a change of scenery

Dear all who reads this blog. I am moving this blog over to mknit.com... please redirect your bookmarks.

dear Blogger... you have served me well... but it is time to move on... thanks for the great memories.

who needs to sleep when you can knit the night away? not i that's for sure. got a talking to today by dad. he feels i need to set a better example about showing up to work ontime. I've never been one to show up on time... even when i was in the US... on time is for suckers!

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw

Yarn: A japanese brand with a kitty on the label that i got in taiwan. 100% wool.
Skeins: 2, one brown, one blue... (112m 50g)
Needle: DPN 6 & 7.
Pattern: a free one from Charmed Knits.
CO: 6:00pm
BO: 12:30pm

Out of no where, I thought I'd cast on for the house beanies. Most likely because I wanted to decrease my stash... or maybe because I want to participate in the deathly hallows swap, but I don't think I have time to complete the swap.

I worked these in DPNs the whole way even though the pattern had called for circs. I think the circs are harder to work with because you have to get the circ length just correct... well I manage to fudge the DPNs to work even though the cast on was way too much for one single DPN.

I made the small size, although I elongated the length a little bit.. i think the next time, I'm going to bring the strip down a bit more, it sits too high on my head. I was afraid that it wasn't going to fit me...

dang it.. it's 1am already. i need sleep. goodnight!!

keep your mitts to yourself!

Cast on: 6:00pm
Final BO: 11:00pm
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran

The two pairs are actually matching... It's amazing... I am amazed at my own skills hehe. nah, it was a pretty easy pattern to follow... I think I have a whole skein left over with the original piece.

The only way I can tell the left and the right apart is from this imprefection on the back of the right hand of the glove... it's how I can tell... if there were no imprefections then I think i would constantly wear them on the wrong side.

the colors are way off in all of the pictures... i don't know what's the best way to describe this color.. but i guess it's teal like...

I think if I work with dpns more then I'd find it less intimidating to work with... although truth be told, all those extra needles just makes it weird for me to move out of the way.

I ended up ordering the sunflower yellow for e off ebay, and an extra lilac for my sister to make fetching with. I'm having them mailed to my sisters. It's ok... it takes like 5 hours for one glove, so one car ride to Vegas can do it! hehe. well one car ride and some will do it.

I went thru sorting my yarns today... sorta organising them and putting them into categories. Like... sock yarn bag, yarn bag, noro bag, and just sorta grouping them into yarns. Then I separated the ones that were already on the needle into a suitcase, and the ones that need to frog too. that took up my afternoon nap...

I don't know what i should start next, or... what i should finish next.

Deja Vu? Deja you!

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran
Color: 330010 (blue)
Needle: DPN Clover 6, 4MM
Started: (left) 17 Sept 7:00pm
Finished: (left) 17 Sept Midnight

the left one again... i know. I should have made the right one, but I wanted to make the sizes right for my own hands. the smaller needle size, size US 6 4MM DPN works fine. Perhaps I can make the thumb smaller, but i think it's ok.


Here are the modifications I made based on other people's suggestions before me.

a. the Picot BO was switched to normal BO, it makes the edges not curl out as much... although maybe it's not as pretty, it's functional.

b.the 18 rows of K4 P1 rib was changed to 15 rows of rib cuz my hand is not as long.

c. instead of ending with just one repeat of cable at the fingers, I length it to two repeats.

d. I did more rows on the thumb too to cover my thumb better... but i didn't count the rounds so i'll have to literally watch what i'm knitting on the right hand side when i'm knitting it tomorrow.

I think I shall make the right one before I frogg the original left one. E actually asked for a pair... it's a quick knit... i think i shall look thru my stash to see what colors she'd like... most likely some drab color like black or gray or brown...

Fetching from Knitty

the left one.

I've conquered cable! hehe. It wasn't that hard when reading the easy directions for only ONE cable row. I really like how cable looks... I may even tackle the owl beanie. the owl beanie is super cute!!

But since the fetching pattern wasn't written in row one row two parts, I misread directions and made the wrist part longer. I think for my matching side, I'm going to make the wrist part shorter and the fingers part longer.

the glove fits me a bit big... maybe i need to go down a needle size... since I have tiny hands.

Having to make a second pair is going to take some determination on my end to finish... i should strike while the iron is hot...

off i go to make the right hand fetching.

I have finished the Hello Kitty swap. the Scarf has really nothing to do with Hello Kitty except for the fact that I'm giving it in the Swap... but I think those colors are really bright and it's a lovely scarf anyway. Other pieces in the swap package are hello kitty galore, so I think it should be ok...

i should put more of an effort, but i couldn't find anything much crafty around here... I'm limited in my craftyness when i have no craft stores around. I'm not really a guerrila craftster... i'm more of a wanna be craftster... i can only craft things with the exactly the right craft items.





The hello kitty scarf can be worn wrapped around the neck many many times, and still have enough for it to hang down to your waist, as demonstrated by my pictures... or wrapped around the head to keep the ears warm since the ears get cold at wintery times.



the stitches are simple, it's just a different crochet chain lengths... I really like how the different lengths in the chains makes such a contrasting texture. I really like it. I want to keep it for myself... but I can not take all the credit for such a scarf, the greatness of this scarf comes for the amazing colorway called Scream from sKNITches Bebop sock yarn.

The scarf it self sorta fans out since it's worked widthwise, and has a sorta ruffles feel at the end. I love all its imperfections... can i just keep it for myself??

well i guess since I've already wrapped it up all ready to send, then I guess I will have to send it to my partner. ::grin::

********

11:00pm: Casted on for Trekking is for Necking with my left over sKNITches Bebop Scream. It's slow going with the 3mm needle.

stop the insanity!

I have start hooking up a scarf, and don't know where to stop. It's super long... but I think it might need to be a bit wider... do you sometimes just start casting on, and since you're working from no pattern don't know where to stop?

this is why i don't like working without directions, I don't know where to add more, or subtract... if I had a pattern, i can just not follow it, but without a pattern, i don't know what rules I can break.

from someone's weblog, i saw this cute pair of converse with animals on it... and it had one with a pink elephant on it. eeeeeeeee! so cute! must own a pair!! one can see them on zappos.

The new Knitty.com reviewed the new Harmony interchanged needles... makes me want to get them even though I nixxed them due to the rainbow colors... i dislike the rainbow colors, but love the fact that they are wood. I think the color is the only thing that is standing in my way of purchasing them.

Have been looking at online shopping for things to be sent to the US, since I shall soon be there, and be able to pick up a couple of things...

I have asked to be taken out of the deathly hallows swap, cuz i think i'm going to be super busy and uninspired to work on things, so instead of flaking, I rather just opt out.

sigh... i have run away thoughts... thought this last night... thought about actually telling my dad I want to move out of the dorms and into a place of my own. I think instead I shall just tell him that I want to have my own kitchen up stairs... i shall cook my own dinners and etc. I am going absolutely bonkers here in china... having my own kitchen may save my sanity.

I have found a use for my ever growing stash of sock yarn. I combined it with another yarn, and am using it for a scarf. this scarf is turning out quite unique... i really like the gray, it tones down the bright color of the blue & red.

working on the scrap blanket...

knitting for a cause.

The latest Cast-On by Brenda Dane has a link to these cute little hat knits that tops the top of these smoothie drinks from the UK. It's to bring awareness to knitting hats to keep old people warm. Apparently old people get cold easily and can easily die from being cold.

It's super cute. I may knit up a few it up... right now!! seems really simple too!

WIP update: I am on the third skein of the black not so straight scarf. I have pretty much memorized the pattern for the "straight" rows... it's pretty simple after you figure out how it work... now just getting the scarf long enough is the issue.

the not-quite-straight scarf

Here's my WIP shot.

Here's a close up detail

It should look better when blocked. I'm on a second skein... the skeins are small, so I use up the skeins pretty quickly. I've noticed this when i knit the baby love blanket.

someone suggested that the baby blanket can be used as a bed liner or something... I'm happy that there are other uses for it... I guess in the end if it doesn't achieve it's purpose as a blanket, I can knit up another identical side and make it into a small couch pillow or something.

My hello kitty swap deadline is coming up. I need to conjure up something hello kitty ish quick!! I have lot of little side items but no real hand crafted item.

knit on a bias

Have casted on for yet another scarf. also knit on a bias, called, The Not -Quite -Straight Scarf...I don't know what is with me lately, but apparently I am into bias knitting! The clapotis, the baby blanket, and now this scarf. thus far I've found an error in the pattern... but maybe i just didn't follow it correctly... but whatever... mistakes in patterns are unique.

It's done in the black yarn that corresponds to the peruvian highland wool of the baby blanket. with a US #9 needle. so far I can't memorize the pattern, but it should be easy since it's mostly knit and purl and then for the increases i'm doing ktfbl & ptfbl. (knit through front and back loop & purl through front and back loop.)

Insert Baby Here!

Baby Love Diagonal Blanket.
Casted On: Aug 28 2007
Finished: Sept 3 2007
Yarn: 4 skeins of 100% Peruvian Highland Wood from Elann.com, Spun in Peru exclusively for elann.com (Col 2766 Lot 132) 50g 100M (109 yards)Sorta a buttery yellow.
Needle: US 7 Addi 80cm

I finished the baby blanket today... how fitting that also in the drama, one of the couples is also having a baby. I told you babies are everywhere in my life... makes me itchy to want to have a baby too. sadly... no partner = no baby. eh... whatever I say! i am also on the last Disc of the coffee prince k-drama.

I wonder who I should give this blanket to... and if I should block the blanket??

Either the circ was too short, or the yarn was to bulky for it... anyway, i think 80cm was too short for 200ish stitches... all be it, i stopped counting and was just using the tape measure to measure the length of it...

I think it turned out a bit small... but for a baby it might be ok... Maybe it could just be like a comfort blankie as opposed to a real blanket to which one would use to cover the baby...

I think the next one that I'm going to make shall be made with superwash wool... so that a mother may just throw the blanket into the washing machine.

Let's Knit!!

due to the lack of computer at work for the past two days, I have took to read whatever reading material I've brought over from home, and read each word carefully so that I'd have something to do... (there's very little work for me to do without my computer.)

so one of the things that I've got lying around is my Let's Knit series book from Japan that I got. It has these color illustrations & picture illustrations to teach how to make mittens, gloves and socks for men and women.

I read over the instructions... it's in Japanese... so i mainly have to rely on simple Kangi characters and pictures & roman numerals to help me decipher what the heck the instructions are.

I think I have sorta figured out the mittens one... it's the first one in the series, and i think I may cast on for it... if I don't end up trying to finish the baby blanket. I'm on the decreases, but it's a lot slower doing decreases as the increases... i don't know why.

There's a sort of feel with Japanese knitting... sorta organic, sorta functional... sorta vintage... weird huh? I don't know what it is about it...

knitting saved my life!

well i've started the other side of the baby blanket. the Decreases side. Instead of counting the stitches, I just measured. and what seemed like a good length, I just started decreasing... I think if I continue knitting today, this item might be finished soon!!

I was having a real emotional time last night sprung from a phone call that I know was only concerned about the results, and didn't want me to have to delay shipping out dates for work... i know I shouldn't have taken it personally, but just the way he yelled at me and the things he said, and so very out of the blue, i took it personally.

so i took to knitting and more knitting to drown myself in the garter rows to avoid thinking about how bad I felt, it sorta helped.

on other knitting news. My sister who has gotten the knitting bug finished a Cable Scarf!! Cable! Something that I just gloss over because I find so hard, has finished it. It's a two color cable scarf pattern from the LB site, plus a hat to match. Go Sister!! From the conversation I had with her two nights ago, it seems like people in her life are also getting knitted gifts this year!! :o)