Sweatah

I finished knitting that sweater days ago. I am so chomping at the bit to get the damn thing steeked, but my friend was lacking a bobbin from her sewing machine, I don't have one, and so we have to get one and I JUST WANT IT TO BE DONE ALREADY. It's kind of torture having something you're nervous about waiting for so long, y'know what I mean? It's nobody's fault, it's just ugh. But it really looks.. great. Just gorgeous. The sleeves are a bit large (in width), but I think that gives it a neat feel. It's just great all around, mostly. I kept tension much much better on the colorwork.

Pics later, promise!

My my my

Ah! I haven't posted in 10 days. I've been busy, I promise! I finished the colorwork on the Bountiful Bohus sweater.. I'm excited and nervous about the steeking, but now I'm also nervous about it fitting and looking good on me. But I know you're all wishing me luck.

I'm also on the second BMP sock, whose tension is much much better now that I know how to do stranded colorwork.

And today I got a ball of teal superwash Cascade for a cousin's girlfriend's mittens for Christmas.. and some black superwash for my father's Christmas scarf. Oh, and another ball of the MC of the sweater, because I'm afraid I won't have enough.

Sorry for the brevity, I just noticed I hadn't posted in awhile and would give you all an update!

FO: Malabolero

Pattern: Ribbed Lace Bolero by Kelly Maher
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in a green/yellow
Needles: US9 and US6 circulars
Started: June 19, 2008
Finished: July 22, 2008































Notes: So knitting this.. at least for the first half, bored me to death. I'm thinking it was mostly because it was a very easy, memorizable pattern, but I wasn't quite used to doing the purl tbl, so it was taking longer. Eh! This one was definitely for the product, not the process. Having finished it, though, I can say it'd probably go smoothly if I wanted to make another!

The yarn, now, was amazing. 100% merino wool, delightfully soft and in a color I adore! The color is best in the 2nd picture, I apologize for not getting better pics. It's kinda tough when you're having somebody else take pictures for you and you try to explain that you want the picture to show detail while also showing how it looks on you. Ah, well!~

End Result: I really like this! I've worn it a couple of times already, even though it made me sweat just a tad bit.

Space Invadas!

I've been doing really well on the Space Invaders sock, I think. I did some pretty tight floats on the first few rows of aliens, but the last few look pretty stellar. I'm getting the hang of this stranded knitting thing. It feels really good to conquer something new in the land of knitting. What else do I have left to conquer.. intricate lace (sorta), intarsia, uhhh.. stuff. Really when you have the basics down, the more complicated stuff is really the same, just MORE. Cables, stranded, lace. Anyway.

I've reached the stockinette stretch on the Bohus sweater. It's just a wee bit mind-numbing. I don't even have decreases every four rows anymore. And four more inches to go! Oh the horror. But it's a nice diversion from the idea of a steek down the road.

I also found out that my friend has a sewing machine that I can take advantage of for the steeking part, hooray! And she's moving two doors down from me this weekend. How fab. I was worried I was going to have to do it by hand or something.

Also, I've started a Columbus, Indiana group on Ravelry! Everybody's pretty excited about it, hehe.

I'll come up with some pictures and fun FO posts soon.

Bountiful Bohu-SUCK

I finished the bolero! Finally! I might've accidentally not blocked it, but that's okay, because.. it's mine.

Last night, however, I cried over my knitting. I decided to binge a bit on yarn to make the Bountiful Bohus pattern in the More Big Girl Knits book, since I saved myself cash monies this year in school.

I'm a bit afraid of this pattern, because it requires steeking up the middle at the end, which not even my LYS owner has done, but what the hell. I'll try it. I bought the yarn, my beloved Cascade 220, in a dark red/brown heathery thing, and goldenrod and grey for the colorwork. I begin knitting.

I cast on the 256 stitches required for my size, which is a pain in the ass in itself, but I count and double count and I go. I knit. I knit a few rounds. And then. I realize there is a twist in the work. Hmm. HMM. I haven't had a twist in my knitting since my very first project, my Harry Potter scarf. But I shrug it off, rip it out, and cast on again.

I barely get past the first row.. another twist? ANOTHER. TWIST. Okay, okay, get ahold of yourself. It's circular knitting. I've been doing this for almost a year. My first project, I did this. I'm a grown-up. I whimper a bit, but I rip out and cast on again.

This time I am meticulous. Every stitch, I watch, as it slides from the left to the right. Left to right.. left to right.. left to right. Stitch by stitch. This time, this time it will be good. Purl purl knit knit purl purl knit knit knit knit. Over and over. I get to the end of the round and..
and..
A TWIST.

Repeat this past paragraph once more, only much more slowly.

Friends, I am not a weak person. I have dealt with many difficult things in my short life, and despite a little anxiety problem, I'm not batshit crazy. In fact, I'm a more enjoyable person than many people I know.

However. Four twists in a row? I'm not ashamed to say.. I cried. I cried and I cursed. My 3 month old puppy looked at me with big round eyes from his corner of the couch, ready to bolt at any second. It was a very tense night here at the Interlooping household. I slept with my face mashed into the pillow in hopes that I might suffocate. I woke up feeling like I had a hangover.

BUT. I decided this morning to do a simple knit round before starting the pattern rounds. Somehow this simple act saved me from knitterly damnation. Why didn't I think of this before? I don't know. I'm embarrassed for me too.

And now.. so far so good. Send me some brains, please.

Rush is on the Colbert Report!

Rush's first American TV appearance in over 30 years is the Colbert Report! That's awesome. Are there more talented musicians in the world? You decide.

Also, I just found out my whole tuition plus some is completely paid for this year by scholarships and grants. I've got my counselor's scholarship (which I got 'cause I'm smart) and an AC grant (also 'cause I'm smart) and then the O'bannon and Pell grants, which I got 'cause.. I'm poor? I can't really figure it out. I suppose because I live on my own now.

Anyway, yeah, knitting. I haz been doin lots. No classes until August 20th, and an amazing 10 HOURS A WEEK WORKING, during which I can knit. Typically I work a good bit more, there was some weirdness with my work study. We're doing okay, don't worry. DON'T. WORRY.

I finally sewed the Wheelie on my SO's new car. I'll give it a proper FO post in a bit. For such a tiny bit of knitting, it caused so much pain.

I also 'finished' the second twin blanket, which does not have the ends woven in just yet. I'll do a double FO post for them when y'know.. I have the ends.. woven in. Oh yeah, and I never did the edging on the first one. Really, I did not enjoy knitting these. Acrylic yarn (not my choice) held double so it's extra thick and un-drapey.. ehhh not my thing.

As for what I'm working on right now.. I'm on the last stretch of this Ribbed Lace Bolero that I started over a month ago. Maybe two months. Three? Who knows. The yarn for it is delicious, Malabrigo. I don't know why it took so long, the pattern is really easy. Maybe that's why it took so long. I do get bored, but it at least helped me streamline my purl tbl.

Also, I love the color.
















The project I'm just beginning, now, is a pair of Space Invader socks for the fiancee. It's my first stranded knitting, so it's sucking a little bit. I'm using the two-handed method, which I've found it working a lot better for me. I tried them both on my left hand at first, but they got reeeally tangled. I've also decided not to weave in floats. I have a very good reason for this, which nobody will be able to refute: I don't want to.

I did some too tight when I started the white aliens, but this is going to be a good learning experience. And SOMEBODY has been on my ass about knitting these for months, so here we go.






























Now I think I'll go work on those. Wish me luck.

Knitting: Even Better With Friends!

Yesterday I filled up my knitting bag and trucked it over to my buddy's house. Knitting with a friend (or more) is always so enjoyable to me. My non-knitting friends mock me for just sitting around doing the same thing with other people that I do at home, but really, you guys get it, right?

Nobody's pissed that you're knitting while they're talking; you can all carry on conversations.

If your lips are silently moving, and you don't respond to any query, it's as good as a Do Not Disturb sign.

Having to frog is understood to be anywhere from a troubling to heartbreaking endeavor, and commiseration can almost always be counted on.

A dropped stitch is a PROBLEM. Knitters will not squint at your work and go "I don't see anything wrong, why are you freaking out?"

Paying 20+ dollars for a ball of yarn is not seen as insane.

All of these perks and more, from sitting in a room with other people who wiggle sticks together with yarn and make shit. Really, you can even get these benefits cross-tool: crocheters also have an innate fiberly understanding, even if they know not what you do.

Speaking of crocheters, one of my crocheting buddies might be coming with me to the yarn store this Saturday. I'm really psyched, as before we haven't really done much yarny stuff together. Her boyfriend might even finally consent to letting me teach him to knit. He's been teasing me, asking me to teach him and then protesting when I try. I WILL GET HIM YET. The wooly fumes at the yarn shop will surely win him over.

I've had the desire to try out the hook myself lately. I learned a single crochet, but that's about it. I want to make those adorable amigurumi toys and place them strategically all over my home. This is a normal desire.

However, for now, too many knitterly things to be working with. This nap-inducing blankie, the space invader socks, finishing this shrug, and the lace shawl.. ohh my.

I've also been entertaining ideas of selling things on Etsy. I see so many things on there that I could easily knit myself going for way more than I would think reasonable. Hmmm.