Merry Christmas!

Hope everyone has a great Christmas!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!

To everyone in the states, Happy Turkey Day! Hope it's been a good one for you all.

I know I haven't done a great job of keeping my blog. I don't know why I don't keep it up. I just...don't. Makes me kind of sad really. But oh well.

I've been doing loads of knitting.

Right now I'm working on:

~ another pair of Endpaper Mitts
~ plain scarf
~ Celtic Knot Stole (still)
~ bookmarks for my Journaling Group
~ sock yarn hat (almost done)
~ surprise for a friend

I'll update as I'm able. I'm doubting I have many readers anyhow. =P

Like there's anything of interest ever posted here.

Oh, and as a side note. I'm getting ready to organize my Photobucket account, so there may be some broken pics until I get around to fixing them...

I Forgot!

I forgot to post yesterday! :(

I got wrapped up in all of the election stuff.

Now I'll probably go back to not posting for a month.

Blah.

Knitting Update

Just a bit of a knitting update.

I haven't worked on my stole lately...Just kind of sitting in a bag.

I'm working hard to get a shrug done. I have 15 days and I'm half way done. I can do this!

Other Things Than Knitting

So yeah, to get through the next month...there's going to be posts about other things than knitting.


Like how freaking sore I am from dancing at a club nearly non stop for four hours last night/early this morning....

Uh Oh....Has It Been That Long

Have I not posted anything since my birthday?

I've been going through a lot of...stuff...to keep the language clean here....The past few weeks.

And now I've joined NoBlgPoMo....To post a blog entry every day for an entire month!

How many people think I'm already setting myself up to fail?

Happy Halloween!

Hope it was good for everyone!

Birthday Girl!

Today is my birthday! Happy 25th to me!

On Fire! (Okay, Nothing's Really On Fire....)

That's just the name of my WIP wrap. I'm working on another Weekender Lace Wrap. For this one, I'm using Crystal Palace Panda Wool Print.

I love how easy this pattern is to follow. It quickly becomes "mindless knitting."

Here's how it's looking so far. The colorway is called Red Cinnamon.

Strawberry Lemonade!

I finally finished my Endpaper Mitts (pattern here). I titled them Strawberry Lemonade because of the colors that I chose. I used Bernat Baby Solid. The colors look very similar, I know. That wasn't my intention, but sometimes you never know how colors are going to look once they're knit together in close proximity of each other.


I made this mitt first. It's even and nice. Why is that? After each round I spent time untwisting the yarns! That did not turn out to be the most enjoyable thing to do, but I continued with it because, well, it was working. The mitt was getting done and it looked nice.



This mitt was the second one. To make this one, I used the combination knitting method. The yellow is quite loose, as I was holding that yarn in my left hand and I am right handed. It doesn't look as nice as the first mitt, but you can see the pattern a bit better.

And here's a close up of the pattern.
What I learned from this pattern: Italian tubular cast on, kitchener rib bind off, color work, combination knitting.

And on a side note: I was unable to reach my goal of having the first knot done on my stole, but I was okay with it. I *am* closer to finishing it though.

The Green Knot Looking Thing

For lack of a better title....I'm not so enthusiastic about blogging right now. I'm not enthusiastic about much of anything right now. A summer cold has struck and has completely made me miserable.

So, just a little bit of something that I've been working on. I fell in love with the Celtic Knot Stole pattern and knew that I had to make one. When my LYS had the yarn sale going on, I found this shade of Cotton Fine and there was just enough of it for the stole. I don't have much done yet, as it takes a bit of time to get through each pattern row.


I figure I have about a third of the first knot done. This is a project that will be something to work on only when I am alone and will not be interrupted. My goal is to have the first knot fully done but the 28th. I better get to knitting!

When Life Gets In The Way

I know that there have been a lack of blog posts here lately. I apologize for that, especially when I was updating regularly!

I have done so much knitting! I don't have much to show for it though because of working on so many projects at once!

I'm planning to do some uploading of pictures in the next few days, and hopefully will have some decent blog posts. I love the scheduling feature and will probably be using that for my next few posts, just so it doesn't seem like I've completely abandoned this place.

Life has been crazy. Blogging hasn't been a priority. Knitting has been though, and I find that comforting.

Until later...

The Pink Beret

I was looking for a beret pattern a couple of weeks ago. I wanted something new to knit, but something that I could knit quickly. I came across this beret pattern and knew that was what I wanted to make.

Instead of using both size needles called for, I stuck to a size 8, 16" circular for the entire project. The pattern is extremely easy to memorize. There are two ways to make this beret, and I chose to make the more slouchy one. I chose to make it out of pink Sugar 'n Cream because it's the only worsted weight cotton in my stash.

I really like how it turned out. I think the next one I make will be the less slouchy one. If I don't like it, I can frog it and go back to the slouchy one. There's not really a reason to keep around something that you aren't going to wear!

Rock On!

I made my guitar strap back in February, but I never blogged about it. I used this pattern from Knitty. I'm really not that thrilled about how mine turned out. It twists and won't lay flat, and it comes unattached from my guitar because the button hole has been pulled out. So, to get it to stay on, I need to stitch it tighter. Stitching the fabric backing on it was tedious and took me longer to do than to knit the strap. It's pretty much just a decoration on my guitar now. I don't play seriously, just whenever I feel like picking up my guitar and strumming a song, so it's not like many people are going to see it. It's too long also, which is my own fault.



So, here are the pictures so you can see what it looks like. I used Plymouth Encore Worsted in brown and two colors of Dazzlelash in brown and turquoise.

Aren't I Just The Cutest Thing?

This happened a few days ago when I was working on my Springtime Wrap. I was minding my business, knitting along, when my ball of yarn fell to the floor. And who better to be right there than my sweet, innocent little cat? Oh, she was ready to play, saw the opportunity, and ever did she take it. Back and forth across the floor went She-Ra, chasing after the ball of yarn like it was a mouse. She wrapped it around everything that she could. My purse, the leg of a chair, and through her cube. Why shouldn't she carry it around in her mouth when it became small enough (although I don't think that really mattered to her)? She was having a ball (ha ha) with the yarn. You'd think she'd never have seen anything like it before. She had it in and out of her cube a couple of times. I'm surprised it wasn't a tangled mess. I knit it up while she was kindly unrolling it for me, as I figured I shouldn't waste my time trying to figure out where she had it all unless I tugged on it and it didn't move. You know she was doing it purely out of love for me. "Mom, I bet you can knit this up faster if I play around with it and unroll it for you!" Isn't she just the cutest?

I Love Surprises!

It's great when you make the trek out to your mailbox to see what awaits you. What could be better than seeing a large envelope with your name on it?

I've gotten two great things recently from members of Ravelry.

From my RAK (Random Acts of Kindness) Group, I got a new journal. Each month, members of the group make a list of items they wish they could have, and if someone has them, they get mailed out, sometimes as a surprise. It's a great way to find some things you would like to have, and a way to find new homes for those items that you no longer want.

I got another package recently from another group I'm part of. It was a wonderful surprise that I had no idea to expect. I received a lovely pair of hand warmers in my favorite color combination! They're fantastic and I love them. I'll always be reminded that I have friends out there who care and who know just what to do to cheer me up!

Oh, and how pathetic is it that I'm looking forward to Disney Channel's Camp Rock to air tomorrow night?!

I Can't Sleep

This is one of those completely random posts that have nothing to do with knitting.

I think I'm about to scream.

All I want to do is sleep. I know I've screwed up my sleep royally, but really, this is over the top. I was tired around 11:30 pm. I stayed up to watch the end of the NBA Finals (why, I don't know. Guess I wanted to see the Celtics blowout), and the news. And then I tried going to bed. I couldn't fall asleep after a half hour. So I got out of bed and journaled. Then I went back to bed. I still couldn't sleep.

Now, I've been at this for quite some time. It's almost four in the morning. I'm still awake. I still don't know if I can fall asleep. And I actually planned on doing things today that involve um, STAYING AWAKE.

Any advice on this, other than taking meds to put me to sleep?

A Little Wrap With a Twist of Russian

After a bit of fighting with my wrap, I've finally knitted the first skein completely. I had to frog a large chunk of it one evening after finding a mistake, and I hadn't moved my lifeline as I should have long before. I became angry at myself over something little. It must be that perfectionist in me. I never believed I'd get through the first skein of yarn. Have you ever had one of those skeins that you felt was never going to end?

After one skein, my wrap is 16 inches (42 cm) long. The picture really shows how the color is pooling, although looking at it while knitting it shows a completely different look. I like how it's turning out, almost like rosebuds. Perhaps I should rename it my Rosebud Wrap?

While surfing around the forum on Ravelry today, I came across a thread about weaving in the ends of the yarn. One person posted about the Russian Join, and curious, I took a look at the link which lead to a tutorial on how to execute this join. I thought that I would try it for this project as there isn't a great place to weave in the ends except right along the edge where there is garter stitch.

The Russian Join was easy to accomplish with this yarn, surprisingly. I think it has now become my favorite type of join, and one that I will use on anything that I possibly can! If you haven't tried it yet, you're missing out. No more wasting time weaving in your ends!

Here's a closer look at the wrap as I work on it.

Other Russian Join Tutorials

*KnittingHelp.com ~ Scroll down to Joining A New Color Yarn to find the video

*Knittinganyway.com ~ Picture tutorial

The Wrap Report

I've decided to try and become better about posting pictures of projects while they are in the WIP stage. And with needing knitting to help me get through the next couple of weeks, now is the best time to start!

This is my Springtime Shawl. To make this shawl, I'm using Crystal Palace Maizy Springtime, the yarn made partly from corn fibers. It's a sock yarn, but as I don't see the need of knitting socks, I decided to make the shawl. The pattern is also a Crystal Palace pattern, the Weekender Lace Wrap. It's a very easy four row pattern repeat. I don't know why I had so many problems with it in the beginning. It just didn't want to work with me! I put in a lifeline, just incase I would somehow screw this up. I'm bound to screw up something so simple. This one will be just a bit longer than the pattern states as I have a bit more yarn than called for.

I also really like the way this pattern is showing off the colors of this yarn.

Here's a closer look at the pattern and the colors. I'm almost one fully skein into the project, and I have four skeins total.

Okay, that's it for this edition of The Wrap Report!


(OMB, I can be so cheesy sometimes.)

Anxiety and Knitting

My anxiety level is high right now. It's over something a bit silly, but understandably, anxiety provoking for myself. I'll just have to deal with this for, oh, for 16 more days (and how horribly sad is it that I've already started a countdown?).

Obviously, this means turning to two things: my journaling and my knitting. Hopefully one or the other will help my anxiety level lower a little bit. Or, I can look at it as a way to finish projects.

So, lets see what I can get done in 16 days. Maybe I'll have a rare thing called a Finished Object?

I fixed my error in my Juno Regina last night, so it's off and running with that again. What I'm knitting now is so tedious and boring, yet oddly relaxing at the same time because I don't really have to think about what it is that I'm doing. But, I know with time it will become something that people will look at and go, "Where did you get that?" or "You made that?"

I also frogged my beaded scarf again. Eventually that will turn out how I want it.

Off to do some knitting or writing. Watching cartoons sounds like a plan, too. I love cartoons!


And speaking of cartoons, I picked up the coolest book at the library today. It's about all of Nickelodeon's cartoons! The cover of the one I have looks different and isn't slime filled, as this one is. I must have this book! I must have the slime filled version! There's not a lot of reading in it, but it's filled with pictures from the shows. Storyboards, cells, production pictures among other things. If you love Nicktoons, especially some of the older ones, grab this book!


I actually blogged about something other than knitting. Wow.

Blogoversary and Four Hours of Sleep

My blog is a year old today! I should really pat myself on the back for managing to keep it going for a year, even though there was those many months that I didn't post anything. Poor little blog was abandoned. *pats blog lovingly* I thank Ravelry for helping to bring my blog back to life.

I think I've maybe gotten four hours of sleep. That's a big maybe. Although it could be closer to five. I don't know how I've managed to not crash and burn, but I'm sure that will come later. Given the time it is now though, I'm worried I'll be up all night again. Or well, there's always cartoons to watch!

I missed a YO in my Juno Regina, and I did it before I dozed off for a whole 20 minutes or so this afternoon, so I'm going to go fix that. At least YO are easy enough to fix, and it's not that far down. *note to self: do not work on Juno Regina while tired, even though you're on the easy part.*

Thanks for all the comments! Record for one day!

What Do You Do When....

It's almost five in the morning, you can't sleep, and you've been up since eleven yesterday morning?

Knitting isn't helping. Any other suggestions?

The First Appearance of Juno Regina

In April (I think), I came across lace weight Malabrigo. I didn't have anything in mind to knit with it, but it was Malabrigo, and it was lace weight, and I had just gotten into lace knitting. Surely I would find something, right? So out of Stitches and Scones I went with my Malabrigo, ready to look on Ravelry for a pattern.

I don't remember how quickly I came across this pattern, but when I found Juno Regina , I pretty much knew that was what I was going to make. It would be my first complicated lace pattern, and my first pattern were I really needed to pay attention to, and follow, a chart. Plus the fact that I could actually sit and concentrate on a pattern such as this.

I cast on for Juno Regina on May 1, 2008. It started out simple enough and moved quickly. I think the picture on the left is after I finished chart one. I'm not really sure though. Just a guess. After finishing each reapeat of the chart, I made sure to add my life line. It would be just like me to mess up and not have that in and have to start all over again!

Throughout the process of knitting the most complicated portion of this project, I only needed to rip out to my lifeline once. Although I only had to frog one time, I'm positive there are many mistakes throughout the first half of this stole. No project is completely perfect though, right?

I think I took this picture after completing all repeats of chart three. The design is somewhat difficult to see in this colorway right now, but that will change after blocking. I wasn't sure how this colorway would knit up anyhow, looking at the skein. For now, at least, any mistakes are hidden. Chart three and four were finished on June 5.

I'm now knitting the easiest part of the stole. I'm going to knit until I almost run out of yarn from my first skien, and that will take me awhile! Since I'm at that part though, I can take this WIP to places and not have to worry too much that I'll screw something up. Just in case, my lifeline is going to stay in place for awhile! Then I'm going to knit the second half of the stole before grafting them together.

I've got some other WIPs that I'll be blogging about soon! I finished a beaded hat, and I'm working on the matching scarf. I've also got another lace shawl in the works.

Thank You Danner's!

Yesterday was the last day Danner's was open for business. A lot of good times in the shop. I'll miss the shop dearly, but knitting circles will continue elsewhere. I'm so greatful for that!

News article here.

I stocked up on yarn during their sale, so I'm set for awhile. How about a little show of yarn? I know you all like that. :)