Whoops!

Wow, it's already been 4 months since my last post! That's TERRIBLE! I'm bad at this game. But I do have a very good explanation as to why I haven't posted! I was in school! I don't know if I've mentioned before, but I'm in art school and well, all of my "free time" is devoted to sleep, watching mindless tv, and other relaxing things (knitting or reading). A girl sometimes forgets that she has a blog...Whatevs.

It's past Christmas, almost New Years. It's weird how fast this year's gone. This semester of school, in fact. It felt like it was dragging on forever and suddenly it's done! There was a final race to the finish, furiously getting things done and suddenly I have nothing to do (art school related). I have plenty of knitting to do.

I am embarking on the Doctor Who Season 12 scarf journey. It's going to be epic. Incredibly long, but epic. So many color changes, such a long length, all garter stitch. Amazing.

I also have many pairs of socks I want to knit. I've got some new yarn to use. I'm excited.

I'm also going to be selling some knitted items at the art fair at school this coming semester. I could use the extra cash and I'm got a big enough stash of yarn that I can do it. I was thinking coasters, maybe some small bags, a few fingerless mitts, and some hats. I'll also be taking commissions if someone can't find something in a color that they want. I'm actually pretty excited, because everything that I'm going to (hopefully) knit won't be an undertaking, so I should have a bunch of things to sell. I just hope people buy them. Otherwise, I'm left with a bunch of random things that I can't do anything with. We'll see. :]

There are so many things I want to do this vacation, but it's already almost half over! So sad.

In other news, we have to put my grandma into a nursing home. She's lived with us for about 15 years, and her health has been slowly declining. The other morning, she collapsed, but thankfully my sister was right there to catch her (It was most certainly God's work that she was right there. If no one had been there, my grandma would have hit her head or something worse). We called the ambulance and she seemed to recover while we waited for it, but they took her in anyways. She doesn't remember the even at all. Her balance is way off and she's very weak. There's really no way that we can take care of her by ourselves, so my mom and uncle (who is visiting) found a lovely nursing home. I just hope everything works out well. Please keep us in your prayers (if you do that sort of thing). It's a tough time for all of us, especially my mom. It's her mother.

WELL! On that not-so-happy note, I will be updating more frequently (hopefully). I have many projects to do, and I'm excited to show people. Have a Happy New Year's Eve and Day! We're going to see the Cleveland Orchestra on New Year's Ever. I'm excited! :]

BEST. PACKAGE. EVER.

Guess what I got todaaaaaaay!

Oh yes, my VERY FIRST Knit Picks package!! I've been waiting for it and now I can't stop staring at what I got. Wanna see it? Of course you do.

Firstly, here's all of the yarn together:
Yum! Now, for individual pictures.











Lovely, aren't they? They're Imagination Mermaid Lagoon (Left) and Evil Stepmother. Both are sock yarn, but I'm probably going to make wristers out of them! Hm, they're a lot more vibrant in real life...Anyways! Moving on!

These are my new sock yarns! They're both for the Owl Socks pattern I bought. Unfortunately for myself, I didn't read the pattern very well, and I realize now that I need 2 skeins of each color for the socks. *sigh* Oh well. I'll knit as much of the socks as I can and then buy more when the time comes. It's seriously soooo soft. I can't wait to start! The blue and light gray are the main ones I'm going to make, and then the green and dark gray are the second pair. Hopefully.

I also got some black, to use as the background for the Imagination yarn. Though, now that I see the Evil Stepmother, black is too dark...Oh well!

While all of that is terribly exciting, the main reason I bought the stuff was to get these! It's actually a trial pack of their Options Interchangeable needles. From left to right: Harmony Wood, Acrylic, Nickel-Plated. It's so that instead of buying a giant, expensive pack and finding out you don't like them, you can try them out to see which ones grab your heart. Oh, and of course they came with 2 cables and cable caps. Exciting, yeah?

In other news, I finished one of my socks, and have moved onto the other one. I should probably try to finish this one before I start anything else...

P.S. If you ever want to comment, feel free. Don't be scared! Then again, you might not care about anything I do, so whatever. :)

Pictures!

This post is full of pictures, so prepare to be amazed!

Lacey Eyelet Rib (aka. Lydia's scarf)

Finally. It's been done for awhile, but I'm just now getting around to pictures. Oops! The picture on the left is more accurate as far as colors go. I hope she likes it. Or else. :P

Catnip Socks

I'm getting close to finishing this sock! And I mean sock. Not socks. Sock. This is still just the first one. I still have a ways to go up the leg, but it's going well! It's for my left foot since it's smaller than the right one. I have to remember to knit a few more rounds before the heel on the other sock so it'll be big enough. The yarn is very lovely. It's actually self-striping, but it's not that noticeable, since the pattern is so complex on the front. You can see it better on the sole since it's just regular knitting.

I hope I don't lose steam with these and can do the other one in a timely fashion. I really want to show them off!

Celtic Cable Scarf

This is my first time doing cables and it's actually really easy. All you need to do is follow the instructions! I'm using this amazing 100% Alpaca yarn. It's so soft and supposedly hypoallergenic, which is really amazing. The color is completely natural, with no dyes or anything. It has an interesting look because it's not a solid color, with lights and darks mixed in with the medium color. I'm excited to finish and wear it when it starts to get cooler. This is definitely a cool weather scarf. It's a close knit so the wind will (hopefully) stay out. It's supposed to be around 5 feet in length. Weeell...I have almost a foot, which is fine! I've been busy! The right picture is a close up of the pattern. Looks complicated, but it really isn't!

Ravenclaw Scarf

Yes, another Ravenclaw scarf. This time, this one's for ME! I hope to have it done by the time Deathly Hallows Part I is out. I'm pretty sure I can do it. I'm also trying to do jogless stripes. That means you can't see where one stripe ends and the other one starts. It's going....interestingly. I've found 3 different ways to do it, and the first 2 didn't work as well as I hoped, so I'm going to try the third way when I come to another set of stripes. Hopefully it works. I'm excited to get it done. It's going to be the same length as the other one, so 12 full stripes. The other one goes down to my knees, so it'll be perfect. :)

Adventures In Things Besides Knitting

Well, this past weekend was the Dublin Irish Festival! It was so much fun. We went every single day (3 days). It's such an amazing festival. Good food, amazing music, perfect weather. We saw a bunch of bands from Ireland. They were amazing.
I also bought this ring from a place called Sean's Celtic Creations. He designs all of the items (rings, necklaces, earrings, etc.) himself. This one is called the Elemental Knot. It's a little bigger, since I have bigger hands, but it looks really cool. It's kind of heavy, but I don't mind. :)



School starts on August 30th. I'm excited, but at the same time nervous. Yippee.

2 weeks!?

Why has it been 2 weeks? Terrible.

Well, in that time, I finished Lydia's scarf, cast on my Celtic Cable scarf, got past the heel of my sock, cast on owl fingerless gloves, tore those out, and started another Ravenclaw scarf. Oh, and I printed out all of my patterns, since having to carry around my computer is inconvenient. I'll take some pictures tomorrow (maybe) and post them. And actually do some explaining. Or something...

Also, this past weekend was the Dublin Irish Festival. We went every single day and it was amazing.

I'll make a new post about this stuff with pictures, but right now, I need sleep.

So I promised some Ravenclaw Scarf pictures. Well, here they are:It's pretty amazing. And, with the finish of this project, I've started on another. SOCKS! The pattern is called "Catnip". They're pretty amazing. Here, look for yourselves:
Size ZERO needles. They kill my eyes. But it's fun. I wish the tips were pointier; it would make things easier. Oh well. This is after...3 nights of work? I mean, the one night it took me almost 2 hours to cast on because I had never done a closed cast on before. I could have done 2 socks at once, but since it's my first time doing socks, I decided to just do one at a time.

I CAN'T STOP KNITTING.

Done, Done, DOOOOONE!

Well, as of last night at 11:35, I finished the Ravenclaw scarf! The includes a hand wash, an attempted block, a run through the dryer, and all of the fringe added on. It looks amazing. I reeeeaaally want to keep it, but I obviously can't, since I can't possibly whip one up before school, since I have 3 other projects I want to do. It is approximately 7 feet long. Pretty damn long. But it's lovely. I want to make one for myself, but for now, NO. I'm sick of seeing the colors in my hands. :P But at some point, I will. I didn't have time to take pictures today, but soon! When I do, I'll post them. :)

So...2 days ago, we went to 2 different yarn stores, and I bought some amazing yarn. Both kinds are Alpaca. The first yarn is pure Alpaca, and will be used for a Celtic knot scarf. The second yarn is Alpaca and Wool, and will be used for some gauntlets. They're both amazing. I'm excited to cast on! I also got some new circular needles, so I can do socks and other things. The sock yarn I've had for over a year. I got it in Scotland. I cast on socks and well, they didn't work out. So I'm going to frog the one sock I started, and use the yarn for a pair of amazing socks. It'll be fun.

Today I bought the book The Happy Hooker. It's a crochet book, by the lady who did the Stitch 'n Bitch books. XD I want to learn to crochet, and my mom needs a refresher course. So, I got it. I also found out that the Stitch 'n Bitch Nation yarn is at Jo-Ann Fabrics! I should have gotten some of the Bamboo Ewe, but I was like nah. *sigh* Oh well. Next time!

I should go finish Lydia's scarf. I need the needles for the Celtic scarf. :P

SO CLOSE

I'm starting the 11th set of stripes right now!! I hope to get it done tomorrow. I mean, I'll still have to flip it inside out, weave in all of the ends, possibly wash it, and add the fringe on the ends. BUT STILL. SO CLOSE TO BEING DONE KNITTING IT!! Aaaaaand then there's Lydia's...that shit's going to make me pull my hair out BUT IT'LL BE SWEET. Also, I'm on the last chapter of Harry Potter and Sorcerer's Stone (audiobook). I've been listening to it while knitting. Keeps me focused. I'll be moving onto Chamber of Secrets very soon. Hopefully I'll get through them all by the time the movie comes out. Yeeaaah....just been knitting....nothing else exciting to report.

Seriously?

So, the other day, I was watching a knitting/crocheting show on tv (Knit and Crochet Now! or Today! [can't remember which one]). This isn't an unusual situation, as I make it a point to catch the show at least once. The unusual thing was the person on it. Now, the host lady was clad in "normal" type clothing. Something the average person would wear. She didn't look strange at all. The strange person was her guest knitter. There were SO many things wrong with her.

Firstly, she had a knitted flower in her hair. Oh yes.

Next, she had on a jean jacket from the 90s. Even better.

Lastly, she had the same haircut that she probably had in middle school, which was many years ago. It needed to be cut.

Now, this show isn't old. The particular episode was shot....last year I think. So really, a knitted flower/jean jacket combo? TERRIBLE. She was seriously the epitome of terrible, nerdy knitters. When the average person thinks of someone who knits, they either think grandma, or this terrible lady. It's aggravating. That's why I normally keep my knitting to myself, unless it's given as gifts. So please, the next time you see one of those terrible people, try not to stereotype all knitters.

P.S: I am working my way to the 6th set of stripes on the Ravenclaw scarf! Almost halfway done! It's going to be amazing when it's done. :)

Two Scarves...

I said I'd post about the scarves, so here it is...

The first is a Harry Potter Ravenclaw House scarf for Claire. I was actually supposed to have this for her 2 Christmases ago. Oops! Well, I didn't work on it for a loooong time because I didn't have a pattern I liked. Well, recently, I joined Ravelry, which is an amazing website for knitters and crocheters. Anyways, I decided to look through the "Harry Potter" tagged patterns and lo and behold! I found this AWESOME HP scarf. Now, there were a lot of...other kinds of HP scarves, but this one was definitely the best. It's super easy, knitted in the round, so you'll never see the stripe changes AND I never have to purl. And it will have FRINGE!
Here are some work-in-progress shots:
I think I'm going to be doing 12 sets of stripes, and I only have 5...But hey, I'm working really fast on it, since it's in the round and all knit stitches. I've already used 1 skein of the blue, and I'm expecting to use a total of 4 of the blue and 1-1.5 of the bronze. I'm using Vanna's Choice in Colonial Blue and Honey. They are probably the best Ravenclaw colors I've seen.

The second is a "Lacey Eyelet Rib" scarf for Lydia. I decided that since I was making a scarf for Claire, I'd make one for Lydia (both of their birthdays were already this summer, so they'll be belated birthday gifts)! I found this stitch at KnittingTipsByJudy on YouTube Her videos are good for people who want to learn how to knit. Easy to understand, and very encouraging. ANYWAYS! The stitch. I found it while looking through her videos. I thought it was very pretty and worked well with the yarn I had bought. Here are some WIP shots:
This probably shouldn't be taking as long as it should, but I really need to pay attention to what I'm doing. Yesterday, I had to unknit 3 different times. The first time was 4 rows, the second 2, and the third time 1/2 of a row. It's a pain because there are slipped stitches and stitches that are knitted together, not to mention lots of purling. But hey, it's coming along nicely. I'll have to definitely block it (wet it and stretch it out so it's not all curled) because it's all curled, but that will have to wait until it's done being knitted! The yarn is this lovely green, much lovelier than the photos can show. I bought it at a local yarn shop. There's enough yarn in one skein to make the whole scarf (thankfully). It'll be lovely, and I hope she likes it. Hm, you can't see the eyelets (holes) very well in the pictures, but they're there! And they're pretty!
I didn't start these too long ago, and I'm already ready to be done. :P It's bad. I have project ADD.

OH! To tell you about my current dream. My one wish right now is to have a set of Harmony Wood Interchangeable Circular Knitting Needles from KnitPicks. Too bad they're $75. I'd also like a set of the Nickel Plated ones ($60), but only after I get a set of Harmony ones. I wish I had $135 to blow on needles. Circular needles are my new favorite, best friends. SIGH.

I want to dye my own yarn. I found this awesome website telling you how to dye yarn using Kool-Aid! I reeeeeaaaaally want to. KnitPicks has awesome Dye Your Own yarn, but I wouldn't know what to get! I'm so indecisive when it comes to yarn! GAH!

I found out that there was another local yarn show near me. How did I not know it was there! Then again, I don't ever go to that area, so I'll excuse myself. I need to go there soon.

I have a yarn problem.

First post

Well, I decided that it was high time I started a blog. This will be my "everything blog", from drawings/sketches, to knitting, to books. Who knows what I'll talk about next....

Yeah...tomorrow will probably be my ACTUAL first, cool post. About my knitting. I'm currently working on 2 scarves. I'll post pictures tomorrow. But for now, good night!