learned on her birthday, I decided to forgive her. It was one of my better moments.

It was a bit scary whenever I came to the end of the yarn. First of all, I was not at school anymore and did not have the expertise of Elizabeth and Teresa to help. Thankfully, the Knit Witch came to my rescue (God bless her), as she showed me how to bind off (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0plhuwVF4j0). As it turns out, the scarf wasn't long enough, but I was sort of ready to be done with it and anyways, I didn't have any more yarn that color and wouldn't really have known what to do with it if I had had the yarn. It's not too bad though, since it reaches a little bit above my waist whenever I have it around my neck. I am kind of tall though, so if someone who is a little more wee than me wants, please let me know!

Well guys, tt took me a while, but by the end of my scarf, my knitting was getting to be quite good, if I don't say so myself. I was definitely proud of what I had done, and now I'm gonna move on to bigger and better things. Perhaps I will learn how to purl or maybe I'll just learn how to do different colors.

With that, I have officially entered into the blogosphere. Whodathunk that it'd be with a post about knitting? It sure is crazy how the world works.

Knittaliciously,

Joe

Summer of Knitting, Coffee, and Chris Brown.

2008-05-28T01:57:00.019-04:00

That's right, I said coffee. This is the summer I'm going to like coffee, I decided. And it's already 2:30, and I'm still awake, so I'm guessing it's due to the coffee I had this evening. Oops. I'm still a novice. Aren't the beans pretty though? My mom makes delicious coffee. I still make mine with plenty of cream and sugar, and it's yum.

Anyway, down to business. I felted a purse! It didn't take long, but I was pretty bored knitting such a straight-forward pattern especially in yarn that I had already used before, so I made the purse on the small side. The top edges kept curling outward, so I crocheted a border (double crochet stitch - The knitwitch on youtube taught me how), but it didn't really help much. In the end it didn't matter. After I ran it through the wash, it was pretty firm and still a little wet, so I could shape it. Not on a blocking board, or whatev, because I am too lazy to ever block anything I have made to date.

I put it through the washer THREE TIMES, with increasing heat (warm, then very warm, then hot) because, God, I was so impatient. You aren't supposed to have to run it through that many times. I was scared, though, of shrinking it too much too quickly (once you shrink, you can't stretch it out again). Next time I will just run it through once or twice in hot water. I put it in a zippered pillowcase like this website said to (wonderful tips) with a pair of jeans that I didn't mind if they shrunk and a towel. I didn't run it through the dryer because it was pretty dry already when I got it out of the wash. It came out pretty good, but it did felt kind of unevenly, partly because the purse folded up incidentally inside the washer. So in certain areas there is more stitch definition than in others. I think it looks fine overall. I'd probably like it more if I weren't so sick of this yarn. Jeez, I get sick of yarn so fast. That's probably bad.

Measurements. I was really annoyed because I wanted to know how much to expect my purse to shrink after felting, and I couldn't find any definite answer on the web. It was all "it depends". Everywhere I looked told me to do a swatch, but I have never done a swatch to obtain a gauge or anything, mainly because I'm lazy. So I didn't do a swatch and just assumed it would shrink about 1/3 - 1/2 its size, which was the general range given on the web. And it shrinks more in length than width. It was about right. Before and after pictures to help explain my point:

Before
Width: 9.25"
Length: 8"
Pom-pom diameter (I was curious, alright?): 1.5"

After
Width: 7.5"
Length: 5"
Pom-pom: 1"

I made a cute little pom-pom and did an I-cord connecting it to the back of the purse and then made a little I-cord hole to put it through to make a clasp of sorts. I-cord handle too. I was very curious what a felted pom-pom would look like. Now that I see it, it looks familiar. I think I've seen felted pom-poms before but I never made the connection. Interessstinng... the secrets of life that knitting reveals.

OK, now for the final pictures to just give you the feel of the general size before/after. Now, I know the purse clashes with my dress (ISN'T IT CUTE? I JUST GOT IT!), but it gives you an idea of the size. It's pretty small, and it's probably more of a fall purse, and I really don't know if I'm going to use it, and the pom-pom fits snugly under my armpit (HAHA, awk), but at least I got to use up that yarn that had been nagging me from my yarn bag for months now. And now I have felting experience. Cool.

I'm going to bed now. Hopefully I can fall asleep. Before I go, though, I want to tell you all to listen to that song "No Air" by Jordin Sparks feat. Chris Brown (LOVE). Miriam says the lyrics suck (true), so it's not worth listening to (NOT true). The song is so good, and soo fun to sing along to. It's the only thing I've listened to all day long. I love it.

-T

One Down...

2008-05-13T22:49:00.017-04:00

I finished the first of my 2nd pair of socks, and I love blogging, and it doesn't happen often enough (come on, people, let's get knitting!!), so I thought I'd blog. This is my first experiment with different colors. I just did stripes of different widths with purple and orange yarn. The colors are a little shocking, but I think with the pattern it works alright. Aaaand, look how adorable the colors are with my orange slippers!!

The yarn I used is really soft so it was fun to knit, and this sock went pretty quickly, which is nice. I used one of the patterns from E's book. I forget which one it is.. the most simple one, 48 stitches, a little ribbing at the top, stockinette the rest of the way. Same ol', same ol'. I used the same toe I used on the second sock last time. I love that toe. My kitchener's stitch turned out almost flawless this time (picture to the left). I'm so pumped. I followed the instructions here, which I assume is the way I tried doing kitchener's last time, but for some reason it worked a lot better this time. There is a little bump in the middle, but for the most part the seam is unnoticeable.

Now, the colors deal. It wasn't as easy as I thought it'd be. Or, rather, just not as perfect as I'd hoped. I found two methods here to do "jogless stripes" because when you knit in the round, the stripes end up being one stitch off. My pictures and that website probably explain it better than I could. I tried both methods while knitting. The first one (stationary jogless stripes) didn't look very good. It was just really obvious that one of the columns was getting shorter and shorter. It was weird. Ick.

The second method (traveling jogless stripes) was better, but still noticeable. The website warns that a spiral will start to be seen, and it is. That's annoying. But it is less obvious than the first way. I don't know, I'll keep surfing the web and see if I can find anything else. If I do I'll try it out on my second sock and let you all know.

Well I think that's all I've got for now.

OH ! NO. I lied. So there's this sweet online network called Ravelry. It is a bunch of knitters, and you can get a profile and upload patterns and pictures of stuff you've knitted for everyone to look at. I just joined, and have surfed around on it a little bit, and it seems pretty cool and useful. They have a waiting list or something to register with the website, but it only takes a week or two for you to get the email to go join, and it's completely free! I recommend.

Happy summer. Finally lots of time to knit!

Blog, socks, finally!

2008-04-21T11:11:00.003-04:00

Here we go! We've got a blog. And our first entry... my pair of socks that I FINALLY finished. This was quite the ordeal. And as much as I've loved making these socks, I'm definitely ready to be finished. It really shouldn't have taken me this long to finish the socks, but I ran out of yarn. Once I finally made it out to the store to buy more yarn, they were all out of the yarn I had used! So I just bought some boring red yarn to finish off the second toe with. Then I went into my yarn bag for some reason or another and what did I find? Just enough yarn to finish off my socks! Wonderful. I even have a little extra. Hopefully enough to make another pom pom for my sister's hat of the same yarn.

Anyway, here are pictures of my socks. Above are the finished products. A little imperfect, but I'm satisfied. I used the "Rock 'n' Ribbed" pattern from Elizabeth's Knit Socks! book by Betsy Lee McCarthy. They are a little loose. How would I fix that? Just decrease the amount of stitches? Or use stretchier yarn or something, probably.

I finished up the toes differently. On the first one (top) I followed the pattern, just decreasing (but I screwed up and cut out the plain rows between the decreased rows because I wanted to try that. It was too short, though.) and then ending with kitchener's stick at the end of the toe.

On the second toe, I used a different method that I found here (for free!). In this one, the seam is on the topside of the toe, like a regular sock you'd buy, which I found appealing. I just did what the pattern said exactly despite my slightly different number of stitches. I think I ended up with an extra stitch or two somehow when I was ready to bind off, but it worked out fine. I used kitchener's stitch to close the toe instead of the 3-needle bind-off that they used. But I screwed up my kitchener's stitch in the middle, so it's a little bumpy.

This third picture is the side of the second toe. It doesn't really show very well what I was trying to show - the yarn over's, which are the method that the linked pattern uses for the short row toe. Mine turned out a little imperfect and with some holes, but overall, I like this toe a lot better. It looks much smoother than the decreases, and I LOVE heel turning, so if I can turn a sock TWICE, it's just even more fun.

That's all for the knit blog now. This is so fun.

XOXO,
Teresa