little ms. fickle

So I took Diamonique apart...two times. One of which was after I had knitted about 14 inches of it. I can't tell if I'm just a lunatic, or if I just don't care for how this pattern is written. I am willing to accept that it could be both.

After the second deconstruction, I decided to hold off on it for a week or so. One, because I got the yarn I was waiting for & need my #5 needles to finish the baby blanket. And two, because Heather is fantastic & will be sending me more of the yarn for Diamonique so I don't run out mid project (as I so often do these days).

The baby blanket is so close to being done, I can almost taste it! Of course, then there is the sewing...

Also, Orangina v.2.0 is back on the needles. I've decided to make it two sizes smaller than my first. I'm determined to complete this in under a month. My last one I managed to do in that time, so this one should be manageable considering it's smaller.

Hopefully, I'll have photos of finished products to post soon.

Rinse, Wash, Repeat

Alright, now the baby blanket & the zapatista doll are on the back burner for yarn supply related issues. (I really need to learn to plan those things ahead of time) I don't have it in me to re-start orangina yet, so Diamonique has been put on the needles.

Actually, to be acurate, it's been re-added to the needles. I started it sunday, then took it apart sunday night after I realized a mistake made at the beginning. I was too afraid it would mess with the pattern if I forged ahead. I even checked my guage on this one! That's a first. (I think that means I'm becoming one of those fancy knitters.)

In the interest of stash busting, I'm knitting this pattern in Caron "Super Soft". It's a cheap yarn, but really soft. Besides, my wardrobe is severly lacking in the electric blue department.

In other knitting related news, my mother is getting me Denise Interchangeable needles for my birthday! I will definitly miss knitting with bamboos. However, the biggest benefit of this, as I see it anyway, is being able to snap my needles off the cords and just pop it onto another cord while I put projects on hold. Anyway, my birthday needs to happen quicker for this reason & this reason only.

New Projects

I got to knit with Heather this evening & I must say it was quite lovely. There's something more enjoyable about knitting with a friend. I was quite happy with the amount of knitting I completed today on my zapatista doll. I'm getting really anxious to get it done because I want to use those needles to get crackin' on my orangina v.2.0.

I don't know what my problem is lately though. I've become a rather restless knitter & four projects in the works seems boring to me.

I know what you're thinking- I need to get out more, right? Well I've thought of that too. And I've also thought about what fabulous knitted pieces I want to be wearing when I go out in this lovely spring weather.

And here's what I've got my eyes on...
.Cleo, which is more of summer wear but might as well get it done in time to be able to wear it.
.The Lelah Top, which to be honest I wouldn't have thought of doing if I had seen how beautiful this version was. Besides, it would be a really good stash buster.
.I am also just a few clicks away from breaking down & buying the jems patterns. I haven't purchased patterns in quite some time, so I think I'm due.

Also, picking up stitches is my least favorite thing to do in knitting; hands down.

plain janes

So I finished my plain janes! I really liked this pattern. Besides the end product being really cute, I used some of my leftover stash & I learned a few new techniques along the way:
1. This was my first time turning a heel. Easy as pie!
2. I finally tried the technique where you slip the first stitch of each row so your ends come out straighter. Heather is always telling me to do it, but I always forget. (I'm a creature of habit) But I really liked how neat the edges came out, so I'll have to get in the habit of doing that.
3. I learned the "three needle bind off". Crazy Aunt Purl has a really good tutorial for it.

Knowing these techniques will make my zapatista doll a hell of a lot easier. Oh, and I used these duck buttons I've had lying around for quite some time too.
I couldn't get a good picture of them. I'm not sure if it's my camera that sucks, or my photography skills. But hopefully this is something that this blog will inspire me to improve.

Speaking of things that I've had lying around for some time...I'm trying to be good & not buy crafting materials unless I have a specific project in mind for the product. I find cute & beautiful things, and they accumulate in my house. This is why I have an entire drawer full of fabric that I have to find ways to use. Who am I kidding? I have drawers (plural) full of a lot of stuff that I need to start inventing uses for. I got a wake up call on this when I cleaned out my crafting stuff. And my partner keeps yelling at me for stealing all of our bowls, which I place all over the house full to the brim with parts of my yarn stash. Apparantly, these bowls are intended for cooking or some such nonsense.

April & I have had talk of doing a "craft supply swap" in the near future. I think that would be a hell of a good time. Also, there is talk of a garment construction class at Year of the Goat which I am pretty pumped about. (And by the way, if that class sounds like something you'd be down for, let me know or stop by the shop & talk to Melissa)

So much knitting, so little time

Day two of being back to work, and oh how I miss my vacation. I even got the opportunity to re-organize my crafting stuff. It's not much, but I'm pretty happy with it in my humble abode.

I actually had to do a major dust-off of my sewing machine. Oh, for shame. When I got it about a year and a half ago, I swore I would sew constantly. Truth be told, I'm kind of intimidated by garment construction. But then again, I used to be super intimidated by knitting, so I really just need to dive in.

Speaking of sewing, I am about 2/3 done with the knitting for wild stripes and then it's on to detailing, blocking, and sewing on the back. However, I've sort of put the project on the back burner for now. Partly because I'm just sort of sick of stockinette stitch, but also because I'm going to see about getting more of that yarn I had run out of. Whatever man, the baby isn't due till July. I've got time.

Instead, I've been working on my Zapatista doll. This is her back and one of her legs. Whilst reading ahead on the pattern I am modifying for it, I realized I'm going to have to "turn her heel." Being a relatively new knitter, this is unexplored territory for me. Sometimes I get lost in my own ambitions. I kind of felt as though I should have made socks first or something. But the wild woman in me says that's just silly and people learn steps in a different order. We shall see, I guess. It's always the idea of things that intimidate me, not the actions themselves once I get to them.

Bearing that in mind, I also cast on some maryjane slippers today too. It's not that I need more slippers persay. It's my partner that needs his own slippers, because he's always swiping mine. But I found this pattern before I came across a set for him that I really liked.

And finally...there's the orangina situation. This was my first lace knitting project, and I was really proud of how quickly I completed it. Trouble is, I somehow managed to make it about two sizes too big! I blame this not only on my skewed body image perception, but also on my resistance to being one of those knitters who does practical things- like checking their guage.


I asked for feedback from an on-line knitting community, and the overwhelming response was that I should leave it as is and embrace the off-the-shoulders look. But it was just way too big for that & slipped off entirely too much. I also tried sewing up some of shoulders a bit, which made it stay on more, but I'm still not thrilled with it. So I am again considering starting it over. In fact, I feel certain that's what I want to do. I know that sounds crazy, but I'd rather do it over then do a piss poor patch up job & then never really wear it. It's too beautiful for that!I need a living situation that allows me to pay my way in knitting.

a crafter's dilema

Oh, how I obsess. I am knitting this baby blanket for a co-worker. The colors aren't entirely accurate in this picture. It's bright & beautiful. (I hate when people overload babies with pastel crap. Kids need color in their lives.)

Trouble is, when I ordered my yarn from knitpicks they were out of the "asparagus" color, so I substituted it for a very similar yarn from my local yarn shop. Problem is, I'm pretty sure I am not going to have enough of this particular yarn to finish the project. The shop is out of this yarn & does not expect to get it in any time soon. Because I choose to purchase locally, it's not a yarn that is available over the internet or at a chain store such as Michaels. I could very well just order the asparagus from knitpicks, because now they have it. But here's the crafters dilema...

Do I start using this new yarn knowing that it will be different from the yarn I've been using thus far? Because that would bug the crap out of me. But as is most often the case, I'm making it for someone who's not a crafter, and would probably not even notice the difference!

But once I gave it to them, I just know that every time it's referenced or shown I will have to point out the discrepency like a forming pimple that I am just sure everyone is staring at. People who don't craft don't have these problems! But me, I lay in bed at night playing this stuff out in my head.

So even though this blanket is a boooring knit, I've been working on it obsessively so I can come to a conclusion about this dilema. Also, I have about 4 other knitting projects that I have lined up for those size needles. (Now that is when you know you are obsessed.)

Happy Spring Knitting

So my new knitting related obsession is knitted toys, and this little guy was my first experiment.

I made him using scrap yarns in just a few hours, with a pattern from Knitted Toys, by Fiona McTague.

I have several other things on the needles right now, including two blankets and a zapatista doll so hopefully more pictures will be coming soon.