Scorpion! AAAAAHHHHH!

Woke up at 1:55 this morning because my arm hurt. REALLY HURT. Looked to see what had bit me, but I didn't see anything, so I lifted up the pillow and saw this:

I freaked out, and ran into the kitchen to get a glass so I could catch it. When I got home from work, I moved furniture. Let's hope this never happens again.

Wowsers, It has Been a Long Time

So, uh. Hi. I've been really really busy. You simply cannot believe how busy I've been. I've been student teaching, and I've decided that teaching isn't for me. I now want to become either a librarian or stenographer, since there are significantly fewer kids involved. The kids, they drive me bonkers, and don't listen to me at all. Next Friday is my last day, then I graduate and I'm free. Sweet, sweet freedom.

I've knit a few things in the meantime, but not as many as I would have liked, since I have about an hour of free time a night. I'm making a pair of fingerless gloves, and I made an Everlasting Bagstopper bag, and I've started a few different pairs of socks, and haven't gotten far on them because of time constraints. I wore a hole in my Petticoat socks and darned them (Darn!) I made another Le Slouch hat, and another Quant.

I also went to a yarn store and bought (gasp!) yarn! I got four skeins of 100% silk laceweight yarn (for socks for Mom and Grandmom), and one skein of Pima cotton and silk sock yarn (for me mwa ha ha!)!

Ouch, I have a papercut! Pain!

My roommate who I taught to knit has made a scarf and a hat, and is making a pair of fingerless gloves (wristwarmers). I'm so proud.

Oh yeah I also made a black baby hat with a skull and cross-bones cross stitched on it for a preggy friend. She's a goth, of course, so the baby needed a "Skull cap." I think I need to make another in a larger size for the growing-ness tendencies of babies and the cuteness factor involved. Wow that sentence was confusing.

Anyways, hopefully after next week I can catch up with pictures and start posting regularly again. I intend to start a lace shawl (narrowed it down to two choices) and need to finish the mothers silk socks for mothers day hopefully.

May rain fall and dissolve your troubles and lull you to sleep with pattering on a tin roof.

Speading the Word of Knitting throughout the Hearts of Many

I taught my new roommate how to knit! She's very good at it, with few bad starts, and has started a scarf. Oh, I'm so proud of her. Now she can teach everyone she knows, and the powerful Word of Knitting can continue to spread. Ah. I feel aglow in the heavenly love of Knitting.

In the name of Yarn,
Amen.

Bad Cables! Bad!

So I started the Ariel Hat the other day, and the cabling is killing me. Check it out:

Having trouble? Lemmee help:
There are more mistakes too. I'm debating whether or not to rip it out and start over, but I don't think I will. I'm not that much of a perfectionist, I need this hat ASAP, so speed takes precedence over beauty, and, personally, I don't think anyone of consequence (other knitters) will be getting close enough to it to notice.

So I push on, vainly trying to ignore the sporadic nature of my cables, and just try to finish the darn thing.

I've also been working on Clessidra again, but I'm at the point at the beginning of the cables, and I don't want to do this without 1) my new row counter and 2) ridding myself of the stigma of the irregularly cabled hat. Wish me luck!

A Vow of Silence

Ok, not really, I've just been really busy. I have been knitting too. I made this:

This is the Ice Queen hood. It took less than one skein of lacette and size 8 needles. It's ok. not my favorite.

This is another Entrelac headband. I've made about 6 or 7 of these. They're great fun to make.

I finished one Petticoat sock. I don't remember if I posted a pic of it yet, so there ya go.

I made a pair of mittens, but they were too small for my finger, so I gave them to my grandma. I love the way the colors turned out of them.

I'm sure I've forgotten something, so I'll post again when I have time. I'm student teaching this semester, so I'm really really busy this semester, but hopefully I'll learn how to do this really well, and be able to get a job. I still don't know where I want to move, but I still want to move north and east. I'm really nervous about this, because I'm only 21, and the oldest kid I'll be teaching is 19, so I feel silly trying to keep the kids in line, and having them call me ma'am. Sigh. And it's so much work. Isn't there a job where I can be lazy every day and make twice as much? Cause there should be. It would be awesome. I wish I was all creative and stuff and could invent knitting patterns like all the cool knitters on the internet. Maybe I can get my mom to think stuff up for me...

Why, I do Believe a new Knitty returned my Knitting Mojo

I love the winter Knitty! Lots of pretty stuff, and just a couple things I wouldn't touch with a thirty-nine-and-a-half-foot pole. Muuch better than the last one. I already knit a whole project, last night from 9pm to 3am. It was so much fun! I knit Quant, an entrelac headband-type thing. I'd never tried entrelac; I was a bit intimidated by the complexity-looking-ness of it, but I really like it now. I'll have to look up that pair of entrelac socks I saw somewhere...

I wish I had a pic, but I already wrapped it and gave it for a present. It's ok, though, I have lots of that yarn left, and I'll make another one. I've been trying to make other stuff, but just can't get in the mood, till last night at least. I made a pair of mittens, working on both pairs of socks I have going, still need to finish that baby sweater, and I'm sure something else I'm forgetting.

Anyways, two finals, one PPR test (wish me luck!), and I'll be home free for a month! Yay! Free time = knitting time, hopefully.

I'm planning on knitting at least one more Quant this weekend, and hopefully I'll take some pics before I give it away.

So by Monday I should have another post for you, with pics. Yay!

Perhaps I Should Just Go On Sabbatical and Forget This Life Thing

So yeah. Another week deprived of the wonder that is knitting. Because of school. This is what I get for taking 19 hours, huh? Anyways, next week is Thanksgiving, and I won't have such easy access to a computer during that week. So I won't be blogging for a few weeks. Not that this is anything new.

I redid the Serenity sock's castoff so now it's stretchy and I finished the first Petticoat sock too. That's what I've been knitting, socks while I sit in class. Yay. I like socks. Anyway, that's about it. Sure wish I had some free time. I might get a few hours' sleep. Or knit. Same dif.

Mittens, Mittens, Bouncing Happy Mittens

Kid mittens. I've made two more pairs now, purple and neon blue. (Yes, the same neon blue as the sweater vest. It won't die.)
Peekaboo mittens for Missy J, who's coming to see me on Saturday!
Another shot of the Peekaboo mittens.
Tricorn Scarf. I likes it.

I'm trying to finish the Peach Blossom Sweater by Saturday, so we'll see how that goes. I only have one sleeve and the "button bands". And the frog closures. Anyway, hopefully it'll get done quick and I can make another one. I love things with increases and decreases, but that are still stockinette, because they're interesting, but I don't really need to count.

I need to go do my homework now. I have to read three plays, write a first draft of a research paper, do a project, do another project, research a director, and lots of other stuff. Wish me luck. On second thought, tell me to break a leg.

Stuff to do

Well. I put down the baby sweater and it's still not finished, but I'm working on it again at least. I had to take a break from it to make a scarf, then I started another scarf, then I picked up my Petticoat socks again, and then Miss J called and wanted me to make her some mittens. So I dropped everything else and made her a pair of mittens in two days. They're very neat, called Peekaboo Mittens, and they have a hole in them for the fingers to go through. No, no pics right now, but I'll post a lot of pics next time.

I let someone borrow my Le Slouch, and they got so many compliments on it, they want one in every color. Weee. Good thing I liked knitting it. She still hasn't given it back though. I don't really mind, I actually find it rather amusing.

She recommended that if I could knit enough things before December, I could set up a booth at a play and sell some stuff. I'm considering it, simply because there will be a lot of children at this play, and I can knit kids' mittens a pair a day, and sometimes two. I just need the yarn, and I have that, I think. Unless I run out. But whatever. We'll see what happens. I enjoy making mittens. Just easy enough I can remember what to do next, just hard enough to keep me entertained. And I can always embellish them with embroidery, cross-stitch, or beading, or anything I want. I feel creative right now.

Anyway, pics next time. Maybe I'll have a few pairs of little mittens to show. We'll just see.

8:45 am. The only free time I have.

I've been so freaking busy! I have a play opening today, so the rehearsals have been running till midnight, and I still have tons of hoemwork, including drawing projects in costuming, a report due over a director, essays in theatre history, essays in an education class, and hours in the costume shop and lighting hours, and hours spent helping and observing teachers in high school. Ick. I hate hate hate being this busy. I need time to stop and think, and I don't have it.

I also don't have time to knit. I knit in class when I have the chance, and that's the only time I have, because I use green-room to do my homework, and there's not much free time there either. I have been knitting the never-ending scarf of doom for days, and it's not even a foot long yet, but that's because the needles are 8s. If they were 13s it'd be done, but I don't think they make size 13 dpns. I could make my own I suppose, but who has the time?

Anyway, back to the never-ending scarf of doom. It's got three sides, like a T, instead of two sides, like a I. It's really really cool and I feel really smart and clever when I knit on it. Unfortunately, it's that dang funfur crap and the ball NEVER GETS ANY SMALLER. I will be trying to get rid of this stuff for all eternity. Ugh. I tried making a shawl out of it, but it tangles so badly, and I never had the right number of stitches at the end of the row, always too many or too few. So I tried to frog that, but it broke as I was trying to rip it out. Whatever. Anyway, cast on this scarf, and each "leg" has ten stitches, so it's easy to keep count. So it'll be done eventually. I'm going to switch gears and try to finish a sock, because I have two pairs that are on the needles, and I want to finish them. Then I'll cast on my second Clessidra, because I'm yearning for some cabledy action.

The Icy Hand of Time is, Well, Icy.

Gah. Another week without a post. At least this time there is knitting, and with grainy, off-color pictures! Yay!

These are pics from a baby sweater. It's called the Peach Blossom Baby sweater, and it's a Chinese-style cardigan. I love it, but my gauge is off (again) and it's going to be too big for a newborn (again). But it's so cute!

This is a scarf that I've decided to abandon. It's pretty, but that took two hours. Yes, two hours for four inches. I've already made myself a different scarf and started another, and I'll probably use this yarn for another baby sweater like the one above.

I don't have any decent pics of the other scarves I've been making because my camera won't cooperate with me. They're both in this funfur stuff that's really soft, and the colors are like peacock colors. I've tried repeatedly to make it into a shawl, but the stuff is too hard to knit with when you have to count stitches; I always ended up with too many or too few. Oh well, I'll make all of it I have into scarves and use it up hopefully.

I made a regular garter stitch scarf first, and now I'm making a three-sided scarf. It's like a + but minus one side, so there are just three instead of four, if that didn't confuse you too terribly. I really like the idea, and I'm gonna make more of these. Pics of scarves next time, plus updates of the sweater and anything else I've forgotten.

Better Late than Never

Yeah, it's been a week since I wrote last. I have hardly had time to sleep this week. I had an essay due yesterday, and a minicrisis with my final exam in one class, which was this week. I know I've not really talked about my personal life in this blog, but man, this was a doozie.

So, as you might know, I'm a theatre major, so I have to worry about stranger things than other classes. In my directing class, for our final exam we have to direct a scene. Well, mine was due today. I didn't have time to plan rehearsals until Tuesday, when I found out that my actors had to drop out because they were too busy too. I had a mini meltdown, but then I got it together, found two new actors (with help), and they did awesome, even though we only had three rehearsals. So now I have a half-day off, and boy was it great. I took a two and a half hour nap.

This week was so busy, I have not knit a stitch. I may knit something this weekend, but man, I'm just grateful that I finished all my homework this week. Next should be much less hectic, and hopefully I'll be able to post more often. I can't imagine that I'll have to post less often.

I'm going to go watch tv, eat dinner, and be lazy tonight. I've earned it.

Something Knitty This Way Comes

My friends are all having babies at the same time. There's a girl at school having one in about Feb-March, a friend at home having one in November, and another at home having one in about May or June. Good thing I like knitting baby stuff, eh?

Mom bought me some new baby yarn-aka Caron Simply Soft- so I can knit more baby sweaters. Simply Soft is good for babies because a. it's soft (duh), b. I don't think it's prone to pilling, c. it's washable in the washing machine and dryer, d. it's cheap (more knitting for the buck.) So I make all baby clothes in this.

The girl due in May or June is a goth, as is her husband, so I'm gonna have fun modifying popular baby patterns into goth patterns. I'm envisioning a black summer dress with pockets, with skulls on the pockets (and red bows on the skulls if it's a girl.) And a baby skull cap with a skull on it. Maybe some socks with cherries, or eyes, or something. I can be creative if I have a basic pattern to work with to start out.

I really prefer goth colors, so I love black and white, black and red, and black and purple, so I usually change the colors of the knitted objects to these anyway, and I love irony, so I'll make a really preppy pattern in punk or goth colors (see the cabled baby vest, in the book it was powder blue and white, and I changed it to neon blue and black.)

So what I started out saying was, I haven't done any knitting since the last post, but I'm going to have to start knitting more to keep up with deadlines, because more than anything else (except maybe weddings), baby knitting has unbreakable deadlines.

Time is on my mind, but not by my side

I have been knitting. In my little amount of spare time. Here are a few pics.

This hat is Le Slouch, from Knit and Tonic. I like it. A lot. I think I know what I'll be making people for Christmas. But in stockinette, because seed stitch is annoying. And also, who wants the same hat as everyone else? Mine should be different.

I'm making a Kaylee sock out of my Serenity sock yarn. Anyone who knows me will know why I like them. I've finished one, but the cast off is too inelastic to go over my heel! I have to force it over, and once it's on it looks great, but getting it on is crazy hard. Oh well, I don't like making socks toe-up, I know this for sure now, so I'm only going to do it when I have to. and this pattern doesn't work upside down, just because of the nature of it. Sigh. I have to make another one. I sure like the way it looks, though. Such a pretty pattern.

I'm going to work on my Selbuvotter glove tonight and hopefully finish it. Three months is time enough to make one glove, even a fair isle one, don'cha think?

Coming at it Sideways

So, I was bored yesterday. I decided to try something new. I found a pattern for socks that are knit flat, sideways, and kitchenered together, with the toe and heel added after. I finished the main part, but don't have pics yet. I'm going to try the heel tonight, if I have time after my homework. I have to write a paper for my theatre history class, and boy am I dreading this. Oh well, a few more months and then a break. Yay!

Inside-Out Socks

Inside-Out Socks

1 skein (or less) Lion Brand Wool-Ease Chunky (or equivalent)
Size 8 dpns (or 9, because I knit very loosely)

Cast on 38 stitches.
Rib for cuff, making length as desired (I did five rows.) Separate for heel, with 16 stitches on the first needle and 16 on a second, or 8 and 8 on the second and third.

Heel: Slip 1st stitch, knit 16 stitches. Turn. Slip 1st stitch, purl 16 stitches. Continue this pattern for another 14 rows, 16 total. Knit 9 stitches, K2tog, k1, turn. Slip 1 st, purl 3 sts, P2tog, p1, turn. Slip 1, k4, K2tog, turn. Slip, p5, p2tog, turn. Continue this pattern until you've knit all stitches, ending in a purl row. 10 sts.

Gusset: Knit at stitches on heel, pick up 9 stitches, through the slipped holes (needle 1). K all top sts (needle 2). Pick up 9 sts down other side of heel (needle 3). Split heel stitches onto each gusset needle, 5 on each.
Row 1:Knit to last three sts of needle 1, K2tog, k1. Knit all sts on needle 2. K1, SSK, knit rest of sts on needle 3.
Row 2: K all sts.
Repeat these 2 rows until 38 sts remain. Knit to desired length minus about an inch for the toes.

Toe: Row 1: K to last three sts on needle 1, K2tog, k1. K1, SSK, knit to last three sts on needle 2, K2tog, K1. K1, SSK, knit rest of sts on needle 3.
Row 2: Repeat row 1.
Row 3: K all sts.
Repeat rows 1-3 until 4 sts remain. Graft toe. No needle is needed, because the yarn is so thick; you can just push the yarn through the holes with your fingers. Weave in ends on outside, then turn inside-out and enjoy.

Perhaps a change of pace is in order...

These are the socks I made a few days ago. I like them enormously.

These will be petticoat socks eventually. Why yes, the yarn does look familiar. It is, in fact, the selfsame yarn that was previously destined to be a pair of Pomatomus socks, but I wasn't liking them in this yarn, so I frogged them and cast on for this. It's a lot more attractive than it looks here, but I can't take a decent pic until it gets a little longer.
Why, goodness gracious, what can this be?

I Lied.

There are no pictures today, because I'm too lazy to plug in my camera. I finished the chunky quick socks, and boy were they quick. I finished the first one last night while I watched a movie, and the second one during class and a little after. I'll post the pattern tomorrow with a picture. I only needed about 2/3 of the skein, so I don't know what to do with the leftover. Maybe a hat for a baby? How much chunky yarn does that take? To Ravelry!!

ZOOOOOOM!!!

Movin' right along.

I haven't been knitting much lately, mainly because I've been so busy. I've got about 2 inches into a sock, and really that's about it. I'm ready for a get-it-done-quick knit so I can satisfy my thirst for product rather than process.

I find that I go through stages of process vs. product. If I go a long time without anything getting finished, I get in a mindset where all I want is something done so I can show it to people. I want something that I can put on and say, "Look what I can do!"

I have some really really chunky yarn, and I'm going to make some socks with it. I want to make fast, quick socks that are warm and thick and finished.

I just need to find the time to do it.

Pictures next time, I promise!

Kitties!! Sweaters!! Fun!!!

This is Kitty. Kitty is a cutie. Kitty also drools when you pet him. Kitty thinks he's a dog, so he doesn't mind getting dressed up in sweaters for impromptu picture sessions. Kitty is very laid back about it, but who knows what he's really thinking.

OR