I'm so going SEXing soon!!

hehe, eric read my mind about Hong Kong. I barely got finished saying i wanted to go, and he invites me to go on Friday. He is going to collect some money, and asked if i wanted to go. Uh...DUH, of course. But this time I think i'll have to stay over night by myself cuz i can't come back to China the same day. hehe, i don't mind as much...staying in HK by myself.

Yay Hong Kong Yarn stores, here I come!!!!!

it's there! it's there!

Yay!!!! Albarinos received her tea time package!! Yay!!! (pg 8) this means i can post the pictures of what i made!!



I didn't end up mailing the red canister at the back because i was trying to save money on shipping...which btw, i'm never going to use that courier service again, another story. and i just realise that maybe i didn't end up taking a picture of the finished scarf.

she especially liked the tea in the buds. i thought they were cool too!!

and because i made it just intime, i was able to sign up for the Hogwarts House swap!! yay!! so excited. I declared myself a Hufflepuff.

I think i should be getting my Hong Kong pass soon, so i'm just going to mail out my packages from Hong Kong...they seem less shadey...

Movie Knits!

okay it's not what you think... i'm not inspired by a movie to knit...i'm just knitting while i'm watching a movie. I popped in Night at the Museum & figure I can do some mindless knitting... i mean a moss stitch isn't too taxing to knit infront of the movies. Just enough...

I didn't pay attention enough... well i had put CC's scarf on a stitch holder cuz i needed to use the US 8 needles for the first Panta. But then when i casted on for the second Panta, I use a US 9 instead cuz I am using two yarns held together, and just didn't think more about that so i grabbed the second panta & stitched it off to hold on the stitch holder...only to realise that i was originally knitting with 8s not 9s... silly me.

and i was trying out different method of slipping the stitches...whether to slip the first or the last stitch... so that kinda ruined the sides a little...but hope CC doesn't mind.

I only knitted 2/3 into the movie, the last 1/3 where the movies comes together and Ben Stiller does his thing, and the movie ends up happily ever after.

maybe i will knit thru Grey's Anatomy (GA) tomorrow. the cartoon that i like to watch they arent showing anymore...and so I am left with nothing to watch between 7-8pm. I have two more episodes to watch for season 3.

Sunday Knitting

yesterday i holed up in my room trying out the double knitting skill. and i must pat my self on the back for it. It's not that hard after all...the hardest part is the casting on part, after that you just gotta remember that you're knitting two things at the same time...i find if i concentrate too hard at what i'm knitting, then i'll get confused,but if i sorta just let go...i'm ok.

i don't know what i want to knit with the double knitting technique. Hm... maybe hogwarts house scarf? that would be kinda cool no?

that is all from my knitted ends today!

Panta panta finished!!

Casted on for the Panta...just for fun...& cuz I didn't want to further work on the scarf for Chi-chi. I am on section 6...it's a very quick project...i thought it would be hard like the calorimetry...but it's super easy...it's basically a rib stitch & you just keep increasing the rib stitches.

what's a panta? Simply a headband/keep your head warm thingy. Panta!!

I might even finish it today! It's still early!!


(*editor note* this picture features an inside out Panta!!! a right side in Panta will be pictured shortly.)

this is how i prefer to wear it... it makes me look slightly normal.

Panta finished! and in just one evening... in the span of 6 hours. not the whole 6 hours... yay!!!

Now go make your own Panta (the pattern i used written out on page 4, another version of the pattern written on out page 2 which includes gauge. note! Needle Size says US 5, but really it might have meant 5mm.)

As for my own Panta, I used Lion Wool Print with US 8 needle, and made the distance (llama) 4cm, except section 5 which was only 3 cm.

progress?

Chi-Chi's gold seed/moss stitch scarf is coming along nicely...but it seems a bit thin...maybe i should have casted on more stitches, but i didn't want him to have a bulky scarf, but still warm for the lab. Hm. I will gauge how it turns out when i'm done...if it's ok to give to someone. I think i can be done by this week if i hurry...even though there is no hurry on my end or on anyone's end.

well as long as i finish it before i see him...which is march 1, it's fine.

hi all.

it's odd to be creating for fun...or rather for no specific purpose...no one really needs another scarf. no one i mean my friends, the three friends that i have...so... have casted on a seed scarf for Chi-Chi. I figure i can return a scarf to him for the one he made me. It's in a gold color from lion brand wool-ease worsted weight. I've already noticed a couple of mistakes...which i don't know how it got there because i was knitting it correctly the whole time, *k1, p1* repeat... hm. maybe when i was monotonously doing the *k1, p1* i mistakenly k2 or p2 then k1... hm all this knitting talk. sexy.

I am hoping to make the deadline for the harry potter house swap...but in a way, i'm sorta hoping that i don't make it due to the fact that i might not be able to pick up the correct colors if i can't get to Hong Kong in time...Hm. I will be in Taiwan...perhaps I can pick up colors then. well, I really would hate to sign up and then be a flake...that would not be good. anyway...i guess it all hangs in whether or not I get feedback in time. If i do, i'll sign up, if not...guess not then.

Eat me, I'm done!

i've finished all my items for the tea swap. I will post a picture of it all once i mail it and make sure albarinos gets it.

i'll call the mail carrier today...

yay!

p.s. i know i was bitching about how i dislike the scarf, but in the end i decided that no one will stare at closely at the scarf, and all they will really see is the bright redness of the scarf...and it will be perfect for valentine's day...if she likes that sorta thing.

when i had finished with the whole package, i thought to myself, wow that was hard work on my part. and i didn't even make that much... Hm. that's how it's going to be on her part too...I'm so going to appreciate everything that comes to me.

now i realise what the fuss is all about with these swaps. sometimes i look at the swapped items, and i'm like...eh it's not the great, but the reciptiant still loved it. and now i know what it's all about! It's not just the hokey pokey, it's the fact that people you don't know put this much effort into a package... you just feel the love.

so i am close to finishing the scarf, but the closer i get to finishing the scarf, the less i like it. and i don't want to give her something that i'm just whatevers about. but i don't know what to do? So i need to look thru my stash and try to find another suitable color and a new scarf? or a new item to substitute the BIG item.

this sucks. i suck.

i will sleep on it...maybe an idea will come to me.

hey ho, let's go!

i am stalling on the branching out. I always get like this mid way thru the projects. there isn't much keeping me going, except the fact that i need to mail this out by Feb 5th.

let's keep going huh?

i am on my last small red skein.

motivation!!!!!!

takes so little to make me happy.

I have yarn again!! yay! My mom brought over a slightly large bag full of my yarn. all this yarmmy goodness. I see it, and i'm like, I have so much more selection now!! I'm so happy!!

so happy!!

now off to log my yarn yardage!

(i'm back!)

total yardage logged so far:
1867

this is not including the yarns i purchased in china. I don't know how to count them...they were counted by weight, & the yardage isn't totally accurate because i have a half ball that i don't know how to measure, and the china ones measuring by weight throws me off.

but other than that...it's accurate!!

i'm so happy about my little stash.

wist = wish list, i get it now!

i have been watching the hogwart's christmas swap, and I'm so amazed at the things that people can make. I'm so lame when it comes to making things. But when i get home, I'm going to totally wist that griffindor hat that superhooker made for trillian.

maybe i'll ask her where she adapted her pattern from? I have yet to knit something as large as that...scarves are about as large as i get. I have all these ideas in my head, but they don't get carried out.

I'm hoping to receive my Hong Kong access pass soon so that i can travel to Hong Kong as many time as I please without having to stay the night there... to aid me in buying better quality yarn.

I didn't joing stashalong because honestly i don't have a stash to stashalong. i'm not at that point yet. I don't have tons and tons of yarn...although i think my stash was looking pretty decent for being such a beginner, I'd go to the yarn store, every other day. except now all my yarn is in taiwan...so maybe when i go back for the new years i will bring it all over.

don't be too cocky!

Mistakes is what you get when you start to knit faster on this lacey thingy...or you divert your attention for a moment. you can't tell..or can you? but i totally effed up the scarf, but i just forged ahead, and tried to fix the mistakes during the even numbers since those were the easiest to add or decrease stitches.

Sigh. this is what happens when i stop during mid-cycle of the 10 row repeats, i forget which row i'm on...and since i normally stop at 10, and when i pick it back up it is row 1 again...i just started at row 1 again, even though i was on row 3. well at least the forging was done and over with. the pattern is taking shape again...back to normal at the least.

and look at how far i've gotten today. I had to roll another hank of the red, the balls aren't too large so i'm not surprised. Maybe I should have bought more. Well, I'll see how long this scarf is with the rest of the red, and if it's not long enough, I shall set out to the LYS & buy more hopefully the same color red.

My dad came home, and asked me what i was doing. I said i was making a scarf. he asked why was it so bright red. I simply smiled and shrugged. I couldn't explain it either.

I was originally going to mix in the bright teal color as to off set the bright red...but i just simply got too lazy at rolling the hanks into a ball. maybe i will accent the scarf with the teal...that's an idea.

i have really enjoyed making this scarf. It's an easy lacy pattern...the hardest part is the sl1-k2tog-psso, and sl2-k1-p2sso. and even that is easy. wait...i take it back, the hardest part is remembering to YO properly.

maybe i'll be done by tomorrow!!

Branching out knitting

Here is the progress on the branching out, after only one short frogging at the v. beginning, I am well on my way...I realise that trying to read directions off the computer is a lot harder than it looks, especially if your laptop likes to go into sleep mode on its own. So I just wrote down the pattern, and have just been following it.

I had a few slow spots, mainly the Sl1-k2tog-psso & Sl2-K1-P2SSO, but after reading the explainations it gives on the page it all worked out ok.

It's progressing nicely, my ony regret is not using a thinner full wool yarn so that i may block it and have all the lace parts shine thru.


On the tea swap front, I've made significant progress. everyone that PM'd me with great ideas helped, it opened up my eyes to what i was missing...such nice people. I only hope my partner likes the things I've put together. so far i just have the tea...but i am well on my way!!

yay!

i need some rolls.

went out in search of yarn of a different color for the tea swap. Ended up buying in hanks instead of already rolled.

I got bright colors, and a pastel pink.

still have no real ideas, but gosh, those craftster people are so nice. I posted a message for help, and immediately i got help. she helped me see out side of this tiny square box that i was thinking in.

shall brainstorm more tomorrow...until then, I was making a potpurri flower...which doesn't look like a potpurri holder. Perhaps I'll have other uses for it.

maybe i shall steal some of esther's diary paper to use for my ATC...i don't think she would mind.

I also purchased new yarn in blood red for the charity one, where you knit up a scarf for those kids without adults. I got two colors...i think i'm going to use the alien scarf for this pattern. ::cross fingers::

i want to go to HK for proper yarn.

haven't made anything. I think i'll cast on another caliormetry...but with a different color mixed in & do more repeats.

i am blue.

a glass cozy. i made this for my dad's glass. he does not have a mug like me to drink hot water.



fingerless gloves for me. i made them especially two sized. I wanted to try out a longer wrist part, and a smaller needle. the second pair i just winged...that's why it looks odd.

I've also casted on a caliormetry yesterday...i frogged it a couple of times, but i finished it today...it doesn't look like the picture because perhaps i did not that many repeats, but at least i get how the short rows of the headband thing works. Perhaps the next one, i will make it wider.

p.s. i so need to get new colors, I am definitely bored of this blue.

tea swap!

hm. haven't crafted anything for the tea swap, but bought some tea items for it. It seems easier to purchase tea items then to craft tea item. oh wells. I shall hurry on that soon, only about 3 more weeks!!

'What do you look like?" atcs!

okay i know this isn't a knitting or yarn related blog, but it's crafty sorta. I was intrigued by the fact that i can do digital atcs. now digital makes it so much easier for me who can not be creative enough to buy supplies! Yay!

that's me....getting my tattoo of ellie.

Tea Swap on craftster.org

I am participating in a tea swap. I just received my swap partner today...she is from Spain. How cool is that? i only hope she felt the same way about me.

and now...i don't know what to make for her tea related that is...

i have thought up, the dead fish coasters, maybe a mug cozy...and making personalised tea bag envelopes. but it's hard to find materials in my boonyville chinatown.

darn, i shall have to be creative.

i spoil all my own fun!

ok, so i frogged the fugly garter chunky scarf, and so far it's just rolled up in a ball. I don't know what i'm going to do with it...perhaps I'll mix in some thin colorful yarn and make more slippers.

anyway, i also frogged the really thin dpn whatever i was making, and I combined two strand of yarn together and is using US 8 DPN to make a sort of sock...or at least the heel part. I'm experimenting i suppose. it gets easier after you start...the DPN & the casting on and all. it was all the COs and the frogging that was getting me to.

i think this new yarn that i got might be ok, if i used one strand. it might still make it to be normal human size.

i so don't gauge. and that's what i get for not gauging.

i also have looked ahead on my knitting calendar...and sadly to say, it has spoiled the fun for me of "discovering" what pattern it is each day. Maybe when I get my crochet a day calendar i won't do that, so that i don't spoil my own fun.

i like making the socks. it's not as hard as i thought it would be...isn't that how it is, techniques aren't as hard as you think they would be once it clicks in your head.

i sure am relaxed

I was KIPing last night at the foot massage place, the tv wasn't good, and it kept me from feeling awkward. I've always felt weird at those places because there they are touching your feet, and what are you suppose to be doing? most of the time, i watch the tv, but honestly i just don't like China TV channels all that much. so knitting was a really good alternative, plus I got a lot of rows done.

It sparked 20 mins of conversation at the beginning. about yarn bulk, and color, and various other yarn topics.

i was just knitting in the garter knit for some mindless distraction... i wanted something that i didn't need to look at a pattern for.

anyway...when i'm done with this scarf, i shall work on the wannabe socks.

I SEXed last night!

went to my LYS yesterday...once again it was a lot of people...and deciding on color was the hardest part. I chose a baby blue to work with. What I originally wanted to knit was a sweater. I mean, might as well get started working on my NYR...but the needles are too small for me to work with. all of their sizes are super tiny, like 0, 00, or 2 US. those were the biggest sizes that they had availble. I ended up purchasing a 4 piece DPN that was super long for the sweater.

so i got crackin last night, and after many many many times of casting on, and frogging it. i decided to go with the socks...or at least practice socks...and see what happens with that.

sigh, i am not one to be creative and go with the flow, i'm so, follow the directions exactly girl.

By the end of the night, I only got 3 rounds done. the needles are THAT small, PLUS, i had to figure out how to use DPNs...I mean I have a pair, but i never understood how to use it properly...i don't know if I'm doing it right or not though. I guess only trail and error.

also DBF got me the knitting a day calendar. for wednesday the 3rd of Jan, it has super comfy slippers. similar to the crochet maryjane's i've been making.

Last night, I went yarn shopping with the "housekeeper/cook" & her sister in law. She helped me haggle, and saved me at least $1.00 USD. It may not look like much, but saving is still saving.

I'm mentioning her because she had mentioned to me that the things that i'm making are so foreign to her. they are not any items that they would make. And i was so confused. I mean, slippers are slippers...how can slippers look foreign? well she just said that it looked foreign...and i just thought that it was funny.

here in china, mostly they just have thin yarn, like fingerweight yarn. not worsted or even sport weight. :: sigh :: maybe i need to use two strand so that i can at least make sport weight? hm. that is a thought!

well...off to try to make some form of socks.

only the second day of the new year!

Decided to make another scarf out of the gray chunky yarn. Since the pattern on the ball makes up one chunky scarf. I just went with it...it's a v. simple garter stitch, and it was soothing for me when i was having a melt down. I have listed items on the right hand side for my 2007 knitting projects. I have listed items/techniques that i'd like to conquer in the year 2007. that's my yarn 27 for 27.

i survived!!

today i can officially buy yarn.

one of my NYR is to knit a sweater..

maybe that's what i'll go buy today...

yarn, yarn, yarn!!