Do Not Climb

I started a Christmas present project today! I'm making another Fetching (my third), because it's quick and easy but not boring. I'm using Caron Simply Soft, which I love except for the fact that I know it will pill like crazy when the gloves get worn. Ah, well. I also have oodles of photos to post, but they are still sitting on my camera, and probably will for an indefinite amount of time.

Also, I'm developing a bit of a girl-crush on Helene Grimaud.

Well, now is about the time of year when I realize that I do not actually have the time to knit Christmas gifts for my entire family. Naturally, I only have one person's finished (or...started at all). Oh well. Luckily, they are my family, and will love me even if I give them their gifts late and spend most of winter break knitting their gifts in front of them. So much for surprises, lol. Anyways, I've decided that this is the year of crocheted holiday gifts. Let's face it, even if knitting is way cooler, crocheting just doesn't take as long.

My first gift of the season is for my Aunt Kay, who is completely amazing. She gave me a whole box of crappy acrylic yarn with which to knit, and college students never turn away free stuff. Of course, I tried to only take the colors I thought I would actually use, but she snuck in a half dozen skeins of ugly ass orange yarn that she bought at Pamida, most likely before I was born. (The Pamida in question went out of business at least a decade ago.) When selecting yarn for Kay's present, I naturally chose the dreaded orange yarn that I had hid away in the deepest corner of my dresser, hoping never to see it again. It actually turned out quite nice! I only used up a skein and half of the stuff, so she'll probably be getting orange presents for a few years. The pattern I used is called The Professional, titled after the movie of the same name, and a matching scarf, Shelley. I loved the hat so much that I made myself one, in a nice off-white. (It's really no surprise that I haven't finished more gifts.)

One of the other things I have finished lately is a new iPod cozy. It is purple, of course. I was tired of having to take my iPod out of the previous case every time I wanted to change the volume (which is frequently, especially when I listen to anything classical), so I devised myself a new one. It's a bit lopsided, honestly, but it works. On a frustrating note, one of my headphones is no longer working--not only do I need to find a new pair, I'll need to knit a new hunk of i-cord to keep them untangled.

I also just finished a baby blanket using this pattern, and went to the baby shower today. More on that when I get the pics uploaded.

Current WIPs: Athenian scarf (more crochet!), Brea bag (this one's been in my Ravelry queue forever), and Thermal...still. That sweater will be the death of me. I love it, but damn it is taking me forever. I have all of the body done, and most of one sleeve, but I keep getting distracted by new patterns. And, without further adieu, I present many pictures for you to feast your eyes upon.

Just kidding. Summer has been keeping me all extra busy, and I haven't felt motivated to do much since the endpaper mitts disaster. I do have two small and highly convenient knitting projects to show for my summer "break," though. Firstly, there are the ever popular i-cord headphone sleeves, keeping my headphone cords all nice and untangled. They are quite possibly the most fantastic idea anyone has ever had; you can find the original idea here. Ah, Craftster, how I love thee.

And here, in glorious purple, are my very own:

Action shot!

I used some leftover KnitPicks Palette and size US2 needles. It only took a couple of days, and was a short enough project to keep me motivated in my slump!

Second, also in glorious purple! (can you guess my favorite color?) is a set of hair curlers. Almost as ingenious as the headphone sleeves, they are super soft and much more comfortable to sleep in than the kind you buy at the store. Thanks to the fabulous Heather Rupe for this most excellent pattern. No action shots yet, nor pictures of my beatifully curly hair. I'm sure they'll pop up when least expected to.

I also finished my Beaded Cami...about a month ago. It's been sitting in my closet unblocked until last night. I was in the middle of a massive cleaning spree and my floor was a mess, but my room and closet are now almost obsessively clean and there is eons of space for blocking. Well, not so much eons, but there is a cami-sized space. I can't wait to go home and find the little lace trim all opened up and pretty!

So, since I've spent so little time knitting this summer, I absolutely had to find some way to shrink the massive box of yarn in my closet. I have rekindled my long lost love, crochet! I know I will never love it as much as knitting, but it is quick and fun and has heaps of romantic looking stitches just waiting to be put into garmets. Voila! I present Chanson en Crochet. It was super fun to work up, and I absolutely love how it turned out (as evidenced by the FIVE pictures I have to share). I used Elann Sonata Solid, in Coffee Bean, and a size I hook. It only took about a week to finish.

Isn't it pretty?

Oh no! A knitting slump!

I finished a pair of endpaper mitts about a week ago, which was thoroughly depressing; the second turned out to be noticeably longer than the first, plus the tubular cast on is tighter that I'd like. I was so excited about how perfect the first one was, and now I'm going to have to try to knit a third mitt so that I have a matching pair, or the perfectionist in me will go completely bonkers.

Ever since the mitt disaster, I haven't really felt like knitting. I changed all of my WIPs on Ravelry to "Hibernating" except for the beaded cami, which is the only thing I'm still working on right now because it is almost all stockinette and I don't have to concentrate at all. Of course, the yarn I'm using (Patons Pure Wook Crepe DK) randomly splits in the middle of a skein, so I don't even have the energy to work on that right now. At least I have discovered the most glorious Russian Join, eliminating the dreadful task of weaving in ends.

Here are two of my recent finished projects:

First is Tudora, a quick knit neckwarmer that I will have absolutely no use for, at least for several months.

Start Date: April 24, 2008
Finished: April 26, 2008 (only two days!)
Yarn: Some red acrylic from my stash that is probably older than I am
Needles: US 6



Mods: I continued the cables all the way to the bind off, and I used my favorite one-row buttonhole instead of the suggested two-row.
This second picture has better color accuracy; the first pic is an example of me being lazy and just wanting to get pictures up.



The second project is an Argyle iPod cozy to protect my new birthday present, based on this pattern.

Start date: April 13, 2008
Finished: April 15, 2008 (another two day project!)
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft in Dk. Country Blue and Red Heart Super Saver in Lavender.
Needles: US 6



Mods: I changed the number of stitches I cast one because I wanted to use worsted instead of DK weight, plus I think my iPod is a little smaller than the original, based on the date of the pattern. I also did a little bit more colorwork so that it would really look like argyle instead of just a couple rows of diamonds. I also braided the button loop, and added another longer braided cord so that I could wear it fashionably while riding my bike:



There you have it!

I'm back from my unintentional month-long hiatus!

It has been an....interesting month.

Firstly there was spring break, which entailed great amounts of partying with my brother Josh. By great amounts of partying, I mean we saw each other for like 5 seconds total because he still had school and play rehearsal. We did still manage to create some bedlam in
Ames, IA, though; we went to our favorite late night restaurant, tried to decide which one of us the cute waitress liked better, and taking a weird while-driving photo:



Non-Knitting Highlight No. 2 was a recent trip to Chicago last weekend, where Evgeny Kissin played some stellar Brahms. Plus, his hair is amazing. The rest of the concert was pretty amazing as well, even though we in the very farthest row back and had to stand up to see anything. The only downside to the trip was the part when my car broke down, I had to impersonate my aunt to get AAA to tow it, and now I either have to get my transmission fixed or get a new car. Bleh.

Anyways, I have new and exciting knitting updates! I've made a lot of progress on my Thermal; almost all of the main body is done:



Check it, endless repetitions of waffle stitch!



I think I've used about 3 skeins so far, so I will probably have at least one left over.

I also finished a scarf this month, earlier when it was still cold. I have almost an entire blanket's worth of Homespun, but the blanket I was going to make was turning out pretty awful (no stitch definition! eep!). I ended up combined a yarn I hate with a stitch I absolutely love (feather, so the scarf didn't turn out too bad. At least it's like the warmest thing my neck has seen in a long time.



Blog blog blog.

At some point, probably shortly after I knit something other than a garter-stitch scarf, I started to accumulate knitting needles. Seriously, they are everywhere. The first thing I did to control my needle stash was to buy a binder and some of those sheet protectors, which became the home for my circular needles. Next, I found a square of knit fabric in a basketweave stitch I had in my stash - I can't even remember what I was making - and added about 5 more rows, cast off, shoved a bunch of needles (about half of my dpns) through the fabric, and rolled it up. I finished part three of this organization adventure last weekend. I found a pattern that required very little knitting, and also very little sewing. My apartment really isn't large enough for me to justify a sewing machine at the moment, even though my mom has an extra one. Anyways, I had to hand stitch the knitted cables to the felted fabric, and it looks pretty awful, but it is functional and that was pretty much my goal.



I have no idea how my US 2s got so bent out of straight, and I can only find one of my 15s at the moment...

All of my completed storage projects to date:



And, finally, I have taken some more pictures of my hemlock ring shawl.

Modeled by my dining table:



My chair:



And yours truly:

So I'm in the midst of knitting a case for my straight needles, and I'm using the back of an old sweater I felted. I had all this extra felted goodness, and I wasn't sure what to use it for. I ended up using part of one sleeve to make myself a cute little case for my pens and pencils. I used a little bit of yarn left over from my Hemlock Ring Shawl (which is blocking as I speak!); I still have 8+ skeins left, and I have no idea what I'm going to use it for. Anyways, here it is, making friends with the dreaded music history book:



And here it is holding all of my writing utensils. I actually make a point to take my music history notes in a different color every day, so that when I eventually force myself to study the bright colors will cheer me up a little:



And, finally, a close up of the button (yard sale style), mostly because I like pictures:



I actually do have some knitting pictures to post as well, despite my declaration of non-knittedness earlier. I have finally finished knitting my shawl sized version of the Hemlock Ring Blanket; all I have to do is wait for it to dry, and then go crazy with the picture taking. Here it is as of now:



Since I finished one of my big project, I am allowing myself to cast on a new scarf, even though I should be finishing one of the 3 other WIPs I have right now. I need to use up some Homespun that I have (and Hate!), and this afghan looked relatively okay in it (at least much better than mine), so I'm using that stitch pattern. Plus, I am in love with feather-and-fan lace and want to knit more of it. I'm also planning on making myself a set of these curlers soon.

My camera cable finally arrived in the mail! So, first, here is a hat, Shedir, knit with knitpicks' Andean Treasure in Summer Sky Heather. It is super soft and extra warm.



Detail of the cable pattern:



And a picture of the top, which might be my favorite part:



I also have a slightly sillier finished project, Quant. This is from some very old acrylic yarn my aunt gave me; the colorway is called "Orange Ombre."



Plus, it matches my shoes!



My ears will never be cold again.

My 3-day weekend project:



I had actually knit this in September, but the I knit the sleeves in the round and had some serious ladders happening. Also, at this point, I had been wrapping the yarn around the needle in the wrong direction for purl stitches; all of my purl stitches looked twisted. So I ripped out the sleeves this weekend, re-knit them flat, while wrapping the yarn around in the wrong direction on the purl stitches, and voila! I am much more satisfied with it now.

I still don't have a camera cable, and I'm going crazy not being able to check out all my new pictures. It should be here by Friday, finally. So, I will be able to post some sweet pics of my new hat, Shedir, as well as an entrelac headband, Quant.

I took a bunch of sweet pictures today, but I left the cord that hooks my camera up to my computer back home. Now I have to wait several days until I can post my sweet new hat, Shedir.

On an unrelated note, I've decided that Michael Andrews is pretty rockin'.

I can't stop casting on!

I now have 4 WIPs, plus the multiple hibernating projects that I told myself I would work on over this break.

First, there is the Hemlock Ring Blanket, in a shawl sized version:



Still working on Thermal, but no updated photo yet.

Also a pair of tweed Jaywalkers, which are going to take forever and then some, and Shedir, which is almost close to being done.  I think when I finish this hat I'll go back to the Hemlock and hopefully finish it soon.

I made some extremely cute cookies for Christmas:



I used red food coloring in the dough to make pink cookies, with homemade icing and peppermint crumbles. They are in the shape of candy canes (My aunt thought they were "J"s for Josh, my brother, and my grandma thought they were turkeys.).

I also started knitting Thermal with my new Christmas yarn, and I'm really excited about it even though I've only done a few rows of ribbing.



Hoorah!

Here is a pattern for a cabled camera case that I knit:



Camera Case Pattern

Worsted weight yarn - I used some left over Caron Simply Soft in Pale Green.
Size 8 DPNs

Gauge: 20 sts and 30 rows = 4 inches in stockinette.

Finished dimentions: 3 1/4" X 5 1/4" laid flat.
(My camera is 2 1/2" X 3 1/2" X 1 1/4". This pattern could easily be adapted to fit any size camera, either by changing yarn weight or needles, adding cable repeats, etc.)

Special Stitches: C8F = slip next 4 sts onto cable needle and hold at front of work, knit next 4 sts from left-hand needle, then knit sts from cable needle

( Pattern )

Today I finally cast on for my dad's Christmas present, a pair of convertible mittens/gloves. I wish I could spend all night knitting, but I really need to finish a paper for piano literature, "The Harpsichord Suites of Elizabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre" I already feel guilty about the four rows of ribbing I finished.



I saw on Ravelry today that the Herringbone Slipped Stitch Hat pattern I posted is already in 2 people's favorites and in 2 queues; I feel a little extra special today. It also gave me motivation to write and post my matching fingerless gloves pattern...but again, Jacquet de la Guerre must come first.



Edit: Completed Pic! Christmas morning!

This is a hat pattern that I designed:



Herringbone Slipped Stitch Hat

Yarn:
A: Burgundy, worsted weight, 1 ball
B. White, worsted weight, 1 ball
C. Dark Red, worsted weight, 1 ball

Needles/Notions:
1 US 8 circular needle
1 US10 circular needle
Cable needle (optional)
Stitch markers (3)
Tapestry needle

( Pattern )