WIP Wednesday!

It's almost the end of the year, and I'm almost done with my projects!  All I have to do is the button band and buttons on my sweater.

Dan's sock is going okay - it's a little slow because his feet are so big! But I think I've figured it out.

And my Pomatomus socks... well, coming along slowly! But they might be done before the end of the year.  We'll see.

Well... have a good rest of the week.  I'm going to go paint my nails.  That photo is almost embarrassing.

Busy Busy

I'm working a lot lately... trying to finish stuff for the end of the year! At home, I'm doing the same thing.  I washed and blocked my sweater this weekend, all I have to do is sew in all the seams and make the button bands!

I'm really excited.  Thought I realize that I would have helped myself out a lot by blocking sides that were supposed to be sewn together next to eachother so I could make sure they were the same length... live and learn! Next year, my new year's resolution is going to be to have less projects going on at once.  I can't keep track of everything.

Foolproof

 

During my Thanksgiving travels, I told myself I would work on the socks.  There is now NO WAY that they'll be different sizes... Right?  Oh I hope so... I'd like to finish them this year.  I think that nine months is a long time to be knitting socks. 

How I Spent My Weekend

When I was in elementary school, we had to write in "journals." A lot of times the writing was prompted, like "What is your favorite dessert?" - and a very common one was "What did you do on the weekend?"

I'm some people can't really answer the question "What did you do on the weekend?" in an interesting way.  They say something like "Oh, just stayed in, didn't really do much..." before the conversation turns to sports or the news or the weather.  I can't be like that.  Even when I stay in, I still have to do some sort of project or I will just have so much energy that I can't hold it in and I'll have to do yoga or go to the gym.

Don't ask me how vacations are.  Dan thinks I'm obnoxious!

This weekend has been a weekend in.  And I'm really enjoying it - my sweater is on track (only had a sleeve and the bands to go!) and I've baked and walked around Target and watched Friends for the first time.

But most importantly... we had the first snow!  Our cars were covered in it when we woke up! I'm sure it'll be all melted before noon, but... it's here! SNOW!

I am Actually Making Progress on this Freaking Sweater

Okay, so not much progress, but I have now sucessfully identified which side is the left and the right.  This has been a pretty big source of problems, since, as you can see, THE RIGHT IS ON THE LEFT AND THE LEFT IS ON THE RIGHT.  

There was something in the Bible about how during the end of days, North with be South and South will be North.  That is how I feel with this freaking sweater.  It's the end of days. 

So, I didn't actually do any knitting, but I have paved the way to do knitting more efficiently.  Seems like an excuse that you'd here from a process engineer, right?  I have had to rip back both sides at least twice because I can't figure out the difference between them, so I knit the left side like the right and then... ugh.   I'm getting frustrated just remembering it!

When Okay Ideas Go Wrong

Did you ever get an idea that just didn't work out well when it was executed? I got that a lot when I was drawing a lot - One day I would be working away furiously at something that I thought was the bee's knees, then the next day I would sit down in front of it and think "What was I thinking!?" 

The worst ones would be the ones I actually finished.  I would step back, so proud of my accomplishment, then look at what I'd wasted so much time on... and my pride would shatter.  It would be crap!

Well, this project happened like that.  

I bought some nice yarn at Stitches - I liked it, it seemed warm and floofy... and I liked the color combination.  It just looked good to me.

On Tuesday, I couldn't find my knitting bag so I grabbed these two balls of yarn and started a hat for myself.  

Today, I finished said hat and tried it on.   First minus, is that it's too small.  The second minus, though, is that I couldn't help thinking that this hat was familiar.  I showed Dan.  "Don't these colors look familiar?"

He looked at me like I was crazy.   Then I realized.

My hat looks just like Cartman's from South Park!

So, I will probably weave in the ends and donate it somewhere.  It really is a nice hat... if you have a head the size of a cantaloupe and don't know what South Park is.  Or maybe some kid that's a big SP fan will get it and be excited. Because all my excitement for this hat is gone.

I'm sure everyone has a story like this, though!

Too Big Sock? No Problem!

I have not been posting or reading lots of blogs, but I have been knitting.  I got halfway up my foot with the rainbow socks that I started at Rhinebeck and I felt that they were just a little bit too big...

Thankfully, instead of frogging back to the toe, I'll just re-adjust my goal.

Oh, honey, you want me to knit you more things? BAM.

Socks are "fixed" and the boyfriend gets presents.  Two birds, one stone!

Meet Moby

Let's not talk about socks today.  Let's talk about this post I put up a while ago.  Remember this thingy?

I finished him!

I wanted to make a stuffed animal, because I haven't made one in a long time.  I used the leftover's from Dan's hat that I made last year (which is also an original pattern that I never wrote up...)  I'm calling him Moby the Whale.

Here's a picture of Moby playing in the leaves.

My plan is to publish this pattern, but I'd really like some test knitters.  If you're interested, leave a comment or email me (my address is on the sidebar) and I'll send you the rough draft of the pattern! I would like to have at least 6 testers.

Please spread the word if you know anyone that likes to knit toys.  The pattern uses size 5 dpns or circular needles and calls for worsted weight yarn such as Cascade 220, Caron Simply soft, or red heart. Skill needed include: knitting in the round, sewing seams, and picking up stitches.

Thanks in advance!

Rhinebeck Recap 2013

I was lucky enough to be able to meet up with my mom and Ash this year and go to Rhinebeck! My mom is a travelling nurse, and she's staying in Hyde Park... so naturally we said "Hey, mooooomm... would you mind letting us stay in your apartment and doing nothing but talk about knitting for the weekend?" And, weirdly enough, she said yes!

So, Ash and I met up on Friday, ate dinner, and we blocked our Rhinebeck projects out on my mom's carpet while watching really bad horror.

 

Then, on Saturday, we realized neither of us had a yarn needle, so we ended up kitchnering the armpits of her sweater and weaving in the ends with a bobby pin.  I felt the most clever I had ever been, and she took this picture of my hands that "look like the light of god is shining down on you." Not my words!

So, we perused all the crafts and yarn and demos, and I didn't really see anyone famous, sadly.  The past few times, I've seen someone that I've known online (whose blog I follow) but have been too shy to say hello.  I don't want to be a creep! I did meet some lovely sheep though.

I spent more money this weekend then I have any month this year on personal stuff.  I feel almost ashamed! In addition to yarn, I bought:

1.) A 2013 tote bag

2.) A basket (I'll use it for other stuff besides knitting!!)

3.) Boy scout popcorn

4.) A hat that my mom and Ash said looked cute on me

5.) 2 project bags

6.) A bouquet of sweet annie, whatever that is - it smells so good!

7.) 3 magazines

Ash and I also started on some socks.  There was a booth that was winding yarn into skeins for a fee - it was awesome! 

And I managed to finish the toe - it's Rainbow by Steam Valley Fiber.  Here's a closeup:

Have you ever been to Rhinebeck? What did you get? Did you go this year? If you did, why didn't we meet up!? I'll kick myself :)

I. AM. AN. IDIOT! (The reprise)

Sock toes were finished out, nice and even.  I laid them out to admire my handiwork, and I felt something was wrong.  It wasn't like when I tried them on before.  No, this was much, much deeper.

I was taking the photos, and the thought surfaced in my head like a sunrise.

Wrong sock.

Wrong sock.

It was like the big reveal of a thriller, where scenes flash really fast across the screen and you in the theatre seat realize it as the leading actor's jaw drops. Picture some voice echoing here.

Wrong wrong wrong wrong sock sock sock sock

Guys.

I cut the wrong sock.

Should I be laughing or crying? Dan laughed at me.

I took this picture but it sums up how I feel pretty well.  I think these things are going to sit in the knitting basket for a bit.

I. Am. An. Idiot.

The pattern said repeat the decrease rounds to 12 stitches.  12 stitches total, not 12 on each needle! I bound off and weaved in anyway.

These socks are starting to remind me of the Pareto Law.  The last 10% of them is taking up 90% of the efforts. I guess you could say I got finish line fever - in a bad way.  I was just thinking "Ohmygosh, I'm done! I'm so close to being done!" I didn't actually read the pattern. 

So I'm hitting myself, and getting out my scissors again.

"Why is there always enough time to to do it over, but never enough time to do it right?"

Someone at my work has a bumper sticker with that saying stuck to his work station.  It's true, though!  I finished my Pomatomus socks last night while playing Dungeons and Dragons:

When I tried them on, I said "Hmm.  They don't feel right."  And they don't! I couldn't place it.  Everyone looked at me rather weirdly - I play with Dan and 3 other dudes, all of whom usually drink while they play, and none of whom have ever knit.  But as I sat in my chair wearing my socks, I thought about how they didn't feel right.  My other pair - lost to time or left at my mom's house, I can't remember which - fit really well.  Perfectly.  But these felt odd somehow.

As we battled a pack of ghouls summoned by an evil pirate whose treasure we had stolen, I realized what it was.  It was just one sock, the one that I had finished before.  We had a pie break, and I took a while to look at them.

Can you see it? My most recent sock's foot was half a pattern repeat longer than the last one!

I had already woven in the end of my other sock, so I took the scissors and closed my eyes and cut the tip of the toe off, and unraveled it.

Now my FO is an unF'dO.  But, I'd rather take the time to fix the mistake than walk around with one sock just a little too tight!

(Also - you can picture the look of horror on everyone's faces when I started cutting the sock up.  "Haven't you been working on that since spring!?" They couldn't fathom why I'd cut up and tear apart something I had been working on every week for such a long time.)

My Fall Hike - Look at All the Pretty Photos!

Okay, so this post contains absolutely no knitting.  I just figured I'd share photos from my last weekend adventure - I hiked Mt Chocura with my boyfriend and some people from work.  It was AWESOME!

I made a jump, so that people that read my blog from feeds aren't annoyed by the oodles of photos, so, here you go:

Knitting Update

Here's my WIP Basket.  I'm still in my pink phase, but my projects are chugging along!  I cleaned up the tangled mess that was my socks yesterday while waiting for laundry.  But there's still more work to do on them... especially if I want to start another pair of socks.  I told myself one type of project at a time. And I'm doing ok getting through what's on my plate before I start something else.


Here's a picture of my latest project - a stuffed animal in the making.  Can you guess what it is?


How about now?


Now?

I'll post pictures when it's done, hopefully I don't run out of yarn... that happens when you're using yarn leftover from your boyfriend's hat.

This is why I don't make myself wearables...

... Taking photos of your project in action is so frustrating!

I thought that it would be a good idea to model my finished shawl. I worked on it for a long time, and when I unpinned it, it just looked so beautiful.  I couldn't find a good place in my apartment to stand by.  The bed? The stove? Pu-LEASE.  I finally settled on in front of my shower curtain.  I took one picture and thought "Wow, really? This is the best I can do?"

So, I went outside and set my camera up on a timer.  Then my neighbor came outside and distracted me.

After I talked with her, I realized that the picture I wanted to do was dumb.  So I tried another one.

SUNLIGHT! This is what happens when you can only take photos between the hours of 4 and 6 PM

So I gave up on the self-timer because I was beginning to feel incredibly self-conscious. So then I played around and just took selfies.

Then Dan came home and I put the shawl in the bathroom window and went to check on dinner... and noticed I had burnt part of dinner.  Oops.

But the funny thing is, he went to wash his hands and said "I like the shawl there over the window."

So, there it will stay for now, I guess.  I kinda like it too!

Blocking

I finally got to block my shawl! I used the wig pins that my friend Kate gave me, and blocked it on the floor of the hobby room.

Of course, I had to clean the room first so that there would be room to block the shawl, that took way longer than I thought it would!

Aside aside, it looks amazing.  I love blocking things - the ritual behind it, pinning each part out symmetrically... If there was a paying job blocking people's handknit work, I would apply today! I love the feeling of a project stretching out, being pulled into its final shape, teasing it and pinning it just so that it looks the way I want it to look. 

Sometimes I feel like I'm being blocked by other people.  You know the type - people that try direct you, stretch you to your limits so that you can discover who you are and what you're made of.  I had a teacher in elementary school that definitely "blocked" me! We had to have our homework done, every night, the exact way that she told us to.  I hated her - but, you know what, because of her I learned that I had to do my homework, because it helped me understand the material that we talked about in class.  And, when I got to college I still did my homework (yes - even the readings!) and I got excellent grades - because I had built those habits when I was a kid.  Mrs. D had blocked me into the shape of a student.

And just like a lace shawl or a hat, we can relax and forget our shape.  Then someone else comes around and helps block us again.

FINISHED! Well... almost!

On the ride home from Maine I finally finished my shawl, but I didn't have a needle to graft the final few stitches together.  So last night, that was done.  And now, I'm trying to figure out when I'll have a spare hour to wash and block the thing!

I'm thinking the way things are going (work gives me only about an hour of free time, and we're going hiking Saturday) I think Sunday is my best bet to get it done... here's hoping.

For now, it's sitting on the back of that couch I hate, so waiting for me to look happily at it while I eat, or read blogs, or whatever it is I'm doing.

P.S. - that's my basil plant in the first picture.  I made pesto from it today!