Rainbow Blanket

There are people who knit for the product, and there are people who knit for the process. Then there are people like me. Depending on the day, I fall into one group or the other. But whether it's a process or product day, there is one thing that I am always doing while I knit: relieving stress.

Knitting is how I calm down, how I make time to reflect, and how I keep my fingers busy while I am listening to an episode of This American Life or binge watching TV shows (one more season of Buffy to go!). 

When I am in a stress-relieving product-knitting mode, the sweet nothings are perfect. 

When I am in a stress-relieving process-knitting mode, I need a blanket to work on. 

I discovered this fact my junior year of college. It was a busy, busy year, my craziest yet. I had no time to drag along a pattern book or consult a chart. I also had a ton of medium-sized balls of yarn leftover from previous projects, and my favorite circular needle free. So, I started knitting a shawl with the nearest ball of yarn I had at hand. When it ran out, I grabbed another, and another.

Pretty soon, I had a project that needed to be carried around in its own bag. Even when I was only halfway through, it was a little lap blanket as I worked on it, and raised quite a few eyebrows. But it was exactly what I needed--a no pressure project that I could continue for as long or as short as I wanted--and I could always put it down with no fear of losing my place if I picked it up a day or a month later.

It was fantastic, and I spent the whole school year bouncing between little, more intricate projects and the blanket before I decided it was time to cast off. This is the end result.

I have gotten a lot of use out of it; when I did research last summer, the place I worked was very chilly. I began to bring a sweater everyday, despite the 85-95 degree temperature outside. When the sweater didn't help, I threw my blanket in the bag as well. It did the trick--and it was fun to have all the vestiges from different projects keep me company as I worked.

I don't have a project like that presently, but I can feel a big process-knitting mode coming on; we'll see where it takes me! 

I'm Baaaack!

And hopefully, I'll post more often in the future.
Thanks for your encouragement; I got good grades on all but one midterm, and the bad one didn't even knock me down a grade level, so I'm good and happy.
I have not one, not two, but two and a half, count 'em, two and a half, pairs of socks.
The socks I made from yarn I got from Christmas from a friend:They have afterthought heels, which I won't be doing again any time soon, but it was fun.
These are for me:
A little big, but they are comfortable.
Currently, I'm knitting my mom's present.
See? I already have a sock done!...and a quarter!
I got a $25 ebay gift card, which I hope (since the money goes through paypal) that I can use on etsy to get sock yarn for my friends' presents, and white yarn for a surprise (for you guys) project.
I am also getting some progress on my blanket:
This is the second third, FINISHED!!
And this is how far I am on the 3rd third.
I'm crossing my fingers on getting all of the spinning done by the end of the month.
Hopefully sometime next week I'll have some information about my brother and his recent introduction to the spinning world. (!!)

One More Day Until the New Year!

So, I'd like to start out with a clean slate. Here's all of the things I've been planning on putting on this here blog, but haven't gotten around to it now. The finished hat, complete with a really sweet heart button: I'm planning on knitting this for myself in blue for when the weather gets warmer, in my "spare time".

The final third of roving for my blanket, which I dyed yesterday. You may not be able to tell by the picture, but it really is darker than the second third.

Aaaaand now, the amazing, the long anticipated.........BABY PICTURES!!! YAAAAY!!

I don't look this tired all of the time, seriously. The babies are cute, though, aren't they? I just melt every time I see them.
The hats I gave them turned out a tad too big; nothing a folded-up brim can't fix, thankfully.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Remember That Blanket? And Other Items To Reminise About

You might recall the blanket that I am planning on dyeing, spinning, then knitting. Well, I am much farther along on it than I have let on. In fact, I am almost done with the second third!I also can now reveal something from the Fiber Chic vault: the super secret presents I worked on in October, November, and December. I knit a pair of Knucks, one pair for each of my three best friends. Here they are, in all of their glory:Remember how I said I'd give you cute pictures of babies in my next post? Well, that didn't work too well, did it? The problem is, when I got to play with my little friends last Thursday, I forgot my camera. BBR and BGR's mom, however, came to the rescue and took a bunch of pictures. So, once she emails those pictures to me, you will get baby goodness, I promise.

Progress...

Spinning progress, that is.

I am more than halfway done with the first third of the roving for my blanket. (So how many ounces have I done? You don't have to answer that....)

This is what I have left to spin of the first third. There is no more room on the bobbin, so I am now working on the yarn for my brother's fingerless gloves, which is taking up a bobbin.

However, I have only 10,000 words in NaNoWriMo--must go write now!

UFOctober Wrap-Up

In light of Tinky McFrog's final contest, here is what I have accomplished in the month of October:

Before UFOcober:
-Get Mom's scarf done
-Knit 3 "Super Secret" presents for friends for Christmas
-Finish my "Cut Your Teeth" socks
-Exception: work on dyeing and spinning my blanket

After UFOctober:
-Finished Mom's scarf
-Knit 2 of the 3 "Super Secret" presents for friends for Christmas
-I did not finish the socks, but I did get far enough that I finished them last night! Yay! (pictures to come when I'm not 1,000 words behind in NaNoWriMo
-Exception: I dyed 2/3 of the roving, and began to spin the first third

So, there you go. In my (humble) opinion, I really enjoyed UFOctober and I hope I can do it next year as well!

My NaNoWriMo word count so far is 3,594 words. Seeing as it's the third day, I'm not too worried about being 1,000 words behind, but I probably should be working on it anyway! See ya!

End Of (UF)October Rush

I only just realized yesterday that the end of October is in a week-and I don't have my socks done yet!(That would be my second sock-cast on this morning!)
So I'll be knitting like crazy to try and get one more WIP in the FO pile before this cool game called UFOctober is over.
I am also working on my exception for UFOcober, my blanket. This is how far I am on spinning the first third of my roving:The color is a bit brighter than that...but you get the idea.
I'm hoping to get all of the spinning for my project done by the end of this year, then actually do the knitting bit next year-think I can make it?

The really observant of you readers can see I have a new button on my sidebar for some strange thing called NaNoWriMo. November is National Novel Writing Month. The challenge? Try to write a 50,000 word novel just in the month of November-no later, and no earlier. The cool people over there have this website where you can keep track of the number of words you have done, meet other people who are working under the same self-imposed stress as you are. I'm gonna try and do it, so if my posts get more erratic and less often than they usually are, that's why.

I have been planning my story (which is allowed before November starts, thank goodness), and it's turning out pretty good. I can't wait for October to end so I can start it for real!
But first, I should really get that sock done.....

Yes, I Am Alive (Part 2)

WARNING: VERY LONG POST!!
Hello, everyone. I couldn't find the cable that lets the camera talk to the computer-turns out it was on a shelf, right where it is supposed to be when it's not in use. Who'da thunk that?
A library friend of mine asked me to do a review for her blog, and I agreed. You can peek over there and say hello, if you want.

Today, we'll discuss my dyeing venture-I used McCormic blue food coloring, but didn't quite keep track of how many drops I put in-I do have a general recipe I tried to go by, though. (Inspiration from Knitty's Color To Dye For by Julie Theaker--I didn't completely follow her instructions) The wool is superwash from The Fold.I first divided the 1lb roving into 5 1/3 skeins.
For the first third, I let it soak for about 15 minutes in water and 1/3 cup of vinegar. I then transferred it to an aluminum pot, covered it almost completely in water, and put the heat on the stove at medium. I then mixed my dye.
Dye Recipe:
1) In a plastic cup, pour 2/3 cup of water
2) Put 8 drops of food coloring into the cup
3) Microwave for about 15 seconds, or until the temperature of the dye is around 120 degrees
I then poured the heated mixture over the heating roving, trying to be relatively even. I used around 4 of these mixtures, moving the roving around with the end of a cooking thermometer to make sure I didn't miss any parts.
However, I ended up with deep blue spots (below), which isn't necessarily bad, just not what I expected.I let it "cook" for about an hour, then let it cool till it I could hold it.
After squeezing out all of the water, rinsing the extra dye out, and hanging it up to dry for a night , I had a blue speckled roving!
The fiber had kinda matted together, so I predrafted it before I began to spin it.
For the second third, I let it soak like before, but without the vinegar, and just for 10 minutes or so. I also added 4 or 5 drops of food coloring to the water before I put the roving in the soak. I then let it cook for longer than an hour, and with only 2-3 helpings of the poured dye. The roving was so hot, I let it cool overnight, then squeezed out all of the water, rinsing the extra dye out, and hung it up to dry the next night. The result? A 100% pale blue roving! The roving is more the color of the above photo than the below.When it came to the matting factor, I had the same problem with the second roving as the first. There is an obvious difference between the dried just-out-of-the-dye roving (right part of your screen) and its predrafted counterpart (left).
Well, I'm done rambling for now.
¡Buenas noches y hasta luego!

Tries and Retries

I got a pound of superwash which I am planning on dyeing for my blanket/shawl thingy! Unfortunately, Blogger isn't happy with me right now, so you'll just have to imagine a picture of a pound of white superwash roving, divided into thirds.
(Yes, we got to the fiber store on Saturday, this isn't some part of my stash I haven't told you about...) I'm planning on dyeing it with food coloring today and tomorrow, and spin some of it on Saturday at my 4-H meeting. We're going to have an hour to work on our projects for next year-whew! We barely have time for breath in between years!
Now, before everyone starts wagging fingers at me for starting a project when it's supposed to be UFOctober and all, this is going to be my ONLY exception. I want a little break from my *wonderful* super-secret presents.
I did finish the second super-secret present, but through some freak of nature, one half of the present (which is supposed to look exactly like the other half) is significantly smaller. Why I didn't notice this as I was knitting it, don't ask me. I think it might have had something to do with the fact that I tried to take some twist out of the yarn before I knitted the second half, thereby making that half thinner and shorter. Whoops!
Well, perhaps Blogger will let me post some pictures of my dyeing tomorrow!

UFOcober, Day 8

I have another WIP going into the FO pile!
Unfortunately, it's one of those "super secret" gifts-and now, I'm working on a second "super secret" gift, using the same pattern, different yarn. (I'm considering my "super secret" gifts WIP, because I have already bought the yarn and I want to have them done soon so that I don't have to worry about not getting them done..)
I also would like to finish my socks.
My plan? I'll let myself start working on my second sock after the second "super secret" project is done.
I realise that on my knitting to-do list I have my blanket before finishing the socks, but I currently don't have the roving to dye or spin, so I'm in limbo for that project. In UFOcober it's my exception, and starting it in earnest will be my reward after all of my WIP are done.
I seem to use the carrot-in-front-of-head tactic quite often...
Now if you excuse me, I am off to study--and after that, I can sit in the rocking chair, listen to a new book tape and knit!

Some Progress...

Thank you all for your comments about my wave pattern. My blanket will probably be blue and have the design in yarn overs, with a pentagon or hexagon shape.
In the baby cardigan news: I finished the right front in school today, and am working my way up the back. No pictures today, but maybe tomorrow I'll have an actual post, with lots of words and pictures at the same time!
I have another poll, if you don't mind, could you answer it? Thanks!
Off to dinner-
Bye!

Just Pictures Today!

TA DAH! I knitted this stitch too loosely-what should I do?
I have a really long foot-the sissors are regular size.
After ripping back... This is the design I'm planning for my blanket-I want to make sure you can tell what it is, so in the comments, could you please tell me what the pattern looks like to you?

I Really Need To Post More Often!

In case it is not apparent, I like doing things in list form. So, our first stop: a FO!!

Here's the waist...

The waist is a little too big; I'll have to adjust it a tad before the 4-H fair...

Next, progress on my blanket:

before

after

I also did a bit of spinning!

I have 2 spools of this, once I find a third spool, I'll spin them together!

I also have more summer goals! (to see my past goals, you can click here)
I would like to make a blanket with patches representing the months. I have the pattern in my knitting calendar:

This is the patches for January through June!
I think I'll increase the patches by a factor of 4 or 5, so that there is only 3 patches on each row. That way, I won't have to make a bunch of little patches. This goal will also go for my interest in making Fair Isle, although I would like to make a pillow or something also.

WARNING: BUNNY CROSSING

Hi all,
I have added several patches since the last time you saw it, but I'm busy on bunny patrol right now.....I need to get at least 7 done by the end of this week, so that means cutting one day, felting on the same day, sewing everything together the next, and possibly adding eyes and nose, if I'm lucky. Will take pictures before I give them away to show you guys!

Bunnies and Blankets and Flags.....Oh My!

Happy Memorial Day everyone!
In honor of Memorial Day, here's a knitted flag pattern I found on the Internet!

And now, without further ado, the bunnies
Here's Bunny #1:
This guy was made about a month ago, using index cards.

Aaaaand Bunny #2:
(TV in the background is one of the "contestants" from the PBS show Fetch, in case you were wondering) Thanks to my little brother for holding the bunny. This was made with my new pom pom maker, which looks like this:

Pom Pom Maker

My Pom Pom Maker Pulled Apart

Now, for the blanket update:

I added 4 patches since you last saw this thing:
The pale blue strip of a patch, the little dark blue and orange squares, and the rainbow rectangle were added....Still, I have quite a bit to go. I am working on a square to add on to the rainbow rectangle; it's the leftovers from this scarf I made awhile ago; it's pale blue and rather fuzzy.

Lots Of News

This is going to take a while.
Let's see.... first on the list:

1) I finished the Subway Sweater!!!!

hi me!

the whole sweater

a close-up of the sleeves

This pattern is great--very clear and easy to follow. The top is a little baggy, but I doubt the problem is in the pattern; as I have said before, I'm a little small. So, DM (darling mom) and I are going to get some elastic to fix that. The elastic will also be used to finish my skirt.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this already, but before this sweater, I haven't ever really made a garment that I'm happy with the color, length, and comfort of--at the same time. There was always some mistake; the pattern was flawed, it was too hot, the length was too short, the edge curled....the mistakes go on and on. One of these days I should have a Wall of Shame, showing all of the weird stuff I have attempted to make.

2) Here is my blanket:

Yeesh!

Yes, I have tried to keep up with the holes over the years, but I've been busy lately. (I know, I know, bad excuse) My goal is to patch it all up by camp, which is in a few weeks. If I don't make the deadline, that's OK--it's a warm blanket either way!
I'll take this opportunity to use up some small yarn balls in my stash--the ones you couldn't possibly use for much more than a small square. If I use those up, I'll find some acrylic that I am not likely to use for anything else.

3) This is what I am going to make the felted bunnies with, (I should probably mention I am going to make 10 or 14 for certain special people. I will not say who they are, just in case they are reading this) or something like it:

p35 of Spin Off Spring 2007

The expected outcome is this:

p34 of Spin Off Spring 2007

Of course, I know the first one I make will absolutely stink--it will be something like a cross between a dog and a fox. The next one will be a fox-and-dog mix, and the third will, if you squint a bit, will be a bunny. The fourth will definetaly be a bunny.

Here's to finished projects and plans to come!