Olive Scarf

This my latest and greatest. When I finish it, I will have to block it. There are some imperfections, but I am going with it this time because sometimes you just have to let things go. And it's green!!!! Green is one of my favorite colors.

I have to create something multi-colored soon because I am feeling overly monochromatic these days.

The Culprit

So I mentioned I have been in a knitting slump lately. Well I thought I should share why. I have started this scarf 4 times now. I get to row 16 and the number of stitches are incorrect. I think it's a nice beginning though. Once again, I found this pattern on the purl bee. You can click to see what it should look like if I ever finish it.

Not much else going on, besides a couple of secret projects I am working on. I might start something new today because its grey outside and football is on. I am dreaming of sushi and Texas these days. I can't wait to be home with family and friends. Hope everyone has a lovely weekend.

No crying over dropped stitches

I am knitting up a rather large project right now and I am about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way done without any mistakes. Then tonight I totally goofed it up. It seems that I am clumsy on Sundays. I should just sit and watch TV and not do anything else. For the last 3 Sundays I have succeeded in hurting myself and messing up my crafts. It all started 3 weeks ago. I was walking the dog and fell on my back and injured my tailbone. That night I went home to knit a scarf and messed something up (still haven't fixed that one). Then last Sunday I started to do 1x1 ribbing on a Knit Only blanket then proceeded to burn my fingers to a blister (couldn't knit myself into any mistakes after that). This weekend I popped some ligament out of socket to get around some trick or treaters and came home to drop some stitches. I literally almost cried, started to frog it and I believe (cross fingers) that I have inserted my needle correctly and have saved the project (hallelujah).

But this further confirms I need to take a knitting class. I have learned quite a lot from the web but there are mistakes that I cannot describe to google to get me the answers I need. But there are so many classes I need to take...I wish they had sampler classes like you have when you're a kid. I would take Knitting, Spanish, Yoga and Dance. It could be like 2 hours and you get 30 minutes of each. Perfect.

When I fix all my mistakes in the past week, I will post them. Halloween costumes are on my list this week...stay tuned!

K1P1 tip

In the case that any new knitters should come across my site, I wanted to share a tip I have just learned. I am a new knitter myself. I am much better at crochet and I am used to the counting you find in crochet patterns. I even count in simple crochet patterns because that is just how I learned. The first time I tried a Knit 1 Purl 1 ribbing project, I tried counting because I thought it would help me. But DO NOT COUNT!!! Some advanced knitters might disagree with my advice.

First I tried counting...one, two, one, two

Then I tried counting...knit, purl, knit, purl

Neither worked and I ended up with a lot of mistakes.

So....the best advice I can give is:

1) Start with a small project

2) Just get used to the ribbing rhythm

3) Watch a television show and try to forget that you are knitting

4) Learn what a knit and purl stitch look like, in case you do need to stop and restart

In the bucket

So since I haven't blogged in awhile, I thought I would give you a sneak peak of some the little things I have started. Some really haven't been started at all, the fabric is still in the "idea" phase. I realized the other day, I am really attracted to Orange and Green things right now. My whole apartment is decorated with Orange and Green. The recent architecture competition I entered has an Orange and Green scheme to it. And all the fabric and yarn I am buying is Orange and Green. Hmm?

I'm having a crafta-thon today since its raining, we will have to see what all these things become.

New Yarn

New Yarn, new projects. I have lots of new projects starting up. I purchased this yarn from Kangaroodyer to make something for a friend. I should have photographed it when it was still a hank, but I forgot. My thumb is sore from winding it last night while watching Weekend at Bernies. I miss those silly 80's films where nothing had to make sense.

I will post more when the yarn becomes something.

Knit and Gnat

Knit, being the knitwear on the trees over by my place. I came across this blog awhile ago http://microfibermilitia.blogspot.com/ but didn't realize there were pieces by my place. Pretty fun huh?

Gnat, being the chatty dude that stopped me while taking this photo to ask "Why are you taking a picture of that tree?" I shouldn't call him a gnat, that's mean, but it rhymed so what the hell. But it was annoying. Non-natives of Chicago will find that these instances occur more often than you like.

I explained to him the reason for the photo, he shrugged his shoulders and said "Huh! Tree sweaters!"

You see that white haze in the background of the photo? Why is my new camera doing this to me? Anyone know why or how to fix it? Alicia?

Arm Warmer

I was trying out a new knit pattern with the yarn that I have had forever (trying to empty my stash to make room for new blanket yarn). So I was knitting thinking "oh this will be another scarf." But it was naturally curling lengthwise and Justin suggested I turn it into armwarmers. So I did. I don't know if its the patterns fault or not, but I don't like the colors when its knitted. I liked it much better as a hank of yarn. I have a whole hank left and I might try a new pattern for a skinny scarf.

I have got to get this knit thing down. I went to a local yarn store called Knit1 and I will probably take knitting lessons there. That way I can fix mistakes. Although I didnt make any mistakes with the armwarmers. This pattern is called Polperro Northcott. You can find it in The Ultimate Sourcebook of Knitting and Crochet Stitches, page 47.

I will post progress of my ripple blanket this week. Off to a picnic, have a good Sunday everyone!

Mint Cowl

Yes Yes, my knitted cowl. I have been working on this since January. I have ripped it out (started over) more than 40 times I am sure. But this last time, being summer and all, I decided I am just going to keep going, mistakes and all. I am embarrased to send you the link, but it is supposed to look like this. so beautiful....

It's a ribbing pattern of K1P1 and it took me awhile to get the hang of all the switching back and forth. But it was fun and fast by the end. I did however, mess up, you can tell by the line of the cowl near the bottom. And it looks different from the purlbee cowl because I wasn't using cashmere. But its still soft and stretchy and I think I will get a lot of use out of it next fall/winter.

I was inspired by this guy's blog that I found on ravelry.com, who said he never fixes knitting/crocheting mistakes unless they are really easy fixes. I really liked that. And his stuff was really nice. Although I am too much a perfectionist to let things go all the time, but in some instances, it does add character to a piece.

I need better backgrounds for taking photos and a new model (besides myself). I am going to work on that this summer. Maybe take my work to the park and photograph it. I can't wait to share what I have been working on these past couple of weeks!

Desert Mariposa Lily

Summer has finally made it to Chicago, time for some lighter weight, brighter yarns. Desert Mariposa Lily is the name of this yarn as given by the seller. Apparently its a type of flower that I have never had the priveledge of meeting. This seller has a lot of great looking handmade yarns, you can find her etsy store here

I again had big plans for this, but its difficult to work with something as fine as thread. We will have to see what I come up with. This one is made of baby alpaca, silk, and cashmere. This is some fancy stuff.

Another scarf

This is my first completed knitted thing. It's all knit, no purl. Im struggling right now trying to recreate a cowl off of purl bee (one of my favorite sites) . It's beautiful huh? Well this whole ribbing thing is hard. I get it, I do...but when I make a mistake its impossible for me to fix it. I have googled it and apparently my problem is twisted stitches...but I can't "tink" or knit backwards because I don't know where to insert the needle. I have been trying for about 3 days now. I will try again soon, but I got so discouraged last night that I had to crochet justin some slippers. To be posted soon. Happy Heroes Monday!