All Things Heather granny squares

Back when I was pregnant, I used Red Heart acrylic in the colors of the rainbow to make a granny square blanket. I didn't get very far into the project because as I was putting the squares together with some black yarn it dawned on me. This blanket was absolutely hideous. It literally looked like 1970 came over to my house and puked into my lap. So that project was chunked and since then I've only made two other granny square blanket and deemed it was not for me.

All Things Heather

Despite my granny-square-hating-ass I am in complete love with this project. So far I have used 5 hanks of All Things Heather sock yarn. Not too thin, soft and the colors are so cheery! This will be another blanket for Lily, though I was hoping to make it a little bigger for her. Most of the yarn I scored on Ravelry and I haven't had much luck getting more.

I get exactly 15 six inch squares from each 360yd hank. I only have to crochet 20 more blocks until I can assemble them together. The only problem is crocheting is very taxing on my wrists. Apparently, when I crochet my hook and yarn flies everywhere. Instead of moving my fingers I rotate my wrists. I don't know why I do this and can't find another style that is comfortable for me to use. So after a few days of crocheting I have to put the hook down for a week or so.

Which explains why I knit a whole lot more than I crochet. I could knit all day without my arms or shoulders getting tired. It does bother me a little that my blog is more of a knitting site peppered with crochet.

Pinwheel blanket gets larger...

Still working on the Baby Pinwheel blanket. I'm already in the middle of the next color change, so maybe this will be done by the middle of next month. Not sure of the exact stitch count but its at least 600. 600 stitches that take freaking forever to finish. I'm not sure who this will be for, another blanket for Lily?

Left: Lace Silk in Capri Middle: Silken in Pixie Right: Sea Silk in Ashes to Roses

Pretty Handmaidens!

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Basketweave scarf

Pattern: Generic Basketweave
Yarn: Muench Touch Me in 3 Barbie Pink, 2 Lime Green and 2 Lavender
Tools: Knit Picks Harmony in size 8
Modifications: none

This is not my first time working with chenille, but it wasn't until Touch Me that I finally understood. Understood that Holy Cthulu this stuff worms. First off, I'm somewhat of a loose knitter, really should of went down to 7. There is a reason why one half of the scarf slightly overlaps the other. I didn't pull tight enough after a few rows so there are 3 large worms sticking out. Felting didn't fix it either. The ends that I weaved in were completely scalped of their chenille, so if you look closely little white and black strands of wool are visible. Some degrees of softness were lost after felting, too. The surface has a bumpy texture from the ends woven in.

Other than that? OMG, this scarf is so wonderful. I absolutely love it. The brightness of it assaults the eyes, but it only wants to give you candy!

Handmaiden Wavy scarf

Pattern: Wavy scarf from Handmaiden
Yarn: Handmaiden Silk Cashmere and Silkspun in Melon
Tools: Knit Picks in size 10
Modifications: none

Nothing but wonderful things to say about this whole project. The yarns, the kits and the price. Its always a pleasure to work with cashmere and silk, plus the kit was on sale! I managed to use all that I could, leaving less than a yard behind. This is by far my favorite Melon: butter yellows, soft pinks and very little orange.

According to my counter, 6000 of you had visited my blog. You know what? Your all freakin' awsome. I created my first webpage when I was 14 on Geocities. Wow, remember Geocities? Anyway, it had my recipe for a love perfume involving rose and plum wine (wtf?) and my awesome pre-teen poetry, which was probably about suffering or parents or a combination of both. The entire year it was up I don't think I even had 300 hits. One guy who wrote in my guestbook said that he was looking up pictures of people puking and my site came up and politely asked that I post pictures of myself doing so. The title of it was something like Snow Tiger Princess. Yeah, I don't know either. Apparently I had a thing for inbred animals then.

Wow I digressed there. Thanks for visiting my site and reading my blathering blog. I mean it!

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Touch Me Basket

I love this scarf. Muench Touch Me has utterly ruined my hand. I fondled some Handmaiden Camelspin in my stash and it actually felt a little rough. This poor yarn has been through a lot, too. At first, the lavender was this:

Ettette the Elephant WIP

Which was supposed to be this. I was going to make three elephants for my two friends and I as a sign of friendship. They were supposed to be touched by the offering and some sort of glowing Hallmark moment was to happen. This project was doomed from the beginning, I had the most horrible time doing just the legs!

I tried garter stitch. Nope, too heavy as it is. Basketweave was just right. But then,  something horrible started to happen. I thought, I can't go on! This scarf needs a light blue, a primary red...cream! I got the yarn half off and even then its a mighty expensive scarf. I'm still getting my hot pink, red, lavender, light blue and cream scarf one day. Just not in Touch Me.

My favorite FOs from my first year of knitting

By the way, February was my one year anniversary of knitting. I can't believe its only been that long but man I do love feeling so productive! I'm not tired of making scarves and plan on making many more this year. Maybe I can finish a sweater, too.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Baby Pinwheel gets bigger

Its been a little bit since I last posted, mainly because I've been working on the same damn thing since last week and the week before that. A blog that is updated at least once a week is nice but Zeus's beard these things take time to make!

I'd say the Pinwheel blanket is about halfway done now and tho I HATE working with cotton, I really like Brown Sheep's Cotton Fleece. There are a lot of negative comments about it on Ravelry but it seems like great stuff to me. There hasn't been any pilling yet and I've yet to see how the color holds up in a bath. The only thing I care about is how this stuff will hold up in the coming years. Yeah, a heirloom blanket sounds nice but only in writing. I want a blanket that Lily can take with her everywhere. One that will withstand numerous juice spills and many trips to the sandbox. It won't outlast the cockroaches but long enough until maybe Rowan Denim comes in pink.

Skully WIP

Working on Skully for the past two weeks and I almost have the back done! I like Lamb's Pride. Really, I do. The mohair doesn't bother me, it's so...grunge. I am a little worried about how the sleeves will turn out, with no shaping and all. I don't know jack squat about shaping but I do know that my arms won't look good in long ass tubes. I'm prepared to look pregnant and 10 lbs. fatter, that's okay with me. Still, I can't help but worry that I'm going to look overly ridiculous and like a silver back gorilla. Maybe it could be a sweater I wear around the house but then, was there EVER a time I just laid about in the house in winter clothes? No. I can't even stand to wear sweat pants. The overall cost of the entire thing was about $50 so it won't be too terribly bad if things don't work out.
 

Koigu KPPPM P460 - 36

I bought more Koigu, on sale at Personal Threads. Once you calculate S&H, I pretty much paid full price for each skein but The Woolie Ewe doesn't carry Koigu so it was somewhat justified.

Koigu KPPPM P460 - 54

Same numbers, different dyelots. I have a total of 18 skeins all together and I have no idea what to do with them. Maybe once I have more experience under my belt I could design some sort of garment that isn't so...fuddy looking? Those technicolor coats and cardigans in Knits from a Painter's Palette are great and all, but I don't see anyone under 25 wearing them. Or at least getting away with it. 

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Felted Elmira helmet

Pattern: Elmira Helmet by Perl Grey
Yarn: Fleece Arist Blue Face Leicester in Stone
Tools: Knit Picks Harmony in size 7 16" circulars
Modifications: Did 2 straps instead of 3.

First of all the yarn was funky to begin with. It looked really, messy? Every two inches the yarn was flat, like it had been squished for a really long time and this was consistent throughout the first half of the hank. The second half it wasn't as obvious. One of the plies looked like it had been slightly teased. It was just very weird.

Elmira helmet - unfelted and huge

This hat is huge. Like Herman Munster's head huge. Its so nice and warm with the teeniest tinies itch factor on the forehead. I wore it to the big Woolie Ewe sale and the entire time I was worried that someone was thinking, "By God that woman's hat is huge! Someone didn't do a gauge swatch!" Which I didn't. The hat looks huge on the model even. It comes in one size only, Medium/Large and the pattern instructs to felt if its too big. Once felted the fit is ten times better though I doubt I will ever use this pattern again.



Yeah, the Woolie Ewe sale? Awesome. 50% off everything in the store. I arrived at around 4:40 and the parking lot was almost full. There was about 25 people in front of me and there was a lot of them still showing up. It was actually a nice crowd, I didn't experience any ninja grannys or flying elbows. There was a lot of pardon, excuse me and butt maneuvering.

Woolie Ewe sale

My budget was only $100 so I didn't make off like a madwoman like the others did. Even now I wonder what the hell was I thinking, I mean 50% off. Everything. Here's to next year, I plan on saving up and going totally batshit crazy.

Basic Earflap Hat

Pattern: Basic Earflap Hat by heyjulie
Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Spruce and Rowan Rowanspun 4ply in Jade
Tools: Knit Picks in size 8 16" circulars
Modifications: At the top I decreased til I had 7 stitches left, did one row of knit then bound off to get that pixie tip.

Ravelry recently featured cosymakes for her handspun projects and wow, her hats are the cutest things. She uses simple embroidery and pointy tips to make each one unique. While I didn't get the chance to embroider this one, cause I super awesome suck at it, I did get the pointy tip I so love.

Ugli Square Blanket - blocking

According to Ravelry, I've been working on this project since October! I've got about nine 14 x 14 squares done and its kind of pathetic since six of those I did in the first week and a half. (The picture shows them as being 14 x 15, I realized my mistake soon after and corrected the problem.) I have to frog and redo three other squares that for some reason are waay bigger than 14 inches. That EZ Sew Board in the picture? Got it for my birthday (the biggest size) from Joanns with a 50% coupon. Blocking is so much easier now, no more stacking a bunch of towels together or using beds and searching for that renegade pin.

Now comes the angry part. I woke up one morning to find dog shit right on a square. We don't own a dog. Turns out my little brothers friend had brought one over. When I asked him to clean it up, he threw a hissy fit, grabbed the square off the blocking board with pins flying across the floor and rinsed it in water for about 5 seconds and dropped it back on the board. This is a 17 yr old boy by the way, who still won't eat his vegetables. Anyway, what a bitch. My brother is the only one that can push me over the edge. Think of the most spoiled selfish out of control brat and you've got my brother. In example:

The 2nd day I came home from the hospital with Lily and still quite hurting from the C-section, I get a very, very strong smell of weed in my room. My brother and a bunch of his friends are smoking in his room next door. I tell him to stop and to at least take it outside. I tell him how much it can screw Lily's brain up, he says he's sorry and yet does it three more times. By this point I am furious and just about to call the cops. Where's my mom in all this? Working 12 hour days, 7 days a week. I could go on and on but my left eye might explode just from thinking about how mad he makes me.

Pink Puft scarflette

Pattern: Long rectangular seed stitch scarf with tufts pulled to one side. Inspired from a similar project on Ravelry.
Yarn: Rowan Big Wool Tuft in Powder Puft, 2.5 balls
Tools: Clover Bamboo straights in size 15

I love this. A girly, pink, sqooshy, scarflette I made for a friend. Its reversible and the buttons I got from Wal-Mart.

I've been so bad. The Woolie Ewe sale was to mark the end all, no more yarn buying for Rina until a long time. Then I saw that Tidal Brook Yarns is having a clearance sale on a bunch of Fleece Artist and Handmaiden yarns. All I can say is I've got some lovely 100% cashmere coming to me.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Handmaiden Strativarious throw in Paris

Spread out on King size bed

I love this throw to pieces. I learned two things: the magic of blocking and that alpaca smells really, really bad when wet.

I never did find the charger to my camera but I was able to find a replacement on eBay for a really good price. Then it took a week for suitable weather. Its the middle of December and winter has finally come to Texas. Its that crazy here.

I bought the kit at Tidal Brook Yarns and I see that the price is vastly lower from before. Its only $75, which is a big difference from the $120 I paid.

My So Called angora scarf

Pattern: My So Called Scarf
Yarn: Fleece Artist Peter Rabbit in Lily Pond, Knit Picks Bare Merino DK
Tools: Knit Picks Interchangeable in size 11
Modifications: Did a YO instead of knitting into the back of a stitch.

Angora Scarf

I've had both of these yarns for a really long time and the Peter Rabbit has been through many many patterns. I loved Miss Muffy's scarf and thought I had found the perfect pattern. After contacting her to find out the stitch pattern, turns out the scarf stretched a ton and its all droopy and no doubt very sad.

There should be a new rule of knitting: When in doubt, My So Called Scarf it. It only took me about a week and its so very warm, soft and satiny. While I ate angora fluff for other patterns, this one did a good job of keeping the angora IN.

Still needs to be blocked and fringed, destined for a Christmas gift.

Basic Hat

Pattern: I think I winged it. CO 96, 2X2 rib.
Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Daffodil and Wheat
Tools:  Susan Bates Silverado Circular Knitting Needles 16'' in size 8

This hat was completely random. The purl ridge, the color work and the decreasing. While its not something that will stop you in your tracks, I love the two colors together. Yarn heads are fun to make as well!

Big Wool Tuft scarf

Pattern: CO 10, garter stitch
Yarn: Rowan Big Wool Tuft in Shiver, Frosted Fir, Nightsky
Tools: Clover Bamboo Straights in size 15

Elann.com had this yarn on sale for $2.49 each, which is the cheapest I've seen anywhere. Tried knitting on size 35 needles but I wasn't too fond of the fabric. The yarn is sort of soft and to the super duper sensitive there might be a little itch factor. Its a little on the rough side but I imagine that if they had went with a super fine merino there would of been huge pilling problems.

Koigu KPPPM!

I turned 23 on the 5th and had a blast at Dave and Busters. That place is so much fun, like an adult's Chuck E. Cheese. With my birthday money I bought a ton of Koigu KPPPM from a destasher on Ravelry. At $8 a hank. Awesome.

I'm going to use two hanks of P530 (coming to me from a trade on Ravelry) and all six of P139 for a Pinwheel blanket. For the rest? I want a Koigu blanket, dammit. Its horrible! This could be so very expensive, so I'm going to just wait it out and snatch the good deals on Ravelry and through trades.

I so understand the whole hubbub about Koigu, now.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

I am blogging to you all from WordPad, as there is some mysterious virus of sorts on my computer that only lets me access the internet in 10 second bursts. Trying to download a free trial virus scan but...I don't know. All I can say at this point is 'shit!'.

My adapter for my camera is missing, so I have no way to photograph all these lovely WIPs for you. Its maddening I tell you! I've been searching this house for three days now looking for the damn thing. Plus my friends are having a get together to celebrate Lily's 1st birthday tomorrow. Then, next thursday for Lily's real-real birthday my entire family is coming over and if I can't find it I'm going to self droop into a puddle of sad. When my family gets together, man is it a ton of asians. I don't even see Lily for like an hour, shes lost in a sea of aunts and uncles and cousins all passing her to a fro. I can't even believe its been a year - did I really give birth that soon ago?

Anyway, my aunt gave me a beautiful light pink hanbok to wear for her first picture. She's going to look so cute!  Though I am a little disappointed in myself. I fell in love with Smock Coat in Debbie Bliss's Simply Baby and dreamed of Lily walking wobbily in it. I ordered some Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece...only to fail miserably at guage. Then I find out that its really more of a worsted than a DK. I found the recommended yarn, Debbie Bliss Cotton Cashmere on sale and waited for Royal Air to deliver. Once it arrived I cast on and was determined to get it done in 3 weeks for her first birthday. Alas, after a week I had only completed 7 inches of seed stitch on the back. I am not a fast knitter! - and continental is so cumbersome to me. I came to terms with it and frogged it. Fortunately, I have enough to make the next size up so heres to next winter.

Granny square yarn

While I can't show my WIPs, I can shower you with the yarns that are being used! handpaintedyarn.com had some new colorways in Colonia 140 named after Greek gods. I ordered two of each here and there and started working on a granny square blanket. I chose Zeus, Cronos, Hermes, Hera, Atenea and Miranda. Well, I needed a total of 12 squares and they didn't have anymore mythology named ones so I picked Miranda. Finding the right granny square pattern took a while. I'm not fond at all of the traditional granny square. I wanted a solid square and one that could easily be altered into a bigger size. Also, since I wanted each skein to be one large square it had to lay flat. Which is something that large solid squares worked into the round do not want to be. The Blue square from Jan Eaton's 200 Crochet Block worked wonderful. I have one more square to finish and I have to redo the two Hera squares - I think I placed the increases in the wrong place. After I block the square I'm going to use some Cascade 220 in navy to finish off the borders.
 

Strativarious Throw kit

Ever since I saw the Strativarious Throw kit at Tidal Brook Yarns I fell in love with it. After half a year I finally was able to purchase it. 3 skeins of Strati, Silkspun and Grande Godiva in Paris arrived and man was it hefty. I had to hand roll them into center pull balls which I really can't complain, its a joy to work with either way. Strati made the biggest yarn ball I have ever seen. It was probably as big as my daughters head! Initially, the pattern made a lap size blanket and we all know how I feel about that. Colorsong had Big Baby Alpaca in stock in the Paris colorway so I purchased that to go along with it. While it differs greatly from the other three it works quite well. I'm about half way done at this point, which anything knit on size 17 needles would be after a couple of days. Working with four different strands all carried up the sides can be a little annoying but its going to turn out great. Once done I'm going to block the tar out of it. Its on the lacy side but the wool and alpaca make it quite cosy!

Merino blanket

(From top left: Hortalizas, Azul y Limon, Frutos del bosque, Odds'n Ends 10, Odds'n Ends 3, Avb, River Rocks, Lettuce Violet)

I have such a great weakness to blankets! I've been hoarding handpaintedyarn.com Merino bulky since May, buying three skeins of this and that color. I'm not going to think about how much this ultimately cost me. I do know that I have all the yardage I need. What pattern I don't know. This blanket (ravelry link) is just beyond beautiful and uses a pattern from Shadows and Reflection throws by Manos del Uruguay. So that might be a good start, eh? Or a log cabin?

Yes, they're all variegated and I'm very well aware of what ugliness might ensue. All I know is I love the colors and by the time I'm done I get to snuggle all night with it! This stuff is so wonderful, too. Its soo soft and holds up great even after repeated frogging.

I'm going to search for the camera cord again. Hopefully I will be able to post the WIPs!

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Tomato!

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Granny Throw

• Pattern: Generic granny square
• Yarn: Knit Picks Get Away in Wading Pool and Rafting, Knit Picks Vacation in Pistachio and Melon.
  
• Tools: Boye in J
  

Finished the Granny throw early last week, am just about ready to send the Crochetville SP package away! I managed to use up all the Knit Picks Get Away and Vacation except for three balls. Don't know what I'm going to do with those, perhaps some sort of bobble hat for Lily...if I could get her to wear them. I swear, I must have like 20 different hats. As soon as I put one on she takes it off, I put another one on and the cruel cycle (or game) continues.

Berroco's Endora Blanket

I started on Berroco's Endora Blanket last week and am trudging through it! Cables take FOREVER, don't they? I fell in love with this project the moment I saw it and tried to find some good deals for the yarn. I tried ebay, but lost all the auctions I bid on, which thinking about it now I had to of been esniped! I finally found some on the destash forum at Knitter's Review, 7 for $14.85 (shipped)! Then, Webs had Berroco Plush on sale for $5.70 each! Skip ahead five months later and I've finally started the damn thing.  I casted on 164 for a wider blanket and have already managed to throw a couple YOs and a slightly fudged cable in there. (Can't tell, can you!) I read the yarn can be hard to manage but have had absolutely no problems on the Knit Picks circulars.

Ravelry scarf exchange - secret!

My scarf for the Ravelry Scarf Exchange is complete and ready for her new owner. My partner loves the colors of fall, so I picked a colorway called Autumn. It took about 4 days to complete and looks absolutely gorgeous! These are not my colors but it so so lovely. My boyfriend says it reminded him of a watercolor painting of fall trees. Once my partner receives I will post a picture of the FO!

I bought five skeins of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Prosperous Plum (alas, Plum Patina has been discontinued!) to start Debbie Bliss's Smock Coat for Lily...only to find out that its really more of a worsted than a DK. I tried swatching with a size 5, then a 4, then gave up cause theres no way I'm doing it on 3s. So I'm going to have to find another use for the Cotton Fleece. I was really hoping I could get started on the coat, seeing as its already almost November! I found the recommended yarn, a bag of Debbie Bliss Cotton Cashmere, for sale on ebay $48 shipped. Its a dazzling scarlet red which will look just as striking on Lily. She's so so pale and I'm hoping the bold colors will bring out her blue eyes. That is if I can even finish it before winter ends. I'm buying the yarn from the UK so here's hoping I can cast on right before October ends.

Jane Crossover Sweater Kit in Moonlit Rainbow

Sweeeet.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

I got tagged by jensmile, who knows how long ago and I feel absolutely awful that I completely missed it! I read your blog, I do!

1. I have ate 5 bowls of cereal in one sitting.

2. Every since I had a baby I have become so freakin' emotional about everything. I was watching a cartoon about these raccoons that lost their forest to city construction and before I knew it I was crying. It gets pretty ridiculous. Like this baby penguin I was watching on tv. He was orphaned so I started to cry but then it said that the penguins that have lost their own babies have such an urge to parent they will readily adopt. So I stopped crying thinking everything is going to be okay. Then it showed the baby penguin being chased by 7 mama penguins all fighting to keep him. In the end they crushed the baby penguin.

3. I pick at the pimples and blackheads on Aaron's back. He hates it but I actually love doing it.

4. One of my guilty pleasures is eating the skin and brown fat off of fried mackerel. It's so nice and crispy!

5. I buy yarn way too much. BUT! The majority was either on sale or discounted. So there.

6. Things I could eat all day, every day: BBQ pork ribs, pork vermicelli, raw crab, Dungoness crab, tofu,  t-bone steaks medium raw, avocado, raspberries and pomegranates.  In fact, right when I got pregnant I craved cranberries and pomegranates the entire time. I also become pregnant right after their season ended so I didn't get what I wanted until I had Lily. That really sucked. Do you have any idea what its like to crave something for 9 months?

7. For about a month and a half my life consisted of smoking and waking up to play The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind until I finally fell asleep - and I didn't even beat the entire game! My character kicked total ass, though.

8. My first crush will always and forever be Jet Li. I love that man and I would do him in a heartbeat - even if he was like 80 and I had to change his diaper. Thats love, man!

9. When I buy my house/rent an apartment it will be based on how well it can repell zombie attacks. I'm not kidding.

10. If I ever became a multi million lottery winner I would be a foster home to drug addicted babies.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend