The "Other" Four Letter "S" Word

The other four letter "S" word could be one of two words right now. Let's start with this one.

Sock.

Yes, it's a four letter knitting word. I swore I'd never knit socks, never waste my time on a knitted project that no one would really see. What is the point? No, I'm not going to knit socks and you can't make me! EVER.

No longer can I say that. I have started knitting a pair of socks, my first pair of socks. These will not be my last pair either.

No, I will not like knitting socks. No, I will not like the feel of them on my foot when I try them on. No, I will not love turning the heel.

Damn.

I'm knitting the Spring Forward pattern from Knitty. It's a lovely lace pattern that's quick to memorize. My yarn choice is Lion Brand Sock-Ease in Cotton Candy. I didn't want to spend much money on sock yarn if I ended up not liking to knit socks.

Lion Brand Sock Ease

Hot pink, light pink, lime green, and purple make up the colors in this yarn.
Fingering weight, 438 yd, 75% Wool, 25% Nylon

And now, for the other "S" word. SNOW. Oh, how I despise the snow when many inches fall. I won't be going anywhere today. I'll be lucky to go anywhere tomorrow. Nothing like a day to knit! These pictures are outside my window.

So, either be glad you aren't here right now, or wish you were here, whatever you fancy. I have no idea how many inches fell here, but I'm sure I'll be aware when I go and bring the toter in from trash day this morning!

You Must Watch This

A good friend of mine sent me this video on Ravelry, and I had to post it here. No intro is needed! Enjoy!

Project January: Endpaper Mitts

Month: January

Project: Endpaper Mitts

Status: Completed

I didn't blog much about the project choice for January. Since I had already finished one mitt, I decided that finishing the other mitt would be plausible by the end of the month.

Eunny Jang designed these wonderful mitts, and you can find the pattern on her blog, here. If you haven't done a stranded project, these mitts would be a perfect first project.

I made this pair using dpn for the cuffs, size 1, and two circular needles, size 3, for the colorwork. Until this project, I had not used the two circular needles knitting method. It was probably not the wisest choice, particularly for a stranded project, but it worked. My knitting was tighter using this method, but the mitts have stretched a little with wear.

I used Red Heart Ltd.'s Heart & Sole for this project in the Mellow Stripe and Black colorways.

I love how they turned out, and are my favorite pair of the three pairs I've made.

January's Completed Project

I've Decided on a Layout

Okay, I've been going back and forth, looking at each layout. I've decided to go ahead and stay with the white background. I think the simple layout will allow the pictures to pop out more, that is, when I post them.

I'll add color through my text. If I remember, I'll just change my font color each month. I know, you're all thinking, "Like she's going to remember." :-p

Widgets will be added again in the next couple of days. I also need to become better about tagging posts.

I need to collect some knitting blogs to start reading and to place on my list. What should I be reading?

Okay, it's time to get the blog back on the topic of knitting. I do need to post my project for January because I'm nearly done with it! Perhaps I'll post it when I am completed.

And now to return this blog to knitting.

Opinions Wanted!

Alright, I've been screwing around with my blog for the past couple of days. I've got this original blogger template up, and found a tutorial that helped me to make it three columns wide, which is what I want.

I loved the colors and the cheeriness of the other template. I also like how clean this one looks. If I keep this one, I'll change some font colors.

It's really a matter of deciding at this point. I may just keep this one. What do you think?

Thanks For the Comments!

Thanks so much for those that left comments about my new template. I think I'm going to keep it. Screw IE! I love the template, the colors, and the fact that it's three columns. I can't find another three column template that speaks to me as this one did.

So, my blog is either gonna look great (cuz Firefox is great!) or it's going to look sucky (cuz IE is sucky).

And this is a knitting blog so I guess I oughta post a knitting picture. And obviously screw the grammar for today in this post! I'm allowed to do that once in awhile, right?



Some Malabrigo Lace. Because we all love Malabrigo in any form.

ETA: Using this template has also taken away some options for when I post, either editing a post or creating a new post. And frankly, I'm not excited about that. It's like the older blogger, I think. So, I think I'm going to revert back to another template, or find one that work and allows me the options I want while making a new post. I guess I'm just not gonna be happy about this.

New Template

It was time for a change in the look of my blog. It was just looking so depressing and sad in the dark colors, and I couldn't find the right combination that elicited joy from myself.

So, I found this template and loved it! I'll get around to adding my widgets again and getting the look just right. I've been doing editing within the html, so if something looks off, let me know. I know the title is huge and way off if you're using IE as your browser. I normally use Firefox, so it looks like it should to me.

Enjoy the new cheerful look!


ETA: I've been screwing around with the html stuff, and I know I'm never going to get it to look how I want it to look on both browsers. So, if anyone has any ideas, I'd be very appreciative. For now I'm just going to leave as is.

How Exciting Is This?

It's become some sort of obsession of mine, checking my Ravelry project page for comments and to see if any of my projects have been favorited by other members.

What a surprise today when I saw that a project not previously favorited had been favorited.

What's even better about it is that project was favorited by the author of the book in which the pattern came from!

Now, about the project.

I had been joking around with some friends on how I could knit practically anything. I mentioned handcuffs and that I found this pair that I wanted to knit in a book I had just gotten at the library called Knockdown Knits: 30 Projects from the Roller Derby Track.

Being the person I am, I decide to knit a pair for a friend (who I don't talk to anymore). I'm given the most perfect yarn for the project from a friend that's in my knitting groups. Black with beads from ICE Yarns. Blend that with Lion Brand Lame in silver, and you have the most perfect cuffs!

ICE Yarns Bead Fancy, Black with Rainbow Beads.

This yarn was fun to work with, even though some of the beads are difficult to see on the black yarn.
82% Polyester, 18% Sequins

Lion Brand Lame in Silver.

I wanted something to add to the cuffs, and I knew this would be the perfect addition.
Fingering Weight 65% Rayon, 35% Metalized Polyester

Finished Project

Overall, this was a quick, fun, and easy knit. It took no time to knit these up and have them put together. Make sure you check out the book, too!

Knitting Projects for 2009

There are some projects that I'd like to get completed before the end of 2009. I've got the list in my head, so now it's time to put it down in my blog. The list will contain projects already started and in need of finishing, or projects that I want to start.

All links will open in a new window/tab.


*Warm Color Fingerless Mitts (picture)

* Wrap in Malabrigo Lace (picture)

* Fluffy Lace Scarf (picture)

* Celtic Knot Stole (picture)

* Winter Twilight Mitts (pattern)

* Leaf Lace Shawl (Ravelry)

* Lacy Accents Scarf x 2 (Ravelry)

* Plymouth Confusion Scarf x 2 (Colorcard)

* Fingerless Mitts for a friend

* Comfort Shawl

* Baby Blanket

So, the list for 2009 has been made. Now, for how the "Project A Month" will work.

Each month, I will choose a project to complete. Most likely the choice in project will be something that's already on the needles. It doesn't matter the length in time that it's been on the needles. By the end of the month, the project will be completed. I'll choose the project-of-the-month a few days before the new month begins, and will try to make it a point to post the project and the stage it's in on the first day of the month.

I'll be posting the project for January in a few days. I just needed to get updated photos taken, then uploaded. That is one thing that I'm not good about. Perhaps that will change in 2009!

Knitting Plans 2009

Here are my knitting plans of 2009.

1. Finish at least one project a month.
2. Update Ravelry as needed
3. Use more yarn from my stash and stop buying so much! Only buy if there's nothing in my stash that will work.
4. Update my blog. Try for once a week.

Let's see how long these plans hold up!

What I'm working on now (links to my Ravelry Project Page):

Warm Color Endpaper Mitts
Cheshire Cat Stole
Fluffy Lace Scarf

So hopefully sometime this month one of the three will be completed!

Happy 2009!!!

Hope everyone has a year full of knitting!!!!

Apparently, my resolution is to knit enough to empty four of my containers of yarn. Yeah right. This was made for me, not by me.