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Monday, August 31, 2009

Monogamy

I've decided that if I don't stay true to projects, I'll never finish them. Like my Juno Regina Stole, I don't work on it much as is because while it's the same two rows for 42" I made mine a bit wider, and I'm scared to reach the end of the familiar middle section. I've forgotten what I did exactly at the beginning, and never wrote it down. I'm sure once I get there it's just something super simple, but I'm still scared. It's the kind of feeling when you know you need one more skein of something to finish off a project, and you know you just don't have it and won't be getting it. So you work on it slowly, hoping something will change.
I'll probably finish the middle section today, I have about 8 inches left to go. I love the yarn I'm using, Diamond Yarns Diamond, Luxury Collection Baby Alpaca.
Can't wait until I'm finished and it's all blocked. I hate the blocking process, mostly because I don't have a blocking table and hate blocking on the floor..especially large pieces. But I love the finished blocked project.
Off to the 2-row repeat jungle.

Monday, August 24, 2009

My little stained glass window


Well...it's really an afghan, but everyone tells me it looks like stained glass. I'm in love with this, it took me three months of working on it very casually, each square took about 15 minutes to make, and it got a little addicting. But then when I ran out of yarn it was time to piece it all together. When I started, I was going to machine stitch it so it would go faster because I hate seaming. I hate it so much I have multiple sweaters from a year+ ago that are sitting unseamed. Some I take out once in a while and seam up an arm, or a side. There's one that's been sitting in a bag since January that only needs one side seam. It was actually pretty sad because I thought I only had to do the arm, and then I got all excited, put it on and saw that it was too big. But it was way worse than that! I had another seam to do. Oh well, maybe this winter I'll wear it.
Back to the point, my glorious sock yarn blanket. All yarn was donated, and while it ended up a little small (a couch sized afghan) I'm going to add to it every year, not in bulk, but the special socks that were made throughout the year. So, I had this grand plan of machine stitching it, I'd look at the piles and not dread having to seam because I had a handle on that already. But then I saw some other sock yarn blankets...and I really wanted to have a border around mine.
So out came the crochet hook, and after staying up one night until 11AM (which, really isn't all that unusual for me..it's pretty common, but it sounds much more dramatic, and makes it seem like a bigger triumph) I managed to weave in (another hate of mine) hundreds and hundreds of ends. Not. Fun.
The first few rows of crocheting it together were easy, and then it got heavy...and hot. And it got heavy and hot (or hot 'n heavy) during a heat wave, the only heat wave of the summer, and I began to really hate it. Not to mention that half of the time I was sticking the crochet hook through a nice slipped stitch, and the other half of the time I was trying to squeeze it into a cast on stitch.
But I sat down and finished it off (about 100 squares) in one sitting. And I love it.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Jumping on the bandwagon

...really late. At first, I really didn't like the Clapotis, and then slowly...very very slowly I warmed up to it. Eventually I really wanted to make it, but lots of people told me that it was a yarn eater and would be a super expensive project.
Except, upon further investigation I discovered that if you do it in sock weight, it's really not that bad.

Pattern: Clapotis
Yarn: Araucania Ranco
Needle Size: 3.75mm
First, I just have to say that I never ever wear this colour, but I bought it because I've had this eyeliner in this colour for a very long time, and I never wear it because I feel weird wearing it with other colours. Not to say that I'm the one who matches my eyeshadow to my dress or anything, but I do like to match it with an accessory to sort of pull everything together. So, I made a yarn decision purely based on an eyeliner colour. And I'd do it again.
I'd do it again because it led me to this yarn, I love this yarn. I've already bought a ton of it for other projects, I don't even know what it is. It isn't the softest, but it isn't so scratchy that it's irritating and it really softens up after a wash. But it's nice and drapey, and the colours are gooooorgeous!
Now about the pattern, I didn't really see what the big fuss was about it, to be honest. But as soon as I got to the dropping stitches part, I was in love. It has the right amount of feeling bad and feeling liberated. You're not supposed to drop stitches, and when you do, you work so hard at bringing them back up so you don't ruin all your hard work. So it just felt so bad dropping them, but so good. It's a pretty mindless knit once you get the hang of it too, which was perfect for long subway trips across the city.
Want to know the fastest way to stop people from talking to you? When they ask "Whatcha doin'?" you say, "Oh, just working on my clap" they move away pretty quickly. Of course, this just shows that I hang out with knitters way too much because I didn't even think that would be a strange thing to say. Eventually I thought, "Ohhhh, they don't get it, that's why everyone is staring at me." Also, don't say this loudly in a crowd like I did. Of course, I tried to explain to some people what a clap really was, which always started with a "Want to see it?!" they didn't get my enthusiasm. "But it's teal! It matches this eyeliner I have!" Whatever, they missed out.
I'm now in love with this pattern, and will be making more...eventually.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Yet another FO Parade

I know I said I was going to blog on the regular, but instead here is a ton of FOs (all from August)
In chronological order:

Pattern: Ladder of Life Socks
Yarn: Regia Color 4-ply
Needle Size: 2.5mm
I didn't actually follow the pattern, I just took the stitch pattern and plugged it into my own toe-up formula.

Pattern: Springtime Bandit
Yarn: Cascade 220
Needle Size: 5mm
I loooove this pattern! It's so simple, and yet not boring at all. Once I memorized the repeats, it just flew by. I know I'll make this again in the future. As soon as I finished it, we got a bit of a heat wave, and because it's a worsted weight I haven't gotten a chance to wear it yet, can't wait for fall!

Pattern: Everlasting Bagstopper
Needle Size: 5mm
I'm the jerk at the store who is never prepared with a bag, I never have enough room in my purse (even though it's sometimes seems like it's bigger than I am) so I needed a bag for those impulse shopping trips.

Pattern: Drawstring Pouches
Yarn: Misc
Easy, quick project. I'm always envious of those knitters/crocheters who have a little pouch for their yarn so it doesn't go everywhere. I'm finally one of those knitters!

Thursday, August 6, 2009

A Stole!


Pattern: One Skein - A Stole!
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden Sock (1 skein, obviously)
Needle size: 6mm
This was a super fast and super easy project, perfect for when you're not really able to pay too much attention to what you're knitting, but enough interest to make it worth it in the end. I'm not really a fan of Noro, especially for its price, and while the colours are really nice, they just don't justify the scratchiness (hopefully it'll soften up once I wash it a few times) and the various twiggy-things found in the yarn...one of which cut me, and days later I still have evidence of it. I'll definitely make this again, but grab some more yardage because I'd prefer if it were a little longer, and use a different yarn. It'd probably make a really nice stashbuster too, with a variety of yarns.
Photo is kind of crappy, I just wanted to grab one before I forgot again. I finished it a couple days before I even thought about a photo.


Wednesday, August 5, 2009

July Recap

I'm not even going to pretend that I'm good at blogging, so instead here is a FO recap of July. It's sad, because really blogging is such an easy thing to do.
First, some crochet:

Pattern: Simply Shawl
Hook Size: 6mm (J)
Yarn: Unknown

Pattern: Trinket Bowl
Hook Size: 3.25mm (D)
Yarn: Scraps, Patons Classic Wool

Pattern: Masa bag
Yarn: More scraps of Patons Classic Wool
Hook Size: 6mm (J)
This bag was awesome, and I'm going to make more in larger sizes for sure. I suck at origami, and it took me forever to fold it properly but once I got it, I felt like an idiot for not being able to do it before.

Pattern: Baby Sleeper Set (Dress)
Yarn: Bernat Satin
Hook SIze: 5.mm
Made this for a fellow BSGFPB team member, Free Range Chick. Well not for her, for her baby.
And now, onto some knitting:

Pattern: Fetching
Needle Size: 5mm
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease (1 Skein)
Made these for my mothers birthday in July, she always complains that it's "drafty" at her desk, and she asked for some fingerless mitts last year...but I was all gift-knitted out at that point, so I saved them for her birthday. Yes, her birthday is in the middle of summer, but to be fair it's been a chilly summer and when it isn't, it may as well be with the amount of A/C they have in that office.
Now, let's try to blog on a regular basis...