my camera is dead

...but something tells me I have batteries in this apartment somewhere. Or, at least, I have electronic devices that I don't use with batteries in them (watch out, CD walkman, I'm coming for you). Pictures...later!

My apologies for the ten-day absence, this week is reading week (or, more appropriately, slack week; or, more Americanly, spring break), so of course last week was a bit hectic with assignments due. Anyway, I was just pouting because Eunny Jang has been absent from blogland for so long, and I quite miss all her cleverness. Then I felt like a bit of a hypocrite since I've been slacking over here, so I thought I'd stop in and say hi...

There has been a lot of knitting going on since last Thursday. I started another Harry Potter scarf, in Gryffindor colors this time, and it's about four and a half feet long already (I spent a lot of time riding in the car over the weekend). I'm aiming for somewhere around eight feet, plus fringe, and then matching mittens and this hat. Then, I can be really smart and date a tall, red-haired guy. I can't wait.

I also made a lot of progress on the second Bayerische sock, and I'm hoping to get it finished by the end of the week. I'd like to finish something else too, and it will probably end up being the Gryffindor scarf, because right now I am sadly addicted to the knit one, purl one ribbing. Mmm...monotony....

startitis

Here I was, thinking I would diligently finish at least most of my started projects before I began new ones. In hindsight, that sort of planning seems laughably optimistic.

Lately, I've been daydreaming about long scarves in crazy patterns, and thought Wavy would fit the bill nicely. I have an idea for another scarf that involves lots of cable patterns, but obviously I won't start that until I've finished this one. *ahem*



Besides scarves, I've really wanted to start another pair of socks (that don't have crazy cables all over them (and yes, I did start the second Bayerische sock)), but I don't have any more "sock yarn." Then I kicked myself and decided I can knit socks out of whatever yarn I want, hmph.



I'm using Wendy's generic toe-up sock pattern and some wool I happened to have around.

Tra la la la la...

"I sold my soul to Voldemort and all I got was this lousy scarf." - roommate

And by "lousy" she obviously means "so fantastic my heart might burst with happiness."

Ok, at any rate, I've seen her wear it. Voluntarily.



Pattern: no real pattern, just alternating colors in 1x1 rib. I know that the Slytherin colours are actually green and silver, but she wanted something that didn't really scream "Harry Potter," so we went with the green and white. So, you know, people might think she just likes Michigan State.
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft or Super Soft or Squeaky Soft or something, I don't remember
Started (well, this version anyway...) January 12, 2007, and finished February 10, 2007.

full disclosure

I thought you might be interested in knowing about this:



And this:



The first being, obviously, Argosy (I say obviously because I think every other person in knitting blogland and elsewhere is knitting or has knit this pattern.), and the second being the Simply Marilyn sweater from Interweave Knits.

I'm really just knitting Argosy because I like the pattern, and I needed something to do with the yarn. I won't be keeping it. I look terrible in orange, which is sad, because I do like orange quite a bit. And, because I know you're asking, I bought the yarn because it was $2 at Value Village, and it looked happy. It wanted me to take it home. What was I supposed to do?

As for Simply Marilyn, I've finished the back and one sleeve, but remember how I mentioned that I'd figured out how to hold my yarn differently? Well, it does make knitting go faster, and I stop paying attention to my tension, a situation which is only made worse when I really, really just want to get something done. So that sleeve that I mentioned? It's about an inch and a half longer that it should be to match up with the body. Argh. Haste makes waste, dearie, haste makes waste.

save point

And lo! Out of the chaos and clutter, there rose one...completed...Bayerische sock.

two-day project

Pattern: Fetching from Knitty Summer '06
Yarn: The rest of the Icelandic wool from Laurie at The Lavender Fleece
Modifications: The picot bind off, while pretty, curled a bit too much for my liking. I wanted something that fit a bit closer and snugger to my knuckles. So, while binding off, I knit the two middle stitches of each four-stitch knit section together, and didn't do any picot-ing at all.
Started February 6, 2007 and finished February 8, 2007

random sunday

1. I have finally figured out that whole "holding the yarn by weaving it through your fingers to create tension" thing. I'll have to tell my grandmother. She only tried to teach it to me twelve years ago.

2. I've been weaving in the ends of the Slytherin scarf, but it's taking twice as long as I thought it would because I have to split the ends to avoid creating big lumpy spots where I weave them in.

3. What to wear with ice skates:



4. There really is no need to carry your purse if you're carrying your camera bag. There's plenty of room in the camera bag for the camera, your wallet, your cell phone, and an in-progress sock. However, if the camera starts acting up and you have to take it to the camera shop in the middle of your excursion, you might feel a bit silly pulling the sock out to get to the camera, especially if one of your DPNs goes flying out of the camera bag, and you have to chase it halfway across the shop.

5. The camera:



6. This cat is so plotting evil things.



7. More proof of evilness:



8. I love gumbo.

silent poetry reading

for the Bloggers' Silent Poetry Reading

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments; love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O, no, it is an ever-fixèd mark,
That looks on tempest and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand'ring bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his highth be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

Sonnet 116
William Shakespeare

too much excitement

1. The Slytherin scarf is off the needles as of...as much time ago as it took to toss it triumphantly onto the bed and log into blogger.

2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows comes out on July 21.

...

WHEEEEEE!!!!!

infiltrators

Yeah, so, those moths? They weren't wool moths. They were meal moths, and they were living in the large bag of cat food in the kitchen. Now, being totally honest, I would prefer cat-food eating moths to wool eating moths, but still. Ew. And poor kitty, what sort of moth stuff has she been ingesting? Of course, I've seen her and the cats at my parents' house eat bugs before, so I don't suppose eating some moth eggs would be terrible for her. She seems fine, and she hasn't been burping up moths. Needless to say, however, I threw out that bag of cat food, and I haven't seen a moth in days.

Now I'm going to go take a shower. Just thinking about bug infestation makes my skin crawl.

pretending to be organized

Last night, all the yarn lying around my room in plastic bags finally started to get on my nerves (you should read that as "I tripped over some innocent looking wool and almost died"), so I put on some music and set about thinking up a new way to store all the yarn, as it has managed to outgrow the plastic box I had been keeping it in. I finally came up with this:



Which, I think, will work very well. On top of the blue box is the yarn for things that I'm currently working on, and inside the box is the yarn for the projects I'd like to start next.

I think my needle storage solution justifies my saving any cool-looking box that comes my way:



And I put the rest of my yarn in the Office Depot file boxes currently pretending to be a night stand:



Now, I'd like to introduce my oldest Unfinished Object:



Why yes, that is a crocheted afghan. I started it in high school, but I don't really remember the exact circumstances. It's at least five years old, if not older. I do kind of like it, except I'm not really sure about the orange stripe. I know, when I started it, that I really liked the orange stripe, because my color preferences in high school were generally "loud". Not that I don't still like loud colors, I just now also have an appreciation for colors and combination that don't burn out your retinas.

Anyway. I like the pattern.



Just, for some reason I have an odd sense of confusion whenever I look at this blanket. Ah well. Maybe I'll go grab a crochet hook and do a couple rows.

Or maybe I'll knit a sock.

lady thrumsalot

I actually finished these back in December, but for whatever reason I didn't get around to weaving in the ends on the second one until this morning. I suppose some part of me feels more motivated now that it's actually cold outside.

Pattern: Thrummed Mittens from Interweave Knits Winter '06
Yarn: Dyed roving from the Zeilinger Wool Company, and Icelandic wool kindly given to me by Laurie at The Lavender Fleece.

bayerische beginnings

This pattern is so much fun, I can only work on it for short periods of time so I don't over stimulate myself.

Ok, actually, the pattern really is fun, but it's slow going because a) I haven't memorized the charts and b) I'm a slow knitter anyway.

On the moth front, I went through all the wool I own, and I did not find any evidence of a moth infestation. I'm still suspicious, because I killed two more moths yesterday, so I separated my yarn into ziploc bags. Hopefully, if the moths do decide to show themselves, that should make it really obvious which yarn needs to be frozen, microwaved, refrozen, remicrowaved, vacuumed, and then blessed by a priest.

war mongering

Today, I waged war on the ends, specifically the ends dangling off the sides of all my Weasley squares. I got through about a third of the squares I've already knit, and resolved not to knit any more squares until I've finished weaving in the ends of the completed ones. Then, I'm going to weave in the ends of each additional square as they are finished. Why I didn't employ this very logical, sane process before, I have no idea, but I have decided that it is more beneficial to my sanity to not think about it.

I restarted my roommate's Slytherin scarf again, this time on straight needles in 1x1 ribbing. I was previously knitting it on a 12" circular needle in a long tube, but she and I both agreed that it was just too thick for a scarf. I'm two stripes in, the first stripe representing V for Vendetta, and the second representing Kingdom of Heaven. I'm probably going to have to call in Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter for some help as well, because movies are really the only way this scarf makes any progress.

On a scarier note, I've killed five moths this week in my apartment. I'm...concerned. But, explaining to my roommate why I am microwaving my wool might be fun. And so it begins, the great battle of our time...

Ich bin eine Socknitter

One sock...

...Two socks!

This photo is closer to the actual colors...


Pattern: generic sock pattern, as explained by that other Stephanie in Knitting Rules!
Yarn: Koigu KPPPPPPPPPM...ok, I actually can't remember how many P's there were, so, um, Koigu of the sock-yarn variety, which was purchased when I randomly decided to go to the yarn shop after my last exam in December.
started December 27 and finished January 13

The worst part was finishing the first one while I was home by myself and not having anyone to show it to. Fortunately my roommate was around when I finished the second one about an hour ago, and she seems to think knitting is pretty cool (even though she usually declines my suggestions that she take it up herself), so she was properly impressed when I modeled the pair for her.

Oh, and kitchener stitch? Fabulous. I love it. It's just so gosh-darned clever.

your attention please

That's right. I finished something. HA.

Pattern: Cowgirl Slipper Socks from Interweave Knits, Winter 2006
Yarn: 100% merino from Table Rock Llamas Fiber Arts Studio
Modifications: I only did two repeats of the cuff pattern because I thought I wouldn't have enough yarn for the full four. Turns out I probably would have. Phooey.
Started December 7, 2006 and finished December 12, 2006

things you don't want to hear your roommate say, #7549

"Hey, I found a moth in my room last night."

After my last post, Carrie K asked if I really needed to frog the Slytherin scarf. I wish I could say that I really didn't, but I started it over with nice, untwisted stitches, and it looks so much better that I really wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't redo it. Everytime I saw the scarf it would make me cringe.

The Evidence:


I have been doing some other knitting:



Both are Christmas presents so I won't really elaborate until after Christmas. Heh. Someone out there is laughing hysterically while thinking, "Christmas presents? This kid's been knitting for a year and hasn't managed to finish one single thing! How is she going to knit Christmas presents?" And to that person, I sniff disdainfully in your general direction (unfortunately, that person seems to be living in the back of my head, so physically pulling that off is a little tricky).

Oh, and if anyone is wondering, yes, those are full of twisted knit stitches, but I have decided that in their cases it is not an issue.

The Weasley squares are mustering.


I would say that I'm going to end this to go knit some more, but I'm not. I picked up Labyrinth by Kate Mosse the other day and it is highly engrossing...

If anyone is interested in finding out how it feels to learn that you've been making the freaking knit stitch incorrectly for nearly a year, let me tell you. It feels bad.

I almost didn't post about it because I feel so silly. But, I've been knitting this Slytherin scarf for my roommate, as I've said, and I've noticed that the stitches all seem to slant to the right. At first I just thought this was a feature of circular knitting and that it would block out, but then I looked at a few pictures of other people's circular knitting. Their stitches weren't slanting to the right...

My stomach started to feel funny. Then I read something about twisted stitches on knittyboard.com, and my stomach started to feel worse. I kept looking at my stitches, unsure of whether I had twisted them or not, and then a horrible thought occured to me.

What if I've been knitting wrong?

This was all last night. The thought was too horrible to be contemplated so I went to bed. I had dreams about knitting. And X-men, actually. But I digress.

This morning I decided to set aside my pride and the fear of ripping out the Slytherin scarf (and the sock, which is also doing the funny slanting thing), and went over to knittinghelp.com and watched the video about making knit stitches.

Yep! Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, WRONG!

I'm going to go eat some brownies and try not to cry while I frog two months worth of incorrect stitches.

Oh, and if anyone is wondering, I do make my purl stitches correctly. I watched those videos too, just to be sure.

My roommate occasionally travels to Toronto to visit her brother. She went again this weekend, and I finally asked her the question that has been plaguing me for nearly a year:

"How do you ride on the bus for that long and not knit?"