Oh Shknit!

I have gotten some knitting done since the last post.  The beret I was going to take pictures of have gone MIA, no clue as to where that thing is hiding.

I made some snowmen for mom for Christmas, but really that was the only knitted gift I gave this Christmas.  I am still working on the February Ladies Pullover.  Hit a little snag with the stitch count, but I am determined not to get fed up and just rip the whole thing out like I normally would.  I still haven’t reached waist shaping, I am going a little further than the instructions say before the waist shaping per some helpful soldiers on Ravelry.  Once I have made some headway I will start taking pictures.

Having mental health issues and having a son with some problems too makes life pretty difficult.  I am a single mom and some mornings I just wake up and want to go back to sleep.  Lose the day.  But I get up and go through the motions for my son more than anything else…so I am so thankful for him.  I love him more than life itself  but sometimes life itself get’s way.too.overwhelming!

So when I say I’ll do something, I will get to it.  Maybe some time after I say I’ll do it, but I do need to borrow my mom’s camera to get some FO and WIP pics.  Looking at the blog reminds me I hit a snafu with my bright as hell yellow socks, so I am thinking about picking those back up so that I can try to figure out where I am and why the hell I ever stopped knitting them!  Most of my other WIP’s I have ripped out.  I have decided one big project for now, and a couple of small ones.  No ‘I have 10 projects on the needles’ anymore…it feels helpless when I try to figure out where to go, which to work on, and I didn’t like that feeling.

So, New Years resolutions?  Getting back on the weight-loss train.  I have motivation from a dear friend of mine who I am doing friendly competition with him and some of his friends for a 12 week challenge.  I plan on WASTING everyone!  Tomorrow the games begin!  My only other resolution is to get rid of a lot of the miscellaneous skeins of yarn I have.  I don’t care where I got them, how much I spent on them, or anything.  I will look at each skein, assign it a project, or get rid of it.  I have enough yarn to last me a lifetime and it just sits in rubber bins and drawers while I can’t decide what I want to do.  Down the road I will have more money, and I will make more things.  I have enough yarn to get me through 3 years of knitting the slow-poke way I’m going.  It won’t take me as long to knit a sweater when I am 3 sizes smaller, so I will keep the sweater’s worth of various yarn.  One can only have so many hats, and gloves, and scarves.  I want to start knitting some drapey shawls but that will be yarn assigned for those pieces.  I just figure it’s about the only way I can make myself sane.  It is the one type of possession I have the most of out of anything, so it’s time to slooooow down and get rid of.  I am actually looking forward to the few coming weeks when I start the slow passage through all of my yarn!

Happy New Years to you and yours, should anyone be reading this.  Hope 2012 is a good year of looking up instead of down!

J

I have been so wishy washy when it comes to my projects.  It is really driving me crazy!  A major part of my problem has been with recent weight loss and gain and I am working on the loss part again…do I really want to invest in the time to make a sweater?  So by the time I finish it it’s going to be too big?  Why in the hell is my stash so ginormous?  Oh yeah, because I keep buying and not making.  So…no more buying.  I might have to cheat when it comes to sock yarn, but I am working on knitting that down, too.

I’d like to think that by the time I do want to make a sweater for the new, slimmer me, I can afford some luxurious yarn or even something that just feels pretty to make me a smokin’ hot sweater.  For now though, I am going to knit myself a sweater.  I am actually 3 inches into it.  The February Fitted Pullover.  I was going through Ravelry and I found it and it screeeeamed “KNIT ME!!” to me.  I kept casting on and ripping out for the February Lady Sweater and now I realize why.  It would have been something I couldn’t wear, not with my body type.  I am a curvy gal and I think this sweater will look 200% times better on me.  I am using some Cotton Fleece in a navy blue that is really very pretty knitted up.  So…the little projects, I am going to keep them coming.  This is going to be my big project for now though.  Even fat girls deserve to feel pretty!

Promise pictures.  Very soon.

I will continue with my Friday Favorites starting up this next Friday.

I am working on Cookie A’s BFF socks, in some freakin sunshine bright yellow KP Palette (that appears to be discontinued because it’s not on the site).  Kinda bums me because I am 6 cables into the pattern and the yarn has just broken off in my hand 3 times.  I’m not fond of having to rip back, spit splice, and then reknit.  Luckily I can’t even see where I did the spit splicing, so it could be worse.  I love this pattern though, super easy, don’t have to look at the pattern once you get the first repeat done…so it’s nice TV knitting.

I don’t know if anyone else has this problem, but my fingers are killing me.  My pointer finger has a hole in it from all the other sock knitting I have been doing (going from one to the next hasn’t given it time to heal) and am starting to get one on my thumb from the purling.  I push the needle back when I am finishing a stitch.  I taught myself to knit so I don’t really know if I knit the right way.  But is there really a right way?  The right way seems to me to be the way that is most comfortable to you, but maybe there is a less painful way to do it.  I have been doing it this way for 7 years, and my hands are so used  to it.  I have tried other ways of knitting and it is wayyyy more awkward than it was even learning to knit.  How I hold the needles, the yarn…So I guess I should just buy stock in Band-Aid and quit my complaining.

I used to solely use bamboo DPN’s for any small-gauge knitting I had.  I finally realized that wasn’t going to work for me when I was working on the Lacey Vogue Gloves…I bent the HELL out of those bamboo needles (the ones I didn’t break).  If I just add a piece of thread, I have Barbie-sized bows.  It’s nice that they are flexible and all, but it’s hard to pick them up and start knitting with them again bent like that.  Metal needles, forget it.  They slide right out of my work, leaving all these stitches hanging loose.  I found these plastic DPN’s at JBW.  They have something inside them, I don’t know if it’s metal to give them weight and stability or what, but I have found that these work the best for me.  The stitches don’t slide off the needles, and the needles don’t bend.  Just pointy enough to get into tight spaces (and put holes in my fingers), but not too dull. So I think I am going to stick with these for the tiny gauge projects!

I have an FO, just an easy peasy hat that was a super quick knit and is heavenly soft.  Knit in Classic Elite Premiere in white, this is the Lotus Hat.  I wished I would have done one more repeat.  I am still debating whether I want to rip out the decreases and just do one more increase – I think I would get more use out of it.  SOOOO SOFT.  I loved knitting with it.  As with any cotton, it sucked the life out of my hands moisture out of my hands, but like I said before…soft.  So soft.  A great little hat to wear this summer with a tank and jeans.  Braided hair.  Cute!

OK, this cold makes me woozy and dizzy and I have bored myself to tears with this post.  Ta ta for now!

I missed a day.  Just one day.  With mi vida loca, I am surprised I was able to participate at all.

First of all, thank you to everyone that stopped by my blog during 2KCBW…I truly appreciate it.  I hope you will stick around so we can get to know each other better!

I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I got to correspond with many other knitters through this project, and I really, really liked it.  It also got several people over here visiting me, and I think up until now my blog was all but unread.  So this is exciting for me.  I have been trying so hard to keep the blog up (and really enjoying it) but finding time even now is sometimes hard because there are so many other things to be done (like knit!)

I also have a new FO, and 2 new WIPs.  My FO is a pair of socks out of Regia Bamboo…I think these will be hereon out called my psycho 70’s socks because they are bright, and one of them looks really tie-dyed the way the pooling did it’s thing.  But they are super comfortable, and my FIRST pair of socks for MYSELF!  So of course, what did I do as soon as I cast off?  Cast on for 2 more pairs of socks.  I am part of a knit-a-long that has a challenge for April to knit socks that have interesting construction.  I picked Smoking Hot Socks, which have toe-up construction.  I have only ever knitted cuff-down.  I am excited about these socks, I am knitting them in some Soja that are to me kind of easter colors…peach, yellow, light blue, pink…it should be an interesting knit.  The other pair are my 2nd attempt at Hedera.  The first time my poor feet were SWIMMING in them, so I am going down a needle size.  If you would have told me a year ago I would be knitting 2 pairs of socks at the same time on size 1 needles, I would have laughed my ass off.  No, serious.  I almost cried when I first saw how small they are, and now I own a pair of 0’s?  What the hell am I doing?  I would say over the past 4 months, my needles size 1-3 have gotten the most action.  Reflecting back to this time last year, I would say 7-10’s were getting the most action.  Now those suckers are collecting dust!  So I will ride this sock wave for as long as I can…I am enjoying it and want to make my son at least 2 new pair this year, which I think I will have done in the next few months.  We’ll see.

Hasta la Vista, Baby.

I swear, that place is the devil for me.  I can spend hours in there easy, just petting yarn.  I bought enough yarn to make Arielle and it is dreamy and I can’t wait.  Except the thing is that I have to.  Just having a baby, my mom has been making some nice comfy dresses and tops for me to wear while I heal from my C-Section and had me measure my hips and bust yesterday.  DEPRESSING.  And too big for the largest size.  So I could knit it on larger needles or adjust the pattern using percentages, but I have decided that will be my one treat for myself when I have lost some weight.  I have already lost 10 lbs. and it has been just 2 weeks, so I can’t wait to see what I can do when I actually get the OK from the doc to start exercising.  I love love love that top but think I will love it even more when I have a better figure for it.

I have a couple of other things on the needles, I am currently knitting Askel for my son.  I am about 8  inches into the body.  I am knitting that in a 100% superwash merino in a great royal blue.  I am omitting the stripes because I want it to be a little more versatile.  Little man is so excited about it and I am LOVING the neverending stockinette.  I know that drives some people batty but I can knit in the dark, at the movies, wherever and I don’t have to think and it’s so damn soothing.

I am also working on my FIRST shawl using Noro Kureyon Sock for the FIRST time.  I just started it tonight.  I bought the Noro today at JBW…it was on sale and I figured it was now or never that I would be able to see what the hype with Noro is.  It is scratchy as hell, which reading I had already expected it, so I didn’t want socks.  I figured a shawl would be good, so I am knitting Multnomah because I love the way Noro stripes with that pattern.  I am pretty excited about it.

I started a couple of other things but they are things I am really going to wait on.  I ripped out what I had already started for both other projects because they are more form fitting so once again, I want to be able to wear them and feel good so I am waiting.  I have been listening like crazy to the Stash and Burn podcast, and they were talking about Space Girl, and I have some gray Cotton Fleece that will look great with it, I think I am going to do it in a short sleeve to layer.  I figure that is something that can still work even if it is a little bigger.  Damn cute sweater.  So after I finish my son’s sweater, I am going to cast on for Space Girl.

I have also joined the Sock Stash Knitdown 2011 in the Stash and Burn Ravelry group.  My first project is going to be the Multnomah shawl that I JUST BOUGHT SOCK YARN for, but nevermind that.  I have a pair of socks on the needles, plus a couple of babies on the way that I am going to knit this cute sock and hat set for newborns, and I have some socks I just won’t knit socks with, so that’s where that will go.

I have also decided that when I don’t have a ‘thrown in my bag brainless knitting’ I am going to grab some of my softer acrylic yarn and circs and make a shit-ton of baby hats to bring to the local hospital.  That charity project warms my heart more than any other does, and it makes me happy, so that is something I can do to help and get rid of some yarn that I won’t be using for anything else.  Lots of my other non-baby acrylic is going to go to a local nursing home.  I am over the acrylic, have been over it, just haven’t taken the time to go through the tons and tons and tons of yarn that I have.  I really need to though, because getting rid of it is going to make me feel good.  I could keep maybe 7 or 8 skeins for the baby hats, and the rest is outta here.  Just thinking about it makes me feel better and less cluttered.

So anyways, that’s it.  I have decided that I am going to get 2 more books, and the new IK (the Spring ’11 one…it’s the best one I have ever seen, I ADORE it and want it right now), and I’m done with yarn and yarn-related purchases for quite a while.  I have enough knitting to keep me busy for ages, and I just want to start getting through it!

I guess I didn’t stop to figure out how I am supposed to knit with the attention span of a gnat.  Percoset does that to a gal, I guess.  I did decide on a sweater, finally.  Strangely (ok, not so strangely maybe) I ended up picking something totally not on that list from my last post, but one I have been wanting to knit for quite a while.  Shalom!  Need I say more?  I am actually making it a cardigan, with either long sleeves or 3/4 length.  I am on my last of the 3 increases and twisted rib sections.  That’s when I think things will get tricky just because mindless knitting is my friend right now.  I am using the Berroco Vintage that was originally purchased for the Metro Cardigan, but it likes this project much better I think.  It is turning out beautifully!

I don’t know why I am bound and determined to not just knit this as the pattern states, and modify it heavily, but these are modifications that have already been used, so hopefully it will work out as I have it in my head.

Ig  haven’t hardly been doing any knitting.  Just a few rows here and there til my eyes are crossing and I pass out mid-stitch.  I will get some pictures when I get home, which will hopefully be tomorrow!

I have  sweaters worth of Cotton Fleece that I can use.  I have some other various yarns that could make me a vest or short sleeve pullover or cardy or something.  I am going to have surgery and will be off my feet for a couple weeks at least and I want to bring this knitting with me to the hospital and get going on something substantial since I will have the TIME.  I have spent about 6 hours total going through Ravelry, flip flopping back and forth, trying to decide if the Cotton Fleece is going to work for this sweater, or that sweater (my main concern is it stretching and pulling because of the cotton in it…it’s weight is it’s own enemy).  There are so many beautiful patterns out there, I just can’t decide.  I have (I think) narrowed it down to:

Ditto

Oblique

Sundrop Cropped Cardigan (a non-cropped version)

This version of the Tree Jacket (which I happen to have that same yarn, colorway for)

Primrose Path (love the assymetrical goodness in this, I just don’t know if I have a good yarn for it)

Olivette (if I could figure out how to knit this in worsted it would probably be my pick)

Cece

Eastlake

Ogunquit

Badia

Dunedin Vest (love, LOVE, LOVE this – I am not sure I have the rght kind of yarn in my stash though)

Diamonique

Vine Lace Vest

Damned Twist Collective does not make my choices either.  They have so many pretty designs and it took me forever just to decide on the few that I did from there.  Then you have the IDP’s from KnitPicks, and the patterns from Webs…grrr.  It’s different when I am at home and can just dig through my books, mags, and yarn…but I think the reason I am SO indecisive is because what I bring I have to work on, or not knit at all, which will drive me nutty.  Granted it would probably be 2-3 days tops I’m there, but I knit every day.  I’m not much of a TV watcher and I think watching judge shows all day would make me crazy!

Right now Olivette and Sundrop Cardigan are at the top of my list, with Sundrop winning because I have SEVERAL yarns I know I have enough of to knit it.  Who knows.  In 2 minutes I might change my mind, so I will just stop now.

My brother’s friend that got the Vogue gloves received them today and LOVES them.  What a relief.  She actually lives in Central California, but is leaving tomorrow on vacation to New York (which I didn’t even know about!) and so the timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

That’s about it, really.  I have been listening to podcasts like crazy and just trying to stay off my feet.  I have a pair of socks I am working on but I haven’t knitted on them in 2 days because I haven’t been feeling so hot.  I will probably work on them some tonight (just a plain 2×2 rib, on the heel flap of sock #1) and probably get at least the first sock done before I go in the hospital.

That’s about it.  I babbled about all the sweaters I want to knit yesterday, I feel like that is all this post is about.  It’s all the knitting I have been doing the last couple days though!  Drooling in indecisiveness!

OK, so I have huge monkey feet (no offense to any monkeys intended).  I had turned the heel on the first Jaywalker and was working on the decreases to continue onto the foot, when I noticed this gaping hole and I could NOT figure out what I had done.  So I took the needles out, ripped it back  or so rows, and decided now was a good time to just try it on for size.  I COULDN’T FIT IT OVER MY FLIPPIN HEEL!  Granted, I am swollen as hell because I am 38 weeks pregnant, so I had my mom try it on because her feet are much closer to my ‘real’ feet size.  She couldn’t either.  I was in love with how they were turning out, too…

So I did look for other Chevron patterns that I could use, but I am going to wait.  I think I am going to get a more solid color sock yarn and just knit something lacey.  It stretches more, and frankly, I have been working on this sock so much lately (for me) I just need a break from this type of pattern.  I was very happy with how it was turning out, so I don’t hate you, oh ripped Jaywalkers, but we must part for a bit of time.

Finished the gloves for bro’s friend…will post pics of that tomorrow, they are going out in the mail and they are outta here!  WOO HOO!  Also need to post pics of the kiddo with his minion, which he has slept with since I made it for him…he loves it.

I also was working on a Grumpasaurus tonight for my son using LB Magic Stripes in black, white and red (his choice), and it turned out looking like poo.  I realized this when I was just about done with his body, so mommy is making an executive decision tomorrow and picking some solid colors for his wee Grumpy dinosaur.

I am the hugest fan of Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice, and it’s killing me not to watch the episodes from this season, but I have my C-Section scheduled soon and I figured that would be a really good thing to do while I was recooperating from that.  I wasn’t sure how droopy/drugged I would be and wasn’t sure about the knitting, but TV watching I could handle.  If I can knit, great, I will when I’m watching my shows, if not, no biggie I still have something to do.

That’s about it, my so-called life!

OK, that was my bitch.  I am done.

I am trying to start-up a new non-knitting related site and holy crap.  I tried to go with a new webhost, and I am kicking myself in the ass for it.  I have been futzing around with the thing for 2 hours and I would like to think of myself as pretty computer savvy, but holy crap this thing is giving me a headache.  I can’t even upload FOLDERS to the damn site…files, yes, folders with 200+ files, not so much.  I am sure part of the prob is that I am tired, emotionally wrecked right now, and tomorrow is a busy day.  Argh.

In happy news…I am still working on the Jaywalkers and am to the heel flap now.  I can’t believe how quick it’s going on those small, small needles.  I suppose having to wait an hour for a glucose tolerance test would help get it done, but I am excited to get it done.  The pooling has now turned into actual a thick stripe following the pattern, so that makes me excited.  We will see if it adjusts itself again after the heel flap.  I am so enjoying this knit.

That’s about it.  I am going to TRY to crash.  We shall see!

My dad had to leave rather unexpectedly to get out of here before the weather went sour, so I haven’t had time to take those pics I promised a couple of days ago.  But today was Johnathan’s first day back at school, so this morning after I dropped him off I took those damn pics and here they are! (I think I would do anything right now just to distract me – having him for 2 weeks and then the house being so quiet is killing me!)

First off, the Gathered Scarf that was a Christmas present for my mom.  I am very happy with how it knit up and it is sooooo soft.  She said it doesn’t itch her neck at all which is the whole point of a soft and squishy scarf!

Lace Gloves.  The thorn in my side right now just because I hate weaving in ends and there are too many for my liking.  Eek.  This is the first time I had used Cascade 150 and I LOOOOOVE it.  I still have quite a bit of it left, not sure what I am going to do with it.

Next up:  Fingerless mitts for my boy.  He loved them.  And they look so freakin cute on him.  I just made it up as I went along…no pattern.  I did a 3 x 1 rib and thumbhole.  Easy peasy, lemon squeezy as my son says.

Finally, some dishcloths I gave my mom for Christmas.  She used to knit her own but with her arthritis her paws don’t like to knit so much.  She made the plain ole Grandma’s favorite dishcloth, so I thought I would mix it up a little for her.

That is all for my FO’s.  I have to seam up the first twin sweater, make the 2nd twin sweater…I just haven’t felt up to doing much of anything, this baby is coming soon and I have been pretty uncomfortable.  So small things make me happy right now.

A couple of UFO’s…a minion from Despicable Me at the request of my son, and the Jaywalkers that I FINALLY started that I can’t believe I didn’t start sooner.  I love how easy the stitch pattern is, but this yarn is knitting it up in an interesting pooling pattern.  I usually hate pooling but this is pooling…cool.  At least so far.  And the yarn is some I have never knitted with before and it really is a nice knit, especially with the affordable price range.  We will see how the FO holds up!

I have already gotten another 2 inches or so done on these.  They are going way faster than I would have expected on size 1 needles, but I think it’s because every row is a little hidden surprise for me.  Weeeeee.
Well, that’s it for now.  I started this post this morning and am ending it 10 minutes before TOMORROW morning comes around.  The days are so busy even when I have my ass planted firmly on some seat or other.  Tomorrow I hope to working on some (gag) weaving in ends and more Jaywalkers.  I am going to get googly sew-on eyes for the Minion, and have to do his feet and arms, and then more Jaywalker.  That will be my guilty pleasure for now, I think!