Finished Socks

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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?

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?