Mad for Knitting

VICTORY!

2008-03-30T14:15:00.002-04:00

Ok, not strictly knitting-related, but I am SO HAPPY right now.

Guess why. Go on.

Ok-- I'm happy because WE WON STATE! WE WON STATE! Science Olympiad in Indiana is really ridiculously competitive, and we lost our amazing coach last year and yet we still won!! I was knitting all through awards to take the edge off (the suspense is absolutely terrible) and one of my event partners laughed at me. What can I say, it's stress relief!

So anyway, we're going to be going to nationals in Washington, D.C. in May, and man. Wow. We're all ecstatic.

Ok, well, knitting content... I'm going to make a couple of sets of hot pads/oven mitts from this great knitpicks pattern. I got the yarn for them a few weeks ago, and I'm excited to make them-- I think it's because it's nice, 100% pretty wool. Mmm, oh knitpicks, how I love you.

First post of March!

2008-03-26T22:03:00.000-04:00

Interestingly enough, it's actually 5 days before the end of March.

Oops.

Well, I am horrendously busy. (And thus it makes perfect sense that this is the time I update my blog. My logic is infallible, do not question it.) The Science Olympiad state competition is coming up, and my nerves are strung out like... I don't even know what. My nerves are strung out like the yarn of a person who's knitting at 10 stitches to the inch on size fifteen needles. (Hey look, I even worked knitting in there!)

I suppose since this is a knitting blog, I ought to give you some knitting content. Since I'm feeling a bit out of sorts, I think I shall give you something that's a bit out of sorts with knitting... Crocheted hearts! I crocheted a whoppin' 20 hearts (1 not pictured) and made magnets out of them by cutting up dentist magnets and hot-gluing them to the back. Most of them went to friends, and the remainder go out to people to whom I'm feeling grateful at a certain moment.

My active WIP right now is a pair of socks from Trekking yarn in an orange and blue colorway. I knit the first sock in about a week, but the second has been on the needles for over a month-- I hate the heel flap! (original typo: hell flap, hehe) I do the "sturdy heel"--y'know, slip 1 knit one, on the first row, then slip the first stitch, purl the rest on the second row? It gets all weird and one side of it is looser than the other. Does anyone else have that problem?

A picture of the sock: (from my pics on Ravelry. Because I'm just that lazy.)

Ok. I have procrastinated sufficiently. I'm going to study sleep now. (Unfortunately, that is not a clever way of saying that I'm going to go hop into bed and get some rest. I means I'm going to study theories on the purpose of sleep, sleep stages, dangers of sleep deprivation--ironically--, etc. Bleh.)

Oh dear

2008-02-26T00:10:00.001-05:00

So I've been a terrible blogger. I started this blog in November and as of now, I have what? Four posts on it? Yes.

Well, I've been tagged with the 7-random-things meme, and since there is research on Cortes to be done tonight and I absolutely positively without a doubt DO NOT WANT TO DO IT, I shall post this instead:

1. I... am a knitter! (No way, right? There's nothing on this blog that would even remotely imply that I have that hobby...) I spend inordinate amounts of time dreaming of needles and yarn and the fantastic things to make with them. And Ravelry has become such big part of my life (and such a time suck) that it's my Lent sacrifice. (*sadness*)

2. I am gigantically, enormously, fantastically nerdy. And yet I shout "NERD!" at my friends when they get excited about something like astronomy or herpetology. (But really, I don't care about white dwarfs or the fact that toads have thick, warty skin. Now listen to me tell you about Harry the Happy Hemoglobin!)

3. It is 12:17 AM. "This isn't a statement about you as a person!" you say. Actually... Yes it is. I have to be up at 6 in the morning tomorrow, and I am writing this instead of doing my stupid research for Cortes. 'Nuff said.

4. I love Monty Python (Flying Circus... haven't seen their movies, except for Holy Grail. Oh well.) and British comedy in general. Seeing the number 42 makes me rejoice. And B*lgium is a terrible, filthy, disgusting swear word. :)

5. I play the French horn. (Note that "playing" and "practicing diligently" are two different things.)

6. Chocolate makes me very, very happy.

7. Hmm, last one. Seven is my lucky number.

There. I need to post with some pictures... maybe I'll post a pic of the ~15 hearts I crocheted for various friends for Valentine's Day. (Fridge magnets are pretty fun, too.)

This meme ends with me, unfortunately; I don't have the energy to pick out people and let them know for this 7-questions deal.

Suffering Sudden Symptoms of Startitis

2007-12-06T23:57:00.001-05:00

I have this disease baaad right now. I need to just bite the bullet and finish my gift knitting. "Why, Christmas knitting?" you ask innocently.

Well... no. It is BIRTHDAY KNITTING, from a MAY birthday. And one in November, so that's not too bad yet. And then there are the aforementioned Christmas socks, but that's all I think I'm knitting for Christmas gifts this year.

Tomorrow I'm going to have a picture-taking spree of the stuff I've been working on and my beeeautiful birthday present. I'll also be showing the cap (Headline News from SnB Nation) that has been going at lightning speed so far (cast it on yesterday and I'm halfway through the brim now. All that remains to be done is the rest of the brim and sewing in the plastic that keeps it stiff. *excitement!*)

Until then, adieu!

HAPPINESS!

2007-11-25T00:13:00.000-05:00

Somebody has started knitting the armwarmers pattern! A person who I have never met and whom I know nothing about has deemed my pattern worthy enough to use it to make something. This is so cool. I can't wait to see what they do with it!

I really don't have much other news in the world of knitting. Despite the fact that I have spent hours and hours doing stuff *related* to knitting over the last few days, I have done very little manipulation of sticks and string. Ravelry is taking over my free time, and the more days go by, the more I seem to lose track of how I managed without it.

However, today I finished the cuff on the second of Mom's Christmas socks. (1st sock finished pic shamelessly lifted off my Ravelry project pictures)
This blogger thing for pictures is getting really annoying; I can't seem to position pictures so that they're where I want them, and so the text is right. Oh well, I suppose I'll figure it out eventually.

Pattern: Fingerless Gloves

2007-11-23T14:05:00.002-05:00

My friend Thea loves bright colors but always dresses in black. Her hands also get ridiculously cold, so for her birthday I decided to knit her a pair of black fingerless gloves with thin stripes of bright colors. I couldn't find a pattern I liked, so I decided to make one up (something I hate doing, by the way-- I LIKE having a concrete pattern to follow!)

They were finally finished and given to her about 9 months after her birthday. Despite this, she loves them and wears them all the time.

With that, I give you black striped fingerless gloves!

Black Striped Fingerless Gloves:

Yarn: Lion Brand Microspun
1 ball "ebony"
5 yards each "turqoise," "purple," "fuchsia," "royal blue," "buttercup," and "lime"
This yarn is really soft and really cheap. It splits easily, which can be annoying, but it yields a beautiful finished project.

Needles: Size 2 (not super-critical because the ribbing gives you a fair bit of leeway, but you want needles significantly smaller than the yarn recommendation so that the gloves end up neat and tight. If you use a significantly bigger size, you run the risk of making the stripes look sloppier.)

Notes: The color sequence is reversed on the second glove at Thea's request.

Stitch Pattern: Round 1: K3, P3 repeat to end of round
Round 2: K1, P1 repeat to end of round

CO 42 sts on 3 DPN's, join into a round.

Cuff: Work st. pattern to desired length until thumb gusset, I had 40 rounds. My stripes are spaced 8 rounds apart, with 2 rounds per stripe.

Gusset:
Round 1: Work the 41st round until there are 7 sts left on the last needle. Place marker, P1, make 1, K3, make 1, P1, place marker, work remaining 2 st in the stitch pattern.
Rounds 2 and 3: Work as established. Round 4: Work to first marker, slip marker, P1, make 1, K5, make 1, P1, work the remaining two sts in the stitch pattern. Work rounds 2-4 four times total. (increasing the number of knit stitches in between the purl gusset stitches as established).

Work 1 round even. On the next round, bind off all of the knitted stitches of the gusset.

On the next round, CO 3 stitches over the bound off section.

Work established pattern for 9 more rounds (or to desired length) and bind off.

Weave in all ends.

Pilot

2007-11-23T13:23:00.000-05:00

Well, it's the first post of my brand new knitting blog! I've been wanting to make one for awhile, but could never quite get around that sensible voice in my head that says I already spend way too much time on the computer. However, the incredibly power of Ravelry has bulldozed over that little voice and here it is!

A little about me: I'm in high school, which gives me an ideal opportunity to spread the joy of knitting! I both knit and crochet, but I have crocheted a total of one project in the last 2 or 3 years. Aaand my favorite colors are in the red-pink color family, the primary one being coral.

I love to read, and I have a slightly addiction-prone personality; it has gotten to the point where I don't get myself new computer games anymore because I'll sit and play them for hours, neglecting duties. This may be why Ravelry is so phenomenally bad for me. :)

With that done, I shall ask a question: what is a knitting blog without some pictures? I've chosen to start out with this long-completed project:

This is my Gryffindor scarf... You know how some projects take special significance because of the places or times you knit on them? I knit on this scarf at the state competition of Science Olympiad. One entire section was knit during the incredibly nervewracking award ceremonies... and the scarf was there when we won first in the state. This thing has a lot of good energy in it.

With that I leave you!