Scarfy

So, remember that scarf I mentioned in my last post? Since I wasn't feeling great about the multi/light green combo, and because I had two different skeins of the multi, I decided to try it with the dark blue I was thinking about. This way, I didn't have to take apart the whole green combo in case I decided I didn't like it with blue. Anyway. Irrelevant now, because it's so much better with the blue:

Dark blue on one side, light green on the other, and multi in the middle. It looks so different with the blue! I like it a lot better. Guess now I have to find another use for the green...(I have three skeins of it left over from an afghan I made last year and overestimated on. Anyone like the color? Want me to make anything with it? Suggestions?)

Catching up

I went and changed blogs on you people. (Of course, I'm not even sure anyone's bothered to read this before anyway. Haha. Oh well.) Ahhh, it's so fun though.

So. Pictures!

 Monica's afghan. Not sure how I feel about the size, but oh well. It's a pattern called Twilight from my Quick Knit Afghan book (chosen specifically because the recipient happens to be something of a fan of the Twilight series...but thankfully not a crazy fan. Haha. Not sure if I could be friends with her if she were.)

Baby hat! Mock Cables Baby Hat. I added a pom pom (my first time making one!), and I like how it turned out. I washed it after taking this picture, and it looked a little more settled after that. (And hopefully it looks better on a real baby instead of my small Dolly, the only relatively baby-sized thing I had on which to model the hat...)

Fresh Picked Baby Hat. Suuuuper cute. Quite enjoyable.

I'm not sure how well they fit a baby's head, since I'm not really knowledgeable in that area, but hopefully they'll fit ok. The purple one is quite stretchy, so it's probably pretty adaptable. But, what do I know.

Oh man, I loooove this blanket. Pinwheel Baby Blanket. Super easy pattern, lovely to knit, and I loved the patterns that the multi-colored yarn made throughout the blanket. Not sure how practical a round blanket is, but it's original, right? Haha. Whatever. I like it.

Dolly graciously agreed once again to model for me, just as a sort of size comparison. Even though she's quite small.

This is not something I knit. Ha. I just bought this yesterday after a trip to the local knitting store in Old Town. I'd seen it before online, and oh how I wanted it. It's a circular needle organizer!

It has tabs on which to write the different sizes, and separates them all, so I don't have to search through a tangled bunch of circulars anymore to look for the one I need! It wasn't very expensive, either, and it's definitely worth it. (I previously had all my circulars in the pocket of a small cosmetics bag, I think, and it was always frustrating to find the needle size I needed. And I pretty much only knit with circulars now, or double pointed needles, so having a good organizer is definitely a good investment.)

One of my current projects. It's a scarf, this one, and I'm trying to decide if I want to keep going or scrap it and start over. There's supposed to be more of a difference between the two different colors that are used (if you look at the original picture, it's a multi lighter blue paired with a dark blue, whereas I'm using a multi green paired with a light green that's the same as one of the greens in the multi, so it doesn't have the same effect). I'm not sure what alternate color I'd use, though, with the multi...I might try dark blue. Not sure how it'd look though. I guess I'll just think about it awhile more.

Oh my gosh I LOOOOOVE knitting. Sigh. I wish I could knit professionally. Except I'm not good enough, and I'd probably have to learn how to design my own patterns, and I'm not sure I'm creative enough for that. I'm a follower, not a leader (or creator, as the case may be). Oh well. I'm going to order a Swift bag today, and I'm so. excited for it. I hope it doesn't disappoint. That's what worries me about things I wait on and think a lot about before taking the plunge - I build them up so much in my head that they're bound to disappoint, right? Oh well. I think I've researched enough to know that it'll probably work out well. I don't normally spend that much on anything (other than, say, trips to the grocery store, or airplane tickets), but I know it'll last me awhile and it'll be a good investment. I just still can't decide whether I should have it shipped to work or to my old place of residence. My former roommate said it'd be fine if I did that, but if I ship it to work I'll get it sooner. :-) Anyway. We'll see.

Gosh. I would spend all my money on knitting stuff if I could. Yarn, needles, bags, books, tools, etc. Maybe someday. I love knitting so much. SO much. Oh well.

What kind of a knitting blog doesn't have pictures?

In an attempt to make my foray into knitting bloggery not completely wasted, I guess I'll post something again. (Apparently I've only posted six times since I started this back in July. To be fair, I suppose it was right before I went home for a couple weeks, during which time I wasn't really thinking much about knit-posting, and then since I've been back things have been crazy. But with no sign of slowing down, either, so maybe this thing will really get going in a year or so...)

I have (almost) finished three different baby items, which is exciting. Oh, wait, there was a fourth thing I finished, but I'm not sure if it's gift-able, because I may have made it too big. I don't know. It's this little baby cocoon thing, basically a sort of micro-sleeping bag. Apparently people make them for babies. I don't know. I just came across it and it looked cute (and easy), so there you go. I'm worried it's too long, though, and would be ineffective for its purpose (which, from what I can tell, is to swaddle the baby like newborns like to be swaddled, or something). I just know nothing, so it might just go in the pile of "generic baby stuff I've made and have yet to give to anyone and might give away someday". I think there are two or three blankets in that pile. And maybe a baby hat or two. And some booties, which may or may not be an appropriate size; I'm not sure.

Besides that, though, I finished a cute baby hat with ear flaps (but I still have to weave in the ends, and add the strings to both ear flaps so it can be tied). It has an owner, and at this point might just end up being a Christmas gift for this baby. (It'd be too big for him now anyway, plus there's the small matter of the fact that it's only September and certainly not cold enough to necessitate this hat.)

I've also finished a car seat cover thing, which is really cute and I like and I hope is ok. It's got a hole built into it so that the seat belt can go through it, and it can keep the baby covered with the seat belt on. I also have to weave in the ends of that one. (It's amazing how many projects I finish in a timely matter, only to leave that last little step for weeks and weeks. And weeks. I just hate doing that part, and I don't really know why, since it takes all of like five minutes.)

Another baby item I finished recently is a round pinwheel blanket. Oh I love it. (Same story with this one - have to weave in the ends. Fail.) I don't like how thin it is, but it's really cute, so I'll forgive it for that. It was super easy to do, and the yarn I used is a variegated yarn so it makes a cool effect throughout that works well with the spiraliness of the pattern. I like it.

And I just realized why I haven't posted more on here: I want to take pictures and have links to the stuff I do,  but I haven't taken many pictures of my more recent knitting. And why haven't I? Because I haven't quite finished them enough to take the final picture. It's all a vicious cycle, no? Ah well. One of these days I'll finish them up and take pictures and put them on here.

Up next on the docket: a blanket I've been working on for far too long (I think I started sometime in February, but then put down for several months until June or July when I started working on it again), which is just about done. It has a repeating pattern of eight rows, and I wanted to squeeze out one more pattern repeat before getting to the final twelve rows that are just knit stitch across for the edging, but I don't think I have enough yarn for that. So I'm going to have to take out the four rows of the pattern repeat I've done, and then knit the last twelve. And once that's done, I have another afghan I need to do; I have a few scarves and smaller items I've been working on; and there are these oh-so-cute baby hats I really want to try. Oh man I'm excited for that.

I get all sorts of knitting-related things in my email these days, from various knitting magazines, stores, yarn brands, etc. Last week, one of them was from a particular brand of yarn, announcing their upcoming "crochet-along" that they're starting Sept. 22. I guess they did a knit-along last year, so now it's crochet's turn. Every week, they give out one clue - a pattern for a square, and you're supposed to knit some number of that square. By the end, you sew up all the squares, and voila, you've got an afghan. They don't show you what the finished product will look like until the end, though. They tell you how much yarn you'll need, and how many colors. I really, really wanted to try it. I don't know how to crochet, but they say that they start with beginner stitches, and then by the end it's more advanced stitches, so you can learn as you go if you don't know crochet that well. (Same with the knit afghan they did, I guess.) I did manage to talk myself out of it, though, because a) I don't know that this is the best time for me to be trying to teach myself how to crochet, because I might devote too much time to it, or I might get super frustrated with it and hate everything around me, or who knows. b) I shouldn't be spending $40-50 on yarn for an afghan just to do it, not right now anyway. c) well, I guess that's it mostly. I just decided it's probably smarter to let it go for now. Plus, the knit-along patterns are still on their site, so I assume the crochet will be too, so someday I can always go back and do it if I decide I want to.

Anyway. Completely uninteresting, I know. I just really wish I knew how to crochet. I don't know why the teaching myself to knit worked out so much better than teaching myself to crochet. People say crocheting is easier, but it seems more complicated to me. (But then, when people see knitting patterns I'm doing, they say it looks complicated or like another language, and it makes complete sense to me. It's all just a matter of learning the language, I guess, and I'm sure I'd be able to pick it up if ever I gave it a really good go.)

Someday. Maybe I'll be able to take an intro to crochet class next year. Who knows.

What I do know is this: I wish I could devote a majority of my time to knitting, rather than having it as a hobby that I use to procrastinate my homework. I wish I didn't have to sneak in rows here and there, or feel guilty every time I pick up a needle. Alas, such is life right now. Tis temporary, though, as are most things.