KIPping on the plane

to Jinny who left that comment about the dishwashing gloves. I tried that too... but the water was still too hot. My attempts at felting has thus far left me dishearted. the unfinished owl sits ontop of my shelves in the bathroom laughing at my unability to felt it. Maybe I am just too impatient to hand felt.

*****

onto the regularly schedule programming.

*****

as i was packing up my suitcase for my trip back to china, my mother handed me the domiKNITrix box I did a personal swap with Sara with. She sent me the book, I sent her the sempre yarn. Since I was packing, I just stuffed it in the suitcase, filed in my brain, read at work later.

I didn't read it thru yet, but apparently it's not the type of book i thought it was... it's much more useful than a book about domiknitrix knitting, it's about taking control of what you're knitting. nice huh? i hope it's v. useful.

on other knitting news, I finally have gotten past the stubborn part on the clapotis. It was hairy there for awhile... somehow I misread the directions and ended up having to knit the same two rows over and over again... lame i know. But finally i just said eff you directions and kept on knitting and at the same time fixed previous mistakes. yay me. Now I hope i'm still this smug when i get to the other drop stitches part. I'm hoping to make time to knit another repeat on the 3rd section today... I really want to start on the second slytherin scarf for my partner... perhaps I'll put a hold on the clapptis and start the scarf to gauge if I purchased enough yarn... if not I might just have to go insane trying to find the same yarn in HK.

clap with me!!

on the clapotis front, I am on the second repeat of the straight rows 9(section 3). I have 11 more repeats to go. i was able to drop one of the stitch... it's kinda scary in a way, what if i drop the wrong stitch... I suppose if i dropped the wrong one, I'd just pick it back up... but this knit thru back loop throws me off.

well... i head back to china tomorrow... so a whole day of traveling. I should get a lot of knitting done, if I am up to pushing myself to finish it.

i wonder if i can block silk & bamboo??

on the swapping note, I received the sheep soap. it smells...in a good way! :)

There are two slips in the post office box indicating that we have packages waiting. I'm hoping the two are also my swap packages!! :)

man i wish china's delivery service was this efficient!!!

i think the hogwarts house swap will be the last swap for me for awhile... i love swapping, but the mailing out is a hassel that i don't want to deal with. Perhaps i'll just do one once in awhile not back to back to back.

craftster.org vent

:sigh:

here's a vent about craftster.org. I mean i love craftster, it's a wonderful place to go to find projects and "hang" out with a bunch of crafty people...

but

sometimes i think the moderaters just too uptight at times. I simply don't understand it. Maybe it's just directed at me.
I posted this topic, about sock yarn due to simply not understanding why people always make exception for it... and i get this
moderator comment.

i don't get it!

the damage

am getting ready for the scarf making... i need to cast on soon, it takes me like 3 whole weeks to do the knitting...

i think this time, i'm going to also make a knitted beanie off of charmed knits on the free pattern.

as you can see from the picture, i also purchased extra house colored yarn, in ravenclaw colors to also make the beanie.

i'm still working on the clapotis... i think i'm near the end of the section one, but i was slow going at it due to not having normal stitch markers. But I got stitch markers now, so it should FLY!!!!!!

fly with me!!

help heal them hokies

Hokie Healing

Clap on Clap off, the Clapper!!

I started the Clapotis today out of the Love Yarn from Vicky Howell on US 7 (4.5mm) needles. I had originally purchased this yarn in the Harold & maude colorway to make something for e (well she doesn't necessarily like yarn stuff, so it's ok). Instead i'm turning it into a present for my mom... if it turns out ok. If it's not the sorta color or the sorta thing that she likes, maybe i can give it to someone else. i also purchased the yarn because i wanted to give vicky Howell's yarn a try... she has such fun colorway names that i just want to buy them all, just so that i can say i have such and such. The Love yarn is a Bamboo & silk yarn... with the Addi circ needles, they are smooth & almost to the point of fallin off the needle.

As one can clearly see in the picture... I'm using yarn circles for stitch markers...i had left my whole set of stitch markers in China... so this is what i could come up with at this point. i don't like the rubberband method. Although i read on the clapalong that people were doing the purl method... if I only knew which stitch they were talking about, perhaps I can switch to that one in a later increase... or if i was more ambitious I'd try to figure it out.

I was going to buy more needles at the craft store, but... i decided i only want to purchase Addi needles from now on... they are much smoother, plus circs can double as straights!!

So far there is one problem... during the last repeats I miss counted and ended up with less rows in the first and last section of the rows... so instead of knit 3, i'm having to knit 2. It's not a big deal though... just something i have to deal with.. well at least i'm hoping it's not a big deal...

is it just me, or the clap looks like a thong.

hehe.

just me then huh?

i heart going to the post office

Took a field trip to the post office yesterday, and sent out the following items!

*the magic yarn ball
*the end of potter swap
*the personal swap of dominitrix book
*the ongoing, shop the swap's green fat bottom bag.

It was a good send out day, there wasn't a line at the post office, so i was able to take all the time that i need to get it all finished.

PLUS i also received my pretty earrings made from pencil!! It was funny, I had completely forgot that i ordered it, so when i got it, i was like... pencil items? I didn't order any pencils... Oh wait! It's my earrings!! I ripped open the package in the post office and put it on immediately! I heart it immensley!! Wore it all day!!!!!

I also ended up going to the craft store yesterday. looked around at the yarn. I suppose I could have purchased the green & grey balls of yarn for the PoA scarf... Perhaps I shall return and purchase more so that i can get a start on the scarf. I've already made a beanie in the PoA style...hm... i shall see. I have until thursday to decide since i have to head back to taichung on thursdy to pick up the pictures for the brochures (actual work related.)

i think I might get a start on the scarf.. swatch a few rows to see the length & etc.

i am one packing machine

I apparently heart the post office.

I have so far 5 packaged packed and ready to be mailed. and waiting to be added to that pile is 2 more packages. One to my BIL in KaoShung not swap related, and one package to e & v for their bdays, also not swap related.

a. the end swap... all finished... just need to toss in a newpaper as a special request.

b. the magic yarn ball swap packed and ready to be magical!!

c. the shop the swap fat bottom bag, taped and ready to send to the netherland.

d. a personal swap of yarn for the dominitrix knitting book. also ready to go.

e. a fill birthday present... also not swap related.

let me tell you, it is hard for me to find appropriate envelopes, or bags for swaps... i may lay off them for awhile... it is also hard for me to find a reliable post office. I rather trust the taiwan post office, but the china one... hmmm maybe not so much. takes so darn long for things to get there, PLUS... packages never get to me. dang it!!

no knitting or crochet news of today... i didn't do anything craft related except box things up and take pictures.

maybe tomorrow, i will get some crafting done!

look at what i got!!!!!

This is the Vicky Howell Love yarn in the color Harold & Maude. I had thought perhaps it would be worsted weight yarn, but it looks to be a bit thicker than fingering...but not DK... I'm not sure. BUT it feels really nice, bamboo & silk. My mother suggested maybe a lacey shawl... hm... perhaps... Now I just gotta find a pattern for it... maybe the clapotis?? if I end up making a shawl i shall give it to my mother.


Sock yarn from webs had arrived in one tiny box. It's yarn from artyarn for the socks i am planning on making for my dad for father's day. Now since we celebrate father's day in August, I have awhile.

Having this tiny box of yarn show up on my door has given me hope that ordering internet yarn isn't that big of a deal... since it arrives all in one piece. It's just the ordering to china that sucks. I shall not have anything delievered in china anymore... china delivery sucks.



This bag of yarn also arrived it was the personal swap yarn I did... now I have a whole bunch of yarn that i don't know what to do with! :) I never know what to do with novelty yarn... while they always seemed like a good idea at the store, once i get home... i'm like huh? well until i know what i should do with them, they shall just sit there.


this sheep card also arrived from the PAT ATC. I heart it. So simple, yet so good. I am amazed at the creativity that other people have! simply amazing!!

I have restored faith in mail order once agin..

tomorrow is monday, and i shall hit up the post office and mail out a bunch of stuff!!

yay for mail order.

p.s. the douphus that is me forgot to bring the required crochet hook for the afghan thati had brought the yarn to work on. doh!

so now i have to purchase new hook and a few more new needles for the sock yarn. but it's not a big deal cuz i like to buy new needles...

sucks to wait

*my yarnware.com order of yarn has not arrived yet... it was mailed out march 1... it's late april now... and no sign.

* i am also missing my heart swap package, and the personal swap of the knit.1 ... all three of those packages were sent to china... hm.

*i am also waiting on a webs order being shipped to taiwan... i hope it gets there soon!! it's socks for my dad.

I so have to stop ordering yarn online from the US... i should just purchase yarn in person...

I have a new slytherin partner...i'm debating on whether to make the slyther PoA scarf in the green or in the dark green dk jaeger that i can get in HK... hm. such a dilmma.

it's midnight...

stick a fork in me, i'm done!

i finally put the finished touches on the slytherin scarf... ie the fringe.

It is now ready to go!!

I have one more ********** to decorate, to match it's mate, then I think I shall call myself done. I know i had way more in mind when i signed up for this, but it's just the scarf took sooooooo long that i couldn't make anything else.

plus the other projects failed miserablly.

on the other note, i crochet up one 127 print beanie today... the yarn is varied in size, sometimes thick & sometimes thin... i don't really like how the self stripping yarn crochets up in the beanie. but i wanted something quick for the shop the swap.

sorry... my mind is not here... i will blog more later.

My mistake is your gain!

Materials: Jaeger DK Matchmaker Yarn in black,dark green, & Gray (double strand)
Hook: #8
Pattern: Modified color pattern from Boy Beanie of Happy Hooker

I am sooooo retarded. OK, so i go crochet up a beanie, right? There I was thinking... I'll just knit up a easy beanie, cuz well beanies are easy, like it only takes me about an hour and a half to finish... i'm ok. it's ok, right?

So i start with the black left over dk yarn double strand, i hook & hook, 'til i get to the first of the 55 chains. OK... time to switch yarn to the green. ok, one row, switch to gray. 2 rows in gray... oh wait!!! It's not two rows in ray, gray is the trapped bar pattern ok...

rip rip rip. frogged all the gray. & follow what seemed like the correct pattern in my head.

2 rows of green, 1 row of gray, 2 more rows of green, then one black to complete the beanie.

I thought i was doing sooo well, until I looked at the beanie upon completetion & compared it to the scarf that was drying on the floor for blocking... I only have one trapped bar not two, and it seems more like the green is a thick trapped bar instead of being the solid color. I don't know what i was thinking...

But by the time I finished the beanie, it was too late to frog it.

I suppose I shall just put this into the Shop the Swap instead.

felt you

The owl isn't going so well... it's not felting like i thought it would... man. I may just give up on it... hm. or i could crochet it, instead of knit & felt.

i think i shall work on the knit cloth now...

:: off to knit cloth ::

wet yarn is sooo not me

Spoiler alert in regards to the end swap... avoid this whole entry!!!!


*
*
*
*



*


OK... well after looking at the scarf, I decided that perhaps I'd listen to the directions and block it... perhaps the stitches will look better after it's been blocked! Man... let me tell you, it's hard blocking a scarf that's longer than you are tall... not only is it long, it's hard to find an area to which you can roll the excess water and actually dry it in the shape you want.

well... i soaked it in the shower, i tried to lay it there wet but then... later on I rolled my towels over it, so that it would dry faster.

and then I just laid it out on my wooden floor... well, we'll see how it goes in the morning... I can then knit the other end close & put the fringe on & then tadaaa, it's done!!!

I also knitted part of the owl today... and i thought i'd try to felt it... but i don't think it went so well... the water was too hot for my hands, I think i may have blistered it a little bit...aish. i sooo dislike felting... the other time i tried felting it didn't go so well... well, I guess I shall try it again maybe tomorrow. it worked better last time in the washing machine... hand felting not so much with me.

although knitting the item was easy PLUS i learned how to pick up the stitches... hehe.

I guess if the owls don't go over well, then i'll just knit up the wash cloths... & try to think of other things to make...

final final final last leg.

Ok... making final progress now... have finally finished knitting the circular scarf. Made 14 trapped bars and all... & bindoff. I also duplicated stitched initials onto the scarf on one end. I am thinking of doing both ends on all sides, but i think maybe one end one side is enough. It's cuter... no?

and now i just have to figure out the fringe & then decide if i should block. I guess i should block cuz I want it to alinge correctly, but i dislike blocking. sigh. i guess i shall just get over that and move on.

so final steps.... fringe, block, close the ends.

Yay!!!!!!

tomorrow i attack the owl!!

pacing around the room

last night I most definitely tried to knit my jitters away, but I just couldn't do it for some reason... I was being really antsy & wanting to get out of the house. By house, I mean the dorm type housing that the company provides. Incase there are new people reading mknit...living in China, working at the factories, most provide some sort of company housing for you while you work here. One gets to go back to taiwan every two months at our company... some companies do three months. anyway, I digress.

So last night after about 7:30pm, when there was nothing on tv to watch... my mind started pacing around the room, I felt all antsy, and couldn't make myself knit more then 2-3 rows at a time... which bothered me, because i was on the next to the last trapped bar of the scarf, then i would have been done, and i can move onto making the owl and or other things.

I've been posting in my knitting blog a lot more than my regular blogs... i think my life has been taken over with knitting, and there is now no saving myself from this.

There is another Hogwarts swap going on, sign ups are now til end of April, with send out time in June. Am i retarded that I would like to join again?? Although I would just be making another scarf and extra stuff. hehe... i want to join... ok i'm going off to send my questionaire in & ask to be paired up with a ravenclaw, so that i can make a different color scarf this time. i will not rest until everyone owns a scarf!!

shop til i'm unbored

When I am bored, I shop.

Saw a posting on craftster... someone wanted to know about $6.00 Kureyon... followed the link.nbyarn.com & they will give you a 20% discount with the code KNITTY at checkout.

Thumbs up: Paypal Payments

Thumbs down: no shipping to Taiwan, so i just had it shipped to the WC addy.

thumbs up: cheaper yarn

thumbs down: shipping cost is sorta high even for US shipping.

anyway... i ordered 2 skeins of debbie bliss aran for the fetching in the teal color, & 2 skeins of the Kureyon just for fun since that's why i followed the link anyway.

i heart when merchants let me pay by paypal... so much easier just debting it out of my acct, then charging it to the CC.

though i should stop buying yarn internationally... the shipping cost is killing me.

well once I get my china visa in order...as in multi-entry instead of one time entry, i'll be able to head out to HK more often... out for an afternoon stroll eh.

almost there!!!!!

I am on the 12th repeat of the scarf. I knitted most of the evening today... i only took a break around 7-8, when there was nothing on tv, and i thought being online was more productive... plus i wanted to check to see if there were new postings on craftster.

It's tough work knitting the scarf circular... although it lies flat a lot better, the moving of the stitches is harder when the scarf gets long. You sorta have to untangle the twisted ends of the scarf when you keep moving the stitches from the left to the right when you knit it.

i think when i'm finished with the scarf, i'm going to make a his & her set of washcloth out of the sugar & cream yarn i got.

Oh! and the owls... i think that would be super cute.. no?

i knitted sooo much that my thumb is hurting. I could only think of it's cuz of all the pulling and adjusting that i had to do for the scarf that's causing the pain. I'd forge ahead and knit the rest of the trapped bars, but... it's sorta late.

maybe it should be bed time for me.

I am still waiting on the heart swap item, and the knit.1 magazine, & the yarn from yarnware. i wonder what will happen if i don't end up getting the items from the yarnware... do you think they'd refund the items or what? hm... i guess i'll email them & ask.

let's knit them away

well since i can't drink my sorrows away today due to outside circumstances, i guess i shall just sit at home and craft my sorrows away. or rather calm my sorrows down... and let the knit knit knit ways of doing the circular scarf be my meditation.

well i'm sure knitting is a lot more productive then drinking my sorrows away... plus it is monday, and feels sorta wrong to drink on a monday. although there's no sorta week days or week ends sorta feel here in china. everyday is a work day and everyday is a weekend.

i am surprising less sad this time around...well this is what i say now.

i just saw someone else's crafted item for the swap. Man it was nice. It was a ami harry potter doll. sooo cute. if i was her, i wouldn't give it up either. I was also thinking of making a HP doll, but i think it's a bit out of my league. Now... the knitted owls that i purchased the pattern from... i think it might be a little bit easier for me to make. I shall try it out once i finish the long long long scarf. I'm almost there... only 3 or 4 more trapped bars to go!!

knits & bits

I think I was listening to an older episode of Sticks & string the other day when he was talking about knitting and the time we spent on it. I'm not sure if it was an essay that he wrote, or someone else, but it spoke of how knitting is something that you spend time doing, and it's not something that one does to past time, cuz you can do a lot of things to past the time. But it's something that you chose to do, and put effort in.

i don't think i would have truely understood this concept had i not taken up knitting.

Back when i first joined Sigma Kappa, i received a pair of knitted socks from my heart sis. Her mom knitted that pair for me, it's nice and warm. I'd wear it at times when it get cold...but it wasn't until this year that i truely apppreciate how much time and effort must have gone into the sock. Yes socks are a easy FO, but still, I can't conqueror socks. Plus this one was knitted with color, and designed and etc. I'm really glad that even though I never made it past the 1 semester of sorority I kept the socks. I heart the pair. I still wear it when it gets cold, it's truely the only thing from sorority that has made it with me this far.

I keep asking Fill what knitted gifts he wants from me, and yes, I made him a scarf, my first official project, and he says that he likes it, but i feel like he only says that because he's my boyfriend and he's suppose to like it. He has asked for a beanie... which I manage to whip up cuz it's easy to crochet... and now i volunteer to make him an afghan to take on his trip. I always say i'm going to make these items for him, yet i just keep putting it off. i feel he's just humoring me... not really liking the knitted items. it's like these tests that i do...make him the ugliest things ever to see if he hello kitties me enough to wear it. how sad. i should not be so insecure.

the slytherin scarf is slow going. I didn't finish the wash clothe... i'm not going to give the first one for the swap... i made a mistake on it, so... I'm not going to give it away. Perhaps I'll just use it myself?

I think even if I don't end up hand making anything else, my partner will be happy with the scarf & the little items that i have already packed up. I'm still thinking about the cable owl beanie, and the ami owl or the other ami owl. I want to give those a try... the ami owls should be easy since they are small knits and or crochet. Maybe when i get the scarf done, i'll tackle those.

Until then... here's to more scarf knitting. i think i have finally gotten the rhythm down on the weaving in the ends & the changing of the colors for the scarf. and i'm only 9 trapped bars into the scarf!!

:)

the lifeline saved the scarf

So i posted in the craftster forum that I had made a mistake in the rows, but then just forged ahead, cuz i didn't want to frog back and someone was like, it's easier to frog if you use the lifeline method.

It is easier... plus if you use a thin circ as the lifetime, it's easier for one to just knit off the small circ and then just knit it onto the normal size needle. One lunch hour later, i'm back to where i was before i frogged. hehe.

Life is good again.

well i think i'll knit another trapped bar tonight... gotta get a start on finishing. I'm past the half way point, so it's in the home stretch for me now!!

hm... Maybe it would be fun if i had pictures to show the lifeline method, and how i got it to work for me...U just thread the circ onto the left of the V...

The end of Potter swap spoiler warning!!!!!

While browsing at work today, I saw this on knitty...


Washcloths!!!
and thought, wouldn't this be perfect for the hogwart swap. a sorta his & her set. it would go well with the thing i got from Muji. I think my partner would heart it.

so I thought i'd test it out. I made a little boo boo ( as one can see in the extra 3 rows of garter stitch trapping the stockingnett... it's actually one side 3 rows of garter, and one side of reverse stockingnett.) so maybe this will just be a practice piece, i can't send off mistakes.)

as one can see in the picture below. I suck at sewing, and I count the duplicate stitch as a sort of sewing... it looks really crappy. I would stay up more to finish the name... but i'm exhausted.



Based on knitty.com's Back to School Washcloth.

Materials: Lily Sugar & Cream in Dark Pine & Ecru

US #7 Circular needle ( i start with the bamboo needles that i got in a swap, but since the 7s broke, and i taped it back up, it was hard to use, plus the cotton doesn't slide as well on bamboo, but the addi's is very slippery & makes all the cotton fly!! oh, and i only have addis in circs. but this project does not have to be knitted on circs.)

check!

Fill's beanie is done, and it's super warm. I hope it fits his extra large head. His noggin is oddily large. Look who was trying to steal it!!

The LA nemo was trying to wear it, but as you can see, he can not wear beanies...

Materials:

Jaeger Matchmaker Merino Double knitting in colors of 681 (blackish hue) & 898 (orangeish hue). I think one skein each would have been enough for one beanie, but i purchased 2 of the black, and one orange.

H Hook

Needle to weave in the ends.

I used the yarn 2 strands, so the beanie is thicker. & since it's merino wool, it's soft and warm.

I have enough yarn left over, what should i make with it? another black and orange beanie or something else matchy?