Friday, November 25, 2016

FO socks and Mama Vertebrae WIP

Finally finished my first pair of socks! I think they turned out pretty good for a first attempt. I used Knit Picks Felici in Rainbow and a gray Felici for the contrast color. Things I learned: two at a time magic loop is where it's at, with self-striping yarn I need to start with the same color stripe, I followed the pattern and made the leg part 7" long but it's really too tall for me, I need to cast on more stitches next time for a looser sock (I may give these away, they're a bit snug), my kitchener stitch on the toe wasn't the best (the second sock is way better then the first). 

I definitely want to make more socks and I'm so excited to wear these despite their flaws. They aren't good enough to enter in the fair but now that I feel more comfortable with sock making I'll have better luck at making that winning pair ;)

I like this yarn. It's a good alternative if I want a cheaper option. It did split pretty bad which was annoying but it's soft so that's good. I think my next socks I'll get some higher quality yarn. I feel better about doing that since I was successful with this cheaper pair. 



I've been working on this Mama Vertebrae since October 16th. It feels like it's taking forever! I like how it's turning out tho. I can see the end in sight so I'll try to focus on it completely and get it done!



I gave my cousin Amelia a Gellatly Hat and she sent me a pic on Thanksgiving. I love the way it looks with her red hair!


Then today her sister Abigail sent me a pic of both of them wearing the hats I made them. So cute!! Made me tear up, y'all. 




Here's Ripley imitating a shrimp :)








Saturday, October 15, 2016

New Gellatly hat, Knox hat fail and Adult Vertebrae

This Gellatly turned out perfect. I donated it to the library that I work for a charity auction. 





This Knox hat, on the other hand, turned out like crap. I was making it as another donation hat for the auction. I used Cascade 220 which is not fun to work with and made it tall to fit a big head like mine but it turned out too tall. I also messed up on the pattern. It requires alot of M1R and I think I was knitting in the front of the stitch instead of the back so its off in some places. Real bummer. When I get a chance to buy some better quality DK weight, I'd like to try it again. 



I started an Adult Vertebrae Cardigan. It's gonna take forever but I'm excited about it. The yarn is Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in Poppy Fields. Its yellow like a school bus LOL. It's gonna be rad if it fits. 



My cat Ripley being a jerk as usual LOL. 




Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Stitches Texas 2016



On September 23rd, I made the three hour drive to Irving, TX for StitchesTexas. I'm glad I went because I wanted to feel the Madeline Tosh and Hedgehogs Fibers yarns that are so popular. I didn't find any Yarn Love :(. But looking at the price tag I quickly realized that I wouldn't be able to afford these yarns on a regular basis or maybe ever LOL. 

I am not the intended customer for the 20 to 35 dollar a skein yarns. I can't afford it. I want to buy it but..like...money. That's something that I rarely hear knitters talking about on podcasts or blogs. The cost of what may be a passion but is basically a hobby. The ladies that I saw shopping at StitchesTexas appeared to have way more disposable income then me.

I kinda felt out of place there. In the knitting sphere, there seems to be a bit of snobbishness about yarn. I hate the tattoo that I see sometimes on Instagram "Death Before Acrylic". That is so uncool. Some people are allergic to wool or just can't afford fancy, high-priced yarn. 

If the only yarn available to me was the expensive stuff I would be priced out of the hobby. One of the things that drew me to try knitting in the first place was the low start up cost. Seven bucks for needles, 4 bucks for a ball of acrylic yarn. Without knowing whether I would like it or be successful, I didn't feel comfortable making a huge investment in tools and materials. The big knitting expos like StitchesTexas (and often the boutique yarn stores, my fave store in OKC has started promoting weaving. Weaving?! It's a huge loom investment OMG!) about making knitting accessible, they are about making some products appear elite or exclusive and parting the more affluent knitter with their money. 

I walked by one booth that sold bags for knitting projects. The fabric was very pretty but the construction was terrible and these bags were marked at 30 to 40 dollars each. I definitely didn't get one. 


I did buy a book of shawl patterns for $35 and it seems pretty frivolous because, well, shawls are a frivolous thing to make but the pictures are so beautiful and I love just reading the patterns. I'll be taking this book to work soon and use it for display because it is just so lovely <3


I was so glad to get back to Oklahoma. This pic is of the windfarm by Turner Falls. So pretty. 


Maybe some day I'll be able to afford Hedgehog Fibers for every project, but until then I will use what I can afford and make beautiful things anyway :) 


Saturday, October 1, 2016

Newborn Vertebrae, Rainbow Socks and another Gellatly Hat

Forgot to mention in the last post that I finished another Owl Beanie. I gave it to a friend. 



The Newborn Vertebrae was so fun to make! I am so pumped to make my own now. 




Started a pair of socks. Two at a time with Magic Loop is definitely the way to go. 







Also, posted my first project onto Ravelry. It was so easy don't know why I didn't do it sooner. I kinda wanna go thru the blog and post everything I've done but I'm lazy LOL


I started another Gellatly Hat for my cousin Amelia. I love working with that yarn. It's so soft. 



Here's Poke relaxin' at Gran's. 


And Ripley enjoying a lazy Sunday with me :)











Thursday, September 15, 2016

My County fair entry, Stash Buster pillow, Gellatly hat and other plans.

So, I actually won something at the Cleveland County Free Fair this year LOL

There are two categories at this fair for knitted stuff.  Coats, Sweaters, Capes and Other Clothing Knitted Articles.  My hat was in the latter category.  So that means I compete against everything else that you wear that isn't a coat, sweater or cape (and who knits capes? is that a thing?).  So last year, I competed against some socks who won first and second and probably third.  This year the sock knitters decided to stay home I guess because I didn't see any entered and I actually won second in my category!  That was pretty cool and I totes bragged about it on all my social media and even posted a picture at work lol.




This is the crochet/knitted hybrid that beat me.  Seems a little fishy that something that is mixed styles should be allowed in the knitted category but oh well.  The ladies taking the entries are volunteer and trust you to enter in the correct category and there may not be a category for crochet/ yarn articles.



This shawlet thing won third.


And this entry into the Coats, Sweaters, Capes category took best of show.  I definitely need to enter a cardigan next year and get that green ribbon!


Well, after that unexpected win and boost to my ego I completed the knitted top of my Stash Buster Pillow.  I didn't follow the pattern exactly because when I read it, it looked like it wanted me to knit when I wanted to purl and end up with a stockinette stitch for the blocks instead of garter stitch.  I was not having that so I made it to match the Ballband Dishcloth Pattern so that's what I did.  I did not want to weave in all those ends so because it will all get sewn onto the pillow back, I just tied them off and cut the strings.  I think that will be ok for this project and suit my laziness better.  I used I Love This Cotton from Hobby Lobby and I have so much left over!  It was fairly cheap at like 3 something a ball but now I have so much!  I might end up making another one if this one looks good sewn up lol.


I finished a Gellatly Hat and I really like it!  The yarn is super soft, Plymouth Select Worsted Merino Superwash in some gold/beeswax color that I can't remember right now.  This was the first pattern that I bought online from Ravelry and for some reason it seemed like a big deal to me even tho it was super easy.  It cost about 6 bucks and I think it was totally worth it.  I had to stop myself from going on a pattern buying binge.  I really wanna make the Beeswax Hat and also the Knox hat.  I have the perfect yarn for both!! Ugh, I really need to work on some stuff that doesn't require me to shell out 6 dollars for patterns but who know I might change my mind ;)


I bought some monster heads at Wal-Mart.  They were with the Halloween stuff and work really well as hat models LOL


I took them to work to decorate my cube :)



I finally started the Newborn Vertebrae.  I'm pretty excited about it because I really wanna make a cardigan for me so hopefully I can get down the basics with this one and then be ready to save up some big bucks for several skeins of the fanciest, softest yarn that I can afford for my cardigan :)










Friday, September 9, 2016

Actually wearing the dresses I sewed, Owl Beanie FO's and future de-stashing efforts

This pic is terrible LOL. But I was super excited to actually wear a dress that I made to work which was my initial intention so it was nice that a plan worked out :)

I have worn the three dresses I made from this pattern often and I plan to make another soon to use up some of my stash.

So, I forgot to take a pic of the finished hat before I gave it away but here are the little owls. I actually had to rip it out because I forgot to use the larger needle after knitting the ribbed brim :(. But it worked out and I finally finished it and passed it on. 


In the spirit of de-stashing I decided to use the Knit Picks Hawthorne fingering weight in Turkish Delight to make a Newborn Vertebrae Cardigan. I really want to make a cardi for myself and I figure this will be a good start in learning the process and also using up my stash.  I think I can use the Rainbow Felici for this pattern as well.


In order to make the Newborn Vertebrae I needed some smaller needles so I placed a Knit Picks order and also added some white and grey cheap fingering to the order. I want to make some accessories for my cube at work so it was absolutely necessary LOL. I also wanted the grey fingering for cuffs on another vertebrae cardi made with the rainbow Felici. That's my plan anyway. 


Well, I actually won something at the local county fair this year.  There were no socks entered this year so I think that gave my owl hat a better chance at wining a ribbon :)



Saturday, August 20, 2016

Organizing and using up my stash so I can justify buying new yarn ;)

I finished my pink and purple Sara's Slouch.  I had to make it short to match my green and blue version LOL



Like I mentioned in my last post, I'm getting bored with the charity knitting.  I wanted to work with really nice wool again instead of cotton and acrylic.  So I started going thru my stash.  I knew that I had some gold and basil from Plymouth Select left but I didn't realize it was so much!  The gold is earmarked for a Miss Marple scarf for a friend and a hat if I have enough left.  The basil, I'm not sure probably more hats.  I really like the Gellatly pattern so hopefully I can figure out how to buy it.

I kind of aspirationally bought some sock yarn from Knit Picks.  I love the Hawthorne Kettle Dyed Turkish delight but I'm not really into making socks with it now.  I could make a cardigan but I don't have enough and not sure if I could request the same dye lot from Knit Picks.  Pretty sure that stuff will be last in my knitting queue :(

This also gave me the chance to organize my Malabrigo remnants.  So pretty.  Hopefully I'll have enough to doe something with soon :)




I have one bin dedicated to knitting stuff.  The yellow Wonder Woman sack in the back is all of my Cascade 220.  Doubt I'll be using that much since it pretty much feels like twine now that I've developed finer tastes in yarn ;)

The sack to the left is some other lower quality yarn that I was given.  My ziploc of needles and various other tools and my printed patterns.  I need to organize the patterns better because they are always such a pain to go through.



I stuffed my Plymouth and Knit Picks yarn in the front so it will be easy to find and use up.  I don't know what I'm gonna do with that Felici Rainbow.




I live in an apartment and move like every two years so this is all the space that I can designate to yarn stuff.  One drawer, my containers with cotton and acrylic, my Knit Picks shipping boxes with Knit Picks tools and two sack of unfinished projects that I don't want to forget about.  I still have to make the mate to the sock I finished in sock class.




After finishing the Sarah's Slouch I started another Owl Beanie.  I love how the first one turned out.  I'm not really into the Archangel colorway anymore so I'm making it up to give away.  It will still be pretty tho but for someone else :)




Lots of knitting to do.  I should be able to find enough to keep my knitting mojo humming :)





OSU Coasters and some Malabrigo hats

My sweet cuz Abigail left for her first year of college at OSU so I made some coasters for her fam in OSU colors. 


I wanted to start a new Sarah's Slouch Hat but needed my size 7-16" circular needle that was still on the I Was A Teenage Mutant Hat so I finally took the time to kitchener stitch the crown. It felt like it took forever but I finally got it done. Cat supervised. 


Mine doesn't look as nice as the photograph but I'm happy with it. The variegated yarn really helps disguise my first attempt at grafting. I made it an extra inch taller to accommodate my big ole head and I want to wear it covering my forehead and ears not on the back of my head like the model. 


I started a new Sarah's Slouch. I've had this project bagged and ready to go for like eight weeks. I'm using Malabrigo Rios in English Rose and Malabrigo Arroyo in Borrajas. I love the combo of purple and pink together. 



I haven't been working much on my charity hats for the hospital.  I've been getting a bit bore with those so hopefully I can get my mojo back by working on some stuff in my stash :)