Knitting Adventures

well. the bootees are finished, and it’s only 10:52 AM.

i am raising the bar on my knitting plan and i’m going to attempt to finish not only my scarf, but also BOTH HALVES of my tanktop this weekend. i think it’s do-able, but keep praying for my sanity anyway.

peace,

-Sarah

today i did a quick count of my knitting projects.

folks, i admit defeat when it comes to my number skillz (to pay the billz). i didn’t have 7 projects going.

i had 8.

well, i DID have 8. i finished a pair of mittens this afternoon. i was using Patons SWS yarn, colorway natural garden. Patons can make a mean skein of yarn and the mittens didn’t let down my expectations of how the yarn would do.

so now i have seven projects going, and i have an ambitious plan for completing some of them this weekend. here’s my plan, not that you actually care about what all i’ll be knitting, but so you can pray for my sanity.

1) finish baby bootee (number 2 of 2)

2) finish tanktop (first half of 2 halves)

3) finish scarf (scarves come in sets of one)

if everything works out, i will only have 5 projects going by the time sunday is over… i’ll let you know how it goes! and then, after that…. i will NOT cast on any new projects to make up for the project loss. i will be a good knittist and finish up what i have going, and then when i have nothing going… then and only then will i start something new.

with work slicing my saturday in half, this will be an interesting thing to pull off, but i’m willing to lose some sleep over it.

also, on a non-knitty note, today is when the prince caspian movie releases! GO WATCH IT, people! the Switchfoot song plays during the credits at the end, so don’t be a loser and stick around to hear it. also, don’t tell me how the movie is– i’m going to go watch it myself and i don’t want you to ruin things for me.

i’m drinking coffee… and… well…. it’s having no effect on me i can feel the caffeine rushing through my veins. i think i should go knit. yeaaaah.

don’t let the panic bring you down!

-Sarah

apparently, one of the things guys love to do is see how much of a certain food item they can stuff in their mouth at one time. my brothers were doing just that, with grapes. my older brother won, fitting a grand total of 24 green seedless grapes into his oral cavity.

as i was watching in a state of partial disgust and partial amusement, i got to thinking.

knitters do this, too.

knitter A: i wonder how many skeins of yarn we can fit into our closets before the doors fall off and it looks like a yarn shop exploded in our houses.

knitter B: 500! i’ll bet my closet will just barely hold 500!

knitter A: hah! what a lame number to try! 500 would leave enough space to actually store clothes in there. i’ll bet that mine could fit 1,000….

peace,

-Sarah

you know what’s annoying about having 7 projects going all at once? you don’t know which one to work on. if you work on one project for every day of the week, depending on how complex the project is, you forget where you were when you pick up on it again. if you don’t alternate projects, one of them is going to go into hibernation and then you REALLY don’t feel like working on it.

i have 7 projects going right now. and i want to start more, but i’m not. i need to finish what i have going, THEN start something new. and i am in a bit of a dilemma this morning, because i don’t know which project to work on.

sorry if this entry didn’t seem worded right. my grandad is here right now, and he’s warping old-person brain waves into my head, i just know it. I MUST RESIST! I MUST RESIST THE OLD PERSON BRAIN WAVES!!!! i’m TOO YOUNG TO HAVE THOSE!!!!!

i’m going to go knit and listen to rock music!

peace,

-Sarah

okay.

i’m not even sure i should say what it is, it’s so brilliant.

but i will anyway.

you know those little metal thingies that you use to do the dishes with? tonight as i was, big surprise, doing the dishes, i was having a little look-see at those things and i noticed that they are knitted, and that pretty much all the stitches aren’t bound off but in fact gathered up on one more of the metal string that they knitted the thing with.

after some poking around, i figured out how the thing is constructed. and i was thinking, you know how after you wash a bunch of dishes those things start to fall apart? well, i’ll bet that if i knitted one and bound off the stitches rather than gathering them up with a single strand of copper thread… i’ll bet that they would have a much longer life.

and i’m going to give it a try. first with regular yarn, and then i’ll have my mom take me to the hardware store (or another store of similar significance) and look for appropriate knitting materials.

sometimes, i amaze even myself…

peace,

-Sarah

i hope you never did, because knitting is far from boring.

true, the act of wrapping yarn around needles multiple times is simple and far from complicated, but does that make knitting boring? no.

not to mention, a good knitter will have willpower. a good knitter can also NOT have willpower, but if she (excuse me, male knitters who i hope exist and are reading this, i mean he) doesn’t have willpower, she’ll have perseverance. she’ll also have a great deal of patience.

and aren’t willpower, perseverance and patience good qualities to have, not just with knitting but also with real life?

anyway, i’m glad that i’m a good knitter. let’s just say that right now, i am having willpower to not start anything new, not to mention perseverance and patience with the seven projects that i already have going.

i am not going to cast on anything new

i am going to finish the baby bootee, the mitten, and the fingerless mitten.

i will knit both halves of my tanktop.

i will not unravel my two scarves

and i will finish this pillow that has perhaps one of the most annoying stitch patterns in the world.

see? aren’t i such a great knittist that i have all this willpower, patience, and perseverance going on? doesn’t that also make me such a great person too because right now i am having willpower NOT to eat cake, patience to NOT go slap one of my brothers, and perseverance with… um… school?

i love you. peace out.

-Sarah

and i have a new pattern for you. untested, yes…. but it’s here.

ladies and gentlemen (although i doubt there are any guys reading this, let alone guys who knit. COME ON GUYS! you need to be knitting. )…. SOCK MONKEY!

yes… yes.. thankyou, thankyou…. okay… stop applauding….

i realize i could have made the arms/legs/tail longer but i was running out of yarn.

anywho, here is the pattern:

with Patons SWS (or any Worsted Weight yarn) and size 4 needles, cast on 3 stitches.

in icord style, increase every stitch. 6 sts.

turn work, purl into the front and back of each stitch across. 12 stitches.

divide stitches onto DPNs… 4 sts on each needle.

knit 2 rounds.

increase every stitch around - 24 stitches.

knit 15 rounds.

decrease every stitch around.

knit one round, bind off.

pick up 12 stitches around bound off edge (YES, the binding off is necescary).

knit one row.

increase 1st and last stitch on each double pointed needle.

knit five rounds

decrease first and last stitch on each needle.

knit one round

decrease all stitches around. stuff body, draw yarn through remaining stitches.

congratulations, you have just completed the head and the body. the head is the smaller part, and the body is the larger part. but since you are a genius (but not as much of one as i am, lol) you knew that already.

okay.

arms/legs/tail: pick up 3 stitches at wherever you think an appropriate spot for an arm/leg/tail would be. work in icord on these 3 stitches, then bind off…. isn’t this an absolutely clever way to do this? you knit the appendeges RIGHT ONTO THE BODY. i’m so clever.

ears. this is the part that will most likely be the most unclear, so if you, being the genius that you are, can think of a better way to write it, LET ME KNOW.

on each side of the head, pick up 5 stitches. with what will be the back of the head facing you, knit all stitches. next row, purl all stitches. next row: decrease, knit three. next row: decrease, purl two. next row: knit three together. roll the ear up and use the yarn to sew it down to the side of the head.

that’s it. embroider on some cute monkey-ish facial expression, and you and i both can own little sock monkeys.

as always… if there are any errors with this pattern, let me know.

peace,

-Sarah

p.s. are you on ravelry? find the pattern HERE.

so… a week ago, i got holes in my ears mainly because i have a friend who gave me 18 pairs of earrings that she had made and didn’t want.

and i had nowhere to put these earrings except for in a little box, and what’s the fun in that? i can’t see them, and it’s not like i’m going to be able to see them anytime soon, i have to wait 4 more weeks before i can even wear them a little bit.

so i knitted this handy dandy little earring displayer.

am i a genius, or what?

peace,

-Sarah

so remember how two posts ago i told you that i was knitting another tanktop?

i’m using the pattern from the Teen Knitting Club book… i’ve already been through the pattern once and worn the tanktop a few places, and gotten the deserved compliments.

and everyone always looks at me and says “oh, what a lovely vest!”

and i don’t say anything to them about it, but inside i am going, um…. hello? there is a difference between a vest and a tanktop. vests are jackets without sleeves. tanktops are tshirts without sleeves. the difference? VESTS HAVE A DORKY OPENING DOWN THE FRONT. i wouldn’t wear a vest if you paid me to. but when it comes to tanktops?? bring it on, baby, kuz layering is cool.

but vests are just dorky. i wouldn’t knit one, i wouldn’t wear one, i don’t think about them….

vests = stupid.

peace,

-Sarah

i just learned the sewn bind off today, from THIS article on knitty.

i must say i am quite impressed with myself.

peace,

-Sarah