Poor, neglected blog

I haven't written in this thing in almost a year. A YEAR! Just what do I think I was doing? (Oh, maybe studying for comps, then taking comps, then finishing up my master's degree, then moving home...after that, no excuses, buddy.) One thing's for sure - I was doing a lot of knitting. In that time, I finally acquired myself a set of nice interchangeable needles, and lo, it was love. I've knit several blankets. Some shawls. Hats. Mittens. Scarves. Etc. My yarn stash has reached epic proportions (especially with a recently-acquired box or two of enough yarn to make several blankets I have planned) (one of which I've already possibly scrapped, but am using the yarn for a different blanket, with some sadness, though, because it was originally going to be a pattern I've been really wanting to do for over a year now). I have a yarn swift and a real nostepinne, both of which are vast improvements over my previous method of "loop the yarn around my knees and use part of an old wrapping paper cardboard tube". Though I'd be lying if I said I immediately, or even as yet, got rid of that old wrapping paper card board tube. It was quite good to me there for awhile. And that tube itself was an improvement over my previous method of wrapping the yarn around three or four of my bigger-sized double pointed needles (which was, in its own time, an improvement over using several pens held together).

Ah, growth.

So here I am, wanting to write about knitting, because it's one of the greatest things in my life (well, to an extent, and with some caveats). But I do love it, and I have a greater appreciation for it with each new stitch I learn, each new project I start - and hopefully finish.

Right now, I'm working on that previously-mentioned unplanned blanket. Here's the story: I was knitting a blanket for a friend of mine who got married last year. What can I say, I really am thankful there's a year-long rule for getting people wedding presents. I started it in November, but that was around the time I was also working on a present that was going to be a definite Christmas present (I had the idea of giving this wedding present by Christmas, but it's hard to knit two blankets simultaneously for one event when you can't knit multiple hours a day and still be a functioning human). Thus, the definite Christmas present took priority, and thus here we are, almost in February, and the other blanket isn't yet finished. Last weekend I was looking to be done with it. I felt it was pretty well long enough, and so all I had to do was finish the rows of pattern repeat, and then to the bind-off - which is a different method than I've ever done, since this whole blanket has an i-cord edging around it as you go. But all of a sudden, I couldn't stand how narrow it was. It's fine for, say, a twin bed, and I personally am in love with it, but if I'm going to make it that long, shouldn't I make it wide enough for a bigger bed? These are the thoughts that began to plague me. Of course, it'd be fine for a couch afghan, which is really what I typically intend these things to be. (It takes a lot of yarn to make a blanket wide enough and long enough for a non-twin bed.) But it just didn't feel good enough to me. I am my own harshest critic, always, but I want these things to be loved.

So, despite the fact that I had purchased this yarn earlier in the year with the express purpose of being for this particular friend, I started wavering. And then I dug into the stash of yarn I just bought for other blankets for other friends, and started up a new blanket. And now here I am, a week later, ten inches done on the new one, and the other one still waiting to be finished. I had a brilliant idea of another friend who I think would enjoy and appreciate the not-wide-enough blanket, and I'm loving the new mostly-simple pattern I've got going on this blanket, but now I'll have to figure out something else for the friend who was intended to get the yarn I'm now using...we shall see...

But the new pattern! So, the pattern I was going to use with this yarn was a complicated one, with lots of cables and different stitches going on. I anticipated it taking awhile. And I do still want to do it one of these days. On my desk at work sometime the second week of January, a book showed up (with a card). 400 Knitting Stitches. It's one of the best things I've gotten, partially because it was so utterly unexpected. (Apparently receiving gifts is one of my love languages.) Immediately I began looking through it, and wanted to try All The Patterns. And I still do. But I found a fairly simple one, that's easy to turn into an afghan, and I adapted it slightly, added an edging around it, and here I am, still enjoying it. But it was an interesting start - I had the basic of the pattern repeat, but I had to make it work for the 256 stitches I cast on. Not that it's hard to do, since you just take the number of stitches they tell you to use per repeat, and multiply so it's wide enough for what you want. And then add stitches for the edging. I actually did a swatch this time! I never do that, but I wanted to make sure there weren't any kinks in the pattern before I knit 64 inches and several rows of it only to discover some problem. (The worst part about afghans, for me, is casting on all those stitches. I only want to have to do it once, so no room for miscounting or error!)

Well, as luck would have it, I didn't adapt quite correctly. On the very first row. (Which, after having done the bottom edge, meant I had already knit eight rows.) I am a perfectionist. I don't let myself make mistakes. If I notice a mistake in my knitting, I do what I can to take it out, much to my own detriment sometimes. Occasionally I'll let it slide if it's not too egregious, but usually, I can't stand it. So when I realized I hadn't done the first row right (which I didn't notice until I started the third), I had a few options: take out two rows of knitting (meaning over 500 stitches), which is never an appealing thing to do; let it slide and accept that it would just look wonky at the bottom of the blanket - also not too thrilled by that one; or continue with the third row, dropping the offensive stitches when I got to those ones so I could fix them as I went. I chose option three. It meant it took me a long time to get that third row done, but I managed to fix it so it looked fairly normal. I'm still pretty new at this "dropping stitches when you get to them" business rather than just ripping back and re-doing them, but I think I'm getting the hang of it. Of course, I then noticed several rows later that there was one I had missed, but by that point it would have been just too much work to drop down that many rows and manage to stay within the pattern. So, this blanket has an imperfection. An obvious one, if you're looking for it.

That's the good thing about knitting for non-knitters, though - usually they're not looking for it.

Anyway. That was a really long post with lots of writing and utterly lacking in pictures. Terrible re-start to my knitting blog. I'll try to do better next time (which hopefully will be sometime sooner than a year away...)

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.

Hello, hit-and-run blogger!

Man, I make this thing and I'm all excited about it and then I go nowhere with it. Oh well. My excuse is that I was in Colorado. And...I knitted there, but not much. But dude! Baby things! Soooo fun! I made two baby items while I was home (well, finished one last night), and am now working on a third. I do have two people that these are actually meant for, but I think I could easily go overboard and do just a ton of baby stuff right now. Especially since, for the project I started and finished back in CO, I definitely didn't even use a whole skein, and I bought four for it because I had neglected to check how much I needed. Luckily it's an awesome color.

And, you know, I know so many people who have gotten married in the last year, and who will be getting married in the coming year, this stuff's bound to come in handy!

Baby yarn equals awesome. The end.

Slacking already

Look at this, less than a month in and already I'm failing at this blog. Thankfully, I'm currently suffering from insomnia, so it's the perfect time to update! The good news is I haven't been slacking on my knitting. I finished that afghan I was working on last Monday, and have been making progress on the other one. Although I'm now realizing I'm going to need more yarn for it, because I'm using a smaller sized needle than the original pattern calls for, so it's taking more yarn to do. I think. I don't know. I'm not sure how this one is going to turn out, really. I don't know how well any of them actually turn out, to be honest. Out of all the afghans I've knitted in the last year (six or seven?), I've only really been happy with one of them. Ah, well, live and learn I guess. Although obviously I haven't really learned. Whatever.

I'm also working on another shawl (for me, yes), with the brown yarn I bought at the yarn store a few weeks ago. I've pretty much exclusively worked with Caron Simply Soft, which is acrylic (aka, not as nice, although I do still like it plus: cheap!), but this yarn is part cotton and part something else, and whatever, it's soooo silky and soft to knit with. Very not what I'm used to. It's also a thinner yarn. But I'm really enjoying knitting with it, although it's more slippery too so I have to be a bit more careful. Hopefully the shawl will turn out nicely.

I just started a hat for my little brother. He wanted navy blue with a couple of red stripes in it, so I got to try this new (to me) way of color changing. I love it. It's so easy! And looks a lot nicer than other methods I've used. I've typically tried to avoid color changing in the past because I hadn't really figured out how to do it so it looks nice, but I think this method might change that. I'm planning on getting a chunk of this Christmas afghan I started sometime last year done while I'm home, since I left it home intending to work on it this summer (because, you know, I was supposed to be home all summer). It requires frequent switching between colors, so I'll try out this method with that too. Not sure if it'll work the same, though, because this method seems more suited to changing within a row, or, in my current case, in a knit-in-the-round project. But I'll try it and see how it goes.

I almost had a panic attack (not really) the other night, trying to figure out what knitting I would be bringing home with me. I don't want to bring home the afghan I'm currently working on, especially since I think I need to buy more yarn (I'm not sure what that has to do with anything, but I just don't want to bring it home. Maybe if it were for someone back home and I could leave it there, but if I were to finish it while I was home, I'd still have to bring it back with me, and that's just annoying). I do have another afghan currently slated to be done sooner than later, and I could start that, but then I'd have to bring all the yarn for it home with me, and who knows if I would finish it while I'm there (I might - the afghan I just finished only took me a week and a half - but you never know), so then I'd have to bring everything back with me. So I'll probably just bring some needles, since I do have yarn at home that I might want to use for something small, plus I have lots of baby yarn at home and people I know are starting to have babies, and the shawl, since it's small and I doubt I'll have it finished by then, and the hat if it's not done. But I can probably get it done before then. It just feels weird, though, not to have something concrete to work on. I might have to figure out something smallish to do so I can work on it on the plane. But then, like I said, I have that Christmas afghan at home to work on. I'll probably focus on that. It'd be fun to have it done by December. No idea who I might give it to, but I guess I have time to figure that out.

Also, I really, really, really want these. Except I wish it included a 16" cable too, as I find myself using that size somewhat regularly. And they don't have the option even to buy a 16" cable by itself as an extra, so that's kind of annoying. I'd have to buy them individually...except, I don't need to because I have a set of 16" bamboo circular needles. So never mind. I do need to buy a new size 8 16" needle, though, as I overused mine and it broke a little bit. Anyway. I still really want that set. But maybe I should start with just one needle, just to try out that kind of needle, which I've never used before. Maybe I'll buy the size 8 16" circular needle in that line, and then test it out. Yes. Good plan, Susie. Why thank you.

Well...that's about it on the knitting front. Once I figure out my housing situation for the next year (currently somewhat in flux), I'm going to have to get a better system figured out for my yarn stash. It's so annoying the way it is, all stuffed in bags according to color, and the bags overflowing from the one large Rubbermaid thing that I have for yarn storage. No good. Although maybe it's better to keep it all hidden away for the upcoming year, what with my crazy September schedule and comps studying that will ensue in earnest come January (or sooner, if I'm ambitious, which I'm not). Man, school really cuts into knitting time. It's quite sad.

Anyway. There's my current update. Maybe I'll take some pictures of something one of these days. Knitting blogs should have pictures, right? Otherwise, what's the fun in it?

What do I do with this?

I gotta admit, I hadn't really thought much beyond the "starting a blog" phase of this thing. I thought about starting one for a long time, but after that, I don't know. Oh well!

I went to a knitting store yesterday. I had nothing to do this weekend, and all I do when I'm not at work is sit at home so I figured I should do something other than that for at least a couple of hours. As I have no car I had to take the Metro, and the one I went to in Bethesda meant that I had to take the Red Line basically from one end to the other. A 40 minute trip one way, basically, plus $2.45 each way. But I got to walk a few blocks from the station to the store, and walking's always nice. Even if it is crazy hot here. I didn't really have any goals or aims for this visit, and I've only been in a non-commercial (aka JoAnn, Michael's, Hobby Lobby, etc) yarn store one other time, back home, and it was intimidating. As was this. And both were expensive. Non-commercial yarn/homemade yarn/nice yarn is expensive. My favorite stuff, Caron Simply Soft, is usually around $3 per skein, give or take (I've often managed to get it on sale, which is nice), and that's for over 300 yards of yarn. I did get myself a few balls of yarn yesterday, but I don't really know why as it was definitely more than $3 per ball and just over 100 yards per ball. Not financially wise, but I guess I figured I was there, and I've never really worked with nice, non-acrylic yarn, and maybe I can make something extra good for myself, or something. Who knows. I also got a book. I spent a LOT of time looking at the books there. Going back and forth, trying to decide if it was worth it (in reality, probably not, but I got a good one with some really awesome patterns. And it's a book specifically for gifts to give to people! So, really, it's beneficial for everyone!). You know me, I'm way indecisive, and so yeah. I was there awhile. Much longer than I needed to be. But I guess it was fun, in a way, and probably better than had I just sat at home and watched a few more episodes of Gilmore Girls, or whatever.

Well, once I got home I went back to knitting, of course. And watching more Gilmore Girls and stuff once the soccer game finished. (I'm no soccer fan, but it was the US, and the World Cup, and just the last few minutes of overtime, so why not.) Last week I knitted something like four headbands. I love headbands. They're super cute, even though I'm not quite decided whether or not they look good on me. But they also take like an hour to do, and not much yarn, so it's like win-win-win. Which is better than win-win. I guess they were good interim projects to get me really back into knitting like a fiend, because I have stuff I've promised for people that I need to make good on. I bought a boxfull of yarn from Joann back in March or something, or February, or sometime a long time ago, and the yarn was all for projects I had to do. And then things happened, and I did some of them, and then I didn't do most of them and I didn't do much knitting at all because of pesky things like deciding I had to be more serious about schoolwork and junk. And now here we are, almost July, really hot weather, perfect time to start knitting in earnest again, eh? Well. When I was still working on projects, I started on an afghan I should have had done back in January or February, if I were better. I stopped about maybe a fifth of the way through, because of school and stuff, and I had been doing afghan after afghan after afghan and I think I got a little sick of them. But I picked it up again this past week and am now about a third done, maybe a little less. And then I started another one that I want to have done by the time I go home (in 18 days!). I started it on Friday. And here's where I am now:

Ok, so it doesn't look like it, but I'm almost a third done. Or, I'd better be, because I've already used up two of the six skeins I bought for it. (I'm sure it is. And if not, I can always buy one more if I need to.) I really like the color, by the way. Especially when put next to the color of the other afghan I'm working on:

So anyway, afghans it is right now. These ones are good, too, because they're not too involved, and they're pretty quick knits (obviously, considering I basically did a third of an entire afghan in one night). Both of them are out of the Big Book of Quick Knit Afghans I bought last summer. (I've gotten a lot of use out of that thing. I think I've made at least four or five from it, and have these two I'm working on. Oh, and another one that is going to be a Christmas afghan at some point. I was supposed to work on it this summer, so I left it at home when I came back after Christmas. A lot of things I had planned for this summer didn't pan out...) Well. I'll be sure to post pictures when I'm done. I think they'll look good together; too bad they're going to completely different homes.

Next up: the saga of the stash.

(It's not really a saga so much as a "Man wouldn't it be nice if this were organized?")

Finally did it!

I've been talking about starting a knitting blog for months now, and finally, I did it. So. Here it is.

My knitting blog.

Yay.

(Summer's an odd time to be knitting, don't you think? It is SO. HOT. But that doesn't stop an addict, does it?)

Well, I guess I'll be posting pictures and such here, patterns I start (and maybe those that I finish!), things about yarn, who knows.

We'll see how it goes, I guess.