Archive for April, 2011

My Friday Favorite is busted, and blathering on about DPN’s

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!

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2nd Annual Knitting and Crochet Blog Week (and an FO)

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.

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My knitting time.

Where do I knit?  Let me count the places.  I knit in the grocery line (and many other lines), I knit at doctors offices, knit in traffic jams…

I always have a knitting project in my purse, and have no qualms about knitting in public.  I do knit a lot at home, too.  If I am watching TV, I can’t just sit there and watch.  I always have a knitting project close by when watching a movie or TV show.  I will knit on the bus while listening to podcasts.  I knit at lunch break (when I am gainfully employed).  I have no shame.  I knit at church!  I knit on picnics!  I knit at the BEACH.

I just love knitting, love how it relaxes me, love the process and the finished piece, whatever it may be.  And when I am working it doesn’t seem like I have a whole lot of time to knit – get off of work, pick the kiddo up, go home and make dinner, help said kiddo with homework, get him bathed and in bed.  If I don’t crash on the couch while waiting for a show to come on, I am usually to bed when I put my little guy to bed because I am plum beat.  So I am taking full advantage of being unemployed and knitting as much as possible; I think there will be withdrawals when I get back to work.  I am enjoying this time while I can…

I jokingly say I knit so I don’t kill people, but it really is, besides working out, one of the few things in my life I can do to let off steam since punching walls doesn’t seem appropriate and just too painful to express my feelings.  I imagine fixing those holes would be spendy too – I would rather spend that money on YARN!

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Something to aspire to.

OK, I am fired – I missed yesterday…life happened.  I figured my 6 year old needed me more than the 2 people who read this blog, so there you go!

There are several techniques that I would like to learn in the next year.  I would like to learn entrelac, toe-up socks (which I am attempting right now!), and to make a lace shawlette.  Shawlette because I know I don’t have the patience for a full shawl.  I have been on a huge toe kick lately, and that makes me want to learn different heels, different toes, just different sock construction in general.

The last is that I finally want to finish losing the weight I want to, and get going on some sweaters!  I have about 8 sweaters’ worth of yarn waiting to be knit up.  I have a Hey Teach that has just sleeves that need to be knitted, then it needs to be pieced together.  It doesn’t fit me now, so I haven’t had the motivation, but it is the biggest UFO that I have, and I want to get that completed so my UFO box nears empty.

I absolutely adore looking at ornate shawls, lace throws…they all seem so time consuming like I said, but blocked they are just truly works of art.  And add beads to it?  I am blown away!  I will go on to Ravelry and just look at lace FO’s and drool.  I have no desire to make most of them (the thought makes me quake in my bobby socks) but I really, truly appreciate the skill that goes into lace.  So lace knitters out there?  Love your work, you are amazing!

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