HSKS Swap Week 1

I really should start a different blog for these swaps...although this doesn't get any traffic as it is, so I suppose it doesn't really matter...unless of course my regular readers (all one of them....HI MOM!) get annoyed with these. But moving on.

I'm part of the Hogwarts Super Kit Swap (or HSKS) again this time. It's pretty friggen awesome. And gives me something to do while I sit around, twiddling my thumbs, waiting for people to get off their butts and get to my paperwork...but I digress.

Week 1 assignments are already up and for this week we're supposed to get to know each other a little bit. So, while I go stalk get to know my fellow swapees, here are some tidbits about me. In bulletin style! And yes, the answers are congruent with questions posted by the mods.

1. I knit, a lot. I would try crochet, but I can't be bothered to learn it, and really, if I started another craft my husband would kill me.
   
2. I was born on June 6th.
   
3. (Someone from a different country.) Does being born and raised for 12 yrs in Germany count? Maybe?
   
4. (A new HSKS Family member.) I'm not really new.
   
5. (Someone who has been in 3 or more HSKS swaps.) It's only been 2 for far.
   
6. My yarn stash is kind of small...ish. I need to get another tub actually to fit all the skeins that are flying around the room. Although if you ask DH, he'll tell you that I have more then enough yarn to last me for the rest of our natural lives. But what does he know?
   
7. Well, as stated in Question 1, I don't crochet.
   
8. I have lots of favorite colors. But my top choice is always Blue. But followed right behind are Green, Gray, Brown, Pink, Red, Black (ooh, pretty colors)
   
9. My favorite season is Summer. It's nice and warm, and you get tans, and you can wear skirts, and go swimming without freezing. But my favorite Holiday is Christmas (since my Birthday isn't a holiday...yet). Everyone is full of cheer, and glowyness, and warmth, and I love the Christmas lights/displays that everyone puts up.
   
10. I like all fibers. Well, natural fibers at least.
    

I've gotten into spinning this past year. Although all my plied yarns unravel just a little bit so you have this strange spun/not-spun thing going on. I also love books, but most of them have only torn pieces of paper stuck between the pages 'cause I'm short on book marks *hint, hint*. My favorite books are Fantasy; especially the Vampire related ones. But not the sparkly, vegetarian type of vampires. I'm talking kill-you-if-the-can vampires, and drink blood vampires, like Dracula.
I drink coffee on a regular basis and probably have more caffeine in my blood stream then blood. I also rather like chocolate.

That's pretty much everything interesting that I can think of. I could ramble on and on, but I'm thinking this post is long enough...and my tummy is rumbley for dinner.

What's with all the skinny bitches?

I decided to take the plunge and knit a cardigan. I had a pattern all lined up already, thanks to my Mom and her ever growing stack of knitting magazines, but when I looked at it I thought that maybe I could locate something that was a bit different (the sleeves looked too short for my taste, and the jacket could have been a bit longer too. And yes, I know that I can always alter the pattern a little so it's the way I want, but that's not the point of this blog.) So having decided that I would rather look for another pattern I pulled out my few knitting books that aren't socks, and I happily flipped through them to look for something I might like.
All the patterns were wonderful, but nothing was really knit in the yarn weight I already had but I noticed in one of the books that all the models were these amazingly skinny girls. Like the "I can fit into a size 2 pants" kind of skinny. Wtf?!
At a size 8 I consider myself to be on the average side of things and don't really have to worry about sizing issues with knitwear, but it's still annoying to see something on a model think "oh that is really cute!" and then realize that the reason it is cute is because it's on a beanpole of a girl and that once you add regular womanly curves to it the whole garment turns into something that isn't half as cute as the picture shows.
Or am I the only one that thinks that way?

In other news, my Mom created her first fingerless glove pattern (it shall be on sale in her etsy shop soon) and currently I'm test knitting a pair for her to make sure the pattern is understandable. I rather like test knitting. Make me feel like I'm in the loop. xD Pictures to be posted soon.
Also, the cardigan is slowly coming along. So. Much. Stockinette!! *headdesk*

Ravelympics results

I'm not sure how the results for the Ravelympics works, and I don't really care either. I had fun and that is all that matters to me. =)

I had been down to the wire on my last project, fingerless mitts for my sister-in-law, and I would have made the dead line for 3 more events if only I hadn't been asked to babysit at the last friggin' minute. Any knitting that I had planned to accomplish pretty much went out the window. I was rather pissed. But here are the projects that I did manage to enter on time. And I got spiffeh little avatars for them too. =3

For Felting Freestyle some awesome French Press Felted Slippers. I love these things. I wear them all the time...even if they were supposed to be a gift. Oh well.





For Sock Hockey and Lace Luge I made the Lily of the Valley socks. That's right, two events, one project. You all already know how well that went. *grumbles* But they're finished and look wonderful.
The picture looks a bit silly because the socks are made for a medium sized foot (mine) and the manikin feet are a size small...hence the little floppy bit by the toe.






And the wonderful Odessa Hat that my friend Pinky ended up getting. =) I really like this pattern and am thinking about making it again soon. God knows I have enough beads for at least 2 more.



Also, last but not least I want to show off my latest love affair, Harvey. My slightly neurotic looking fox pup.

I'm not selfish, just picky

My friend Cierra and I went Swing Dancing on Tuesday. She came over my house so we could car-pool to the ballroom and she spotted my Felted Slippers. "So when am I going to get a pair?" she asked as soon as she put them on her feet, wiggling her toes around and strutting back and forth in my bedroom. "Whenever I get around to it," I replied as I rummaged around for the Odessa hat I had made for her (it was my beaded projects for the ravelympics). When I gave it to her she did a happy little squeal, jammed it over her head and walked around my house petting the hat every few minutes. And that is when I knew that I had found someone (besides my Mom) who would appreciate and actually wear anything knitted that I would present to them.

I have my own little one-time-your-out rule when it comes to knitting. I will knit everyone at least one thing; a hat, a scarf, socks, slippers, something that doesn't take a ton of time or money to make. If I don't see them using it a few times I will not knit for them again. Not because I don't love them, or because I wouldn't enjoy knitting for them, but I don't see the point in spending hours knitting for someone only to see the item sit in some drawer for the rest of forever.

I wouldn't say that I am selfish in my knitting, I'm just picky, very picky.

Ravelympics, part 1

The ravelympics are going on at Ravelry right now. Basically knitters and crocheters try to get as many self picked projects done in the 17 days that the regular Olympics take place. Each project can be tagged under one or more "events" and you can even join teams if you want, or be a lone wolf. This is my first time take part in the ravelympics and I am a proud member of Team S.P.E.W. The first project that I am trying to get done in record time is the Lily of the Valley sock pattern, in a very pretty blue colorway called Mermaid. Here is how that sock is going so far:

Day one: Cast on...wrong number of stitches.
Cast on yet again, take sip of wine, start knitting.
Get to the first part of the billion and two lace instructions (the cuff).
Finish the cuff in record time, get another glass of wine.
Switch back to first page to read up on "Horizontal Braid" instruction.
Get confused, drink wine, complain to mother, attempt to find help on Ravelry, set knitting down with a frustrated huff and go to bed.

Day two: Stretch and pick knitting back up.
Follow Horizontal Braid direction carefully, smacking self in forehead when realizing that the instructions are super simple.
Start on the leg instruction, feeling incredibly optimistic.
Realize that I forgot 2 rows on the cuff instructions.
Tink (unknit) while grumbling to self.
Finish the cuff this time all the way.
Work on leg instructions, again.
Mess up on row 3 of leg, unknit.
Mess up again on row 3, unknit yet again, glaring at yarn the whole time.
Start on row 4, realize I've lost 3 stitches along the way, and frog the whole f-ing thing.
Grab glass of wine, and cast on to the whole thing again on DPN's this time around.

I'm hope that this will make everything easier. Since the pattern, erm, called for DPN's in the first place. But hey, I looked at it figuring that if I just place markers I could pretend I'm working with 5 DPN's instead of one circ and call it a day. After all, how hard could that be?

Imma spinnin' fool

Just before Christmas last year I learned how to spin, I even took a class at my LYS and for Christmas my mother got me two spindles, and some roving (which is sitting in a air tight container because it's too precious to do anything with yet), and I've been spinning like there is no tomorrow.

My Mom and I even spent an hour on etsy looking for more roving after I had run out of the super soft merino super wash I had bought from Alpaca Direct. We found really nice roving from a seller called Fiber Yummy. Every time I spin with it it makes me giggle. Not only is the color very nice, but it separates easily for an even yarn (I'm a new spinner so the concept of a producing an even yarn is new to me). And even spun up it looks really nice, wonderful transition between a strange grayish color, lavender, and green. I can't wait to get done spinning it so I can knit it into something. Too bad there are things like sleep, eating, human interaction, and other that are preventing me from just sitting at home and spin.

In other linky news (since this post is full of links, and I like even numbers) a friend of mine has shown me a very funny online cat comic, The Lumps . The comics don't really follow any sort of time line, so you can jump in whenever. Basically it's about two cats brothers, Ebenezer and Snooch, and the little antics they get into. It's cute. Look at it.

Now I'm going back to working on my spinning. I'm sure I can spin and still carry on a conversation with my Mom over the internet. I mean, how hard can it possibly be?

The Project

Last year for Christmas my mother bought me a 365 knitting stitches a year calender. I love that thing. Every day it shows you a picture of a new knitting stitch with the instructions on the side. Lil' old me thought, "I should make a swatch every day and at the end of the year put it all together for a blanket!" What did I do? I made about 20 little swatches and then gave up.
But not this year!
I'm am determined to make a blanket using this calender and nothing is going to stop me. Well...the last 15 days that I haven't been knitting might, but I'm keeping an optimistic view on all this, and will have a nice blanket to cuddle up with by the end of the year.
Hopefully....