Heart of Gold

This was truly a rewarding experience, and I'm so proud to know that I was part of something that united knitters in a frenzy of stitching, ripping, crying, cursing, and giggling hysterically for just over 2 weeks.

Congratulations everybody!

Just to note: I'm on my way to accomplishing another goal very soon - only 2 pounds to go.

One more sing-along

Place your right hand over your heart, if you please...

Oh say can you see
By the dawn's early light
Actually it's 3:30pm, but let's not quibble over trifles.

MITTENS! Their finally completed thumbs are clapping for all those who joined the Knitting Olympics and to encourage everyone who is racing to finish in the next few hours.

Project Specs:
Pattern - Hello Yarn's Pirate Mittens. I loved the pattern and the charts were really easy to follow.
Yarn - KnitPicks Palette in four excellent colors. This yarn is actually a little splitty, but I'm sure I will have fun figuring out a project (something reminiscent of Neopolitan ice cream?) for my massive amounts of leftovers.
Needles - metal US3 dpns. My favorite. And now the needles will be moving on to some sock or another!

This warrants a post. I promise

Sing-along time!

What a difference a day makes....
24 little hours

Tomorrow? We're gonna get us some opposable thumbs!

Note - I am well aware of the fact that mitten #2 is larger than mitten #1. All that really means to me is that I'm getting better at keeping even tension while doing colorwork, and this was always meant to be a learning project!

Long Time No See

Hey everyone :)
This week school has been nuts, but I'm finally back, and so are the Olympic Pirate Mittens! Here are some Mitten #1 gut shots,

and the start of Mitten #2.
I had an extra surge of energy while watching the women's figure skating last night with a friend, so I'm back in the game - hopefully gold is just around the corner after class and work this afternoon!

My other projects for today include such mundane things as cleaning my apartment (which is a HUGE mess), writing out a schedule of assignments/due dates for the last 3 weeks of the quarter, and doing laundry. You would think I'd do something exciting on a Friday, but I'm pretty sure the cleaning/scheduling is more important. Stupid chores.

Then, after this really long week, I might just get to bed early. Nice.

Old Faithful

Ah, I had such lofty goals. I was going to finish the mittens this weekend! You can even see evidence of my foolish ambition in the entry below this one. So much for stick-to-it-iveness.

[brace yourselves for the following confession]
I didn't even cast on for mitten #2.

I still have a week, and it will definitely get done, but I'm starting to realize what motivates me to knit. Partly it's trying new things - fair isle skulls! fantastic!
But I think a larger part of it is being able to return to something that I know I can do well, something that brings me great joy. Something that allows for subtle variation on a familiar theme.

Like this

or this both purchased with my Christmas yarn gift certificate, courtesy of Grandma.

Is it okay that the only thing really motivating me to finish mitten #2 now that I've sort of gotten over the novelty of the colorwork on this project is the fact that I want to put my DPNs to more familiar use? Is it strange that I honestly enjoy self-striping sock yarn and its surprises more than I enjoy following a fair isle chart, knowing what the next color will be and when I'll add it?

What are your favorite kinds of projects, and why?

Tada

Two "tada moments" to share quickly this morning -

#1 MITTEN!!! The skulls are there, and they look appropriately frightening/endearing. Woohoo! There is no thumb, but I think I'll work on mitten #2 before making thumbs.

I'm well on my way to Olympic gold... check out some other fantastic projects from knitters using DPNs here.

#2 DETANGLING!!! No, not my hair, though that is usually a feat requiring patience and determination as well. I'm talking about the scary skein of twisted up yarn. I've made some progress (you can all cheer now).


Happy beginning of the weekend, everyone ;)

Swwwatchup?

Er, Soooo wwwwhat's up? As it was actually pronounced by the really really drunk girl at the pub last night. My department hosted a Valentine's Day get together at the on-campus pub, and since my boyfriend happens to be 2000 miles away, I figured free beer and fried food was an okay alternative. Plus my very bestest friends were all there, so it was a fun time.
But the really really drunk girl! I have never actually heard anyone slur their words when drunk. She certainly did. She also asked me 3 (yes 3) times what I was studying. She then proceeded to pick up a glass of soda, take a sip, and energetically wipe off her tongue (think cute little Tom Hanks trying caviar in "Big") because "ew! not mine. not beer. ew"
After that she fell asleep in her chair, but woke up every few minutes to smile around leeringly at all of us. Strangely, it put me in mind of some revivified wax figure and all the horror movie possibilities related to a wax museum come to life on a college campus. Anyway.

Swwwatchup here recently?
It's my yarn that I made with koolaid, and I finally got a chance to do a little test swatch. I'm planning on making a hat, and I'll (hopefully) show pictures next week sometime. I think the colors look pretty good together, even though they're not ones I would typically combine.

The other skein of yarn I dyed? Well, it looks like this:

Because I foolishly untied the skein before I put it in the big 'ol pot to swirl around with the koolaid. Oops. Hopefully I'll get it untangled eventually.

More Olympic progress tomorrow!

Be My Valentine

This one is


Definitely meant


I just wanted to ask you...



I mean, I'm all cute and stuff! I'm wearing lovebirds in my hair!


Hope everyone has a happy day. Filled with candy.

Here we go...

Ahoy!
The knitting olympics are underway, and so is progress on my Pirate Mittens!

I chose to go with a suggestion from the comments, so I'm doing tonal skulls (for some reason that phrase cracks me up).

I started the corrugated ribbing with brown and white, did the first pattern repeat in light pink, and started the second repeat (not shown above) in dark pink.
I got all that done last night, and I'm starting to think I may have seriously overestimated how long it will take me to make these mittens. I figured "first time doing fairisle" and anticipated many bouts of frustrated frogging. Luckily, I managed to get a little system going so I don't tangle the yarn and my tension is pretty consistent. Wow! I'm already really glad I decided to challenge myself as a knitter, because I'm feeling really confident about the projects I can take on next.
Such as, when I finish the mittens way before the deadline, the Pirate Hat...

Just Jaywalking Along

I'm from California, and I thought I'd seen the worst possible driving: the "California Stop", aka "roll through the intersection at about 5mph slower than you were driving before", or "Right Turn on Red after Stop" becoming "if you're turning right you never have to stop, and you can honk at cars that have the right of way", and "Use Your Blinker", umm, no one does that, so it doesn't even have a name.
However, I'm starting to think Chicago drivers may be even more nutso: "Green" does not just mean "go", it means "if you aren't already driving by the time the light changes, everyone behind you will start honking, and some people will drive around you on the right in your own lane so that they can zoom ahead, or just for the thrill of almost taking off your bumper", and I think that "Crosswalk" translates into something like "here are all the students! over here! please come hit them!".
No offense if you are a Chicago driver, unless you're the lady who almost ran me down yesterday while I was a) already halfway across the street, b) using the crosswalk, and c) wearing a giant, cream-colored down coat that is really hard to miss, all because she didn't want to stop at the stop sign. And then she honked at me!
From now on I may just resort to Jaywalking - it might be safer.

Specs: Knit Picks Sock Garden, Stargazer Lily, 2 skeins-ish
Smaller size Jaywalkers on US3 dpns

Notes: I like the heel flap, but I seriously need to get better at picking up stitches along the side. I have pretty amazing gaps going on there, so when I need to make really durable socks, for now I'll be sticking to the short-row heels. Would I make Jaywalkers again? YES! But first I have some other patterns lined up that I want to try out with less-stripey yarn. Then I'll come back to the zig-zag goodness of chevron socks!
Also note the socks are bright pink. Maybe pink means something like "be mesmerized by my zig-zaggy feet and ankles, and bring your car to a complete stop". I can dream, right? :)

Happy Knitting!

Knitting and Playing - My Weekend Part 2

Welcome to Part 2...

While I was home, I also got to see the BF, and Saturday was his birthday, so he got this hat.

Speaking of hats, I finally have a picture of the hat I completed almost 2 months ago for this KAL, hosted by Poor Miss Finch:
And like many others, I took a tiny break from actually knitting to play with this awesome word cloud creator! I love that the middle says "knitting little love" and that the bottom right corner is "think yarn".

In terms of actual knitting, I really only worked on the second Jaywalker, and since I'm hoping to have it finished by the end of the week, I'll just post pictures when it's actually off the needles. Plus I need the needles to cast on my pirate mittens for the Olympics! Good luck to everyone who is already swatching and plotting - see you at the games :)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Just for fun - here's the picture in which my brother looks like he might be possessed and in which my sister looks like she thinks that possibility is somehow not only okay, but hilariously funny.

Or perhaps she's laughing at the wonky intarsia star on his wristband - my first intarsia project ever, which he apparently wears all the time.*

*I only added that last part so you guys don't have nightmares from looking at his face :)

Pot O' Intestines - My Weekend Part 1

Or, my adventures in kool-aid dyeing.

Warning: this is a picture-heavy post...

One of the things I wanted to do while I was home this last weekend was use the microwave to dye yarn that I've had sitting around for ages. I decided to also try the stove-top method, do a little comparison test in case I liked it enough to try in my apartment where there is no microwave. Here's what I got:
The pot o' intestines

(Looks even better when you imagine I actually dismembered something - don't I look proud?)

And the baking dish of radioactive waste.

But both turned out nicely, and I can't wait to knit with custom-dyed yarn - will the stripey skein actually knit into stripes? Stay tuned to find out...

By the way, thank you to everyone who wished me a happy journey. It was really wonderful to be with family and spend time together.

Even if my little brother was in some strange trance.

This concludes part one of my weekend adventures. (ooh, this means 2 posts in one day!)