Sooooo... it's been rather a long while since I've posted. I'm going to TRY posting more often, but my life is a bit of a mess, and I don't find too much time for knitting these days. :-( This summer, I'll be living with my parents up in Maine where they recently moved. This means I'll have LOTS of time for knitting. :-) But until then, we'll see how much blogging gets done. ^^

Current project: making blankets for the bro and sis as sort of going-away-to-college stuff. I had the idea before we all left home, and so it seems kind of silly that I'm doing this after my brother and I have been in school for a semester already, and my sister left home over 2 years ago to go to school.

The idea is to give all members of my family a blanket as a sort of ... "piece of love" that they could have when I'm not there. I made a big afghan for the couch downstairs in our house in Austin the summer before Senior year, which everyone in my family loves and uses. My parents took that to Maine with them, so they already have one. The colors were bright red, darkish green, and muted blue.
Here's the pattern to that one: http://home.att.net/%7EsusanBinKC/patterns/ripple.html




Then I made one for my sister over Christmas break. Here's the pattern for the motifs: http://cache.lionbrand.com/faq/506?.html?language=

It's a bunch of crocheted motifs, made in different colors (i used bright green, red, blue, and purple) and then sewn/crocheted together to make the blanket. Here's the link to the Lion Brand Yarn crochet-along blog that has all the instructions and help and how-tos: http://blog.lionbrand.com/category/crochet-along/

I'll post pictures as soon as my sister takes them and sends them to me.

It was a SUPER fun project, both because the yarn was beautiful (Lion Brand Vanna's Choice) and the pattern was challenging. It really challenged my skills at reading crochet patterns for the motifs, and I learned a totally knew way or crocheting seams. WAY cool. The method is described in the last post of that crochet-along blog. More to come when I get pictures of that.

Anyways, next up: my brother's blanket. I'm making it the same pattern as the afghan I made for my parents' couch, but instead of making it two rows per color, this one is 3 rows per color (thicker stripes). I figured that would be more... manly. o.O Colors are bright turquoise, navy blue, and pale gray. So, they're manly. But still bright. Cuz i bet it gets pretty gray in Portland where he lives.

More pictures later. :-)
Until then, happy knitting!
~YoungKnitter

Me = Headless Chicken

Hello World!

I spent the last 2 weeks in Burnet, TX working at a summer camp (with no knitting), I will be spending the next few days packing like crazy and running around like a headless chicken, and then in the next couple weeks I'm GOING TO COLLEGE ZOMG!!!

So I doubt I'll get much knitting done.

I'll try my hardest to get back into the swing of blogging when I settle down in Nashville. :-)

Until then, take care, and happy knitting!

~YoungKnitter

OMGOSH I'M CABLING!!!

YAAAAY I DID IT!

Observe:



This is my first-ever-cable-project Scarf, knitted for one of my friends as a going-away-to-college present and made in a cheap but still beautiful 70/30 Acrylic-Alpaca blend (made of 70% Acrylic, 30% Alpaca wool), and its the easiest thing in the world! (Well, maybe not the easiest, but for sure WAY easier than I expected!!!) Anyways, it's got a garter-stitch border and the actual cabling business (where you pull out that snazzy cable needle and do some magic) happens only once every 24 rows or something, when the cable "twists." I'm varying the distance between "twists" for something fun to do.

Anyways, its super-rad and I'm SO PROUD that I actually figured it out! :O That pride is in no way diminished by the fact that it was ridiculously easy! I dunno, cabling always looks so beautiful and elegant, I guess I just figured it was gonna be super-tough! You just put some live stitches on the cable needle, knit a few stitches past the cable needle, and then go back to the cable needle and knit from there. The only remotely tricky part about it is wrestling with the the cabling needle a bit, cuz the live stitches don't really want to stretch as far, so the next row is, by necessity it seems, a little tight.

So YAAAAAAY CABLING!!! Whenever I get around to it, I'm gonna give those kiddie-cable socks a go. Darn, I might just have to go to the yarn store again. :P

In Other News:

I finished those socks I talked about in my last post, the ADD socks:



They turned out alright, I guess. The cuff is all... weird and foldy. But when I put them on the weird- and foldy-ness goes away. I was SO proud when I finished that I walked around my house in them, showing them off to my family, until I remembered that it's mid-summer in Austin. Well, we know they're warm enough, right? XD

My only other issue with these socks is this:



The hole where the gusset decreases start. The book I use (2-at-a-time, mentioned in the last post) gives a tip for getting rid of that (pick up an extra stitch where it looks like they're stretching in between the instep- and sole-stitches as you're picking up stitches along the heel flap for the decrease) and I did that, but it still didn't get rid of the hole thing... Any tips?

Another project I've been working on is a crocheted blanket for Seton Hospital:



Summer charity projects are always nice, and this pattern is great. Instead of crocheting through the V-thing at the top of the next double crochet, you work into the space between two DCs. That's what makes the cool spacey-stripey effect (sorry guys, it seems that good descriptive words fail me today). This blanket works up fast (I got this far in only a few days) and, once i get a good rhythm going, I can crochet without looking because I can feel where the next space to crochet into is. It's nice, cuz normally I have to put down what I'm working on when it gets to the intense part of The Phantom of the Opera (which, by the way, is just about the whole movie ^^). Anyways, it's gonna be a lap blanket. Once I get it wide enough (say, 36"?), I'll put a little orange border all the way around, just for a good clean finish. :-)

Aside from the scarf, socks, and lap blanket, all my other projects are in the planning stage. I am currently entertaining the thought of opening an Etsy shop to sell my hats and Pygmy Puffs (little fluffballs from Harry Potter, remember?) This here is Ozwald, on the left with a little purple friend who got shipped off a couple of days ago to be my sister's friend's birthday present.



Pygmy Puff's make awesome gifts and are super fast and easy to make. You just crochet a little sphere, stuff it, glue on little eyes and tie on a tongue. I brushed Ozwald with one of those wire dog-brushes to make him all fuzzy, and I crocheted both with a plain purple yarn and a white novelty "eyelash" yarn to get that hairy effect on the purple guy on the left. I'll have to check up on copyright issues before I sell this stuff, but we'll get to that later. :-)

I'll post back later with progress on the blanket, socks, and Etsy attempts. Until then, Happy Knitting!
~YoungKnitter

socks and cabling

Today was my Dad's birthday, and for some reason birthdays in my family are really not exciting. We do something in the morning and then again at night, but in the meantime, we just chill. SO! I spent a good part of today just chilling. While I was chilling, I just so happened to be sitting next to my mom's sock book (2-at-a-time Socks, by Melissa Morgan-Oakes) so I got all excited about getting into socks. The first pair I made ended up pretty weird, Cuz they were designed for toddlers, but my guage is WAY off, so they ended up more me-sized. But slightly wacky. And pointy-toed. Then I tried to start a second pair, but the yarn SUCKED!!! It was that kind that's "reinforced" with some weird white stuff in the middle and the colored part wrapped around it, but the colored stuff bunches up all weird and stuff. It's actually the yarn from 3 posts ago with the little baggie thing. :-) Anyways, it sucks, so I got sick of doing battle with it and so I gave up on the socks.

So I want to learn how to cable. I've heard its super easy, but I've never tried! There's this pair of socks in the book I mentioned earlier called "Athena" socks, and they're BEAUTIFUL! The socks have this beautiful cable pattern along the top. Anyways, I got the yarn and the needles and everything, but I want my first cabling project to be a little less... intense. So! I've got this plan to work up to these beautiful socks:

My mom found a pattern for a SUPER simple cabled scarf, which I wanna try first, to figure out how to cable. I've also started on a pair of socks in the book just to get used to the 2-at-a-time method. Then, this other pair of socks caled "Frolick socks" in the book, which has a much simpler cable pattern than the Athena socks, and also is designed for little kids so I'll be done faster. I'll do that once I finish this current one. Then, if I feel like I'm suitably prepared, I'll do the Athena pair. :-)

I'll keep the internet updated on my progress in this matter. ^^

As I was trying to choose a simple sock to make to get used to the 2-at-a-time method, I had an interesting revelation. I can start designing. I mean, nothing too compicated (yet), I just need to check a suitable pattern for how many to cast on, and then I don't really need a pattern. I can just do a simple rib or just stockinette stitch, and screw the pattern. I haven't tried this yet, but it was a cool idea at the time. ^^

Anyways, that's my epic plan for now. ^^ I really hope I get the hang of socks. I mean, they make fantastic gifts and it'll be really cool to have a few pair of socks of my own that I knit with my own two hands, to keep and wear and show off and such. :D

So here's the deal about my current pair of socks: the pattern in the book is called "Berry Season," but I call them the "ADD socks" since I've only got about 3 inches so far, but there has so far been 4 different stitch patterns: Garter stitch, stockinette stitch, 2x2 rib, and the "berry season stitch pattern." WTF???? Yeah. It's been "interesting." Maybe I'll just give up cuz its too much work and continue in stockinette stitch and just have a cool cuff. ^^ Anyways, here's a picture of the socks so far:



At the risk of babbling too much, I'll just mention how much I'm liking the 2-at-a-time socks method. True, its the only method I've ever really tried, aside from double-points (which are awful, btw. Double pointed needles make me want to stab myself). The 2-at-a-time method is intensely confusing and frustrating at times, but once I get my rhythm I really enjoy it. :-) Plus, while I dont have personal experience with second-sock-syndrome, I would guess that I would be an easy victim, considering my inability to finish projects. ^^

Anyways. It's late, and I should probably go sleep, rather than knit. :-)
Take care, and happy knitting!
~YoungKnitter

I finished my camisole!!!! It's super exciting, cuz it's the first real fitted garment i've ever made :-) It was super easy (Razor Cami pattern on Ravelry.com) and went pretty fast. Made with a lace pattern, so it's nice and hole-y, so i gotta wear another shirt underneath it. BUT! I just finished washing/drying it, so now i can wear it!!! i'm so psyched :D :D :D

Anyways, I had a bit of trouble working out a variation to the Straps. The original pattern had you separate the front and back, work them separately, and stitch up the sides at the end. I found a variation that let me do it all simultaneously, and then continue the front a little bit longer after I bound off the back, so the only seams I had to work were to attach the end of the straps to the back of the shirt. It looks pretty sweet, and I'm very proud :D



Yesterday, while my shirt was drying, i was hanging out with my friend Tiffany when I realized I didn't have any knitting projects on the needles to work on. D: It was quite shocking! So I promptly started a hat. ^^ I got this beautiful yarn called Kollage Yummy in a pretty light brown and OHMYGOSH its soooooo soft! :D I'll post pictures of that when I get farther along. :-)

Happy Knitting!
~YoungKnitter

Where we stand

Well, I had this big lofty plan to have this one big post (or series of posts) about all my past projects to bring the internet up to speed on my past projects and, therefore, my level of experience with knitting/crocheting. I kept putting off this big post for so long cuz I never had time to "really do it justice." So, I haven't said anything for forever. SO! I'll just babble about my CURRENT projects, and maybe that'll be a way to bring y'all up to speed... in a way. :-)

So yesterday (at 3.30 AM), I finished this shawl that I've been working on for about a month. I'm making it for my ex-math teacher cuz she paid me for it. OHMYGOSH it took forever ><>

But yeah. its done. :)

Lace Edging:

From the back:

From the front :D :

So yeah! That was an adventure. Now I can devote my attention to my camisole, which is WAY cool! :D I only have 13 inches so far, which is only 3 inches less than what I need to separate for front and back, and then do edging and straps :D

I also got some BRAND NEW yarn in the mail yesterday :D from paradisefibers.com, which is kind of the best place ever. I'm sooooo excited. :) I got some purple variegated worsted weight yarn, and I dont know what I'll do with it yet, but then I also got some BEAUTIFUL brown Kollage Yummy for a hat, and some nice home-grown brown wool (Sport weight) for some cabled socks I've been meaning to try out :D

SO YEAH! That's my knitting life right now :-) A big issue coming up is HOW ON EARTH i'm gonna take my stash with me to college ^^ I've concluded that my roommate is gonna hate me cuz there will be yarn ALL over the floor all the time :-)

Happy Knitting!

~YoungKnitter

Sock yarn issue

I had quite a tangle (hawhaw) with a particularly pesky skein of yarn today as I attempted to cast on my SECOND pair of socks I've ever made :-) I read somewhere that you can put the skein in a plastic bag, cut holes in each corner, and thread the two ends of the center-pull-skein through each hole, thus avoiding a huge tangley mess. ... Let's just say that didn't quite work out how I wanted it to. After some serious wrassling and quite a bit of muted cussing, I decided to give it up as a bad job and just roll the skein into two separate balls and keep them in the plastic bag together, with each end coming out each corner-hole. Confusing? Perhaps. A picture!!!! :D :D :D (I got a shiny new camera as a graduation gift yesterday, and am having WAY too much fun with it ^^) :

As you can see, the plastic bag is conveniently labeled so that the yarn from sock A is separated from the yarn for sock B! ^^ This skein is 100 grams, so I just rolled a ball until it weighed 50 grams, cut the string, and rolled the second half of the skein into a second ball. As you can probably tell, they're not equal in size, but whatevs. :-)

BTW, I'm using the 2-at-a-time method, knitting two socks at one time on one circular needle. Thus the two-strings-on-one-project nonsense. ^^

Whoops! Gotta go graduate! I'll write more later :-)