What's going on in the knitting world of Nancy

1. My current Main project is the Sunny Cables and Crowns Blanket. It's a bright yellow number from Our Best Knit Afghans (which the other three blankets I have posted have been from). I am knitting it for The Lowell Wish Project. I decided to knit it using Lion Brand's Pound of Love, as I wouldn't have to worry about adding on new skeins of yarn. This turned out to be a less than good idea as the cables don't show up very well. I'm hoping in vain that it might turn out nicer after it's been washed. Still, it feels great to be able to do cables again. I don't know what it is about adding that extra needle that makes things so much fun. Anyway, I'm trying to devote an hour or two to it a day because it's taking A LONG time to knit. Today was a bust, as certain stressful situations caused me to only concentrate on knitting for about a half hour.

2. My projects on hold are the baby hat I posted in the last entry (the pink and blue one, I'm renaming it The Cotton Candy Hat). Why is this on hold when it's practically done? See, I made a trip to NYC a little while ago and somehow in transit, I lost one of my DPNs. Now I'm going to have to purchase a whole set of new ones, which makes me grumpy.

I have also started a Log Cabin Blanket. It's not much so far, but once I finish the baby blanket, I hope to buy some new yarn for it at add on to it. I'm using Lion Brand Cotton Ease, because I like the washable aspect of the yarn. This will be the first blanket that I've knit for myself and I want the sucker to be big. As big as looks appropriate. I'm going to need something to keep me warm this winter. But I have a feeling this won't be finished any time soon. And why is that?

3. Because of my future projects. I hope to knit for a few people this Christmas (probably just my long time friends). Also, I signed up for Secret of the Stole. I know that it's probably way too complex for little me but I've been oohing and aahing over The Mystery Stole 3 for weeks now. I want to join in on the fun!

FO galore and how I learned to stop fearing DPNs (+ one UFO)

So I've been away for a while. Since my last entry I have acquired yarn for my birthday, finished knitting the fanciful rose blanket, conquered my fear of DPNs, and finally taken pictures of my Warm up Winchester hats, which I finished about a month ago.

So basically, I got quite a bit done!

My parents came up to visit for my birthday. They took me out for lunch, bought me a few books, and even took me to Michaels to buy me a couple skeins of caron simply soft yarn so I could finish Fanciful Rose. Once I got the yarn I went into a knitting frenzy. As I hadn't done any real knitting for days, it felt so good to finally be working with yarn and needles again. The Fanciful Rose Blanket, much to the surprise of my boyfriend, was finished up in mere days. I really like the blanket. You can't really really tell from his angle, but it's much more square than the seashells blanket. It was knit using Caron simply soft and will be donated to the Lowell Wish project. Hopefully, I'll be dropping it off at my parents' house this weekend. I'm going to New York City for a weekend, so I will be passing by the area. I hope that I'll have the time to stop by, if just for a minute, but I may have to end up mailing this.

Once I finished the blankets I saw that I had plenty of leftover pink yarn. I decided that I would like to try to knit a baby hat. Not only that, but I wanted to conquer my fear of DPNs. You see, a while ago I tried to knit a pair of socks with these tiny DPNs, using a yarn that looked a hell of a lot prettier in the skein. I found the experience to be a little frustrating, especially because it was my first experience with socks, and doing techniques like picking up stitches. The first sock was finished but the second one was never started because I kept on getting frustrated with the needles. So with the baby hats, I picked up four size seven DPNs that I had lying around and cast on 72 stitches. The experience, although tricky at first, was a lot more fulfilling. In fact, I now really enjoy the DPNs. I don't know if it's because they're larger needles, or because I'm using four instead of five, or that a baby hat is a much less complicated knit than a sock, but I'm happy I made it. I even unraveled the beginnings of a blue blanket I had started (and was seriously dissatisfied with the pattern) so I could make a blue hat. Now I'm working on a third baby hat and using fair isle knitting for the first time. Granted, it's very simple fair isle knitting but hey! Color work!


These hats will probably be added to my mom's baby baskets for the Lowell Wish Project. I figure if she doesn't have any room for them, I can always find another charity that might want them.

Something else that I got accomplished in is I finally took time to take pictures of the two hats I knit for WarmupWinc. These aren't as nice, as they are knit on straight needles, but I really like the color. They're knit in Lion Brand Wool ease and fit me fine, so I guess they'll fit most women. I hope mod and WarmupWinc finds them to be good enough! Sorry about the shitty pictures. Believe it or not, this is the best shot I can get.

At the moment, I have some more left over pink yarn to make more baby hats. Beyond that, I'm going to have to wait until I get my first paycheck. Another thing I got accomplished recently is I finally got a job. It was supposed to start on August 13th, but the training got pushed back a week. Looks like I'm going to have a little while before I can buy yarn!

Strangely enough, I'm thinking about working on Christmas projects already!

No yarn for you!

I have a confession to make. I don't really have a yarn stash. I'm the type of person that only buys yarn when I have a project in mind. This is usually a good thing, as I never end up spending too much money on a yarn splurge. My "stash" actually consists of left over yarn from past projects. I have half of skein of blue yarn from the Sleepytime Seashells Blanket. I have most of a skein of red heart simply soft left over from the Irish hiking scarf I knit back in april. I have some chunky gray yarn from a scarf I knit Tanner. I have a big spool of Cotton yarn from when I wanted to knit washcloths. I have a couple skeins of yarn that felt really great until you started knitting up (not touching those, ever).

The one drawback to this is when I run out of yarn, I have to go and buy new yarn to finish a project. At the moment? I'm not really overflowing with cash. As a result the fanciful rose blanket is going to be a UFO until I get a job (which should hopefully happen mid-August). I want to start up a hat but I don't have the right needles for it. All of the other great projects I was looking forward to when I got my hurt knitting books? Don't have the yarn or in some cases, the needles.

So at the moment I'm going through a bit of knitting withdrawal. I'm thinking about using that left over blue yarn to start a new blanket called Little Boy Blue. It's more complicated than any of the other blankets I've made and unlike Sleepytime Seashells, it will show mistakes. Still, I realize that I've been grumpy a lot lately, and I think part of the reason I have been is because I've been going through knitting withdrawal. Since I only have half a skein of blue yarn, I know I won't get much of a relief from stress but hey, at least it's knitting.

Getting Started Knitting/Scarf Style

Horray! The Hurt Book Sale Books came in today. To Scraf and Wrap style books don't seem really "hurt" to me, but I'm not complaining. They were pretty cheap! The cover of Getting Started Knitting, on the other hand is showing what looks like signs of sun damage. I don't care as the book is GREAT. Sure a lot of the stuff in the beginning was review to me but it's a great reference book. It has information on things that I have been wondering about for a while, like blocking, knitting in the round, and knitting off of charts, as well as interesting little bits of information like how to make button holes. I read it in bits and pieces throughout the day (it's less than 150 pieces) as a way to de-stress me from my current worries. I haven't knit any of the patterns yet as I want to get the Fanciful Rose blanket finished first (it's coming slowly, I'd like to spend a couple hours on it this afternoon while doing laundry). Here's some of the patterns that caught my eye:

Sunset Strips Scarf- A scarf knit lengthwise. The colors chosen are great but I would like to try one in shades of blue and gray.

The Pillow Case- A decorative knit pillow case. Seeing as we have no need for decorative pillows at the moment (our current living situation is a little rustic), this will have to wait for when Tanner and I eventually move to our own apartment.

Rock and Roll Brim Hat- A wicked cute looking hat knit in the round. It's a quasi-bucket hat that I ALREADY have yarn for, left over from a cabal scarf I knit (for whatever reason) right around the time it got too warm for scarves. All I need to do it buy the needles. This will probably be my first project from the book.

Cable Cap- Although I find the bright-redness of the yarn chosen to be a bit garish, the pattern looks like it will be super-cute in a more subdued pattern. Maybe better in a cream color...

The To-Go Pullover- Probably my first sweater project. Really excited about this one.

Bell of the Ball Cardigan- Looks so soft and comfortable. Probably my second sweater project.

The other patterns are either too simplistic (like the garter stitch scarf) or really not my style. When it comes for knitting for myself (or buying clothes/accessories) I tend to lean away from certain things. The first biggie is BRIGHT ASS COLORS. There's nothing more cheap looking to me than bright headache inducing pink or green. I have nothing against BOLD colors but I'm sorry, I thought we left the day glo colors behind back in the 80s. Another thing that gets me is outfits that look overly trendy. I see nothing wrong with trying to keep in style, but there are just some looks that you can tell are going to get old fast. You know those looks, the ones you look back on and think, dear God what was I thinking?

Well some of these patterns seem to violate either one or two of these rules. The Muppet Scarf is a big example of one that violates both. Nothing against, people who like them, but it just looks very cheap to me. I sometimes worry that in the efforts to make knitting more modern and accessible, people are sometimes buying too much into these fading fast trends. The two pairs of Leg Warmers found in this book are also examples of this. I mean, I know the 80s throwback thing is popular now but I just don't get it.

Call me overly conservative. Call me dull. I'm probably both these things and a bit of a snob on top of that! I'm just not too big on buying into certain trends.

I'll probably stay away from the Fast Favorite Wrap or Poncho, Super Hero Hand Huggers (probably really great for smokers though), Feed Bag, and Half-Square Triangular Shawl as well. They just aren't my style. The Lace Skirt is pretty enough but I don't like the little belt added onto it and I'm not that into showing off my underwear. :)

I don't mean to be too harsh on the patterns. I can only picture myself knitting a few. The ones that I can picture myself knitting make me really excited though. Anyways, this isn't really a book you buy for patterns. This is knitting content book first and foremost and I'm really satisfied with it.


The other books I got were Scarf Style and Wrap Style. I can already tell that Scarf Style is going to be more to my liking but there are a few things I like in Wrap Style as well. Still, for the moment, I'll just focus on Scarf Style. This book is very much the opposite of Getting Started Knitting. It is NOT a beginners book, and it's all about the patterns. Still, I'm sure I can handle it as long as I start out with the simple ones. There's a really wide variety of styles to be found in here. Here are a few that caught my eye:

Bright Stripes- Very similar to "Sunset Stripes Scarf." I'd leave the little bobbles off the end though. I'm not really a fan of bobbles/pompoms on adults for the most part.

Here and There Cabals- I LOVED the cabled scarf I did last spring. This scarf is more complicated but really interesting looking. I hope I get to try this one out first.

Forbes Forest- Nice unique pattern.

Campus Scarf- I really like the style of this scarf but would probably prefer it in a more solid color (or a plaid one with less green).

Zig-zag scarf- Again, minus the bobbles

Interlocking Balloons- Great unisex pattern. I wonder if Tanner would like it...

Misty Garden- Usually I'm not big on shorter scarves but there's something about the color and look of this yarn that makes it very attractive for me.

Vintage Velvet- The photograph for this is very poor but from w hat I can tell it looks like a beautiful cabled scarf.

Backyard Leaves- My FAVORITE of the book. I can't wait until I get better on my chart reading abilities so I can make this.

Midwest Moonlight- Super sweet blue scarf that is just perfect for me.

The others just aren't really my style, are too busy, or I can't really tell if I want to knit them or not. This actually has less to do with my indecisive nature and more to do with the fact that the photography isn't the best in this book. Often we don't get a good luck of the full scarf and sometimes the photos are blurry! There's also a Design Notebook in the back that I'll read when I start knitting the scarves.

Looks like I have plenty of possibilities to distract me from my baby blankets! Eek! Looks like I'll have to make sure I finish Fanciful Rose before I do anything else.

FO

The Sleepytime Seashells Blanket has been finished. Last night I knit up the last few rows and wove in the ends and here is what it looks like! It was a very tricky blanket for me. As someone who knits tightly, knitting four together was quite a challenge. I guess as a positive, I've learned to loosen up a bit with my knitting, which I'm sure will make my mom happy as she's always giving me a hard time about it. Also, you'll notice that this blanket is very rectangular. Nope it wasn't meant to be that way, I just got sick of knitting it so I stopped a few inches too early. I think it looks just fine this way anyway.

But my journey didn't end with finishing off the blanket. Tanner wanted to add in a stuffed animal, so today we went to the mall and visited Hallmark. We found a nice little bag to put it in and an adorable stuffed elephant. Originally, Tanner wanted to get a teddy bear and even seemed skeptical at the thought of grabbing an elephant but once we saw the cute little Gund elephant in Hallmark we knew that we HAD to buy it. After getting lost while trying to find the Dairy Queen, we came home and put the bag together and here's what it looks like.

So I'm throughly satisfied with this knitting endeavor. Yes, there are tons of mistakes in that blanket, yes it was a frustrating experience at times, and yes I had to put a lot of hours in it in a short amount of time just in case the woman gave birth early.... but I'm really happy I made it.

Next tasks? Finish off that hat for WarmupWinc that's collecting dust and (you guessed it) another baby blanket. This one is for the Lowell Wish Project. It's called "Fanciful Rose." It's from the same book as Sleepytime Seashells and it's very, very, feminine. I've only done about ten rows so it doesn't seem picture worthy yet. I'll continue to write about it as it grows. It's a simple lace pattern. I'm baffled how only repeating three rows can create something so intricate.

And I leave you with one last picture (since I don't get to borrow Henry's camera every day.) I give you, Max in a box!

New Books and updates on WIP

So apparently Interweave Press has an annual hurt book sale. I found out about this yesterday when I got a nice little e-mail from Knitting Daily. As someone who has always drooled over Interweave Press' knitting books, I was salivating over the prices and books that they had up for sale. Unfortunately, funds are a little tight now so, regardless of the fabulous prices, I knew that buying these books would hurt me financially so I had to sadly turn away from the sale.

Then something amazing happened. Tanner and I were driving back from the grocery store when I mentioned the situation from him. He looked up from the book he was reading and said:

"Why don't I just buy you the ones you want for your birthday?"

I froze. I hadn't really thought about that. I had already asked Tanner for something and assumed that he had either already bought it or had something else in mind. I told him yes of course and now I'm going to get three lovely books at the end of July. The first thing I grabbed as was Getting Started Knitting by Jennifer Worick. As you can tell, it's a basic knitting book. I found out about it when it was reviewed on the faireknits podcast. Sure I know a lot of the basics already but I'm still a beginner, so this should help me out with the things I don't know. I also took advantage of their Style Special, by picking up Scarf Style by Pam Allen and Wrap Style by Pam Allen and Anne Budd for only 15 bucks total. I have a feeling that Scarf Style will be more to my liking but I've always wanted to learn how to knit shawls as well. The patterns in here look to be more complex so I know that I'm not going to be able to tackle these until I have sharpened my skills with Getting Started Knitting.

Oh, and I found out that there's an ongoing Scarf Style/Wrap Style kal going on on blogspot. Maybe when I get brave enough to try out the patterns I'll join :).

As far as knitting goes, I'm almost at the end of the second skein of yarn for the Sleepytime Seashells blanket. I'm really pleased with how it's turning out (despite a mistake here and there) and I suspect that it will be done once I get another half skein or yarn in there. I also started a hat for WarmUpWinc. It's about halfway done now. I'm sure once I sit down and work on it, it will be finished in no time.

WarmUpWinc

One way that's kept me in the mood for charity knitting is through charity crafting communities. I'm a member of the very active Homespun Helpers (http://community.livejournal.com/3000in2007/ on livejournal is where I post but there's also a blogger community here at http://www.craftingforacause.blogspot.com/) . I also recently joined a great looking community called WarmUpWinc (http://wuwinc.blogspot.com/). The founder of the community, Amy, was inspired to create a charity knitting community after witnesses an alarming amount of poverty in the town she grew up in. She's looking for wool hats, mittens, scarves, and anything else warm. I hope to make a bunch of hats because they're quick and I'm pretty sure if I knit two blankets at once, I will get very confused.

I'm really looking foreword to this. I have some left over Lion Brand Wool-ease to start off with but I've really been itching to buy some new yarn for when I'm done with the first hat.

Intro Post, FO, WIP

I began knitting for an admittedly silly reason. I wanted to make my boyfriend Tanner a scarf for Christmas. Typically, for birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays, I'll buy him DVD box sets or video games. He always appreciates these presents, and they get a lot of use. Still, as I was going to be moving in with him in the summer, I wanted to show him that I was serious by making something with my own hands. So, my mom, who seems to have been knitting forever, taught me how to knit. Then, I received a couple of surprises. Tanner LOVED the scarf. Even though it was just straight garter stitch and he had never worn a scarf in his life (believe it or not, this kid lives in Maine and used to walk a mile to work, often in below-freezing temperatures), he seemed to think it was a great gift.

My other surprise? I was totally addicted to knitting.

Although I've knit plenty for myself, I find that most of my knitting goes to others. This has a lot to do with the fact that my mother makes baby baskets for a charity called The Lowell Wish Project (link can be found on the side). Each baby basket has things like diapers, baby clothes and bottles as well as a few hand knit items. My mom, who is a much faster knitter than I am, makes sweaters and afghans. I contribute afghans as well. These baskets go to social workers who then give them to poor mothers and sort of a peace offering on their first visit. The scary thing is these baby baskets are often all they can afford. Everyone knows that a baby is a serious financial commitment. Can you imagine being limited to one baby basket?

I've always made sure to put care into these blankets. I don't want to give a mother something poorly made that she has to use, but something that she'll be proud to wrap her baby in. I can't afford to use the best yarns so I try to put a lot of care in what I knit, and knit attractive patterns. I recently received a pattern book from my mother called Our Best Knit Baby Afghans (http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/1574862235/ref=s9_asin_title_3-1966_p/002-7718779-1926463?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=1BFH6183GHM1N9AJESV4&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=278240701&pf_rd_i=507846). I decided that for the next year I want to make as many as these 33 patterns as I can. Whether they go to the Lowell Wish Project, other charities, or to other new mothers, I want to be able to knit as many as possible. One good thing about this idea is that I'll be able to learn and practice new things in my knitting, as there are a large variety of patterns in here. I'm still a beginning knitter have plenty to learn. Hopefully knitting these baby blankets can sharpen my skills.


To give you an idea about what you'll be seeing in this blog I'd like to present my most recent finished object. The blanket to the left is knit in a basket weave pattern. I have never knit in a basket weave pattern before and it was fun to learn. The pattern came from the book listed above and was knit with pink Caron Simply Soft Yarn. I'm probably going to be using this type of yarn on most of my blankets. It's nice and soft and affordable. The one drawback is that the yarn tends to get tangled in the skein very easily, so watch out for that.



To the right is my current WIP. It's' the Sleepytime Shells Blanket, also knit in Caron Simply Soft. This blanket is a considerably more difficult pattern because it involved a couple new stitches for me: knit 4 tog, and knit 4 tog tbl.
Er.... let's just say I tend to knit tight, so things can often get a little complicated. This blanket also has quite a few errors in it. Each time I look down a couple rows and see a mistake I just want to cry and throw it all out. Luckily, none of the mistakes seem to be too visible to the naked eye so it's not that big of a deal. I'm just going to have to hope that the person who receive this is not a serious knitter. Beyond that, I'm pretty happy with the pattern.

This is the first blanket I've knit that's not intended for charity. It's going to be given to a woman that Tanner works with who's due on August 4th. As someone who was born a full month ahead of schedule, this makes me sweat a bit. I have tons more work to do on this, so I know it won't be done by next week but I'd like to get it down as soon as possible. Not to mention I know I didn't buy enough yarn for this. Seeing as I'm almost done with one skein here I know that I'm going to have to pick up a fourth to complete it.


So that's me, and that's my knitting. Thanks for getting all the way through this post!