Haul 002.

Yay another haul! I'm really bad with obsessions because then I spend all my money on them, but in this case it's worth it because I'm actually going to make something useful with it. So my green aluminum Boye needles ended up breaking (sorry, had no time to take a picture), and I luckily still had the receipt stashed in my mess. The problem with the Boye ones was that they are placed in the packaging very oddly so the cord becomes misshaped and the needles have quite a bend at the end to make them more 'circular', but it just made them worse. I purchased them at Michael's for around $11, and I was originally going to exchange them for a different pair but they didn't have any round needles in a size 17 US so I just returned them. The pair below is from Red Heart and I got them at Wal Mart for $6 and they're SO much better than the Boye ones. They're made of plastic so they're light, durable and they're straight so they're easy to work with.

These next needles are from Lion Brand and Michael's had the exact same ones but they cost $23 and I wasn't sure I wanted to spend that much on some plastic, so I decided to check out Ebay instead. Lo and behold, I found the same pair for $10. My lucky day! They came in the mail a week or two after and I love them! They're similar to the Red Heart ones above and they're very easy to work with.  These are a size 19 US on a 29" cord.

While at Wal Mart, I found a shelf full of sale yarn in the mirror section (what?) and I squealed with joy! But not literally because that'd be weird and I'd be eternally embarrassed for squealing over yarn. ANYWAYS, it was $3.77 a skein and they had lots of colours and selections! I ended up choosing the most yardage for the best price. They had some that were around 72 yards for the same price, whereas these ones are 360 yards. They had several different colours, but I really liked how the grey and blue look together. I think I might make a colour block scarf with these two. Also, this yarn, although acrylic, is SO soft! They're going to be so wonderful on the skin.

Aaand going back to Michael's (these items were bought at one time, I promise), I found these two yarns. It's funny 'cause I went to Michael's first and picked up the grey and then later when I was at Wal Mart looking at the Bernat yarn, I thought to myself "Hey, I don't have a grey yarn!" and then when I came home realization hit. Whoops. Oh well! I'll most likely use them for hats. My dad needs a hat and my brother does as well, so that's probably where they'll go.

Herringbones

Yay for new projects! As beautiful as the moss stitch is, I got tired of it and I was just itching to get my hands on something new. I found a wonderful tutorial on Youtube for this gorgeous herringbone cowl that is super chunky and super cute. I planned on using a different yarn for this project, but switched last minute and I'm so glad I did! Instead, I used my tweed yarn from Romni's. As you can see below, the piece is beginning to curl a little at the ends, but I think it's probably because the cast on is rather thin, and then the piece doubles in thickness. When I wash it, I'll block it a bit to ensure it's flat.

After working with the stitch a bit, I've come to the conclusion it's the thickest stitch I've ever worked with, but it's also my favourite. I just love the pattern that comes out of it and it's very easy to work with. If you're afraid the stitch will be too thick for you because you want a lighter piece, I'd suggest using a thinner yarn, possibly a fingerling.

Future Projects

I'm always looking for any shape and form of inspiration, generally causing me to dig deep, but sometimes the inspiration finds me. That's the one I love best. I was scrolling along on Tumblr, and I came upon these images, that left me drooling and wanting more. I have vowed to recreate these pieces, even though two of them seem nearly impossible, but it's a challenge and I like those.

The first is an H&M scarf that I'm absolutely in love with. It comes in many different colours, and even though they're only selling it for $14.95, it's not as satisfying as being able to say I made it myself. Plus, theirs has a seam, I'll be making mine on round needles. The only thing I have to do now is go into an H&M and secretly count on the stitches to get it just right. Oh, did I mention my yarn's on it's way? Pre-planning! And I bought several different colours so I could pass some on to friends and family.

The next two are my challenges. The first is a gorgeous cabeled cardigan with big buttons and lots of cozy comfort. I'm not at the stage where I'll be able to write my own pattern for it, so instead I'll browse around Ravelry and try to find a pattern for a similar cardigan. Fingers crossed!

This second sweater is my other challenge, and the other piece I'll be trying to find on Ravelry. I have similar sweaters to it, but nothing compares to something you've put your time and effort into.

And finally, this sweet little girl and her gorgeous beanie have captured my heart. And it looks like the hat's easy to make without a pattern! I'll be needing to do some Youtube watching on decreasing, but I think this hat's easily achievable with just a RS knit and WS purl. PLUS, it's the only piece I've seen that wholeheartedly accepts the curling and looks cute with it!

 

 

Disclaimer: None of these images are mine, all have been found on Tumblr.

Projects

Warm sun, cool breeze, I can't lie that it's a beautiful day, but today just can't compare to the cool autumn days when I can wear boots, beanies and scarves and sip on hot chocolates and lattes. Unfortunately, there's still another month to come; but that doesn't mean I can't plan ahead! So, here's my next project: a moss knit blanket!

The second I saw the pattern, I absolutely fell in love! And it just so happens that my grandma, whose retiring from knitting, decided to pass on a ton of yarn to me. If I had a choice, I wouldn't pick such a bright fuschia colour, and I probably wouldn't want to use a 100% acrylic yarn, but hey, it was passed on and I don't't want to waste it. I'll most likely use this blanket to cover up the dog on cold winter days, or to keep folded in the car as a lap blanket.

I'm about 30% done the project. It is a bit of a tedious pattern because you need to constantly keep track of what you're doing. The pattern calls to knit from the front and the back of each stitch during the first row, then knit 2, purl 2 for the second row, then knit from the front and the back of each stitch during the third row and purl 2, knit 2 for the fourth row. I need to write down which row I'll be doing next or else the pattern with be severely screwed up. I've used a long tail cast on onto size 10 US round needles. I'm using round needles for a flat project because they can fit the 130 stitches (which double during the first and third rows).

I hope to be done soon, but I can't make any promises. Updates are to come!

Azor

Autumn's approaching and I've been planning ahead my projects so that I (and others) can wear them during appropriate weather. One of my latest projects was for the 'others', which is to say my dog, Azor. He's a German Shorthaired Pointer and he's 3-years-young.

This mischievous little beast is terribly spoiled by the family. For the past few years (when he grew into his frame), he's had his little coat for the cold Canadian winter months, but the coat doesn't go up to cover his neck, so he's been wearing a couple of our neck warmers. But because I love the guy so much, I wanted to make him his own infinity scarf. It was my very first time using circle needles and I can tell you now, it was not easy. I cast on approximately 70 stitches, and then I knit using a simple pattern of 4 knit, 4 purl, 4 knit etc. I screwed up so much, it's not even funny, even though you can't really tell when just looking at it. I would knit when I had to purl, I had one part that had 5 knit stitches. I even started going backwards on the project at one point. Mess, mess, mess.

Oh well, he's still gonna have to wear it (even though it's a little bit loose on him). I still need to sew in my loose ends and wash it in some vinegar and fabric softener because I used an acrylic yarn.

I wanted the beast to model the scarf for me, but he was over-excited at that point. He started biting it when I was trying to put it on him, then he saw my brother leaving the house so he was watching him go like a love-sick woman. Managed to grab 2 shots of him still before he started running away with the scarf.

My first time.

I thought I'd start off my first "post" talking about my first project. When I took that beginner's class, the lady taught us the basics and then she gave us a project. As predicted, nobody had actually finished their project by the end of that class (except mine was almost done - overachiever, much?), so I don't actually know how anyone's came out.

Anyways, the first project was a basic cowl with this really beautiful silk yarn that she dyed for each of us. I chose a coppery/amber colour. She had us cast on 110 stitches and then alternate between knitting and purling for the first 5 rows and then it was supposed to be knit the rest of the way (Right knit, Left purl) and then finish off with another 5 rows of alternating knit and purl. I have to say, by the time I was finished, I'd never seen anything uglier in my life. I had missed a bunch of stitches so there were holes, I somehow managed to increase a few times, I was alternating between making really tight and really loose stitches and I kept knitting so I could only do 2 alternating knit and purl rows before I had to bind off (which came off really tight and I could barely get the piece over my head), after which I ran out of yarn. The project was done on straight needles so we had to use leftover yarn to sew together the two ends of the project. Because I had no yarn left, I had to use sewing thread (which was the worst mistake of my life).

I'm sorry for the crappy quality, but here's the scarf when I was close to binding off.

About a month later, I decided to pull apart the scarf and re-do it. I can tell you now, never use sewing thread to sew together the two ends. I cut it fine, but when I began pulling the scarf apart, the pieces kept getting stuck because there was little threads caught between the yarn. It was the biggest pain in the ass. Eventually, I managed to get my yarn back into a big roll and I started again! I should probably add, before I ripped apart my project, I counted out the rows so that I could approximate at which point I should start ending with my 5 knit/purl rows. That worked out pretty well but I ended up doing 7 rows because I still had so much yarn. I still have quite a bit of yarn left, but I'll be using that to sew together the ends (which I have not done yet).

Please excuse the pictures, it was an odd day and the lighting kept going weird.

This is the truest to the colour of all the pictures.