Busy Busy Busy

Woo Hoo 2 posts in October!! I have been so busy with school that usually I just grab a few seconds on the internet to check out facebook, ravelry and some other sites every day. Plus that is usually on my brothers computer upstairs. Speaking of ravelry... I am addicted. Since I got my invite in early October I just can't leave that site alone.

Well knitting wise I have been making progress... slow progress, but progress nonetheless. I have started a few new projects. One being the ribbed lace bolero, which i found on ravelry <3

I also have a pair of socks on the needles. I'm using just the basic sock pattern from Patons. Knit with Patons Kroy Socks in Winter Eclipse. I had some issues at first with it and had a minor knitting emergency when I had to rip back half of it. I tried to just tink it back but I had gone a little to far and just gave it and ripped out, but now it is looking good. I'm just about done the instep of the first sock:I had completed one christmas present; a nice gaiter for my brother for christmas but it turned out too small for his head so I may give it to my cousin or keep it and donate it to charity or something. So now i had to set out and find a new present for my dad and brother. I'm making my dad a pair of slippers out of Bernat Softee Chunky and a pattern that I found in my grandma's patterns. I may make my brother the same thing or custom design him a hat... we'll see how the slippers go.
I also have cast on my mom's present. A nice pair of mittens. THey are knit on two straight needles and I found the pattern in the November issue of Creative Knitting, which I am really liking. May consider a subsciption to this magazine. I am a little further on than the picture I am about to post as I took that pic yesterday morning to post on ravelry and finished the thumb gusset yesterday afternoon. I'm knitting these mitts with Patons classic merino wool:

I've added a big skein of bright orange yarn to my collection to knit my cousin some golf club covers for christmas. I had no intention of buying that much but it was all I could find. I also found some Christmas handicrafter cotton... so I must make some christmas dishcloths or hotpads :D. Well that is about it. I kind feel like a slurpee, eventhough it's freezing, that's what make me a true Winterpegger. Happy Knitting everyone, and Happy Halloween :D

I know... disgraceful :(

The lack of posts... I know I know... pathetic. But I have GOOD reason. It's a little thing I like to call School. I have been sooo busy with school and papers (I Have 9 papers due this term AHHHHH) in fact I wrote one this afternoon (so if there are any stupid mistakes... humour me and ignore them :D)

Knitting has slowed down... not to a complete halt but not at the same pace as the summer. No major projects, although I do have my eye on this bolero which I might throw onto needles before Christmas... we'll just see how Christmas presents start moving.

Speaking of Christmas presents... I'm done 3 :D. Mitts for my Aunt and scarves for my 2 girl cousins. I had one scarf done over the summer but it was to small for me but perfect for a 6 year old so I just whipped up her sister a matching one. The purple is Lionbrand Homespun and the burgundy is Bernat Harmony.

I also finished my summer wave socks this past weekend... Thank goodness I thought I was never going to finish them, and it's not because they were complicated it's because I kept being distracted by other projects. I knit it up with Bernat Satin Sport. Not the greatest yarn for socks, at least not this particular pattern b/c the yarn needs to be able to move easy for the leg.

At the moment I don't have any projects going and let me tell you I feel really weird. I finished the scarves last night after dinner and the rest of the night I felt so weird like I should be knitting something. I might throw some more socks on needles tonight with my Kroy Sock Yarn which I've had nearly a month but b/c of those summer wave socks I couldn't do anything with it. I might also start another christmas presents tonight.

Anyhoo, I best be off Happy KNitting!

A Knitting Milestone

Well summer has come to an end as I started school on Tuesday. I think all my classes are going to be okay, hopefully I can pull off at least B's in all of them *crosses fingers* but that will require me to limit my knitting a little bit, but not too much :). I fully intend on beginning Christmas presents very soon, I have a few ideas lined up and the yarn sitting in my bin for a few of the presents. I also have some yarn I have no idea what to do with, but thats okay, one day it'll hit me. T'is the beginning of a yarn stash, and while mine is quite pathetic at the moment once I have an income I'm sure it will grow a lot. I spent my last week of holidays babysitting my cousin and his puppy and my aunt gave me a little money in return, she wanted to buy me a gift but my cousin siad that I wanted yarn and actually was trying to get my aunt to buy some but instead they settled on a little money to put towards yarn which i'm sure will turn around into Christmas gifts.

Anyways, since I had my cousin all last week I didn't have much knitting time during the day so my scarf and blue summer wave socks have not progressed much, but are slowly getting there. I did, however, spend most of my time on my sweater.

Sweater Update: Well after 3 months, hours of work, days of procrastination where I didn't even touch the thing, I have FINISHED my VERY FIRST SWEATER!!!!! On Saturday September 1'st I sewed up the last seam and put the sweater on! IT was a very exciting moment and one I'm sure my grandma would be very proud of, perhaps even shocked! Using mattress stitches to sew it up took a little getting used to and there are some parts where it is much neater than others but overall I am very pleased. It is not 10 sizes too big nor is it too small it is a wearable sweater and I did it my very first attempt. I'm actually kind of eager to start another one but I know I really much concentrate on christmas presents right now since it will be here before we know it, but in the meantime I can enjoy my very first sweater:

This past weekend, after I completed the sweater , I did do a bit of work on my scarf and socks but I also whipped up my brothers birthday present. In "not your mama's knitting" they have a pattern for a beer cozy, and instantly I knew it was perfect for my brother's 19'th birthday. So i tried the pattern twice, once with the right yarn and needles(dpn)... too small... larger needles (dpn)...too small. So I scrapped that and decided to do without the dpn and instead modify the pattern and knit it up on straight needles. I think part of the problem was I was trying to knit his name into it and it made the fabric very tight and near impossible to get over a drink can/bottle. So this weekend I sat down surrounded by books and my sketch of what it should look like and I whipped up a nice little beer cozy with my brother's first initial on it (my first project with intarsia!). But I've got to keep this quiet until the 30'th which i'm hoping i'll be able to do, i kind of blabbed his christmas present I was knitting last year.. oops:
Anyhoo, I really don't have much more to write about... I bought some yarn on the weekend which made me happy and I'm tempted to go and buy more, perhaps this weekend. Well i'm going to jet and probably go read a chapter for my personality psych class or something. Happy Knitting!

Exciting News!!

I know I know.... there have been a lack of entries all summer long. In fact this is my first post in August, and probably my last. Fall is on the horizon, in fact today is the warmest day all week it seems so hopefully this entries will be back to normal soon. However, I start school soon and then I'll probably be knitting less and then whats the point... oh who am I kidding I probably won't knit less... how could I? My brother seems to think I'm addicted, but it's better to be addicted to a craft than addicted to something hazardous to my health and anyways Knitting is apparently the new Yoga!
Book Purchases: I love all the books I bought this summer. KNitting Rules by the Yarn Harlot is amazing and I've used it as an aid once or twice already, plus her blog is great! Just Socks is great but I think there may be a few mistakes but nothing I can't work around ( a pic I'll show you later is one I think). Not your Mama's knitting is great, I would compare it to Stitch N Bitch(SNB). THe patterns are great! I also love the SNB knitters handbook. I keep it with my other knitting bag, the one that travels with me sometimes.

Sweater Update: The sweater is coming along nicely. I'm just a little worried that the sleeves might be a bit too short, but I can try and stretch them. So now you know I am done at least one sleeve and I am almost done the second sleeve. SO lets do an overview: Back- done, front- done, sleeve-done, second sleeve- almost done. So it looks like pretty soon i'll be doing the collar then finishing it! I'm a little scared to do the collar but wheres the fun if there isn't a challenge?? I'm also kind of dreading putting it all together I've never done a mattress stitch before and i think it's the best for this kind of garment.

Other Projects: Well when I got my Just Socks book I started a pair of socks immediately. They were the reversible cable sock and I knit them with Patons Classic Wool and they will be great for skating or really cold days. The pattern asked for a short row heel but that wasn't working for me so I ripped the heel out and used my trust Knitting Rules book to create a heel of my own! and voila a nice warm pair of socks with a nice cable pattern on the leg:

I couldn't get a good enough picture to show you the cute little cables, so you use your imagination!

I'm still working my way through my razor lace scarf using Patons Lacette. The more I knit the more I love. It's been put on the backburner for a while since I'm really going full force on this sweater lately. I still try to knit on it a few times a week:Another pair of socks made it's way onto some needles about a week ago and I should be further along on them, but I am really working on this sweater lately. I'm knitting them with Bernat Satin Sport and the pattern is from Just Socks. The picture in the book is MUCH different then what I am seeing and it's so different I think that the pic in the book is matched with the wrong pattern. I'm loving how it is turning out, it has a sort of wave on the leg and is an ankle sock not a regular sized sock. I love the deep navy and am quite liking the yarn (which is good b/c i bought another ball of it to potentially make a Christmas present!). It's kind of hard to see because the yarn is so dark but hopefully once it's done I'll be able to get a better shot:

VERY EXCITING NEWS!!!!: I have some very exciting news and after months of waiting and trying to get ahold of this person my amazing mom was able to get my grandma's patterns back!!! I just got them yesterday and I am just so excited about them! I haven't organized them yet as they were just all in a huge box but I intend on getting a nice storage box and organize them into easy to find categories as soon as possible. Maybe i'll enlist my cousin who I will be babysitting this week to help me! Here is a pic of just some of the patterns... I took out 3 bunches to take a pic of but there is another bunch still sitting in the box:

Some patterns go back More than 50 years!!! The earliest one I noticed was printed in 1952!! The books from the 50's, 60's, even 70's have some great classic sweater, socks, mittens, baby etc... patterns: and some are in such great condition! Some are a little more delicate and you can tell have been used a lot! There were also some great laughs while looking through the patterns last night. THe patterns from the 80's are a total hoot!!:Yes that sweater has the dinosaurs back coming off the sleeves!!! Oh the 80's what a quirky decade!!!

Needless to say I am just ecstatic about having these patterns!! I must try and make a few things for christmas presents from them. My cousin has ordered a golf club cover and I actually found a pattern in that box yesterday!!!
Well Take care, enjoy the rest of summer and Happy KNitting!!!

Knitting the Summer Away

I am proud to announce that it is almost my one year knitting anniversary! I believe it was just before August long weekend that my knitting for dummies book arrived and I picked up my needles and began stitching away. One year later and still going strong! Anyways, it has been quite some time since I last posted but, no worries, I have been knitting up a storm (when I wasn't completely involved with the final Harry Potter book, which I am now complete and loved!)

I have completed many projects and I have made great progress on my sweater.

Sweater Update: The sweater is going great. I've been at it about 2 months, but keep in mind that I do not work on it every single day. I've been going in spurts with the sweater where I'll work on just it and then get bored and then go back to it. I am now completed the back of the sweater and I finished the front of the sweater on Saturday. All that is left are the two sleeves and the collar. It is a turtleneck collar so it may take me a while to figure out that part. I cast on and knit about 2 1/2 inches of the first sleeve this morning and I may go back to it later today and finish the ribbing. My ultimate goal is to have it finished before the end of summer, but if not by the end of summer I hope it will be done before the chilly fall days hit towards the end of September.

Finished Projects: I just have to say that I LOVE my One Skein Wonders book. There are so many little projects in there that take next to no time. I think my pink socks were the longest project taking about a month. It is such a great little book and some of the projects are great for using up leftover yarn. One project I completed WEEKS ago is a lovely lace bookmark using Bernat Baby fingering weight yarn (which was used for my socks) it uses such a little amount I could make a ton of these bookmarks just from my leftovers:

Another project that I pulled from One Skein Wonders is my Jamaica Pouch which is just a cute little bag knit on dpn's (although I think it would have been better to knit on a circular needle, there are a lot of stitches and I was constantly worried about them slipping off). It took me about a week to knit with Bernat Satin in lovely sapphire:

A few months ago I made my very first pair of socks. They happened to be dorm socks (slipper socks) and I knit them with just cheap Red Heart. Well I started to crave another pair of them but this time I knit them up with Red Heart Strata, which self stripes. I picked a great colour combination which is quite funky. When I first started them I was not overly crazy with the way the colour was looking but as I got further on in the sock it started to look really funky. Now I just need autumn so my feet will not sweat to death in them:

Another project I completed for which I do not have a photo is this lovely diamond scarf. I had a fair amount of Lionbrand Homespun yarn left over from a pair of mittens I made in January and this scarf from Lionbrand: Just scarves was calling out to me. I was hoping and praying to the knitting gods that I would have enough yarn to complete it. Unfortunately I was about 2 diamonds short of the full scarf. It is a little short but still beautiful and soft. I seem to have a stash of scarves and practice hats in my closet.. maybe they will become Christmas presents. If not that then I think I may donate them to a Charity for people who really need something warm in the winter.

Project on the Go: Currently, besides my sweater, I only have one project on the go. It is a lovely lace scarf from none other than One Skein Wonders (seriously love this book). I'm knitting it with Patons Lacette which is just a lovely mohair blend yarn. It is a fine weight yarn but it knit with 5 mm straight needles which creates a real airy feel. I'm in love with this scarf and it has to be done by fall because it will look magnificent with my leather jacket.

Here is a closer up shot of the scarf alone (this picture does not do this scarf justice!): Upcoming Knitting Projects/Ideas: Well I broke down the other day and purchased more knitting books. I ordered them through Chapters online since you save a ton of money by ordering them through their website than actually going to the bookstore and buying them. So in the next couple days I should be flipping through Knitting Rules: The Yarn Harlot Unravels the Mysteries of Swatching, Stashing, Ribbing and Rolling, Stitch 'N Bitch: A Knitters Design Journal, Not Your Mama's Knitting: The Cool and Creative Way to Pick up Sticks, and Liond Brand Yarn: Just Socks. I am quite excited to get these books. Perhaps I'll actually put down my One Skein Wonders book. I'm also hoping my mom will be able to get through to her cousin and get back the patterns of my grandmas that she borrowed her 4 years ago. I would love to have my grandmothers patterns, they may be quite dated but I used to spend hours looking at them as a child and they just hold fond memories for me especially now that I'm a knitter.
Anyways I best be off now. Happy Knitting!

a no picture entry.... *hangs head in shame*

No pictures... i know... i'm a disgrace. My camera is all the way upstairs along with my knitting and being a lazy day I really do not feel like taking pictures of everything and then having my supremely slow computer load them (the computer gods must be mad at me lately). I will try my hardest to post pics of everything I write about in this entry in the next.
Anyhoo, I had my registration appt. a week and a half ago and I was fortunate enough to get a spot in all my first choice classes, yay!! Now that course selection stress has vanished I can now focus a little bit more on my knitting.
The most major accomplishment, which occured Thursday night, was the completion of the back of my sweater! I was quite excited when I slipped those last stitches onto a stitch holder and placed it in my room, for safe-keeping, and brought out the requirements for the front. I have yet to cast on for the front of the sweater but that is a task for either later tonight or tomorrow.
I completed my PDA case about a week ago. It is very cute, a little bigger than my Palm but still works, and I've attached a very cute pink button. I also completed this very sweet lace bookmark using some of my leftover Bernat Baby, which I had used for my socks. It turned out really nicely, all delicate and girly. This bookmark is a great way to use up fingering weight yarn you may have hanging around, and as a bonus if you use sock yarn you can have a bookmark to match whatever socks you are wearing!
Today, being hot and humid and not exactly a great day to spend outdoors, I began another small project (hence why I didn't cast on the front of the sweater). It's called a Jamaica Pouch and it's from my One Skein wonders book. It's a little drawstring purse/pouch. It's quite adorable in the picture. I'm knitting it on dpn (4 or 4 1/2 mm, i think) with Bernat Satin yarn. I am done the base of the bag, which was not easy at first. Now i'm working on the sidings which is sort of like a ripple/wave (i can't think of how to describe it) pattern.
Any future projects in the works?? Well, yes, I'm hoping. There is this scarf in one skein wonders (okay there are 2 and I will choose eventually) and it's a worsted weight mohair yarn and I'm in love with the pattern. I think (emphasis on *think*) I may have found the right yarn for it, but I need to go an actually see it, it's so hard to actually see what it's like on the internet. The two options are from Patons (lacette or divine, methinks).
Well those are my knitting adventures from the past couple weeks. It seems as if these updates are further and far between due to the fact that I do not want to spend my days typing on the computer when i can be enjoying summer, but no worries, I am not abandoning my knitting. Happy Knitting and again pics next time, hopefully :P

Now I just need one cold day....

As of Wednesday I have completed my second pair of socks. They are adorable and near perfect (a few mistakes are to be expected). It took almost 4 weeks to complete the pair and well worth it. I'm sure I would have been done them much sooner if I hadn't been pre-occupied with working out my school timetable for next term, the last term of my BA... yay!!! I want to wear my new socks but it just happens to be summer and summer in the 'Peg is known to be hot and humid, not exactly sock wearing weather. I also don't exactly have any shoes that will show off my socks:You can't really see it in this picture but there are little eyelits in the ribbing. You can also see a bump on my left ankle, that would be my anklet which i was too lazy to remove before taking the picture. Aren't they adorable? I'm quite proud of them.

I had another exciting moment this week having to do with knitting. When I was a little girl I used to sit in my grandparents den with my grandma while she was knitting. She would have piles of patterns and knitting books, she also got a Mary Maxim catalogue every season. This catalogue had sweater kits and yarns and I used to spend hours leafing through the catalogues. My grandma also made me a few things out of those catalogues. One item makes an appearance every Christmas, a christmas stocking with santa on the front and it used to have a light up nose until the light burnt out. Anyways, a few months ago I was just browsing knitting websites and Mary Maxim came up... needless to say I was extrememly excited so I quickly signed up for the free catalogue. I had registered for it so long ago I had almost forgot about it so imagine my surprise when the mail came one morning and this was there:I feel like a real knitter now with this catalogue sitting on top of my knitting bag in the living room.
Sweater Update: Well the sweater is progressing. I've got a couple more inches done, a few more and I'll be able to start the shaping for the arm. Once I've got a little more done I'll post an picture.
New Project: Back in May when I got my "SNB" book almost immediatly I made a mental note of a certain project: A PDA cover. I got a Palm for Christmas and I've been looking for something to protect it but PDA covers are extremely expensive, so imagine my surprise when i finally had a pattern to knit one up myself. I'm knitting it in Bernat Handicrafter Cotton and size 4 mm needles in a really nice pink verigated colour. I'm quite liking how the colour is knitting up:

I need to knit that piece pretty long, about 10 1/2 inches, then a bit of shaping for the flap a little sewing here and there and voila, a nice home for my Palm.

That is all folks, no more knitting news. Perhaps by next time I will have another project hop onto my needles but perhaps not. Happy Summer and Happy Knitting!!