'Coasting' along

I only have 18 days left to get all my Christmas knitting done! AHHHH! I did my best to stay up late last night and get the nerd coaster project finished. I got the last one started and almost halfway complete before my eyes and brain retaliated and forced me to bed.

Here's what we have so far:

The rebel ones have been blocked and even though they are all very different sizes - I am telling myself that it is okay and I can make a new batch of four after Christmas if required. They blocked out close to the same so they'll just have to do - this pattern was not my favorite.

The empire symbol looked very very intimidating, but has been way fun to knit. Probably because I'm using the same yarn for both colors and am not having the same issues with sizing because of that fact. Plus, it's interesting and that makes it fun.

Pretty close to finished!

I forgot to take a photo of the finished socks, but they are complete. I just need to package them up and send them west!

It's finally getting cold here so I've been feeling an urgency about knitting - I know why people who have long winters enjoy knitting so much now!

I'll keep ya'll posted on all the holiday projects!

__________________________________________________________

Today is a special day, not just because of Pearl Harbor although in my heart it secretly pleases me that the rest of the country mourns with me - that sounds way more horrible than I mean it - I promise but because fifteen years ago today was the most tragic day of my life. The day my mother was hit by a car and killed while out walking. Losing someone close to you is always hard, but it is so much harder when it is sudden and without warning. I also lost my father in 2006, but he was sick and I knew he was dying, so I do not say one with worse without knowing. She was a wonderful, caring, outgoing person and a fabulous mom. She cooked, baked, sewed, quilted, crocheted, knit, hung wallpaper, painted, stenciled, laid tile, hung trim, worked hard - gardened, could handle a chainsaw, pull brush, change a tire, drive standard, make ceramics, and was never afraid to try something new.
My childhood was innocent and sheltered as it should be. I remember with fondness all the fun things we did as a family and the wonderful opportunities my parents went out of their way to provide us. She was the driving force behind those opportunities and I cannot express how much I cherish the short amount of time I had with her. She taught me so many things, but the biggest lesson she instilled - before I was even a teenager - was that I could do anything - It might be hard, but hard work pays off.
I remember being told to look up words in the dictionary that my sister, father, and mother used if I didn't know what they meant. And we did look them up, together. She taught us knowing where to find an answer was more important than knowing the answer. A very important life skill that has brought me where I am today.
Everyday I carry her memory, but today, I share that carried memory, just for a moment, with you.

Best socks I've ever made

I started another pair of socks. They are by far coming out better than any other sock I've made to date.

So, what makes it so special?

Okay okay okay - I was trying to take the photo above and circle all the cool parts that are better than all my other socks, but I am retarded and cannot do that, so decriptive words are going to have to do. Sorry folks.

Well, there are a few things - 1) the interestion of the heel flap and foot part is knit better which means there isn't a little hole there like the other socks I've knit. 2) the increases and decreases at the arch, toe, and heel shaping are much better done which also mean less hole-i-ness. 3) I have forced myself to pay attention to my tension for the foot rounds and have virtually eliminated the jog that is normally in the center where my 1st and 3rd needle are in the middle of that large section of stockinette stitch. 4) I found matching sections of yarn for both socks so they have the same color order.

Look at me... all improving... and stuff.

I'm liking the results. This particular pair of socks is going to my dear friend Kat in Midland when they are complete. I am working through the foot section at the moment - I took this photo earlier this week and have been a very very bad blogger because I have only just got around to posting now. I know you all will forgive me...surely...if not, it doesn't matter because it is what it is. :)

With that being said. I must finish some socks. And start another pair - after all I bought an entire bag of sock yarn! WOot!

This is the worst photo I've possibly ever taken...

This is the worst photo I've possibly ever taken and let other people see - don't judge me for it - it's all I have to show you the progress. I'm dedicating myself to better picture taking. Promise.

Yep, horrible picture but it's of the finished sweater/vesty thing. It is supposed to be my size but it looks like I pushed down some smaller person and stole thier vest - which is why I don't really care that it's a bad picture cause it hides just how small the thing is. So, I'm thinking it's going to one of my friends who is slightly smaller than me.

This past weekend we loaded up the dogs and headed west. By west, I mean Alpine/Ft Davis area, to Camp Mitre Peak. CMP is a girl scout camp that is the best thing since sliced bread. And you know how much I love bread! It is between Alpine and Ft Davis and it looks like this:

See? More beautiful than sliced bread!
This was Jamie's first time west of SA and he loved it - mostly that there were less people crowding up the place and the openness. This was the second year we met there for climbing and the annual Artwalk. One of Jamie's best friends lives in the area and joins us, so it's extra special because we get to hang out with him.
We are looking for some acerage in the area. Too bad there aren't very many jobs cause I think we established on our drive back that we'd both pick up and move out there in a heartbeat. It's lovely.
We also purchased a small piece of artwork and found some fantastic pottery mugs. There was good food and good company. It just wasn't long enough.
I took knitting with me and every intention to get some knitting done, but with three large dogs making the trip with us I didn't knit a single stitch. They loved exploring and hanging out with everyone. Here's Copper, cause Jamie couldn't get the other two to look at him long enough to get a good picture.

I did get to play with my camera a bit off 'Auto' mode. That was lots of fun. I am making an effort to learn how to use all the functions of my Canon Powershot. 'All' is a little audacious.

I owe Kat a pair of socks and I plan on having them done ASAP. They are what I took with me this past weekend and didn't work on at all.
I'll let you know how they progress.

Beginnings

Holy cow batman, it's been almost a month since I last blogged!


Lots of stuff has been going on and I'll do my best to cover all of it.


I made an unexpected trip to Michigan at the end of October. It was not for a happy reason, but it was a fantastic trip. While I was packing, I really wanted to bring multiple projects with me. Airplane time is great knitting time! I was not checking a bag. Jamie asked with knowing behind his eyes what I was taking to keep me occupied on the plane. I eargerly produced a sock project and the lacy scarf, excited as could be.
"Emily," he says "don't you have any less scary looking needles? Perhaps something not metal?"
I deflated slightly - I was seriously looking forward to knitting on the plane, but I only have one set of non-metal needles. I haven't been doing this very long and have never had to worry about stupid airport policies before. I produced the one set of wooden needles I own.
"Those are even scarier! Do you have any that are less sharp?" he asks.
No, I don't and I don't think that should stop me from taking the needles with me. I researched this - they told me I could take an envelope just in case they won't let me through so I can mail my needles back to myself. And it starts sinking in that the precious small amount of space I have would be taken up by yarn that I couldn't even do anything with serving as a reminder that some stupid non-knitting TSA person took my needles from me because they 'looked scary' and they couldn't understand why someone would knit in the first place. I played it safe and left the knitting and yarn at home. It sucked. I was gone for five days - even spent time in a car and knitting would've been really nice to have with me.

I will be getting plastic/wood needles for Christmas. Mark my words.

So after I returned home, I had lots of baby stuff to make because I had two baby showers the following weekend. I had to do a mad dash of two (yes, not one, but two) baby blankets for the showers. And in my mind I was making booties and hats to go with.
I started a crochet blanket after not being able to properly start a knitted pattern I picked out. Also, after looking at the yarn I'd picked I wouldn't have enough to complete it.
Wednesday I realized the shower I was crocheting for was on Sunday and I needed something for Sataurday (which is a day closer!), so I dropped the crochet and started knitting this simple garter stitch blanket. I used  (believe it or not) the Lion Brand Hometown USA yarn called for in the project, but used pink and brown. I forgot to take a photo before I gave it to the mommy-to-be. I also whipped up a little beanie for the tyke, but forgot to take a photo of that too (bad blogger). Both were well received.

I wore the sweater to the Sataurday baby shower. I got lots of compliments and amazed looks that I actually made what I was wearing. I was very good and did not point out the errors that I did not fix. There was another crocheter there, who also gave a blanket (like the crochet blanket I picked out for the other baby shower - good thing I didn't do that blanket for both babies!) so I didn't feel like such a freak. Then I was asked something I haven't been asked before - "How long did it take you to learn to do that?". My initial thought was 'huh?'. I'm still learning to do this.
Fortunately, I had the gumption to form 'huh' into "What do you mean?". It was clarified: how long did it take you to learn to knit/how did you learn to knit?
I just picked up a book and did it.
Appearently, that is rather odd for someone to do - thank god my sister was there to translate and saved me by formulating an appropriate sounding response for me. I really have no idea what she said, but it sounded better than what was coming out of my mouth, which was awkward as usual.
This got me thinking - how did I learn to do this?


I was crocheting, and it was good. I found some knitting stuff of my mom's so I went out and bought this knitting book - from Walmart and everything. I made a simple knit scarf out of a single ball of yarn. Baby shower #2 mommy-to-be, loved the scarf and bought from me cause she wouldn't let me give it to her (cause she's crazy!). Then, I wanted a challenge! So I made this:

It's a stitch 'sampler' type of project that was supposed to turn itself into a pillow, but never did.  It was easier than I thought. And I've been knitting since.
But I'm just following instructions. I don't feel like I'm doing anything spectacular. Even the stitches that look really complicated were not that bad. So, I figured I'd just learn as I went and started projects I thought were interesting. 
And then I knit a sweater. 

Does that sound any better than 'huh'? 

At least now I have compiled an answer for the next time I'm asked.

And here's the crochet blanket:

For baby shower # 2 that I didn't actually make it to cause I felt like crappo and didn't really want to puke on anybody. No one needs that as a family memory - yeah, I'm the girl that puked on you at your baby shower...ugh, no. I'll take it by her work and present it without puking on her.

Friday, when I went to buy actual gifts from Babys'r'us*, I was in the area of a Hobby Lobby - it's like Christmas ya'll, there is only Walmart in my local town for yarny items and the selection sucks, think Planet Acrylic - so I made my sister go with me to see what was on sale. Lo and behold I bought a little bit of sock yarn:

Okay, so I might have bought a LOT of sock yarn. But it was a really good deal! Seriously. Like $34 worth of good deal. 

After I finished the crochet blanket last night, I started sewing together the black sweater/vest thingy I talked about here and it's coming right along. I should have a completed photo next post.

I promise it won't be so long between the next post. 

Happy knitting!


*The Babys'R'Us I went to was a horrible, awful place that was unorganized and had dirty bathrooms. The gift registry did not correctly point non-baby people (like me) to the location for unknown alien objects placed throughout their stores in no logical order which blend into Toys'R'Us without notice even though they have different entrances. I will not be going there again.

 

Titles are overrated...

I've reverted back to crochet and decided to crochet this in a different yarn than suggested (of course). I'm using I love this cotton from Hobby Lobby in black. I did not swatch, as usual. After completing the back, I scared myself into thinking it would never fit and decided to loosen up my work on the first front panel. I now have a front panel that is in 100% cotton that is two inches longer than the back. The 100% cotton part is very important - that's whay I italisized it - because as knitter/crocheters know, cotton loves to enlarge itself to monstorous proportions. It looks like it's supposed to be a bit loose on the model in the picture and we all know after reading this that magazine editors strive to ensure photo shoots for hand worked items acurately represent what they really should look like.*Please note the sarcastic tone in the sentance above* I am contemplating just going ahead with it as is, but I have a feeling that I'll be frogging the front panel and working it tighter because I know in my heart of hearts that it will stretch.

A quick lesson on submitting a pattern for magazines that everyone out there should fully understand (but often lost to knitter/crocheters mind by overwhelming mental processes triggered by a beautiful 'must-make-now' item involving mental pictures of perfect yarn, texture, and color which may or may not be represented in the actual photo) when one submits a fabulous pattern, it is only in writing and some of the original intent may be lost by editors who send chosen submitee a yarn the magazine is supported by and the said item is created in whatever those editors believe it should be created in. I know this because despite the fact that I have not actually written a pattern, I have looked into the submission process with the full intent to submit a future pattern that I will one day write.
So, when I automatically change something in a pattern, I just can't help it. It's the mental image of me looking fantastically tall and thin in whatever item I'm chosing to make. And the fact that I have five skeins of that yarn in my stash I've been dying to use because it's unbelievably soft and fantastic. I don't care if a vest'll end up like the Harlots' Michelen Man Sweater (scroll to the bottom - you'll see it - and give me credit she worked the item in that size it did not grow). It'll be soft and that's what's important.

Speaking of tall and thin, I seriously need to join the gym. We got word last week (maybe the week before last) that my best friend Erica and Jamie's best friend Loren are getting married! The world is a fabulous place when your best friends like each other so much they decide to spend the rest of their lives together.
It'll be better than cheese!
And even though this event has nothing to do with me and everything to do with them, I cannot help being terrified by appearing in the wedding in April in front of lots of people at my current weight and blubberiness due to the massive amounts of muscle that was once attached to my skeleton. I should be able to join the gym at the end of October. I have six months to get some muscle back - that should be long enough.

More good news is my friend Lydia, who received the Girl Scout socks, said she wore them the other day and they were comfy! Woot!!! I just hope my handiwork will hold up to washing and wear well. We'll see. It is my first gift that is in use!
I still have not mailed the small sweater to my cousin in Michigan. I will look up her address now and write it down. I will mail it tomorrow. I wonder if Michigan is still in fall. Texas is very curious with seasons and one must remember that the rest of the country experiences other seasons and summer is much shorter than here. I try to keep that in mind. But the coldness in the morning reminds me that as it become fall-like here it is getting to be winter-like north of here.

So, I love hearing about a whole lot of people living in a bubble (follow me people it has to do with being cold)- it was reported the people protesting the stock market in NY needed sleeping bags but couldn't decide to knit their own (to follow the 'protest of consumerism') or buy sleeping bags.
Someone needs to walk up behind them and give them them a Gibbs-slap to the back of the head.
Where do they think yarn comes from? And the needles? And darning needles to weave all the ends in? Hello! - you have to buy them. And you'd need like 800 skeins of yarn to make sleeping bags - even cheap yarn at $5 a skein would be $4000 - I mean you're at the stock market someone nearby should have a calculator. Do the math. Go buy the $10 sleeping bag from WalMart and continue your protest without involving knitters of the world who have enough problems with stereotypes being pressured onto them without you piping your craziness into another stereotype.

I've been cleaning the house in the evenings so this crochet vest (originally supposed to be done in a weekend) will probably keep me busy for the next two weeks.
Do not hate me for wasting precious knitting/crochet time - my house is squashing my creativity with its clutter. I... must... clean...
Thank god my sister's neighborhood is having a garage sale this weekend - I've decided to get rid of some furniture I was holding onto for emotional reasons and not looking at the practicality of how the furniture functions in the house - it's got to go. I must have order and flow in order to be creative. And it must happen quickly.
I also have to burn more piles while we have a lifted burn ban (I burned four piles last weekend and we have about a bigillion more) to quell the nightmares about trees falling over into 20-story high brush piles that are burning in my house. The burn ban is likely to be re-imposed next week.
Yes, I understand no one else thinks about these things but I must explain the importance of this small window of opportuinity if you do not have forrested property plagued by hypoxylon canker - which in a matter of months cause perfectly healthy looking, gorgeous trees to die and pile up right where they stand. Plus a burn ban that drags on almost all year long because the rain clouds are scared off by the heat of the place.
Alas my knitting/crochet will have to be put aside until the weekend evenings if I can muster the brain power after working outside all day.





I'm putting this at the bottom of the page to see if anyone actually reads all the way to the end of my blogs and if you don't then I probably don't want you to see this part anyway - but I have decided after reading the Yarn Harlot's blog that I must be more like myself in the blog-o-sphere - that's the self-reflective part of my personality - and stop being so boxy and controlling. I am very hard on myself and releasing the edit button on this online world opens myself up to other people's critical analysis of ...well, me. So, be warned, from here on out that there may be more randomness, rambling, and my perspective on things. You're welcome to leave objections/critiques in the comments or stop reading my blog. (HA! like I have readers!) The only way to let this be a true reflection of my new found obsession hobby is to be myself. Spazziness and all. The final push to this decision involved standing in line at HEB picturing myself in place of Miranda Lambert on the cover of some music magazine - which my fear of being the center of attention will never allow to happen - and realizing that an opportunity exists online that allows me to overcome some of the fear if I just let myself be. So there.
Happy knitting!

Learning a new skill

I have completed the little sweater for my cousin's son. I'm going to put in the mail this week (hopefully) since they actually have fall up north and he can probably use it now. I made it in the 18 month size and he just turned one in September so I'm hoping it'll fit over a base layer.

I learned it's easier to learn new skills on child-sized garments and decided I'm going to make a little sweater for all the small people I know before attempting a second adult-sized garment.
I have learned and mastered the mattress stitch. I have The Knitter's Bible by Claire Crompton and typically this is my go-to guide for skills, but in the instance of the mattress stitch - not so good. I kept trying to understand the written instructions and the pictures (or lack thereof) just do not cut the mustard for someone who doesn't have a clue what the stitch is supposed to look like. Thank god for Utube! I found a very helpful video (I didn't save the link so I can't share it) that made it a cinch. Considering the simplicity of this stitch, I am not even going to share just how long I attempted to learn this stitch from the few books I have and written instructions. It's embarrassing.
The sleeves look great though!
I have also learned that my rib stitch is kinda tight and I should use a between size needle for ribbing or add some stitches to make it look normal. I had to be creative at the arm holes because of this and did not close them completely but left the ribbing unsewn so his little hands will fit through them.
In addition, I need to add to my button stash! I had a hard time finding buttons on hand that would look good with this little project.

In other life news, we've been adjusting to Jamie's new job schedule and it's been hard. But it will pay off in the end. We're both adjusting well.
I believe I have been reinfected with the very same cold I had two weeks ago. It's very strange considering it has been so long that I cannot even remember the last time I was sick and now, not once, but twice I come down with some crappy cold?! Horrible.
We got some rain last week and the burn ban is temporarily lifted so I plan on working outside this weekend trying to get some of the piles taken care of.

I am throwing around getting back onto the lace project. I need to make some socks too. Who knows? You'll just have to wait and see what I cast on!

When projects aren't what they seem

I've been putting off posting because I have restarted the same project four times. I get about 20 rows in and it all falls apart - either I don't like the way it looks, or I messed up and go to unravel it stitch by stitch and mess that up, or I just completely mess up.
I am working on the lacey scarf project I told you guys about forever ago on and off these past two weeks and I have nothing to show for it. It's currently waiting to be frogged...again. This time around I missed a stitch, backed up stitch-by-stitch, and somehow messed up my backup and now I'm going to have to start over because I don't think I can fix my secondary mess up. I will complete this project. But it's helping my 'cannot have more than one project going at a time' issue.

I cast on last night for a gift for my cousin's son in Michigan. It's a little raglan sweater. I have a little beanie made for him, but I'd like to send something more. I pulled the pattern off Ravelry - it's the Toddler Raglan Hoodie by Megan Goodacre and looks like this:


Photo is Megan Goodacre's from the Ravelry website listed above.

I have a few rows done in a light grey color, but I'm thinking I might undo what I've done and cast on with some wool I have in my stash. I'm using acrylic right now (Lion's Brand) and I'm thinking for the sake of softness and cost effectiveness I may stick with what I'm using. We'll see what I decide.

Last weekend I decided in a flash that my fun self striping socks I made for our Girl Scout meeting in November needed to go to another home - a good friend of mine had a birthday and it seemed perfect for her. I have a feeling this will be the case as I complete projects - they have a particular intent but find better applications. She was very very happy to receive them and thought they were fantastic. We did a small girl's night (by small I mean three of us, but not small in the amount of fun we had) out. It was great.

Minus the fact I was sick. Late last week, we had a conference for work and I picked up some super-duper cold bug that is still sort of kicking my butt. I spread this super cold to Jamie and he was super grateful considering he just started his new job. 

So, that's what I'm doing. I'm working away on stuff, just not with lots of results. I'll keep ya'll in the loop when something gets finished.

Slacker

Last week was rough. There's a lot going on in life and the blog got kicked down to the bottom. So, I have not been posting everyday until you guys are caught up and I apologize. (Not that I have a huge following, but still, I put a promise out there to the world and dropped the ball)
So, we're going to catch you guys up.

During the search for things that don't exist, we were driving by a store that sells yarn (yes any store that sells yarn is a reason to stop) and I was feeling despair and I was weak and Jamie felt bad for me. So he sat in the car while I went in search for a pick-me-up of the wool persuasion.

 I found this. Perfect for the November meeting project. I know a particular someone who'll love this Girl Scout Tie-Dyed color yarn.

 And here's number one almost finished. I have completed this pair and they are currently being stored with the helmet liner until November. When they'll make the trek to a distant land.

I also found this for a scarf project that I plan on making for my Aunt. It's her favorite color. And she's one of the few people I know who live in a cold enough climate to knit something like this for.

 It's going to look like this when knitted:

(I stole this photo from Google - linked from someone's flickr account)

I have also cast on for another coaster for the nerd room. It's not very far along. It is sitting on my couch still looking just like this:

I will make this last one and maybe a makeup one that is more squarish to make a set of four. Then I will start knitting the other logo. Set of four for those also.

I also bought some wool on my depair trip to the yarn store. It was on sale and it was all I could do to keep myself from buying every skien they had. But I didn't. I bought two. I believe another pair of Girl Scout socks will come out of one of those skiens.

Other than that, I have been organizing our stuff in boxes around the house. Including the yarn stash box. It has been upgraded to a 56qt tote. I see another upgrade sometime in the future. Should work for now. I have just a bit of room at the top of it. Must knit faster to justify adding to the stash.

In search of things that don't exist

This is a non-knitting post.

Just thought I'd get that out there.

As I've mentioned before, I am in the process of attempting to update/redo our master bedroom. I have started laying flooring and trim in the closet as a practice piece.

Background on why I needed a 'practice piece': In 2006, when Jamie and I moved from NB to my childhood home, after my father passed away, we did a mad dash re-do of my old room because I refused to move into my childhood room let alone let a grown man live in a girl's childhood room that was decorated in sort of a horsey theme. It was the first major redo I've done as an adult (this redo thing comes from my mother and she did as much as she could to every room in the house) and needless to say things were less than perfect. We payed someone to lay the flooring but did the wallpaper, painting, panelling repair, and trim work ourselves. Hanging trim is sort of an art and I was a very novice artist. We are still living in this room until we get the master finished and it is less than perfect. I'm sure no one notices immediately the flaws in my trim job, but I sure as heck do. I also hung a small amount of trim in our kitchen when I repainted 1-2 years ago. It was an improvement from my childhood room, but definately not ideal.

So, all this being said, I want this project to look like someone who knew what they were doing hung the trim. And I started in the closet. We picked up two boxes of flooring, you'll remember. I needed one more to finish.
Weekend before last, Jamie and I went into town to pick up another box of flooring to finish the closet. Typically our local HD carries an entire pallet of the Pergo flooring that most closely resembles the flooring we put in our current bedroom (Pergo has since discontinued the exact flooring we used). We got to our local HD only to find there was no pallet and there was not a single box of flooring. We asked, someone called in to purchase the entire pallet.
So we went to the next town over to buy the single box we needed there. They had nine boxes, but all of them had crunched corners. I am not putting crunched corners into my 'perfect' remodelling job. The flooring gentleman was kind enough to explain that Pergo was discontinuing this flooring and it was on sale and being scooped up by the second. He offers to call around to find us an undamaged box.We waited about 30 mins while he called around.

All the while, Jamie and I are discussing what to do with the flooring in the rest of the room that is supposed to match the closet. I have already laid two boxes with the assumption that I am going to lay continuously into the bedroom with the same flooring. Do we buy the flooring we need for the entire project? Do we wait and see and hope that whatever Pergo comes out with also closely matches the other bedroom flooring because eventually the hall between the two bedrooms is supposed to also get the same flooring?

The closest store has six boxes in good condition and it's another 30 minute drive away. They'll hold them. We go. They aren't holding them, but we found a single box for me to finish the closet. We have to figure out what to do later. We can lay tile...cork...something else that is close...Jamie can call a local contractor to have them match what we have as closely as possible...none of these options are what I want to hear.
They are not what I was picturing in my head when envisioning this room. The flooring is SUPPOSED to match.
Match as in be the same.
My heart was crushing.
I was pouting like a little kid.
Jamie, bless his heart, was doing his best to assure me it was going to be okay.
We went home with one box of flooring.

And I finished the flooring in the closet.

I am a lover of closets. The place we rented in NB was the best rent house ever because it had an insane amount of closet space. Freaking loved it.
Jamie and I have been sharing a very small walk-in closet and it is seriously starting to wear on me. Things are hanging on shelves throughout the entire room this closet is in. Did I mention the said shared closet is not in my childhood room that we currently sleep in? No? Yeah, it's not.
I need a closet that sings to me when I walk in. The order and beauty of it brings calmness to my heart. I love closets.
I want my closet, this closet, to sing to me.

This past weekend, I finished the closet project. The baseboards, a small crown molding, and cove in the corners are hung. It is as close to perfect as humanly possible with super crooked walls.
I hung the Elfa system and Jamie was moving his stuff into it before I even had the system together on the other side. I think he was feeling a bit cramped in the shared small closet too.
Here's the finished product. It's a beautiful thing.

Read, Read, and Re-read...

The item at the very top of the list of "Things I Learned from Knitting" is: Read the instructions. After reading the instructions, read them again, and for good measure, re-read them.
Do I read my 'things I've learned list' let alone read the instructions for my knitting THREE times?! No. So, I will continue to do stupid things like this:

The above picture is the neck portion and the back of the head part. Do you see what's wrong with this? I didn't until I sewed the top of the head to the side of the head parts together. You see the stitch holders (blue and yellow thingys as the bottom) and the increase stitches about five inches above that? Yep, you'd have to have a cone head to fit into this puppy.
When looking at it, it's rather funny I kept faith that the pattern had to be correct and I just needed to push through. The problem was I read 5 inches from the ribbing, when the instructions clearly said 5 inches from the beginning of the entire thing (including the ribbing). I kept faith all the way through, shoved it onto Jamie's head (he's the test subject because this is being made for my brother-in-law), and realized very quickly that my faith in the pattern was misplaced faith in me being able to read the instructions clearly.
Frogging, frog, frog, frog.
So I got to start back above the ribbing.

And then I finished it. It's actually a pretty cool pattern. I used plain ol' acrylic Red Heart Saver and the elasticity of the bottom ribbing isn't anywhere near as good as it would've been with a wool product. I needed it to be durable, machine washable, and he's only going to wear it like once or twice a year. It seemed silly to go out and buy wool when I had yarn in the stash that would work.
Here's a goofy photo of the final product so ya'll can see sorta how it fits:

 My head is slightly smaller than a man-sized head, but you get the idea.

This project was fun, quick (would've been quicker if I would just read carefully), and satisfying. I have a Christmas present complete. Way super early, too. I have already cast on another project and working my way through it.
There is more to come tomorrow.

Happy Monday!

My, how time flies...

When you're busy as hell. It's September already and I haven't posted in a while. Let's start at the beginning with the sweater project. Here we are.

 Yep, not too bad from the front.

Pardon the bathroom photo - I was home by myself and needed to get a picture of this to post. The bathroom being the obvious choice due to it containing a mirror. Note the cowering dog in the bottom left corner. She's the one who thinks camera flashes are lightening, is scared to death of storms, and therefore believes she should also be afraid of cameras.

Things are always different depending on your viewpoint. This my friends, is of the inside of the sweater - is it really finished? Not so much. I have to tackle those threads badly, but they're on the back burner for now. Sewing all those in = nott fun. So....I will get to it when I get to it. It's still not cold enough for me to wear this thing so I'll have them sewn in by the time the weather cools off. Promise.

I have lots more to share, but I've got to go finish my closet project. I will keep posting daily until I'm all caught up.

Happy Sunday!

Finishing

In the sense of not finished, but completing the final steps of being finished. Confusing? Nah.

I have completed the sweater. I just need to finish it. The buttons are sewed, I've sewn in the ends around the neck, all that is left is to sew the hem on the sleeves and bottom edge and hide all the yarn ends. Then it will be finished.

I put it on last night after I finished sewing on the buttons and Jamie couldn't stop smiling at me. He said "I'm just remembering all the cussing and starting back over and 'gimme the computer so I can look up how this is supposed to work' and crap that it took, but look at what you made." People just don't make thier own clothing anymore. But those that do are out there, online. Sharing that enjoyment.

It has been a trial. I have been frustrated beyond belief. I have set it down thinking I would never pick it up again. But I did and now it is almost finished.

I see some things that I'd like to fix, but I've got to do more research cause I don't personally know anyone who knits. That's for the next project.

The baby shower gifts were received well! The expecting mother was more excited than I thought she would be, in a very good way. Gifting handmade stuff makes me super nervous - I know most people in this area are appreciative of them, but it just weirds me out if I'm the only one who brings a handmade gift. I wasn't - she received quite a few sewn blankets. I get the weirdest looks that I am in my late twenties and that I knit/crochet coolish stuff - not ruffled TP holders, teapot cosies, or doll clothes. Everyone was very nice at identifying who made the stuff and the crafty conversation was flowing. Lots of crafty people in that bunch! Even made some contacts for future sewing help (once the machine is fixed).

I will be posting a picture of me wearing the sweater - all finished - hopefully by the end of the week.

Until then, have a great week everyone!

Just keep knitting...

I finished the blanket. It looks like this:

I was imagining more of a triangular trim, but couldn't find a good stitch pattern and the little loops looks okay. The pattern calls for only one stitch for the corners and I think if I ever make this same blanket again, I'll do two or three because the corners really show up with it's unfolded. It is what it is. I did it in a week!
Since I finished early, I'm going to try to get a little beanie done and maybe some little booties. I should be able to finish those before Satuarday.

I've worked a bit on the sweater too. I only have four more steps to do - crochet the buttonhole side, sew buttons on, attached the lace to the sweater, and a final block of the front.

The CC yarn I used is a bit heavier than I'd have liked, but it is my first sweater - it'll have to do. I really need to get this thing finished!

I have not cast on the helmet liner for my brother-in-law and I have not started another nerd coaster. Those are on the list of things to do.

Speaking of lists - I love lists - so much that I downloaded a list maker app for my phone. It is the best thing ever. I paid 1.99 for it cause I wanted something that could do more than the notes app already on my phone and I wanted to be able to create grocery lists, checklists, to do lists, and this app even as a 'custom list' option that I haven't used yet (just downloaded it last night). I'm pretty excited though. I think I'll create a knitting list to keep track of too. Love it! It's ListPro if you're interested and love lists like me!

Random topic of the day - I discovered I lost about six pounds from my morning weigh and an evening weigh on my wii fit board. I'm thinking that my bathroom scale needs a battery, but what a great feeling discovering that I am not quite as much of a fat ass as I originally thought! Since I've already lost 3 lbs by eating better for a week and a half, one could say that I have lost 10 lbs. That is a big difference! It's really easy when you cheat and get incorrect readings from the scale though!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Fantastic Friday!

This week has been a bit of a blur for so many reasons - Jamie started his new job, I decided to start eating better, started a new crochet project, and all the routine/normal stuff. Jamie started his new job which is about a 40-45 min commute and he's working completely out in the 100+ degree heat so by the time he gets home he's completely wiped out. I've been doing my best to have as much done in the hour between me getting home and his arrival home so he can concentrate on sleeping. This heat has to let up sometime. It's super draining and hopefully he'll adjust - or he'll just go to bed at 8 every night. Oh well.

Decided last Friday that I didn't want to gain every pound I lost about two years ago (by eating better and working out, neither of which I do now) and bought lots of healthy stuff at the grocery store. I made myself an infamous 'green smoothie'. The original recipe I pulled from a friend of mine Claire and then I did a bit of research and discovered I could pretty much put whatever in the hell I wanted to in this thing.I know this is not the best picture in the world, but this was after round one in the blender. Here's what I put in it: 4 leaves romaine, 2 handfuls of spinach, 1 banana, 1.5 green apples, handful of frozen raspberries, 1/2 cucumber, one squeezed lemon, and some ginger. The smoothie won. I'm working with a 1970s model blender and there was a lot of chewing going on to get round one down. Round two got another banana, more ginger, water, and ice. I had this three mornings. I need to make another batch, but we're out of banana. I'd like to add some of the veggies that I don't really like - like beets/raddishes/etc to see if I can get some of those goodies without knowing I'm eating them.

In addition to the green smoothie, I'm eating 100-150 calories multiple times throughout the day. I've only been seriously trying this for a week and I've already lost 2 lbs. I only cheated once last weekend (we went out to dinner with friends). I'll also have to cheat today because we're doing a 'goodbye' lunch for someone at work who's retiring. 

Earlier this week, I sewed the sleeves onto my sweater. They look like this:

Not too shabby. I was having a bit of an issue with casting on the contrasting color neckband and was feeling pretty frustrated when I started another project that has to be completed in two weeks. I started it Monday. I'm this far:

It's a baby blanket for a friend of mine who's expecting. Her baby shower is on the 27th and I have a long way to go. It's crochet. Pound of Love yarn. And it's not even close to being complete. It's a free pattern from Lion's Brand Yarns - Jonah's Blanket...or something like that. I'm hoping they'll like it. It's giving me a break from the sweater frustration with a very specific goal to get this done in two weeks. Then it'll be back to the sweater. I am so close to finishing the sweater, I can taste it.

Tuesday, the deal of the century came in. We didn't get to put it up until Thursday. Here it is on our ceiling:

Fanciest light fixture in the house.

That's the excitement of this week! I plan on crocheting a lot this weekend in a mad dash to meet the deadline. I would love to get some work done around the house, but if the humidity and heat don't let up that will not be happening. I hope you all have a great weekend!

Another weekend...

I did not knit a single stitch this weekend. (!)

Let me paint this picture for you: Wednesday night our AC crapped out on us. I think I only got about 3 hours of sleep and that's being generous.I still don't think I've recovered from last Wednesday night. I have been exhausted since. (The AC is fixed, just some loose wires.)
I took a 30min power nap before we hung out with friends Friday night. Woke up super early Sat. to go pick up Jamie's toolbox from work (he starts a new job next week), unloaded it at the house for temporary storage, and attempted to not melt from the crazy heat outside. I took an hour and a half power nap Sat. evening. We grilled up some burgers and made homemade french fries. Sunday I was awoken by our sweet hounds who didn't really care that I hadn't slept much in the past three days and I did not take a nap because I wanted to actually sleep through the whole night before going to work.
Knowing how lack of sleep affects my counting abilities I didn't attempt knitting. I did however start blocking the sweater. I am blocking portions of it at a time since I do not have a big enough space for the entire thing. It's a slow process, but worth it.

I also found something amazing:


This little beauty is going into my master bedroom closet. It was only $38 at the HD. It's normally $70. Do I feel like I just got the deal of the century? Yup. I have been pouring over home lighting/improvement websites and stores looking for some light fixture that is fabulous but cheap. The cheapest I could find was at least $50. Eesh - for a freaking light fixture?! I absolutely LOVE the drum pendant styling, but that pops it up to more like $70-$80 for a freaking light fixture. I just happened to go to HD's website to look at lights...again...for the 1 millionth time. And I couldn't believe the price on this puppy. I bought it on the spot. Too good to pass up. I'll be posting a picture of it installed later.

I am hoping to finish up the sweater project this week and I will show you all the finished product! Look for it!
Have a great week.

Buckle down

Hope you all are buckled down for a long post! Lots to share!

Lets start at the beginning. With knitting of course! 

The sweater project is progressing quite nicely.

Here's what it looks like at the moment --> 

Missing blocking and finishing steps.

Here's a close up of the fig leaf pattern at the neck. Badly needs to be blocked. But so far so good! I am trying to think of the best way to block all these pieces. Typically I do it on my ironing board because I've never had to block anything so large. Pretty sure a blocking mat investment is in the near future.



The latest and greatest from the super surprise brother-in-law project. I've come to the conclusion they will not be perfect. He's getting these different sized swatches with the real ones. The bottom one is the first try - double stranded grey yarn/too tight stitch/no extra stockinette rows above and below. The middle one is the last try - just finished last night/messed up on the red bottom portion of the logo/two rows of stockinette above and below before starting the seed border with smaller needles. The top is attempt two - using smaller needles for the seed border/looser stitching cause the first one was tight/one strand of grey/no extra rows/it's rectangle. Still working on it! I did however find a graph for the Empire symbol and I'm using it when I get to that.

I found this bracelet on pinterest and really wanted to make one. Then when I got my latest Crochet Today!, there was an article for broomstick lace. It was a sign. I tried acrylic yarn first and it was...well...ugly. I remembered a bit of bamboo blend left over in my stash and was sure that this little item wouldn't take that much yarn. It's not quite as pretty as the one on pinterest, but it's still damn cool. Might I add - it is very difficult to take a photo of your own wrist. Please appreciate this photo! ;)

 In the midst of all this knitting/crocheting gloriousness, my sister came over to make jelly and can salsa.

Wait, there's more! Nothing to do with yarn, but just as exciting. Three weekends ago we picked up two boxes of flooring and some trim for the master bedroom closet. 

Two weekends ago I cut and painted the trim. This trim matches what we put in my childhood room we remodeled a couple years back and are currently living in. I had a huge problem cutting it correctly - it was my first time hanging trim. I discovered this time around that my miter saw is too small for this "gaudy" [Jamie's words] trim. We also always get in a tiff about trim because my better half has zero patience for it. But my nickname is Tetris and I enjoy it. I used a miter box and saw to get it just right. It fits together perfectly. The background is the bedroom wall color: Creek Bend.

This past weekend, after jelly and salsa making, I laid the two boxes of flooring in the closet. I'm two rows short. It's going to be beautiful! The closet color is Oyster something or other.

The flooring/trim/wall color together. Love!

This is the last photo ya'll I promise! Monday our Americana hen layed a little mini-egg! Here's our normal egg with the mini egg for reference! Look how cute it is! I'm hoping she'll start laying normal-sized eggs eventually.

Thanks for sticking with me through all that! Have a great rest of the week!

Em

So much to say

There is a lot going on at our house as of late! I so want to tell ya'll all about it, but it's going to be so much better with pictures and all the photographic electronic objects here have refused to cooperate. 
Some of the projects involve a few items of interest like:
power tools
hot water
green yarn
graph paper
fig leaves

I'll leave you all to mull over that for awhile.
Happy Tuesday!

My First Pattern

The long awaited 'special project' for my brother-in-law. It has been confirmed that he doesn't read my blog therefore I am free to share this surprise with the world before he even knows about it.

My brother-in-law is into all things 'nerdy'. I am not here to define 'nerdy' just to try to give you an idea of the person this project is intended to surprise. His dream man cave involves a space invaders painted wall, a computer wall, a large table for role playing games, and lots of Star Wars stuff. This project is to be used in this 'dream cave'.

My sister text me asking if I could take the Star Wars logo and make coasters for the man cave. I said sure! First, I looked on ravelry thinking someone must've created these already. I could only find the rebel logo in a crochet pattern. I wanted to knit it for the intro to working with multiple colors. So I hit up the ol' google machine and downloaded a Rebel and Empire logo. Next I researched the typical size for a coaster - 3x3.5 to 4x4. These things are going to be used in a man cave so they need to be washable and durable. I figured the Red Heart Super Saver acrylic would be ideal. The guage on the label on size 8 needles is 17 stitches by 23 rows equals a 4 x 4 square. Perfect! My coasters will be 4 x4.

I resized my logos in Microsoft word to 3.5 inches and 3 inches across the widest part, printed them, and then traced them onto graph paper.

 

Initially I created a graph that directly copied the tracing. I counted each box as a stitch and realized I needed to do a bit of resizing (First Picture). So I played around with a couple of different sizing and patterns to attempt to get the logo as much like the original as possible (Second photo).  Then I created a final graph with a border which in my head was a simple seed stitch with the logo being in stockinete stitch (third photo).  

 The Empire's logo was a bit more complicated, it is extremely hard to get a good visualization of a round logo on square graph paper. I made a few attempts and then gave up. This logo is going to be crochet instead of knit so I can crochet it in a circle like a beanie and I'm going to write a pattern as I go. I need to do a few calculations to make sure everything is divisible in order to create the colored pattern, but I have not given up on this one.

This is what the Rebel coaster looks like at the moment. Keep in mind I have never worked with more than one color of yarn and that this is a self created pattern. It's actually coming out pretty good. The back looks like hell, but I can always sew fabric on the back to cover all that up. While typing this blog about my fantasic first pattern ever, I'm positive that this coaster is not going to be the dementions I intended. I wrote the pattern sideways, meaning my cast on row would be a side not the bottom or top. So I'm actually going to have 23 stitches 19 rows high. It's going to be a rectangle. Good thing this is the first one and if it isn't perfect, oh well. I've got to make a set so making one more isn't going to be that big of a deal. This is only about 30 mins/45 mins of work with me trying to work out how to carry yarn across the back. It should take a lot less time once I get it down.

I like it anyway. It's pretty cool that I created that! Once I get the pattern worked out I'll post it on ravelry.

 Also, I'm using some leftover grey yarn from the stash that is not Super Saver and was initially used doubled up. I'm going to neck it down to a single strand for the others cause it's really really thick, but it's how I had it and I was itching to get a test run going.
So, I'll be posting the changes as they come. Hopefully sooner rather than later! Ya'll have a great week!
-Em