One step forward and one step back

One step forward:

I finished knitting the French Press Slippers... One WIP off the list.

I knit everything during Little Miss Sunshine and the Price is Right:


To be honest, I did go to the first commercial break into Law and Order SVU. You know, the one after that one shocking scene. But then I was done. Gimme a break, I had to frog one piece and knit it over.

Then the next 1 hour and 45 minutes was spent seaming and creating a pile of ends post weave-in:

Tada!Now they just need a little quality time with some jeans in the washing machine. Which will have to wait until I make it over to mom's in the near future.

So now that I'm riding the productive wave I think I will start my next project. Don't be mad... it is not currently on my list! BUT it is a great stash buster and works up fast. Since I have 3 other identical skeins, I might just make it some brothers and sisters...

New Year's Resolutions

"Last post was on August 14, 2009" Wow. I think that's a record for me. I have been feeling guilty and incomplete about not blogging. I was raised Catholic so I guess that's where the guilt comes in. As I was making crackers today (new Kitchenaid mixer for Christmas!) while on the first day of my staycation, I was thinking, "gee, I have time to spare today. maybe I'll blog. Ohh, I could blog about my new year's resolutions." Then, *lightbulb* "I can add 'blog more' to my new year's resolution list! It's not that long. Totally doable." So here I am.

So I will present my resolutions then explain. Ahem:
1. Exercise at least 3 times a week
2. Bake something at least once a week
3. "Consume"
4. Blog at least once a week

Ok, time to explain

1. I am too poor to enroll in another exercise class. Cardio ballet was fun and all. Ever since they came out with Fluidity I've been yearning for cardio ballet. Then tada it ended up in the Montgomery County Recreation Class guide. It was fun for about the first and last 5 minutes of each class. Then I'd get tired and then lose balance and look like a So-You-Think-You-Can-Dance audition reject. Then there was the false alarm that I might have asthma. Oops, I'm just out of shape, which proves that if you're skinny doesn't mean you're in shape. Ack. Nevertheless, it was fun overall. I just can't afford it. So I am including in this resolution that doing an exercise tape of yoga in my apartment counts as exercise. I can do cardio on the other 2 days.

2. I discovered this year about myself that I love baking and don't really like cooking savory items. Something about following a recipe and watching ingredients completely turn into something else. Probably why I like knitting so much... And as stated above, I got a fancy schmancy Kitchenaid for Christmas. Note: If you, reader, are someone I am close enough to talk to at least once a week, you will be getting free homemade baked goods sometime in the near future. I just can't eat it all.

3. "Consume" to me means to use up all the crap I have around my home that's usable. Crafting items that I've hoarded (including yarn), pantry items, which will also assist in resolution #2, and above all else...all those dang body products. I've actually gotten through most of my BBW items. I worked there for 7 years and bought way too much. But I have accumulated more from other places now that I wouldn't be considered a traitor shopping somewhere else. I want to get rid of crap because if this year is anything like the last 2, I will move. And I will not move excess crap again.

4. Well there's nothing to say about this. I just want to blog more regularly. Like once a week. Two reasons I have been procrastination central about blogging is that it takes time away from crafting and that loading pictures is a pain in the ass. Let's see if it still is.

Yes it is. Oh btw this is my grandma holding up a blanket I crocheted for her. I know what you're thinking. That's backwards. Well shut up she's old now.

You might have noticed something related to #3. I did not resolve to knit more. Although it is always a goal of mine to complete my neverending WIPs, I don't want to make knitting a chore. Maybe I'm bitter from just finishing a Christmas season, (I'm even still knitting a Christmas gift for my mom about 1.5 years late from when my knitting group did it as a KAL). But I am part of a group on Ravelry called LOTSAFOS10 where you list every WIP less than 50% done.

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Here is my list, minus the things that are almost done such as

Panel Jacket in Classic Elite Classic Silk ~ 60% done
Socktopus in Random Stash Yarn ~ 80% done
Diamonds and Shells Alpaca Scarf in Blue Sky Alpacas Royal ~ 75% done
After-Dark Robe in mystery cotton from stash ~ 80% done

Current WIPs:

1. French Press Felted Slippers in Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool ~ 15% done
2. Sam in mystery stash yarn ~ 25%
3. Grove in Patons Classic Wool Merino ~ 50%
4. Transitioning Gloves in Patons Kroy Socks ~ 50%
5. Clapotis in Arucania Atacama ~35%
6. Jeanie in Knit Picks Stroll ~ 15% ~ This is my Mount Everest
7. February Lady Sweater in Patons Classic Wool Merino ~ 15%
8. Easy Ripple Afghan in Caron Simply Soft ~ 20%

In the Queue:

1. Another Drop Stitch Lap Blanket in Noro Iro
2. Sideways Grande Cloche in Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande
3. Citron in Malabrigo Yarn Lace
4. Central Park Hoodie in Cascade 220 Heathers Superwash
5. Hope Hat in Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted
6. Another Noro Striped Scarf in Noro Silk Garden
7. Petal Halter in Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece
8. Another Go Go Garter Stitch Scarf in Lion Brand Hometown USA
9. Crafty Earrings in Aunt Lydia’s Fashion Crochet Thread size 3

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I will now venture to make the goal to not CO anything besides these things until they are all finished.

Ok, that's all for today. I'd say Happy Knitting like a usually do, but... I feel it's overdone and I've seen it on some other blogs. So.. See you next time, I guess! :)

What knitting emmybear has been up to

(When my mom called me "emmybear" as a child, she'd use it in the third person)

I've been on a casting-on kick. My wips at one point were up to 15. I'm out of control! So since then I have casted on minimally and finished maximally... not really a word but what the hell... Here are some of the projects I have recently finished, both knitting and non-knitting:

Cookie A's Kai Mei socks
A mixed-media canvas of yarn leftovers in whites and grays:
Something I cannot show you yet because it was made for my biggest blog fan:


Some charity baby hats:

The variances in size don't matter...for a sad reason.

Some alpaca handwarmers from a kit I got at MSWF:
And last but not least, I cut my Blooming Cotton Scarf! I promised many SSKers to show this fringe-cutting process. It was knit in the round horizontally (all 400 stitches). This was post-cast-off and pre-cut:
Cutting time. Eek! Not as bad, though. The stitches don't unravel like you'd think.And...all cut. I realized here that I hadn't inhaled for a while.

The cut edge.It doesn't come all undone. You actually have to undo the previous row to undo the next row. And once you establish how far to pull, it's impossible because of the magic interlocking nature of knitted stitches, for the row to unravel anymore. Just look, because I'm a horrible explainer:
Then you just tie those two ends together. Here is some fringe already done:And one side all done. Notice the lighting change. Flash was required because day had turned to night since I had started cutting.And then there was blocking.

On the third day all of that curliness & stickiness of wet cotton turned to straightness and smoothness of dry cotton:
I love all the varying lengths and random knots from when I changed colors. I almost kept it this way.

And then more cutting.Yeah so there are tons more projects but I'm charging my camera battery right now so just hold your horses!

I'll be back...hopefully sooner than 3 months from now.

Advocacy

I'd like to address the Stephanie Pearl-McPhee issue.

I've been too lazy to blog since May, so you know this is important to me to write. (But as long as I'm here I might as well share my projects with you. See next post.)

If you live under a rock or are a non-knitter I will tell you that my favorite knitting philosopher was attacked by a woman who found SPM's Canada Day post offensive to her as an American (although it seems SPM made fun of Canada more often than America. I myself love both countries. I'm on a Canada kick right now though. I'm rambling.) Here is the post in which SPM addressed this woman's behavior.

Now, this woman is very mean and harassed my friend SPM, but there is another side to the story that I feel like sharing with you. Keep in mind as you read on that I just came from a training on Mental Health First Aid, the final part of which addressed the stigma socieity holds against those with mental disorders.

So I read this woman's blog--because hey, I like drama--to see what she is all about. In it she divulges in a non-socially-appropriate way that she has mental issues and takes meds and even calls herself crazy. She appears to have pretty severe issues with socialization and/or interpreting others' statements, otherwise she maybe wouldn't have written such verbally aggressive comments (on SPM's blog, twitter, personal email, etc). This is not to say that people with these issues are allowed to behave in such a way, but to give us insight on herself and her struggles with mental health.

I myself work with teens who have similar problems (e.g. cursing out 15 male gang members=not a good idea). We teach them how to be socially appropriate. Hopefully someone is working on that with this woman as well.

Also, you only know what you learn and this woman is from Texas and likes George Bush.

Bloom! It's Spring!

Welcome back. Just wanted to fill you in on what I've been up to. I've been working diligently on my sock wips since I got the new Cookie A sock book and want to get going on some of her intricate designs. I purchased 6 skeins of sock yarn at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival (subconsciously all the yarn I got there was sock yarn...Cookie was on my mind I guess).

I'm moving and have been gradually shoveling my stuff all .25 miles over to my new apartment (yay hardwood floors is good for yoga!) Here, Ringo is wanting to spend some of our final days together helping me to dismantle my massive LYS-loving Expedit shelves from Ikea.
I've also been enjoying Spring! Here I was experimenting with a camera feature. I'm sure it has some fancy photography name, but all I know is that the foreground is in focus and the background slightly blurry. I love it.


And this brings me to the focus of this blogpost: the scarf I'm knitting! The moment I saw the Blooming Cotton Scarf in Interweave Knits Spring 2009 I was drawn to it, as you can read in one of my last posts. It reminds me of being laid-back and exciting and daring for having so many colors. I, however, was drawn to some of my favorite Spring colors. I also wanted to save some $ so I got half as many colors and widened each row to 2.

Here it is so far. I wanted to share with you all, especially anyone interested in making it, the amazing design. It's knit in the round. Cast on 400 stitches! The first and last 15 stitches are not knit in pattern. After casting off, you simply cut (CUT CUT eek!) at the beginning of the round and UNRAVEL (eek!) until you get to the beginning of the stitch pattern, tie off, and Wabam! you have fringe.Not to mention the stitch pattern, which looks like fair isle but really isn't (mwah ha ha ha). You simply slip those magenta stitches every round until you knit with the magenta again. It makes these cute little ovals that pucker in. and the one row of purling of the magenta adds dimension too.
And inside each little oval are 2 wee stitches. Again, not fair-isled. They are knit, and all the rest of the round slipped.
Whether my explanation makes sense or not, try it! It's pretty easy and loads of fun! The hardest part is picking out the colors, truly. ...and casting on & the first few rows. Not difficult, but really annoying if you have to rip it out. I literally had to un-knit two rows early on. But it was worth it because it is looking beautiful!

I'll update you when I'm finished...

A home remedy...

...for the following:

Flickr.com
alacrity_danger

=

Oh and here's some cute pictures of the cat...




Vara thinks he was posing.
I swear I'm not a crazy cat lady.

surprise...knitty!

so my last post was a month ago...i'm not even going to comment any further this time...

So I haven't been a good little knitter the past few weeks. I haven't gone to the Tuesday SSK knitting group because I have this new job and I get off at 8:30pm. I haven't read or write blogs. I haven't been on Ravelry, including perusing new patterns. So I was doing the latter just moments ago and I kept loving these new patterns, then I noticed they had something in common...Knitty Spring 2009! I got the email from Amy Singer while at work but put off reading it until rediscovering it this morning. A nice birthday present (my bday was the 12th).

The first pattern I came across--Shipwreck--is simply amazing. There is a list of 67 needle sizes you need to make it, not to mention 5000 beads which I assume you string on before knitting. All that and a whopping 3 skeins of sock yarn (which you have to dye yourself). For me it'd be another Jeanie Shawl (which is sitting in a bag somewhere, 1/6th of the way finished). You need to be a dedicated lace shawl knitter (...dyer, and beader) to make this exquisite thing. Oh yeah, and the first picture on the pattern page looks exactly like me from behind when I was in the seventh grade.
I like the idea and design of Hanne--it looks fun to knit--but I would probably not wear it, even though I think it looks nice. Maybe I will make it then...
Lastly, the bird mobile, named Flock, is adorable and a great way to use up random balls of yarn.
Ok, now I'm off to knitting group. Have a good day!