I think That this shirt is fairly decent, considering I didn’t use a pattern.
This is before I knit the sleeves. Mom took that picture.
After I knit the sleeves (No! Really?)
A sleeve. And my hair and arm and one of the posts on my porch and some greenery.
So, the shirt really wasn’t that hard to make. I started with a provisional cast on with one of the front straps. I knit for a while, then increased a little. Then I did the same for the other front strap, only the increasing was opposite. Then I did the same for one of the back straps, only I knit fewer* rows and didn’t increase any. What I did do, after I made both back straps, was knit across one, cast on 28 stitches, then knit across the other. After the back was as longas the front straps, I joined them together, casting on stitches under each arm and in between the front pieces. Then I knit in stockinette stitch in the round until it was long enough. Then I did the lace repeat, which I pulled out of nowhere, until it was longenough. I think I’m getting boring now. I’ll proceed to talk about the sleeves, which are more interesting. And by the way, at the *, you’ll notice I used the word “fewer.” Am I allowed to say that, or should it be “less?” I would like to be grammatically correct, but I’m not enough of a grammar freak to know which word to use in that situation. Anyways, on to the sleeves.
Then I knit the sleeves. I tried 2 different sleeves before I settled for the one that I actually used. I picked up the stitches around the armhole, and knit a few rows. Then I did short rows until there were only about 12 or 13 stitches left. Then I continued to work in the round until I felt that it was long enough. I wasn’t too crazy about the sleeves while actually knitting them, but I like the way they turned out. Well, other than the fact that I wasn’t wrapping my stitches correctly on the first sleeve, which resulted in 3 holes that I had to patch up. If I ever knit something of my own design again, I’ll probably use this same technique for the sleeves.
Saturday, My mom cleaned out her closet, which resulted in me getting to cut the buttons off of everything that she was going to give to Goodwill (we threw them away after I maimed them).
This clothing purge also resulted in me getting some hangers, which I had been in dire need of for a very long time. I also acquired a (drumroll please) 80% SILK jacket and tank top! I don’t have any pictures yet, because the memory stick was full. The jacket fits decently, so I’m not goingto salvage it for lace weight yarn. I’m not sure what I’m goingto do with the tank top. When I tried it on (over a white t-shirt) it looked like one of those jerseys that they sometimes made us wear in P.E. in middle school. Except that it’s not mesh. The thing is, I still haven’t unravelled that 80% alpaca vest that I got back in April. So it wouldn’t really make sense for me to attempt to unravel something else. Especially something that tighly knit. It would probably take a good longwhile, in addition to being very frustrating.
Monday night, I started knitting a pair of Endpaper Mitts
I’m making them gloves instead of fingerless mitts, because I don’t have any hand knit gloves, and because I really don’t need any fingerless mitts. I’ve already done the pinky, and I am currently working on the thumb before I do the other three fingers. The pinky’s just a little bit tight, but I did the best I could, considering that if I had done more stitches for the pinky, I wouldn’t have had enough for the rest of the fingers. I thin they’ll turn out fine. I know they’ll be really warm, because the color changes make it extra thick. And I’m using wool. So this winter, I will not only be warm while tromping around campus, I will not look like an idiot. Well, at least my hands won’t. Not that they did this past winter, really. It was my head that looked like an idiot. I’m still looking for a hat pattern that doesn’t look stupid, but that keeps my entire head warm (that includes ears). And that won’t fall off. And that isn’t a beret, because they don’t look good on me. Any suggestions?
I’m getting close to being finished with the back of my peacoat, but I keep putting it on hiatus to pursue other knitting endeavors. I think I have about 2 rows left before I bind off a bunch of stitches and knit the collar/neck thing.
Well, it’s ten minutes until midnight, so I should probably be getting on to bed. I have to deliver a casserole for Mom tomorrow. Before noon. Ouch. Waking up early, how awful. Just kidding, Mom, if you’re reading this while you’re at work. I don’t mind delivering that for you. As long as I don’t have to tiptoe due to it being overflowing. And as long as it doesn’t spill in my car. By the way, do you want me to make those cookies from scratch someday? I have to ask you now, on the Internet, because otherwise I’ll forget.
Just a few more things, then I’ll be done, I promise. I watched Toy Story today. It’s just as good of a movie when you’re 18 as it is when you’re 5. I’m not entirely sure how old I was when I first watched it, but it was a longtime ago. And watching it today reminds me of the time that we watched it in Spanish in Spanish class in 8thgrade, and someone and I were quoting parts of it because we knew it so well. I thought it was Rachel and I, but I just now remembered that she didn’t take Spanish in 8thgrade. i know it wasn’t Martha, because she said that she had only seen it once before and right as I was typingthis run-on sentence, I remembered everything. We watched it in Spanish class, and I remember the part where Hannah (in the movie, not me)said “Yo no es. YO NO SE.” And then later, we watched it in Mrs. Spurlock’s class (in the English language) one of the two times that the 5K was cancelled, and Rachel and I were quotingit as we were watching it and Martha wasn’t, because she had only seen it twice before, one of those times beingin Spanish class. Ah, those were the days. Well, the happy memories were the days. But my life four years ago probably isn’t, on average, any better than my life right now. So I should be saying “these are the days.” Except that they don’t really feel like it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not unhappy or not content, but I don’t think sitting at home knitting, reading, and attempting to exercise is the stuff of good memories. When I’m old, I’d rather remember the times I watched Toy Story with my friends than the times I spent by myself at home. Although, now that I think about it, being outside in the garden or in full view of a thousand shades of green are fairly decent things to remember. Just not as great as the times that I spent with my friends.
Speaking of many shades of green, I really want to dye some yarn. Possibly with Kool-Aid, because I’m too afraid that I’ll mess up and end up wasting the real dye that I got for my birthday. The thing is, I’m trying to not spend my money and I don’t have any dyeable yarn. I do have some dyeable roving, but I’m don’t want to spin it just yet. It was kinda expensive, and I don’t want it to look like something that Quigleygot a hold of. Maybe I’ll get a job and then I won’t feel so bad about spending money. I applied to Captain D’s and McDonald’s this week. Funny thing, when I was applying to McDonald’s, I saw a picture of some smilyemployee (or a model that was posing as an employee) with a caption that said “My friend’s and I love working at McDonald’s.” Hm. What’s wrong here. I feel kinda bad pointing that out, since my writing isn’t much better, but I come on! A huge company such as that should not be making such obvious mistakes.
Anyway, I’m going to finish typing this incredulously long post. Okay, so most of it was pictures, but still, there is a good chunk of just writing. Ya know what? Maybe I don’t hate writing. Maybe I’m just too self centered and/or apathetic to care about anythingother than my life, and so what I really hate is not writing, but attempting to pretend like I care about something that I don’t care about. That and research. Well, seriously, I’m done now.
