FO: Beachy Socks

I finally finished my beachy socks! I'm really happy with them.  Which is kind of laughable.

They don't match at all. It took me three months to make them.  They aren't in any kind of pattern or style of any sort.  They don't show my skill at cables, colorwork, or lace. They just look nice and feel nice when I wear them.  That's all I need to knit right now.

I'm a little sad because as I was finishing the heel of the second sock, Dan said that he liked the colors and asked if I would make him a pair next.  The yarn leftover looked like I had barely finished half, so I told him that I would check and if I hadn't hit the halfway point I would make him ankle socks.  Well, I weighed them and lo and behold... I'm just over half.   Of course, the first time my significant other is visibly interested in a yarn... I don't have enough to make what he'd like.  Such is life.

But, he's getting a hat from me because I feel bad.  And also, he bought the yarn to make said hat in July. And I hadn't even started.  More on that later, hehe.

Also, I need a light box.  My work schedule is so long (about 12 hours everyday because my commute is and hour both ways) and the days are so short.  I'll have to throw it into the hopper of "things I want to have."  Other people have those, right?

Anyway, I have to go take these socks off now because I wore them on Monday (my first day of work, for good luck) and they are a little... fresh... because I dug them out of the dirty clothes hamper to take photos of them... Knit blog problems.

New Pattern: Hogwort, a Knit Hedgehog

I first made this little guy in May of 2011.  That's over a year ago! For reasons that I don't want to go into (school, boys, etc) it's taken me a ridiculously long time to publish this pattern.  What's even worse is that I had the pattern testing this time last year!  But, anyway, I'm sure no one really cares about how long its taken me from start to finish for this design.  That point is that it's here, it's cute, and fun to make! The pattern includes instructions for both in the round and seamed toys. 

Pattern Name: Hogwort, a Knit Hedgehog

Difficulty: Easy

Yardage: about 30 yards

Techniques: Knitting in the round (optional), Picking up stitches, Sewing seams, and embellishing with felt.

You can download the pattern from my Ravelry store for $2.50.  

I'm also going to give away a few copies for free! That's right, a giveaway!

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment below.  I'm going to give away enough patterns so that 10% of people commenting get one. So, if ten people enter, I'll give away one; twenty people, two; etc.  If you share this and more people come and enter, that means that I'll be giving away more!

2012 Recap

Well, a whole year is over.  Weird.  And I didn't really do much crafting.

I made a ton of bricks for an installation with Hooks and Needles in May. I made myself two pairs of socks, made a chameleon for my friend, my boyfriend a scarf, and a mountain of hedgehogs.  That's really it. 

It seems a little depressing, but I was doing other things! I finished grad school, wrote my graduate project on something that I knew absolutely nothing about (in 6 months!), worked two full-time jobs while doing this project (one that had 12-hour shifts), broke up with my boyfriend of 5 years, got a new boyfriend, moved to New Hampshire, and am starting my forever job on Monday.  I may not have crafted a lot, but I've accomplished so much it's staggering.

2013 is going to be a fun year.  I'm going to be working at a job I love, living with Dan, and volunteering.  I can't wait.  I have a lot of goals.  I want to publish all the patterns that I have hanging around half finished, for one - there are so many papers and notes cluttering my things.  I also want to get a grip on my yarn stash. I think that most of my projects this year will be from my stash.

Hope you have a happy new year, and all your resolutions work out!

Tutorial: How to Sew Scales

One issue that I had with my Hogwart pattern when I was having it test knit is the scales! Yes, it's a finishing aspect, so it's not really knitting, but it was so hard for me to describe how to do them.  So, this is my attempt to explain how to add scales to your knit toy. 

Want mail?

My Christmas cards are all sent out this year, I designed them myself and had them printed up at Staples.  But I have extra! And extra stamps! So, the logical thing to do is ask the internet - do any of you want a holiday card? I haven't gotten many, so it would be nice to swap.  Leave a comment and I'll e-mail you and we can exchange addresses!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing all my internet friends and readers a great Christmas, a happy holiday season, and a lucky New Year.  May the joy and warmth of Christmas be with you all year long!

Here are some pictures of the snow that we've had.  Of course, the rain has come and washed it away as soon as it piled up, but still.  I can look at these and pretend it's winter out.

My One Knit Gift

This year, I've managed to curb my sanity and knit just one gift - a scarf for Dan.  Go me! I didn't over-reach at all on knit gifts! Of course, cards, cookies, and other gifts... maybe a little.  I may have forgotten that I'm between paychecks this month.

Anyway, I set it out and let it block and the herringbone pattern really opened up.  I love blocking things! I'm still not super excited about the stitch pattern, but I'm not going to tear it out and re-knit two months of work.

It really is an easy pattern, so I'll probably offer it up for free here when I get a good picture of it on him.  It's all my own made-up-knit-stuff, but I don't think it's complex enough to warrant testing, pdf-making, etc.

Anyway, back to the scarf.  My favorite part is the fringe.  It turns out I reserved too much yarn for the tassles, so I could have made the scarf longer - I think it's ok though.  He's over 6', and the scarf is 5'.  We exchanged gifts on Thursday and he looked dashing in it - but that was at night so I couldn't get a good shot! Here's one of me modelling it.

blahblahblah, I need a tripod, blah blah.