Spring Cleaning

Lawrence and I are moving to a new apartment in the middle of May. This time we want to get everything packed well before moving day. I'm taking this opportunity to finally photograph and catalog all my yarns. I've got two giant trash bags full photographed, uploaded to Flickr, and entered into my Ravelry stash.

Foot Fetishists

There have been a few threads on Ravelry warning about the foot fetishists on Flickr who will favorite knitters' photos of their socks. Sometimes they will get invites to post their pictures to 'sock groups'. Apparently there is also an eBay market for used socks. I just did a search, and sure enough...they are all identified as "well worn" and come with plenty of pictures.

Hilarious to be sure, but what I wonder is how disturbed should I be? I mean, do these people just like to look at these pictures because they think they're pretty? Do they actually get off on this stuff, or is it merely a visual aid to stimulate their imagination? WTH do they do with used socks and hose?

Tightening purls

While working on the lace party scarf, I noticed after I switched to continental that my purled rows were looser than the knit rows. I didn't bother looking up and experimenting with various techniques so it's a good thing that today I saw a thread on Ravelry where someone else was having the same problem. Suggestions include using interchangeable circulars and using a smaller needle on the purl row; tightening the tension for the purl row; knitting backwards instead of purling; use combination knitting by wrapping the yarn the wrong way on purls and knitting into the back loop on knits.

Combination knitting sounds like it might get confusing in a complicated pattern...but then again...it probably wouldn't be that much more difficult. All you would have to do is look at the legs and make sure you always knit/purl into the front leg.

Knitting backwards is something I still want to learn to do proficiently.

project hearts

There was a thread on Ravelry about feeling sad when one of the little hearts next to the projects (signifying someone marked your project as a "favorite") disappeared. I was really happy when I got my first heart, and I just checked today to see that I had several more on several different projects! That gives me the warm fuzzies inside, especially seeing that they're all from different people, heeheeeee. :D

Yarn-made Stitch Markers and the Clap

The other day on Ravelry there was a thread on why the Clapotis was so popular (from the latest figures on Ravelry: 2,240 finished and 576 in progress). I didn't like it when I first saw it and I too wondered why it was so popular. But, after a while it really grew on me - especially after seeing other peoples' claps. I think it has to do with the way it's worn in the photos on Knitty. Someone in the thread mentioned that the model is wearing it purl-side out. That makes the dropped stitches bump out and thus you get the weird (to me at least) lumpy silhouette. In the photos on Ravelry however, it seems that most people are wearing it knit-side out, making the dropped stitches dip and the fabric drape more flatly.

Fast forward to 2 nights ago when I went to Michael's and saw the Moda Dea Tweedle Dee yarn. It was on sale, it's SO soft, and the colors are SO beautiful I wanted to buy balls in every color (see the pretty shades on Yarndex here)! But...I couldn't justify it to myself when I already had 2 balls sitting at home with absolutely no project in mind for them and tons of other projects on the needles/hooks. At some point I made the connection: Clapotis....Tweedle Dee. Tweedle Dee...Clapotis! Soft, fuzzy, reddish-orangey-brown variegated bulky yarn...dropped stitch and thus not too heavy scarf knit in bias! I've wanted to try drop stitch. Apparently Clapotis is good for showing off variegated yarns. I need to go back to Michael's tonight to buy all their Tweedle Dee. Good thing Lawrence isn't coming home till late tonight. Bleh, unfortunately that also means I might not get pictures up today. The camera is in his car.

Since I'm using a bulky yarn I didn't want to make this full-sized. The pattern only calls for a worsted weight yarn. The directions on Knitty include instructions for adapting the pattern to accommodate size preferences. After the Set-up rows, I did the increase rows once instead of the 6 times required by the pattern. So far I've done the one repeat of the straight row section. It was very satisfying to drop those stitches! :) I didn't realize how much the dropped stitches would cause the fabric to open up! It's going to turn out larger than I first thought, but it's okay because the dropped stitches scrunchy up nicely too.

I almost forgot my original idea for this post...the stitch markers! The pattern calls for 18 stitch markers. I've never even used 1 in my knitting before, but I have several from an eBay purchase a few years ago. Since I'm using size 11 needles, I need larger stitch markers. I originally bought these cheap wire jewelry findings that bend open. I was thinking I could use my wire beads to decorate them and make my own cool stitch markers. Well, they're not big enough for the size 11 needles. Ok, no cool stitch markers...so I go to the regular round plastic things. Luckily the largest ones fit. BUT, I only have 4 of them and I need 6 total even with just 1 pattern increase. This is where those little yarn bits I've been saving come in handy! I keep them in a little baggy on my desk. So, I took a couple strands, tied one end together, and twisted it in until it twisted back onto itself. This is the way the ties inside the Butterfly Wrap are made. The part where the yarn twists back onto itself leaves me with a loop of potentially large sizes. Because of the twist, it will naturally twist itself down as much as it can so it's not prone to falling off the needles. Eh, it's hard to explain but it's intuitive awesomeness will be apparent once I get a picture up!

Tomorrow is the Spinning class, 10am-4pm, at the Urban Craft Center! w00t! I have a feeling I will need to go buy myself a drop spindle afterwards.

I'm starting to get confused over whether I've already posted on something here or in my Ravelry project pages. Eeps!

I got it!

I was just sitting here thinking about the ladies I was knitting with last night and I put the yarn in my left hand and picked at it with the needle. Before I knew it I was knitting continental, just like that! I even finished the rest of my lace row (with yo's, ssk's, and k2tog's aplenty). I tried doing continental once before, but for some reason the hand motion just didn't click. This is awesome! One thing I'm having a little trouble with is holding the yarn in my left hand but I'm sure I'll figure that out with some more practice.

On another note, last night was the first meeting for the Tues night Pasadena Ravelry knitters group. We met at Zephyr, a very cute little coffee house with yummy pastries. I loved meeting other knitters & crocheters and one of the ladies runs an online yarn shop where she sells cashmere yarn! At $24 a skein, I can't run out and buy a bunch, but I think I will get some to make something for my aunt Jennifer. She loves cashmere, but I'm having a hard time thinking of something I can make for her. She doesn't actually wear any knit accessories...but then perhaps she will if I make some for her! lol, she'll love anything I make for her just because I made it.

Edit: Ok, so maybe purling isn't as intuitive. I need to figure out how to hold onto my left needle without my index & middle fingers.

One step forward, two steps backwards

...and then perhaps another 2 steps forward.

The other night I was finishing up Sly's scarf. The one that's black with a red stripe. The one that I didn't make long enough so I thought, it's ok I'll just crochet some more and attach it one way or another. I wove the ends in, I crocheted two rows to the correct ends of each piece and rejoiced that I would soon have another Finished Object! I was in the process of sewing them together when I realized the two pieces weren't aligned properly. I re-seamed several times before I [stupidly] realized I was one row short on the extension piece. . . one row of the red stripe. Of course, that means the majority of the piece will have to be frogged and re-crocheted. Thankfully it shouldn't take too long. Now my only problem is getting around to un-weaving the ends.

The Nightwish concert is Sunday! I still have half the lace cuff to finish. The piece still needs to be blocked. Lawrence and I spent all of tonight cleaning out the closet. That's just fine and peachy and normally I would love to get the apartment cleaned but I've got a damn wrap to finish by Sunday and I don't want to stay up all night doing it! Tomorrow I've got to go to my parents' place because it's my deceased grandmother's birthday. We're going to go visit her grave site, maybe have lunch. They might play mah-jong in the afternoon. Maybe I'll have time to finish this wrap and maybe I won't. Even if I have time to finish the crocheting I won't be able to block it there. I'll bring a few other projects to work on, maybe the amigurumi or the scarves.

Sunday is also the Weaving and Fiber Festival, hosted by the Southern California Handweavers' Guild. The ladies in the Los Angeles group on Ravelry have been saying it's worth going so I've convinced Lawrence to drive me all the way down to Torrance for it. If I block the wrap on Saturday night, it should be finished in time for Sunday night, eh? Hopefully.

Addicted to Ravelry

OMG, some of the posts are hilarious! Using old knitting needles as stakes for tomato and orchid plants...

Butterfly Wrap - I'm finally done with the right sleeve! I've started on the left one and I have 14 sleeve rows and 17 cuff rows left to go.

Progress, all around

I finally got my invite to Ravelry yesterday! I spent all day on the site, and it looks pretty awesome. I will probably spend a large portion of Saturday entering project & yarn information.

Lawrence helped me sew the button eyes onto the bunny slippers, so they are also finally, um, non-eyeless! I think I'm supposed to wash them and let them dry to fluff them up a bit, and then they will be completely finished.

Unfortunately Lawrence left his Nikon at work so I'll have to wait for tonight to take pictures.

I am on the last row of the right sleeve before the lace work on the butterfly wrap. I may save that for when I get home just because I don't want to have to deal with losing my place in the pattern. Or I won't be able to help myself and I will work on the lace at every spare moment I get.

It's really a toss up because yesterday I started the mommy elephant amigurumi from Anapaulaoli. I finished stuffing the head last night, and as of this morning I've got 1 ear done. The other ear shouldn't take too long, and then there's the body and 4 legs. Making these is actually very fun! Even though the long stretches of single crochet are monotonous and make me impatient, I love how these things get created so quickly. It's like "Rows 4-11: sc 18" and you're like "4, 5, 6, ....that's 8 rows of single crochet...am i done yet? how many more rows?" But before you know it, you're decreasing and decreasing, and you've just got a little hole left for the stuffing. Like most crochet & knitting, the foundation row/chain and the first row are the most annoying.

The great thing about this elephant is that I get to use up the gigantic balls of blue yarn that my mom and I found in our garage many years ago. I don't know what the fiber is or what brand it is, I just know I have several huge balls of it. There are 4 plys and it splits easily if it becomes untwisted, which it tends to do. However, for some reason it has been fairly easy to work with for this elephant. That's good because I had no idea what I was going to do with all the yarn and it was just taking up space in my stash. On a side note, I think it would be very cute to tie little bow ribbons on these amigurumi.

Eyes

Eyes are an important anchor in a face. They bring soul to inanimate objects and can convey a variety of emotions and impressions.

That said, my bunny slippers are still missing their eyes. My [almost] complete baby jellyfish is also waiting for eyes. I need to finish them before I start to amass a horde of eyeless animals in my apartment. That could be pretty creepy.

#580 on Ravelry!

OMG it dropped below 1000

I'm now at # 931 on the waitlist! XD

I'm planning to stop by Michaels tonight to get some more Vanna's Choice yarn for another Christmas scarf. This one is going to be asymmetrical vertical stripes in various earth tones. I'm almost done with the black & red scarf and will try to put up a picture of that tonight.

The edging on the butterfly wrap has been rather painful. Thank goodness those picots are over with. I am now working on one of the sleeves. It should be pretty straightforward until the lace detail at the cuff, so it's working out perfectly on schedule. I still have 2 weeks before the Nightwish concert.

#2889

...on Ravelry. I'm estimating 3-4 more days before I get my invite! :D

people are in a knitting revelry over Ravelry.com

You just need to read the comments on their news blog to see how excited people are. It's so cute that they're all so excited over a knitting website. >.> Then again, I'm very excited too. I've only got 13,507 people ahead of me now, w00t! ::clicks Refresh again...and again...::

yarn buying strategies

I think discussion of accumulation strategies for yarn is needed. Oftentimes when I go yarn shopping, I end up contemplating exactly how much yarn to buy. Specifically:

• How many different scrumptious colors should I get?
• How many balls/skeins of each yarn on sale should I get?

The decision ultimately comes down to what I can make with the yarn. What usually ends up happening is that I want a little bit of everything! I buy one ball of this, one ball of that - one in each color so I can have them all! The problem with that is that I'm stuck with only being able to complete small projects. You can't make a sweater out of just one ball. But then...I'm also scared of big purchases. For some reason, buying 5 balls of one color of one yarn is a lot harder to do than 5 different balls of yarn. I want to break out of this habit, but I think that perhaps I should first find a larger project I want to commit to and specifically buying the yarn for it. That sounds a less scary than buying a whole bunch of a random yarn that I would have to continue to knit/crochet with.

On that note, this Crochet Butterfly Wrap Sweater from www.SuperCrafty.com is very cute! Both the short and long versions are so cute and I love the shape of it. Hm. I think it would go well with that blue-black goth-lacey dress I got from Nordstrom's. I could wear it to the Evanescence concert in November! :D That'd be awesome! I need to get on that...

I checked my place in the Ravelry line. There's still 15,384 people in front of me! They posted on their news blog that they are now able to invite 500-600 people in daily now. That's still another month before I can get in. ;_; Booooo.