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.

It's here!

My kit arrived today!

But now I have to get myself in gear and finish that sweater... because I said I would.

"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:

Giving In

Ever just have a bad day? I had a bad day yesterday. I got really sick at work, went home and slept all afternoon.  It was horrible!

Before Dan came home, I got up and said "You know what? I'm going to live my life to the fullest. I'm not going to put off stuff because I'm ridiculously busy! I'm going to work better at scheduling knitting time, and friend time, and just regular time doing regular things, because this isn't working."

So apparently that translates to "I'm going to buy stuff that I want online," because not five minutes later I was faced with this.

I told myself, though, no starting it when it arrives unless my sweater is finished! (HAR.) I will only allow myself one BIG knitting project at a time...  I think that's a good recipe for sanity.

Knitpicks Catalog

I get the Knitpicks Catalog.  Well, DAN gets the Knitpicks catalog, because he ordered me a subscription to Interweave Knits magazine and now he gets a ton of catalogs and junk mail, and one of those catalogs happens to be Knitpicks.

Anyway, I love this afghan! I know my rate of completing projects is so bad that if I were to start an afghan, it will never be finished... but I want it!

Lost Then Found

I went to Minnesota for work again, and brought my knitting again! I haven't done much on it though.

When I got home today, I figured I would pull it out again and work a few rows before I started dinner... and noticed that the first sock that I finished was missing!  I tore my bag apart, but no luck.

Finally, when I went pocket by pocket I found it!

Why did I tuck it in there? I'll never know.  I'm still too young to have senior moments!

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.

Hiking Photos

I've been knitting, but so slow that I feel like if I were to post weekly updates, to someone that was just casually reading it would look like I wasn't doing anything at all.

So, here are some photos from my hike yesterday to Mt. Major, in NH.

The last one might be my favorite... do you see the frog? :)

Where My Disorganization Bites Me

The last round of Design Along that I participated in, I ACTUALLY designed something - a set of fingerless gloves.

I thought up the design, drew a sketch, was convinced that this was "the one"- the design that would be my best accomplishment yet, etc. etc.  I feel this way about a lot of the things I knit.

I finished the first glove, with all my little notes in my little notebook, when I went to the Twin Cities for work.

Then I lost the notebook.  I'm pretty sure it fell out of my bag at some airport.  Or in some plane.  Point is, I lost it and I put the single glove on a table and said "When I have time, I'll reverse engineer it and write out the pattern and then make another pair in a contrasting color that's longer. It'll still be the best pattern yet."

There are a few flaws with that logic. First, I don't have time.  Not like I had before, when I was in school at least.  Second, the gloves are made with expensive, expensive yarn I got on sale ages ago and then lost the band to - Luxe Lace? Anyway, there was no way I was going to afford another skein of that stuff.

So, today while I was cleaning up my desk, I found that one glove, and I decided to put it to rest.  I would write up my notes, but I know that I will get a ton of angry emails like "What does this mean!?" Basically, I knit part sideways, and made the ruffley bits. Then I worked the cuffs out from the sides, and added a thumb gusset.

The gusset what I'm most proud of actually.  I'm not sure how I did it, and it's a little loose... but if I had the notes I could modify it and...

No. I'm done.  It's time to put the glove in the bin and say goodbye.  I'm sorry little glove, but maybe someday you'll be resurrected.  Or maybe I'll find something nice to make out of the yarn. Who knows!

Sometimes when things don't work out, you just have to move one.

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!

Getting Closer to the End

With each row I end

The next is faster; and so

I race towards the end

I've wanted to start some new projects recently, but I told myself that I shouldn't until I finish something that I'm working on.  So, of course, I pick the oldest project.  I'm surprised at how easy the garter stitch is, how few delicate stitches I've dropped.  I went to work on it today while Dan was reading a book and I noticed that I have less than a dozen rows until I finish! I'll probably finish it on the way back home from Maine today - and then comes the best part, the blocking!

Hope you are all having a good weekend - I have lots of Maine photos, but the internet is slow here so I'll do a photo post when I get back.

... And in with the new!

My mom came to visit this weekend, so, there's one excuse for not knitting as much.  The other, is what my mom brought with her.

... A new TV! I am freaking out right now.  We've already watched a movie, played flash games, browsed reddit... now Dan is playing Metro 2033. 

Setting up the TV made me realize how much clutter we have in our house.  We've lived together for almost a year, and things still don't have a "place," you know? After we set up the TV, I had the overwhelming urge to start organizing things.  I started to think about how much our "styles" clash.

For example, this /lovely/ couch... With embroidered pillow and stuffed animals (mine),Star Wars poster (his), plants (mine) and Dungeons and Dragons paraphernalia (his.)  It's just... kind of strange looking.

Anyway, my next project is this:

I call it the "hobby room," buut I think the technical word is "that room in the house that you put everything that you don't have a place for."

Game of Thrones Needlework

I've been working on this since I saw an episode of Game of Thrones where they were talking about stitching the different house mottos.

"We do not sow"... change one letter, and it becomes adorably ironic. Pair that phrase with my subpar sewing abilities, and I think that it looks pretty good!

Because really, I don't sew.  My grandma taught me how to sew when I was little (before I learned how to knit) and I ended up sewing most of what I tried to sew to my pants leg.  My dad has a few things that my grandma urged me to make - a needlepoint of some girl holding a present, a cross stitch of a cat.  I even have a pretty epic pillow that I made when I was in the third grade, but mixed up most of the colors.  It looks pretty wild and crazy.

Anyway, I don't sew.  But sometimes I get the urge to sew, and lately it's been hitting me.  Lots of blogs have been posting cute needlepoint kits, and I've been looking at this kit on etsy almost every day... but not buying it, because money's tight and maybe I'll wait until I get Christmas money or whatever.  You know.

So when I got the urge, I just sort of did it.  I sketched out the image of what I wanted first, so that I could make sure it was symmetrical.  Then I used transfer paper to put it on the fabric, and just followed it with thread.  Here's a photo of the drawing in case someone wanted to print it out and do it themselves.