Finals, Moves, and Other Distractions

Between three senior projects, finals, graduating, moving, and not having access to my pictures, I have managed to go quite some time without posting anything on here. However, that does not mean I have stopped knitting. In the past two months I have completed my undergraduate degree and moved to a southern coastal town to attend graduate school in the fall. Since the move it seems that I can't do enough knitting. This probably has a lot to do with the fact that I know a total of four people (my boyfriend and his family). I'm not an overly social individual and would rather just hang out in my apartment (roommate-free for the majority of the summer) chattering away on twitter and watching tv shows, which I have been acquiring more of again.

Unfortunately my new home, which is within walking distance of the campus, Best Buy, Starbucks, and TJ Maxx, is still without a local yarn shop. Fortunately I live behind an AC Moore, so am not quite as devoid of yarn as I have been, which is causing my yarn stash to grow once again. I'm currently in love with Caron's Simply Soft which I used to make my purple hat back in January. I have a gorgeous dark green that I am using for the Wicked Vest. I love how soft it feels and the way patterns really show up in its texture, making it great for these projects with lace elements. And even though I'm not very enviromentally concious beyond those things which make good economic sense, I do appreciate the fact that each skein contains .6 recycled plastic bottles.

Speaking of vests, the super secret project is complete! For my mother's birthday in April I knitted the Mistake Rib Vest from 101 Designer One Skein Wonders. What started out as a fun simple project quickly became something that I dreaded pulling out, taking the place of my friend Jessica's blanket from Christmas break. Mostly the problem I had was that there was barely any variation in the pattern coupled with the fact that it shortly grew to be too big to carry around with me. It was knit in one piece, which was nice though I still had to seem the sides. Overall I am pleased with the result though I'm not looking to make the pattern again. My mom was thrilled with the finished piece, which made all of the frustration worth it.



In stark contrast to my mom's vest, I am thoroughly enjoying the Wicked Vest that I mentioned above. the measurements and pattern changes are far enough apart that I can watch tv while working on it, but still are enough to keep me interested. I started the project two weeks ago, but took a week off in the middle to work on another project that I've since frogged out of frustration. I finished the back of the vest today and am anxiously waiting to start one of the front panels. It's the first big project that I've made for myself, and I'm absolutely loving it.



I've decided to start making more projects for myself because I want to be able to show off my knitwear. This is not to say that I won't keep knitting other projects for friends and family, because I really do enjoy sending projects to people and hearing their reactions. However, I'm really liking the fact that I can expand my own wardrobe in a way that I can completely control. After I finish Wicked I am planning on starting the Great Gatsby Dress from this summer's Interweave Knits. My mom bought the yarn for me-- more Caron Simply Soft in a beautiful grey/blue. My new rule is to only make things that I could wear for the teaching assistant job that I will be starting in August. I have a lot of great ideas and can't wait to cast on more. Even more than before, knitting has become an addiction that I can't bear to shake.

There is so much more to discuss, but this is going to be it for tonight. I'm visiting my family for the week and when I leave I'm planning to finally take my mother up on her offer of one of her sewing machines. I want to start off with a needle case to make traveling a bit less chaotic and am planning on making a lining for the Luminarie Skirt (in the new IK) once I get around to knitting it. Hopefully I'll be updating on a more regular basis (weekly?), but I make no promises I can't keep. We shall see.

Drugs: The New Anti-Knit

I feel like I haven't updated in forever, which is pretty true. Things around here are increasing in their insanity as we have passed the two month marker on the countdown to graduation. It's always weird when you get ready to graduate, because you know you're going to graduate, but at the same time there is the chance you won't because there are things that need to be done before hand. In my case it's three giant papers and presentations (giant as in easily 40 pages a piece, which is a lot for undergraduate work).

In any case, knitting's become something of a drug to me. I had a conference in DC about two weeks ago and the entire bus ride up and back I sat staring out the window and working on one of my super-secret projects while listening to one of Scott Sigler's podcast novels (Ancestor for those who are interested. I still have a lot of it left, but it's really good! At least by my sci-fi obsessed standards. It's very Michael Crichton). Several weeks later I'm still only a little under halfway finished, but it's coming along nicely.

I'm contemplating a return to monogomy for a while. I have said secret project, a pair of gloves for my boyfriend (he's a hockey player so this project could get interesting), professor gifts, and several more pairs of Bella mittens keeping me busy. Plus the stuff I've been wanting to do for myself. I bought the yarn for the Wicked vest that the Stash and Burn girls are talking about and a few patterns that I've had my eye on might make it into my queue soon. I know that all I'm going to do for a while is this project, but after that, we shall see. I like being able to jump projects, but my school work is keeping me too busy to see much progress.

I have completed some projects. I finally finished the Cable Comfort Throw for my friend back home who got married last summer (nothing like randomly late wedding gifts). I'm quite proud of it and don't think I'm going to make another blanket for a very long time (though as I say this I'm suddenly getting more ideas). It was a dull pattern after a while, but it looks great. And all the seaming up that I was worried about went by really fast during TSCC and Dollhouse on Friday.



I've also been knitting Bella Mittens for some friends. I've completed and mailed two more pairs since my last update and have at least three more to make and send to various parts of the country. I love doing this pattern because it's not necessarily easy, but it's not so hard that I never want to do it again. And the supplies are easy to transport which is always a good thing for someone like me who is always running around and has several really long days away from the apartment. I do feel bad that a lot of the girls aren't getting them until it's too warm to wear them anymore, but they'll be all set to run away to Forks next winter.


(Kim in her mittens that finally arrived last week)

My Ravelry account is still sadly lacking in friends. Mostly because I don't actively seek out strangers and add them as friends (though that might change when I go to grad school). I'm hoping that since I've started using Ravelry on a more regular basis and actually update my project files that I'll meet some new people. We shall see. In the meantime, I have some papers I need to go write.

Plum Not-So Perfect

Two hats within one week. Am I catching a trend in my own knitting? Am I going to have to force myself to branch out into other patterns? Not for a while. I plan on hitting the craft store over the weekend so I can pick up the yarn needed to make the three sets of Bella mittens my friends have asked for. And then I should probably start on my mom's birthday present. Plus I've been promising a friend a blanket since August and need to just deal and finish it.

Over the weekend I made the Edge of Lace hat from the Edge of Lace Hat and Cuffs pattern in 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders. I had fallen in love with it from the pictures and couldn't wait to make it. I started Friday and finished quickly. The lace section was really easy and lots of fun to do during parts of Veronica Mars and Flashpoint. However, I was disappointed because it has a rectangle top that has to be sewn in rather than the typical decrease pattern. Because of this, it took me until last night to figure out how in the world to go about finishing. I ended up sewing the two corners together on the inside for about an inch and leaving it at that. The result is ok, but not the smooth look I like in a hat. But I'm not giving it up because it's such a beautiful color (I'm actually currently wearing it at work). I went on Ravelry and looked at other people's projects using this pattern and it seems that most feel the same way and so have changed the pattern to decreases, with really nice results.


(hey look! there's my amazing Indiana Jones hat)

I'm not sure if I'll make the cuffs to go with it. Maybe next season. I've got way too many projects right now.

Snow Day Fun

I love hats. They seem like they have such personality and are just fun in general. Despite this love I never truly embraced it. I own several, but haven't worn them for more than the "It's cold outside and I don't want my ears to freeze." This is mostly because I've always worn my hair really long and didn't think the combination looked that great on me. However, I chopped most of it off back in the fall and have found hats are a pretty good look for me.

The first project I learned to knit on was a hat. Since then I've stuck to scarves and of course recently started branching out. Last Sunday I found a skein and a half of this beautiful gray alpaca and immediately pulled out the one pattern book I own: 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders. I found this great pattern for an alpaca hat called "Lacey Beanie".



I'd never used alpaca before. My mom gave me this yarn several years ago when I got into crochet. I love how soft it feels and how easy it is to work with. However, five year old alpaca evidently starts to disintegrate when you don't use it. That was a major pain, but it worked. The hat is a little itchy, but I love wearing it and I don't have to take it off when I go inside.

This was also the first time I tried a lace pattern, and, like most of the new things I've tried, it was a lot easier than I thought. The key is knowing what all the abbreviations are, because every designer has a different set. Also, make sure that when you yarn over that when you knit the next row you still get that gap in the piece. I had to rip out an entire set and start over because I had yarn(ed?) over in the wrong direction.

Overall, I like this pattern. It's knit on straight needles, so it has to be seamed up at the end, and you have to be careful that your stitches don't fall off. It was kind of boring, but a snow day was a great time to finish it up (Yes, we had a snow day in college. Only one I've ever had).

Nothing Will Be The Same

So I used to believe in monogamy. I would start a project and not work on another until I had finished. Then a few months ago I got tired of that and cast on about three projects. It was so much fun to go from project to project, as soon as I got bored with one I'd move to a different one without a care in the world. But at the same time it was sad to not actually finish anything.

Well, a few days ago I had my faith in monogamy restored. I cast on a new project (Thursday) that I couldn't wait to start and worked on nothing else until I was finished four days later (Sunday). What was the amazing project that gave this college girl new hope for the single-project mindset? Why the Bella mittens, of course!



For all fan girls everywhere, Twilight has been a landmark event, in both the literary and film worlds. I can't explain why we love it so much, why we debate for hours on end the merits of vampire vs werewolf vs human boyfriends, or why we all want to move to rainy Forks, WA. We just do. My sister and my friend Ky pushed and nagged and pestered me until I finally broke down and read the first book back in August. And then that same book read the rest of the saga that has been published (my Christmas wish was for Stephanie Myer to realize that her fan base is huge and just get over her pride and finish Midnight Sun). And then came the movie -- that we went to at midnight. And then later at 4:15 on opening day.

Anyway, I found this pattern over on Ravelry on Tuesday and immediately had to try it. When we started seeing images from the infamous van scene in the film version of Twilight Ky and I joked about those mittens becoming a fashion trend.



Well, as you can see, I participated immensely in the trend. I already learned how to cable back in December, so I knew I could handle that part, but nothing could have prepared me for learning how to use double-pointed needles. Actually, it's not as hard as it looks. (I think I had more trouble figuring out how exactly to use the stitch markers than handling the needles). I used this Youtube video and was pleasantly surprised at how easily I could make the thumbs. Most of it was common sense and I only had to rip it out once because my stitches were backwards.

The temperature here has dropped since I finished the mittens, and they have been very warm and cozy, though understandably bulky to handle. I would highly recommend this pattern for any Twilight fan or knitter who wants to try their hand at mittens. The directions were clear and the stitches were complicated enough to keep me entertained and fully addicted. Double-pointed needles don't have to kill you and at the end these are totally worth all the frustrations and sore thumbs.