School and Knitting

January 15, 2010 · Filed under knitting, school

Here’s an updade about the projects that I had on the needles as of two posts ago.

1. I’m finished with my Owls sweater.

It’s just a little bit too big, but not very much so. It’s fairly warm, considering how loosely knit it is.

2. No progress on the Emily. I haven’t even touched it.

3. I also finished the Veyla mitts.

The left one is a bit tight over my watch. I haven’t worn these yet, because it’s either been too warm or too cold.

4. No progress on the secret something.

5. I ripped out the other secret something, because I knew that I wouldn’t have enough yarn to make it the way I imagined it. It actually wasn’t too saddening to rip it out, because I realized that I would have the pleasure of knitting with the Malabridgo twice.

6. No progress on the boring entralac scarf.

7. I really think that my roving hates me. I get maybe a yard spun, then it just decides to not stay put and comes apart. And then I have difficulty attaching the roving to the yarn. It stinks because I was doing an okay job at first, and now I’m not. I think I might be pre-drafting it too thin.

8. I started a new pair of socks the other day, because I need want another pair of wool socks. I’m using the cable chart from Saxony, but I’m using the toe-up construction of David’s Toe-Up Sock Cookbook because I want to make these as tall as possible.

I’ve knit almost one cable repeat on the leg so far.

On Monday Martha and I went out to eat and then we went to Hobby Lobby and goodwill. I bought a Merino and Shetland wool blend sweater for $6. I liked the color (light yellow) of it in the sweater, but it was kinda ugly wound op. So I dyed it with blue, hoping to make it green, but I put too much dye in it, so it’s mostly blue with a few light spots. I only have about 340 grams of it, so I’m not really sure what I’ll make with it. I was thinking something similar to the Tangled Yoke Cardigan, only improvised because I don’t have the pattern. I have picked out a cable pattern form one of the books that  I got for Christmas, and I was thinking about knitting it top down. But then again, I don’t know if I’ll have enough yarn for an entire sweater, so I’ll just wait on using it up right now.

Tech started back yesterday. I’ve only been to two of my classes so far, so I’ll tell you about them and then what I think my other classes will be like.

Aspects of Dress: This class is about dress. Which is apparently more than just clothing. I have to take it for my major, but I think it’ll be kinda fun. There are three different labs for this class; the class is divided into three groups and we’ll alternate labs every four weeks. I’m starting with the aesthetics lab, which is a bit boring. Today we learned about color and lines and balance and proportion and ectera. We did get to cut and glue examples of what we learned, which took my mind about what I’ve heard about my speech class. The next lab is the construction lab, where we get to make an apron (sounds like fun) and the last one is the textiles lab. I’m not quite sure what that one’s about; perhaps we’ll get to feel different fabrics Sounds like my kind of lab; the only way it could get better is if there was a knitting class.

Consumer Economics: Kinda about common knowledge stuff, like bank accounts and credit and taxes and ectera. I also have to take this for my major, but it should be easy.

Nutrition: I think I’ll like this class, since it’s more in line with what I want to do. If I end up not liking it, then I’ll probably need to change majors.

Biology: This will probably be harder than my other classes, but probably not any harder than Chemistry. And I liked biology in high school, so it should be somewhat enjoyable.

Speech: Ug. I hate to be pessimistic, but I’m not looking forward to this class. I’m just going to have to formulate an argument, which I’m not good at, and say it, which I’m also not good at. To make matters worse, some one told me that the professor I have is really hard and will give you an F if your speech is too long or too short. At least the person who told me this didn’t have this professor himself and had only heard this from other people, so maybe they are exaggerating and it won’t be too bad.

 By the way, I typed up my modifications for my endpaper mitts; you can find them on the page called “Modifications.”

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Need

January 7, 2010 · Filed under clothes, cold, complaints

I try not to be whiney. I also try not to exaggerate. So if I find myself saying or thinking “I need ________,” I usually have to reming myself that I dont need it; I want it.

Here lately it’s been cold and I’ve been wearing my Jaywalker socks because they are my only pair of socks that are long and warm enough to wear when it’s cold out. So I’ve found myself thinking “I need a new pair of wool socks.” I do not need, I can get by with just the Jaywalkers. But I would like to make another pair of wool socks, because 1.) if I keep wearing the Jaywalkers every cold day, they will wear out and 2.) I have plenty of sock yarn, so I won’t need to spend any money on this need want.

Speaking of cold, What do you wear to church when it’s cold? I bought three wool-blend sweaters from Old Navy a few weeks ago, and I have warm things for my hands and head, but what about my lower body? In theory, pants are more practical to wear than skirts when it’s cold, but in reality they’re not. Maybe it’s just my dress pants, all of which are kind of loose and thin, but wind and cold seep through pants just as easily as tights and skirts. Thing is, pants won’t blow around in the wind, so pants aren’t practical. Which leaves me with two things that I need want. First off, some more dress pants. The three pairs that I have all don’t fit right, and I need want to find some pants that don’t look so dorky. Second, I need want something that will keep me warm from my waist to my knees. Think about it. For every other body part, there’s something to keep you warm. Hats for heads, scarves for necks, sweaters for torsos, gloves and mittens for hands, socks for feet, and leg warmers for calves. But there is nothing for thighs and faces, except perhaps skirts (which don’t look good on me) and maybe bigger scarves that you cover your face with. I’m beginning to think that I’m a bit of a weirdo, because no one else has come up with something to keep upper legs warm. Maybe nobody else’s thighs get cold, and I’m just some freak of nature who’s knitting keeps her warm everywhere except her thighs. When I asked my parents what they thought about something to keep thighs warm, their response was long underwear. Sure, that’ll keep you warm, but you can’t take off long underwear when you go into a heated building for an hour. So, yeah, I need want something to keep my thighs warm. It’d be nice if I could find something like a coat for your legs you know, something that you can take on and off fairly easily. Interestingly enough, when I was in elementary school I thought about that. We wear clothes, then we put something to keep warm over just our top half. Why? I’m sure I was just as much of a weirdo then as I am now,  and no one else’s thighs get cold. Or perhaps no one else is willing to do anything about it. I mean, I knit, so if I’m cold I’ll I can make something to remedy that. But, apparently, not this time.

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Currently Ka-nitting

January 5, 2010 · Filed under knitting

Alrighty. I have a few things on the needles, so here is a list of my progress on said projects, starting with the ones I’ve started most recently.

1.Today I started an owl sweater. On Sunday I went to Goodwill and bought two sweaters. One was 98% lambswool and the other was 50% wool, 50% acrylic. The lambswool one was slightly felted, but it looked like it would fit me so I bought it to wear (I wore it today and it does fit me). On Monday I unraveled the wool/acrylic one, and today I started the first sleeve. It knit up pretty quickly; I only have about 7 more rows left. I had to use bigger needles than the pattern called for, but that’s okay. At first I was afraid that it looked a bit sloppy, but I knit one owl, and it looked fine. I’ll probably finish the second sleeve before the end of the week. I’d like to have at least finished the ribbing on the body before school starts back up.

2. I started an Emily last Wednesday using some Yarn Bee Snowflake. I’ve knit 4 repeats thus far, and I think I’ll need to knit 14 total. It’s a nice pattern, not too hard, but not too boring. The yarn is decent, but when I do a decrease it tries to act all splitty. I’m kinda avoiding it. And not because I want to work on something else, but because I realized that it’s a bit impractical. I mean, what can I wear with a capelet? I’m going to finish it, but I do feel a bit silly for making something that fancy when I never dress fancy. On the plus side, when I bought that yarn (a few days after I got my wisdom teeth removed) I was intending to make a pair of socks, and bought three skeins. The capelet should only take two, so I’ll have on skein left over. I think I might make a Morgan, but I might not because it might look goofy on me.

3. I’ve already mentioned the Veyla mitts, so I’m not going to link to them. All that I have left to knit is the thumb on the second mitt. Then I’ll need to block them and sew on the buttons. I’m sure that doesn’t sound like a lot, but it is. Well, the knitting part isn’t, but it’s going to be hard sewing on the buttons. Because my buttonholes don’t line up with where I’m supposed to sew them on. Which means that I’ll have to reeeeeeeeally block them out. And I’ll have to pick out 8 matching buttons. I have 300-some odd burgundy buttons that I got from Grandma’s house. Some of them are clearly a different type of button, but most of them look like they came from the same packet. Thing is, they look subtly different. Maybe it’s just the way the light hits them, but they some of them look darker than others. And last time I looked through them, I had difficulty picking out 8 that matched.

4. I’ve already told you about the mystery something that I’m knitting. Well, imagine that, but very slightly bigger. I’m not really sure if it’s going to be good enough for Knitty, but I won’t know unless I try right?

5. A few days after Thanksgiving I started a different secret something, only to realize a few weeks later that I wouldn’t have enough yarn for what I had in mind. So it’s just sitting there, holding my size 10 circular hostage until I do something with it.

6. Back towards the end of September I started an entralac scarf. I’m slightly more than 1/4 of the way through with it, but it’s kinda boring. I’ll finish it eventually, but it’s not at the top of my list.

7. Not a knitting project, but my spinning is pretty much the same as where it was. It like to be difficult and fall to the floor, leaving me with a partially spun piece of fiber that refuses to attach itself to the rest of the yarn.

I kinda want to go back to Goodwill and look for some more sweaters to unravel. Since this one was so easy and quick to unravel (it took me all day, but that’s pretty quick considering I had to rip out the seams and unwind it), I want to find more cheap wooly sweaters that will eventually become beautiful things handknit by me.

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What I’ve been up to Lately

December 29, 2009 · Filed under Christmas, Pictures, knitting

Since I lasted posted, I finished Dad’s socks and fixed his sweater.

I had to fix it because a certain cat ate the cuff of one of the sleeves. After that, I wanted to start Gaelic Mist,from A Fine Fleece, but I decided to wait until after Christmas, in case I found a pattern that I liked better in any of the books that I might get for Christmas. At first I decided to just spin my roving and knit my entralac scarf until Christmas. Well, that didn’t last long. I can’t tell you what broke my resolve, because I’m thinking about submitting it to knitty. All I can say is that I messed up a little and I’m a bit tired of it right now.

Christmas was good. I received some books and some sock blockers and some harmony dpns and a digital scale and a sweater and various other things and 22 servings of candy. I’ve only ate two servings thus far, so it should last a good long while. We went to Chattanooga to visit Dad’s family, which was nice, but Mom couldn’t come because she wasn’t feeling good. I brought a metal basket thing that has two layers, and mom had me play the gift swap for her. Her gift was a jewelry box. I got my gift for Mom because she liked it and wanted to put fruit in it. I got a little caddy with lotion, spray, shower gel, and bubble bath in gingerbread scent. As if I needed any more spray, but I do like the caddy.

Since I was vexed with the mystery knit on Christmas day, I decided to start a pair of Veyla fingerless mitts.

That picture is of the first cuff and part of the second. If you had asked me how I liked the yarn at the time of that picture, I would have replied as such: “It’s super soft, and not as hairy as I would have thought, since it’s alpaca.” I have now finished both cuffs, and if you had asked me what I thought of if after I finished the first cuff, I would have complained about how pulling it out of the center makes it very tangled. I should probably block these before I knit the rest of the mitts, but I have no wool wash. I was going to use some Christmas money to buy some, but the yarn store is closed and shipping costs too much to buy it online. And the wool wash itself, especially Soak, is kinda expensive. I think I’ll  just keep on using detergent and rinsing for now and maybe get some wool wash a few months later.

A few weeks back I placed a hold for Bend the Rules Sewing at the library, and yesterday it came in. I found some fabric and sewed up a little wallet.

  

The card pockets are too small to hold cards, but that’s okay. Actually, the center card pockets aren’t even sewn on the third side, but it’s okay since they’re not big enough anyway. I do have a lot of cards. I have a binder clip on them so that they won’t be pesky and fall out. Well, they could, but I would notice if all of them did and I wouldn’t if just one or two did.

Last night I bought Whimsical Little Knits, because I wanted to make the Hap Blanket and eventually the Ishbel shawl and possibly Cairn.  I decided to use up some leftover cotton and make a wash cloth sized version of the Hap Blanket, and after knitting on it last night and today, I was finished.

I just love the colors.

I messed up a little bit on one corner, but I think it looks okay.

And i most definitely want to make a blanket someday. But not just any blanket. A super-huge, super-warm blanket. If knit according to the pattern, the blanket should measure 40 by 40 inches. Well, that’s not nearly big enough. I’d like a comforter sized 80 by 80 inch version. And I could figure out how to make it that big. But could I finish making a blanket that huge? Possibly. I have knit a pea-coat and a man’s sweater. A large blanket wouldn’t take much more stickamatite, would it?

Here are some pictures of Mom’s mittens.

She really likes them. They’re super soft, and she says that they fit.

Last picture. And I’m gonna spell-check now.

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Hi There!

December 21, 2009 · Filed under Christmas, Pictures, cold, knitting

I have some pictures for you. Because you’ve missed me. I hope.

 I sorta know how to spin now. That’s some Louet Blue-Faced Leicester that I dyed with my knitpicks dye. I actually dyed this during the summer, and then divided it lengthwise into 16 parts. I’ve spun 4 of those thus far (but I hadn’t spun that much when I took that picture).

This is what it looked like after I dyed it.

Sometime shortly after my last real post, I found two knitting books that my mom had. One was The Country Diary Book of Knitting and the other was Knitting in the Old Way. It’s funny, because I had considered buying Knitting in the Old Way, and now I don’t have to. I found a pattern in the first book for a toy mouse with trousers and sweater. It was pretty adorable, so I decided to make it for my mentee. Except I hadn’t met her at the time, so I wanted to wait to see how old she was first. After meeting her, I cast on for her mouse and didn’t finish it until practically the last-minute. So I didn’t get many good pictures, but here’s one.

I used a less than a skein of white Caron Simply Soft Eco for the body, some leftover Simply Soft from a sweater vest that I knit on my machine for the pants, and Red Heart for the shirt. I made my mentee a scarf on my machine, and I used what was left of the skein for the shirt. However, I ran out of yarn, so I had to make the top striped. It reminds me of Charlie Brown for some reason.

At the beginning of this month, it frosted over night so I took some pictures. I have none of the frost to show you, because my flikr is getting full, but I did take some pictures of my pea coat and Ripley hat in action.

I do love that hat. It’s my favorite. I won’t need to make another hat ever as long as I have that one. But I probably will since I like making hats. And no, I didn’t brush my hair before I took that. What? I was in a hurry; I had to take pictures of the frost before it disappeared. I didn’t have time to take care of silly things like brushing my hair. Speaking of hair, I got it cut today.

Well, that’s all the pictures that I have for now. Have a very merry Christmas in case I’m not back before then, and be safe and stay warm.

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I’m Only Posting Right Now So That I Can Say That I Post Every Month

November 28, 2009 · Filed under Christmas, knitting

Hi. I’ve been busy during the past almost two months. I went on vacation, my wireless internet broke, I went on the SOC retreat, and I’ve been busy with school and volunteering. I’ve taken a lot of pretty pictures, but since flickr is being slow I haven’t uploaded many of them. I’m almost finished with the Dad’s second sock, but it’s on hold right now until I get my Christmas knitting out of the way. I need to make a pair of mittens for Mom, but first I need to finish my mentee’s present. It’s adorable, but I’m not quite done yet. I’ll take lots of pictures and show it when I’m done. Which needs to be soon since the Christmas party is next Saturday. Well, that’s all for now. I’ll try to have a real post in maybe a week or so, maybe later.

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I’m not any Good at Coming up with Post Titles.

October 3, 2009 · Filed under Pictures, knitting

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve blogged. This is why my blog’s called “Lazy Ka-nitting,” not “Productive Ka-nitting.” Although, my knitting has been kinda productive as of late.

I started a pair of socks towards the beginning of the semester, and I finished them last week. Here are some tiny pictures of them. I didn’t even know I was able to do this until just now. The pattern is LaceAnklets. I only did 15 rows of the cuff, instead of 25, because I only had one skein of this yarn and I didn’t want to run out of yarn.

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A little while back, I bought Whimsical Little Knits and cast on for Ripleyshortly thereafter. I used two strands of Patons Wool and size 8 needles. The fabric was kinda stiff and slightly smaller than gauge, but I didn’t really care because I wanted it to be really warm and big for wearing in the cold, cold winter. Thing is, I had slightly less than one skein, and it turns out that that isn’t enough to make the slouchy size hat. In fact, it didn’t seem like enough to even finish the regular size. So I looked for the gauge swatch that I made for these socks and unraveled it. That gave me enough to finish it up slightly modified. I had to knit fewer rows and I changed the decreases a little bit, but it ended up looking okay.

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After I finished the aforementioned hat, I started a hat for Mumsie for her birthday. I used the cables form a sweater pattern that she wants me to make for her eventually. It turned out okay, but I had some difficulty decreasing at the top. I’d show you pictures, but since Mom reads this blog, and her birthday isn’t until next week, and she wants it to be a surprise, I’ll wait.

Here’s the scarf that I started knitting a few days before classes started.

 

I started another scarf last week because I didn’t think that the scarf above would last long enough to knit on the way to Nashville and back. I’ve knit a little less than one skein of Soy Wool Stripes, and I have four skeins, so I’m almost a fourth of the way done.

I’m also making a pair of socks for Dad. The pattern said to use this wierd cast on that I looked confusing, so I used the short row toe from this pattern instead. I’ve knit 21 rows past the toe, and I’m probably going to need to knit around 40 before I start increasing for the gusset.

I bought two skeins of Malabridgo Chunky last week (on sale for half off, I might add). I’m not really sure what I should make with it though. I was thinking of making another Ripley, and I might still do that, but then I’d have one skein left over. I was also thinking of making a pair of Bella’s Mittens, but I’m not sure how the crazy colors (yellow and pink) would look in that pattern. I also bought some Cascade Alpaca Lace that I plan to hold double and use for a pair of Veyla.

Well, I don’t have anything else to say, so enjoy the pictures!

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A Post About School, not Knitting. Sorry.

September 8, 2009 · Filed under church, complaints, school

Well, school’s not too bad. Precal’s a little iffy, and Chemistry’s horrible, but overall the semester’s didn’t start out too bad. Except that I got sick last Wednesday and missed two cookouts, church, $3 Thursday, and my Chemistry lab that possibly didn’t meet since it was the first week. I couldn’t really tell if I had a cold or just sinus troubles. I was feeling better by Friday, and I went to my classes, but I kept my kleenexes and hand sanitizer handy so that I wouldn’t make anyone else sick. Chemistry was a foreign language that day, and reading the book now isn’t helping much. I went to the bookstore to buy the solution manuel, but they didn’t have any so I ordered it. The bad thing about that is that I won’t be able to understand anything until the end of the week.

Last weekend was nice. I visited some relatives on Saturday and went to the SOC all-nighter on Sunday. It was fun.

Like:

  • Warm socks
  • Quick knitting projects
  • A four day weekend
  • Life, for the most part, in general

Dislike:

  • Chemistry
  • Being sick
  • Dobby dying in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

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Classes Start Tomorrow. Wah.

August 30, 2009 · Filed under Pictures, cleaning, knitting, school

This is my need-to-post-something-before-classes-start post. I finished knitting my asymmetrical jacket last Saturday, and I sewed on the buttons on Tuesday. The bigger side is longer, probably due to the fact that it is heavier.

 I didn’t have enough yarn to make it nice and long, but that’s okay. Here are some more pictures of it; they’re kinda blurry and off center so I didn’t feel like posting all of them.

I started a scarf the other day. I plan on working on it tomorrow during the down time that I’ll have.

I’m almost finished with my glove. I have less than one finger left, and I plan to finish it today.

I sewed one pocket onto my pea coat, and I’ll sew on the other pocket later on today if I have time.

I cleaned about 1/5 of my room in the past week. I actually have a floor! And it’s very nice being able to walk from my bed to the door without having to step on anything.

I’m going to start something today that I hope to continue on a weekly basis (or maybe postly basis. I like that word. Postly.). I’ll list a certain number of things that I like and then list fewer things that I don’t like. So here goes.

Like:

  • Fleetwood Mac
  • Postly
  • Being able to walk from my bed to my door without having to step on anything.
  • ” ‘Master Malfoy moves with a nobility that befits his pure blood’ croaked Kreacher at once. ‘His features recall the fine bones of my mistress and his manners are those of-” *

Dislike

  • Having to start classes back up tomorrow.

*Rowling, JK. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, p. 451. (My citation skills are a little rusty).

Well, next time I post I will be back in the swing of fifteen credit hours of classes.

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Money for Knittin’

August 17, 2009 · Filed under Pictures, knitting, money

I am, for the most part, finished with my pea coat. I just need to sew on the pockets.

It’s warm, or at least it is when it’s 90 degrees outside. I’d like to hope that it’ll be warm in the winter as well.

The sleeves are too short, but that’s okay; I’ll just not fold them up. I think it turned out rather well for a garment of such magnitude, and I’m not the only one that thinks so.

I entered it in the fair, and it won (drum roll please) 1st place in its category and Best of Show for the knitted and crocheted stuff! Which won me $18. I also entered Dad’s sweater and it won 3rd place for its category, which won me $4. I also entered a hat and scarf that I made for Mom, but they didn’t win.

I had my wisdom teeth removed on Friday. It wasn’t so bad. The nurse gave me the laughing gas, but I didn’t feel any different. Then she put on monitors for blood pressure, pulse, and oxygen levels. I felt the blood pressure machine constrict, then I started counted the beeping noise that I was hearing. Then she put a tourniquet on my arm and then put the IV in, which hurt. After that, I remember the blood pressure machine constricting once more, then the next thing I remember doing was saying that I was cold. So, overall, the surgery wasn’t bat. Recovery is what stinks. My mouth still kinda hurts (it’s going in between discomfort and low pain), and I’m still not able to eat anything harder than macaroni. When I got home on Friday, I asked for the yarn that I had set aside on Thursday for me to use post-op. I cast on 24 stitches and kinda knitted one-handed for a little while; my arm still hurt from the IV, so the only thing I could do with my right hand was hold the needle. I knitted in plain garter stitch when I wasn’t holding ice packs to my face and while watching TV. I continued to knit on Saturday, and by noon(ish) on Sunday, I was finished.

It’s pretty, even though it’s just a tad bit tight. I really like the hodgepodge of buttons.

The yarn is this discontinued stuff called Icelandic Jewels that I got at Hobby Lobby for 99 cents in my sophomore year.

You can’t really tell, but I used sewing thread to sew on the buttons. I think I did a fairly good job matching the color.

I just love this last picture. I makes me look so goofy. It was unintentional, but that’s part of the reason why I like it so much.

I started a jacket. I’m a few inches past where I split for the arms, but this is the most recent picture that I have.

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