Post?? Who, me?? Don't be ridiculous.

Of course not!! I don't post. I'm not going to apologize for not posting, because I'm not very sorry about it, because life and school and everything has just been so crazy that blogging and even knitting hasn't been happening much lately, and if it was between my schoolwork and knitting, I have to choose school. But in any case, I have been working on a present project for my sister. I'm making her heart shaped ear muffs. They're loosely based on the heart pattern from Mochi Mochi Land, except I'm knitting them in the round, and making them rather larger... They're in malabrigo and a lovely shade of brght pink which I think she'll really like. :D But also, happy halloween!!! I went trick or treating last night with some of my friends, and I think this might be the last year, we got several weird looks and a couple "Aren't you a little old for this?" comments, but we actually all dressed up and pu effort into our costumes, hich is more than you can say for most of the trick or treaters our age. But we had a really good time, and got lots of candy!! Which is definitely the most important part. Even if I don't go trick or treating next year, I think I'll still dress up. I want to make my own costume next year, because I think it would be a really fun way to get into the spirit. This year, I was Wonder Woman, and I just bought the main part of the costume, and my mom made me a cape. It was pretty awesome. :D But anyway, just a quick post to let you know, no I'm not dead, but I will probably not be posting very much as school is important, and I'll be choosing that.

When knitting ATTACKS

Actually, it isn't knitting that attacked. It was felting. I made a lovely pair of pink mittens last winter and wore them a couple times, but it was towards the end of winter so I was looking forward to wearing them this winter. They were beautiful mittens, made with the Bella's Mittens pattern in Malabrigo.

One day, I decidedd to wash them. I rolled them up in a towel to let them dry, and then i took them out when they were dry.

Fastforward about two days.

I'm taking towels out of the dryer, when I discovered a small pink object. It was my mitten. Felted. It looks lovely, but I can't even fit my hand inside the cuff. *sigh* So I might just knit it again this winter, because I loved the pattern. But there is my sory of woe. :-(

Almost Autumn

Lately, I have just been having the urge to get on with the seasons. As strange as it seems, I'm kind of eager to get back to school. I'm always like this at the end of summer, when I just want to get back to my routine. I never really get into the rhythm of summer, unless we're travelling. I definitely enjoy summer, don't get me wrong, but it's definitely just a break from regular life, not how I really want my life to be. I think part of it might be that I want to get a head start on my Christmas knitting, so I'm lookng through patterns that make me think of that. And I actually ordered a knitting book!!! Handknit Holidays: Knitting Year-Round for Christmas, Hanukkah, and Winter Solstice by Melanie Falick. First of all, that means I'm going to ger MAIL. Which I love. I know most of this excitement about mail will wear off when I start having to pay my own bills, but the possibilities of a letter or package are fanatstic!!! One of my friend's and I sent letters back and forth just because we liked getting mail so much. So getting a package? I'm going to be like the kids on the magazine commercials that go outside and hug the postman. :D I really want to make a souple different patterns from that book, including the Swedish Heart Warmer Shawl by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts:

And the Sugarplum Pullover by Veronik Avery:

However, I think I should finish my first sweater and a couple other projects before I start a big project like either of those. Oh well, I can still dream... And I might do the Over The Knee Socks by Cindy Taylor. Wouldn't they be perfect under a winter skirt?

Some more big news!! Two fo my cousins are having babies!!!! Not together. They're both married to two seperate people. But they're both my cousins. :D so that means I get to start baby knitting!!!!! The first one is due in late January, and the other is due in late Febuary, so I should have time to do baby sweaters if I want. I'm not really sure though, because my school schedule is going to be pretty intense, but I'm going to have a study hall period, which should help. I think I'm going to knit the little Saartje Booties for both babies. I don't know gender yet, so I might just make them in white, or a varieagated colorway like these.

Even while I had a mini blogcation, I was still knitting. Well, I think. I bought a lot of yarn.... I bought a sweater's worth of Jojoland Baritone in a lovely Teal, and I'm making a Febuary Lady sweater. I really love it, I'm about halfway through the lace patterning, and then all I have left is the garter border and sleeves! I'm planning on making the sleeves about elbow length. I also started a helmet liner for the troops in some Cascade 220 superwash. I used the Gusseted Helmet Liner pattern by Ellen M. Silva. The only thing I have left is the face ribbing, but I was having some problems picking up stitches. I also started the secnd Totoro Mitten, but I have gotten all of about 8 rows beyond the ribbing, so that's not done yet. I've just been a bit of a spazz with my knitting lately. I keep on hopping from one projct to another, so nothing's really getting finished. It's a very summer frame of mind. However, I'm going to try and finish my sweater in time to wear it. Also, I want to finish my Totoro mittens and get another scarf under my belt before winter sets in. Or actually around my neck. :D Anyway, that's all I've really been knitting. Happy Almost Autumn!

I hate socks.

I really do. I was having the worst issues with the Jaywalkers, which are frankly not very difficult. I don't know why. I think it was the knitting pixies. They made me drop stitches, and forget what in the world I was doing. Now this would've been bad enough, but I tried on the sock to make sure it would fit, and I was having issues getting it over my heel. I know, that's a common problem with Jaywalkers, because there isn't much stretch in the pattern, but this was just another thing. And then on top of that, there was some funky pooling and striping that I wasn't too fond of, so I just ripped it out. All of it. I decided that this sock was just not meant to be. I think I'll let the yarn rest for a while, and then make it into a little shawlette for my mom. I think it will be some time before I'm able to try a sock again. I'll stick with my mittens, thank you. Speaking of mittens, I still haven't cast on for the second. I know, I know, bad idea. Once it's cast on, there's no excuse not to knit it. But after that last mind blowing stretch of colorowork, I think my brain needs rest. So really, I'm in between projects. I finished my Noro Scarf one night while staying up really late watching Frasier. Have I mentioned that I love Frasier?? It's really funny. And I want to live in Seattle, so that just makes it all the better. :D The only bad part is, Frasier comes on when I should be asleep, but I don't record it because I don't watch it any other time.... such a dilemna! So I solve it by staying up late and drinking caffeine. Wonderful solution I know... Solves everything except for that part where I should take care of myself... oh but another thing on the shawlette! I think I'll make it in garter stitch. I don't really know why, but lately, garter stitch just seems ridiculously cute to me!! I love it!! Just do a little triangle in sock yarn... I think it would look nice. ^-^ I was thinking about doing Springtime Bandit, but it's not sock weight, but I might use my malabrigo for one... I don't understand my recent obsession with shawlettes, I don't think I would ever really wear one, but they're so cute!! I'm blaming Ysolda Teague. Ishbel calls my name.... :D

What is it with me?

Apparently I like restarting my blog right before I leave. This weekend, I'm going to my grandparent's house and I won't be back until Sunday. But oh well! I'll take pictures and post them.... maybe.... :D I mentioned the Jaywalkers in my last post, and they're coming along really well!! I still haven't turned the heel, but I'm probably four inches into the leg on the first sock, and I'm going to make them shorter than the pattern calls for, so I think I'll start the heel at five inches.

This was my sock two days ago. Sorry for the bad picture, I took it with my phone...

And this was my sock today!! Amazing what two days of actual knitting will do. :D But this is a short post because I'm about ready for lunch!!

I'm back...

I'm still here. Really, I am. And I'm still knitting. I kind of gave up on my blog, at first because I didn't really have the time, but I also felt futile, letting my words out with no one to read them. But today, I checked into my flickr account, and there was a comment from crochetnhugs asking me to start blogging again. And well, okay. :D since I last posted, I have knit three hats, started a scarf, ripped out my Jaywalker and recast it on in the larger size, survived finals, and started my job! I knit two of the chunky knit beanies by a friend to knit with (a-friend-to-knit-with.blogspot.com), a Norwegian Totoro Mitten (minus the thumb) and the Amanda Hat by Gina House from Sleepy Eyes Knitting (sleepyeyesknitting.blogspot.com). Also, I'm going on a road trip this summer with my family, so I've started planning my knitting already. Yes, I have made lists and researched the items, and yes, I know I'm a dork. I'm very proud of that. I'm considering the Monk's Travel Satchel by Vicki Square, which I have fallen head over heels for. One of the points in the description is that it has lots of pockets, which just makes me very happy. I like having a pocket for my phone, my ipod, stitchmarkers and other notions, scissors, and I just generally like having pockets. :D Another thing!! I have completely fallen in love with just about everything that Ysolda Teague has designed. I think I may try one of her sweaters on the road trip too.... Yay my first sweater!!! I made a little cotton raglan shrug during last summer's car trip, but I want to make a real sweater this time. Maybe a February Lady Sweater... As you can tell, I'm having problems deciding. I think I'm also going to work on a scarf during this trip, and surprisingly, I can't decide what pattern to use for that either. I'm thinking the September Scarf by Karen Konop or the Traveler's Scarf by Kimberley Cunningham Varland. They're both really beautiful patterns, but I think I'm leaning more towards the Traveler's Scarf, considering I'm going to be knitting it on a road trip while we're travelling and all... Yes I'm a cheeseball like that. :D but it really is a beautiful pattern, and I think having a scarf that is slightly different won't hurt me... the September Scarf is definitely beautiful though, so I think I'll knit it sometime in the near future. The only problem is I have so many beautiful cabled scarves in my favorites!! Oh, woe is me, there are too many good patterns to choose from. :D
So, my life outside knitting. I know, it's shocking, but it does exist. :D I work as a secretary, answering phones and filing and such. Sadly, they don't have a lot of work for me to do while I answer the phones. Happily, that gives me time to read my blogs and get some knitting done. The Totoro Mittens are my first fair isle project, and I am very happy with how they are turning out. I used size 3 needles instead of size 4, but I also used thicker yarn. However, either my row guage was really off, or I have unusually long hands, or maybe both, but I ended up adding in an extra section of colorwork to make them long enough. I looked up the japanese characters for rain and dust, because one side had Totoro standing in the rain, and the other side had the dust balls. I charted them out and put it in right before the decreases. Thankfully, it worked, and the first mitten fits perfectly! However, after spending several hours trying to chart out the characters and messing with the spacing until it looked right, and pushing through until the end of the hand, apparently I've run out of steam to finish the thumb. Which is probably all of ten rounds. It's a little bit pathetic. So I'm ignoring it for a little while and working on my Jaywalker!! Actually, I started out not really wanting to work on my sock, but as I started kntting it, I realized I was having fun! So life is good. :D Wow, this has been a very long blog post.... well, I have been gone for a while. If I happen upon any other projects that I've forgotten to mention, I'll mention them in my next post! (Yes, that means there will be a next post!!) So, I'll be posting again soon! Maybe with actual pictures next time... :D

hmm....

Wow. I really should blog more often. But the thing is, it's kinda hard to motivate myself to write if nobody reads it. But do I really want anybody to read it? I guess so. I mean, what's the point, if nobody reads this? I guess I don't really need to write here, or I would've been more upset by not blogging for so long. So what do I think I have to offer to anybody who reads this? Some amusement, I suppose. A younger perspective. But it's the strangest feeling to be putting your words out there, and get no feedback. At all. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. It's not like anyone should know about this blog. But still.