It's Knittin' Time!

With fall getting ready to knock on our doors, I've picked up the trust knitting needles once again.  I've been knitting bits and pieces over the summer, but not consistently.  This needs to be remedied. 

I have started some Podster Glittens in two colorways.  One is for a co-worker who ask many moons ago for flip-top mittens.  I enjoyed making them, but they are trying too. 

Thus I decided to knit a few projects that are quick and gratifying.  One's to be a gift, so that'll have to stay hush hush, but the other is very Autumnish!  It's this cute pixie hat in the amazing deep orange colorway.  My photo does it no justice!  I'm looking forward to posting as I finish some projects.

Along with a few new projects, I have some cast-on that I should finish.  One is my Clockwork Skies Cowl.  Love that pattern! I'd really like to finish it so I can wear is this Fall/Winter.

I knit the wurm for my BFF.  It was a glorious hat.  I have some left over yarn from my Octopus Mittens (★).  I feel that the wurm would make an amazing matching hat for the yarn.  The switching colors looking like the tentacle suckers!  :D

I've also got a few other craft projects of the non-knit variety in the works.  Again, for Christmas.  Hopefully I'll finish all that I would like to have finished by then. 

In order to have something to do while knitting, since I need to stay engaged on multiple levels, I normally watch tv.  Today it has been D.Gray-Man.  Imagine my amused surprise and delight to look up and see the Millenium Earl knitting away mid-way through an episode (22 I think).  XD  I love when characters knit randomly for no apparent reason, or for good reason. 

But tv can get boring and you have to stop to change discs so  I've been looking in to audiobooks too. 

I've been reading Martin's A Game of Thones.  As an extraordinarily long book and series, I feel this would be a good invest for the knitting!  Maybe even The Wheel of Time Saga as well as The Lord of the Rings.  Let's get the fantasy reading...er...listening on!  ;)

Grape Swirl

I love when my plots and schemes come together. Not so much for myself, but I do love when I plot for others.

I have had to start and frog this gem of a project several times. Also, due to the variegated yarn I wasn't sure how the pattern was going to look/ turn out, but it was smashing. I especially like that there are blue and purple stripes with the swirls.  

The pattern, Swirl Hat, is wonderful! It is very simple, but a bit tricky.

Finally figured out the trick so I wasn't having to keep counting...because, seriously counting to 8 over and over not so awesome. So pulled out loads of stitch markers and plotted it out.

Honestly, this yarn is beautiful. I have a few skeins left, so another project it in the works for it, but I'm not sure when that will be done. Not for Christmas for sure. I have an few other projects in the works so...there will be more of this Arabian Nights purple and blue in the future.

*gnaws* Knitting a Shark is...

As I mentioned many moons ago, I was asked to make a shark sleep sack thingie for a co-worker's baby. It was an amusing proposition so I thought, what the heck. Let's do it!

While trying to workout the best way to construct it, I came across an article about a woman who photographs her baby girl in these amazing sets. It's really adorable. When I saw it, I thought of him since he promised silly photos. :D She made a book, but I think this one was my favorite. Or the elephant riding one. :D

This was quite the experience.  I don't improvise project much.  I haven't reached a level of knitting where I really understand the stitches and construction well enough to feel comfortable with doing so.  However, this seemed like a fairly easy challenge, so I went at it full steam ahead.

As it is basically a really large hat I had a good idea for the knitting.  To give it some texture I knit-through-the-backloop for the body so it made a twisting pattern.  That was the easy part.  Tedious and boring, but easy.  The complicated part was deciding to knit the thing as one piece.  I discovered while knitting plushies that I really hate binding limbs on.  The extra stitching is irritating and doesn't look as nice.  That being said, I practiced the increases for the dorsal fin and the side fins.  That was an interesting exercise.  I had to monitor how they grew slowly every other round in relation to the length of the swaddler.   When the fins met my length requirements, I had to determine when to start decreasing to make the tail and close the bottom.  That was a slight challenge too.

I remember plotting early on about the eyes being sewn so the little one couldn't swallow buttons.  I also decided on making it look slightly less realistic and creepy, but still pretty recognizable as a shark.  Thus, no red gums like in the photos, not was I making mutliple rows/sets of teeth.  I like that the four teeth make it look a bit goofy.  Also, the XO for the eyes was amusing to me, but not sure everyone is going to see the hugs and kisses thing like I intended.  It does look sort of silly demented, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

I also had to buy a slightly different weight of yarn to finish the project out.  The manufacture stopped producing the one I'd originally bought and pulled it from stores.  So when it came time, the weight is a little larger on the new skein, even though the colors match.  I ended up using way more yarn than projected.

A lesson in many things this project.  I learned kitchener stitching as well as that I don't really like knitting thing that don't provide quick/instant gratification.  If I do a swaddler again, it will have to have some sort of pattern to keep me entertained while knitting it.  The monotony of ktbl for about 16 inches was torture.  Fortunately I didn't have to pay overly much attention and could watch movies while knitting without fear of screwing up.

I started the project in January and finished the first of July during the large East Coast power outage.  Yes I did finish it while out house was without power for a little over 48 hours in the dark by flashlight/candlelight.  Once I gifted it to my co-worker, there was much delight, and it only took about five seconds for him to pull it over his head. 

Pay it Forward '11 Reflection

In January of last year, Facebook had a Pay It Forward Project meme going around.I'm a bit late in getting this done, but better late than never. I wanted to write up something on the five Pay it Forward projects that I finished in the last year.

The idea was simple:

Pay it forward 2011: I promise to send something handmade to the first 5 people who leave a comment. They must in turn post this and send something they made to the first 5 people who comment on their status. The rules are that....it must be handmade by you and it must be delivered sometime in 2011.In the midst of completing and gifting the projects I started to think about it all.

And I wanted to collect the links for all the projects into one place.
MP1: 11's Sonic Screwdriver (completed: June 15, 2011 ; gifted: June 18, 2011)
MP2: Anti-Possession Mitts (complete: July14, 2011 ; gifted: August 1, 2011 )
MP3: Gates of Greyhaven (completed: June 26, 2011 ; gifted: July 23, 2011 )
MP4: Grape Wurm (completed December 25, 2011: ; gifted: January 2-5, 2012 )
MP5: Blueschief (completed: July 1, 2011 ; gifted: August 21, 2011)

All posts related to Pay it Forward '11.

It was fun picking patterns and yarn to go with the patterns that I felt reflected the recipient. I put thought into the pattern choice. I also put thought into the yarn choice be it color or fiber.

Overall, the project helped me get a lot of knitting done. It also helped me delve deeper into the fiber world. I ended up visiting a proper knitting store for the first time. That was a fun experience. It made me wish that there was a knitting store closer to home. Also, it would be nice if there were little cozy cafes near by that I could sit in to knit, read, or write from time to time. The main stream never has the same feel that the little independent stores did when I was at college. Though I didn't get around to visiting them too often.

Speaking of reading, I was inspired by a fellow tumblrite, Airiz, in her post about the gathering of her top books of the year. (Her blog is fantastic btw.) It was something that made me realize that I had stopped keeping track of the books I'd read, what I felt about them, how long it had taken me to read, and other such things. I miss making my list and seeing what I read and how it coincides with my life. I read a lot in high school and through college, but the habit fell by the wayside before I graduated. This year, I would like to start it up again and keep track of everything. Hopefully I'll be able to post about some of the books here and encourage reading.

So this year, I'd like to complete a few knitting projects that have been languishing on my needles. I would like to put a dent in my stash of yearn before buying anymore *crosses fingers* I have enough projects and yarn pairings to get my through for a bit. And I'd like to read. Be it from a physical book, on either of my Kindles, or an audiobook while knitting away. I want to get back to doing more things that will relax me and help to keep the stress levels low.

Of course, I hopefully will put a major dent in my MBA course load as well. But like I said, taking the time to read for pleasure is something I haven't been really consistent on in the last few years. I'd also like to try and read things outside of my usual fantasy novels. I want to read more classics, maybe some non-fiction, or other authors that had previously caught my eye but I'd never gotten around to picking up their books.

Let this be a year of knitting comforting projects and reading.

Hassan Chop!

Watch out for the Knitja! Or at least that's what I call my version of Kate Boyette's Ninja pattern. This took way longer to knit than I thought. Mostly because I sometimes have the attention span of a goldfish.

There was also a delay in finishing due to the disappearance of my felt for the features. Needless to say, I ventured to the craft store for more and ended up buying a bunch of other crafting items. There will be more crafts besides knitting in the near future. :D

I had fun with this, and would likely make it again. I didn't stuff this one a whole lot, but made it a little flat plushie that is still squeezably soft. It might be entertaining to make a really plump ninja in the future. In black. *nods*

The sewing is a pain. I definitely don't appear to be a seamstress. *shakes head* I'm rather passable at this point, but hopefully down the line I can work on that and get better. At least this time the shapes and placement were easy. In the past the assembly of plushie objects hasn't gone well. This time went considerably better.

I hope my co-worker who asked for it is pleased. We decided on the pink for extra fun (and cause the purple was being knit into mystery project 4).

Also, THIS IS THE FIRST COMPLETED JOB OF THE YEAR!!!!

Mystery Project 4...COMPLETE!

I have finally completed my last mystery project to gift. I actually finished knitting it up while watching Dr. Who: A Christmas Carol Christmas Special. I was knitting away while the parentals snoozed on Christmas Day. :)

It was a nice pattern in its simplicity but still challenging enough to maintain my interest. The brim was a practice in the skill of folding the pieces and knitting them together. I've done three such "hems" and two without provisionally casting on the first edge (such as this one). I do prefer doing without the special cast on. It makes for an ultra warm brim.

The yarn was surprisingly easy to knit with. I wanted something bright and soft. Especially as it is intended as a running hat for my BFF. She complained a while back about being cold when running. I asked if she wore a hat, to which she replied that no she didn't have one. So this was my solution. It's also bright so she can be seen.

I liked the pattern itself for the quality of the purl-knit pattern repeats that made it scrunched and warm. I think it will hold heat well so she stays warm even when wearing tight running gear. :)

I know the pattern, wurm by katushika, is meant to emulate a worm and be a play on words; which makes me giggle and think of the blue and white worm from the David Bowie 80s movie Labyrinth. But in this obnoxious purple it really reminds me of a cupcake.

Owlies

Back in August, when I was attending my cousins wedding, I met several of my other cousins' children for the first time. Most notable was when I was standing in the kitchen talking and one of my cousins' wives came in carrying their little girl. When they got close she leaned forward, as if wanting me to hold her. However, her aim was my shirt. I was wearing Threadless' Doctor-Hoo shirt. She pointed at the owls as if counting (I think she's two...maybe?). Her mother said that she simply loved owls. It was really adorable. So because it was amusing and cute, when I came across an Owl pattern to knit in Kate Boyette's KnitWit book, I knew there was something a little extra going to their house this Christmas. I knit the owl up and stitched on the face so things couldn't be pulled off and swallowed. I think it turned our pretty good if I do say so myself. :)

Owls are so interesting. We had a Great Horned Owl that lived in the woods in the backyard when I was growing up. I haven't heard him in ages though. :( Mum collected them for ages and I still think they are neat (we have dozens of them around). Now with Harry Potter's popularity and the use of owls in the series, was it any wonder they are still really neat. I also love the train, so when I saw this pattern pop up today on the Ravelry side bar adverts, I had to click. Titled the Hogwarts Express but is in fact a shawl with owls?! Awesome! Don't know that I really talked about it too much in the post-letter receiving Pottermore post, but I "bought" an owl. Just seemed more fun to the experience over a toad or cat. I don't think I ever really determined a name for him, but still like Priestly. :D

When I was rooting around the internet for Halloween things and came across the Gleeful Things crafting website, I discovered a little Etsy shop, Mini Tidbits, that makes great owl pillows. There are tons of them all over Etsy, but i really liked the look of that shops, especially that Halloween on featured on Gleeful Things in October.

Tentacles Ahoy!

I did not always have this fascination with the octopus. It is a recently re-discovered interest that has been cultivated by my re-invigoration with knitting. When I was first looking at patterns and geeky things I came across this little guy. It took me a while, but I found the pattern and vow to knit him one day!

I blame my random trip to the zoo, for the inital intrigue. I was attending a conference downtown when the lecture room was declared too full and any further participants would make it a fire hazard. So to not waste the trip, I walked over to the zoo...in February. It was early morning and I discovered that the zookeepers were feeding many of the animals. So wanting to go ahead and see as much as I could, especially when it was inside, I wandered over to the invertebrate house. Here I discovered an octopus named Rachel. I learned some amazing things, such as, they change colors and they can fit through any space as long as their beaks can. That is most fascinating.

Needless to say, this fascination expanded when I discovered steampunk. I can only deduce that the octopus is part of the genre due to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Jules Verne. However, even with the confusion, that doesn't make them any less awesome.

So as I mentioned before, I've been knitting up this pair of mittens. I finished them after getting a bit side tracked due to other projects, the holidays creeping up, and general busyness with classes starting up and work.

I love how the colors turned out. I wasn't sure if they were going to work, and they actually photograph better for the contrast, but I really love how they look. It's almost like the octopi are mid change and blending with the seaish color of the background. ;D The yarn feels amazing, and they are toasty warm.

This was the first pair of full mittens I've completed. I've started two pairs in the past, but frogged due to size and not liking the color combination. I'm so pleased with these. Even if I occasionally felt like this guy while knitting them.

Something else I started with this set and the recent knittings I've been working on. I was looking through projects for a fellow Raveler and saw they listed what they'd audiobooked or watched while knitting, so I've decided to document it myself. I don't really remember much for the first one mitten of this pair other than it was Thanksgiving and there was a brief MythBusters marathon while I was finishing it up. The second one was knit in the car with music and Neil Gaiman's Stardust on. I still have a good chunk of the book to listen through. Love it (even if I've read it three times)!

Finally, in honor of the octopus and its eight tentacle glory, I found some fun and amusing little odds and ends on Etsy.

From a mountain of chunky yarn, Bellissima accessories...

A while ago, when I was renewing my interest in knitting, I stumbled upon a fun knitting book. That book is Vampire Knits by Genevieve Miller. Most of the contained patterns have something to do with Twilight which I could care less about. But a few of them are awesome in spite of that book series.

However, the pattern I was knitting up before, is a direct inspiration from Twilight. I was gifted yarn for my birthday, tons of it in fact, in a really neat blue. So when I decided I wanted to knit up the Bellissima Mittens, I pulled out that yarn.

I really love the length of them. They are floppy and big going over the cuffs of my coat well. If I was to knit them again, I would use a solid color so that the cables were really visible. With this yarn they are a bit hidden and I really do like the large link cable that goes up the back of the mittens.

Since I had lots of yarn left, I went looking for a hat pattern. I figured there had to be one out there. And low and behold, I found one. It took me a few hours to knit Bella's Hat which was pulled together from various Ravelery patterns of the mittens from the movie.

Yes, I got a little foam head to put things on. Partly for modeling hats, since I am horrific at taking pictures of myself; partly for my blue Coraline wig.

But whatever the reason, I like being able to photograph my hats at any angle. This doesn't really show the big link cable to well, but it looks neat paired with the mittens.

I actually wore them together on an excursion where it was quite chilly. While wandering about, I decided I would need a scarf too. And since I have a good chunk of the yarn left I would like to make it cabled and long.

Perhaps I'll get to the scarf one day, but for now the mittens and hat will have to do. 

Rainy Day Productivity

My days off have been days full of rain and dreary weather. The solution? Knitting comfy things and catching up on tv. I've been knitting mittens (for me!) and watching Castle. Days of Nathan Fillion, yarn, and soon to be awesome things are wonderful.

I started off working on some funny fair isle mittens. I found these gems of mittens with octopi on them. I feel very steampunk about them...though I don't think that was the intent of their creation. I came across them and found some amazing yarn from the suggested yarn. Dragonfly Fibers. I love the feel of this yarn. And the colors. *squee* I'm so pleased with how these colorways are knitting up together.

As a break from the stranded fair isle knitting. (It can get exhausting knitting with two colors and both hands to tension the yarn.) So I was browsing Ravelry and came across Bella's Mittens. And while I deeply loath Twilight, I do like these mittens. They look so amazingly comfy and warm. A cuddly blanket for the hands!

The color for these is really off since pictures with flash really washed out the blue. I decided to make the mittens with the yarn that had been gifted to me by my BFF's family for my birthday. I have enough that I'm planning to knit this hooded cowl with the same yarn.

Overall, the yarn is soft and cuddly, but very splity when knitting with it. The pattern is knitting up fairly quickly, so we shall see how soon I have these suckers knocked out. ;3

I also may or may not have had the Sailor Moon English song, Rainy Day Man running through my head...

Coraline Craftings

A while back I had an epic day of crafting that included making a few Coraline inspired things. Things that I made in massive preparation for Halloween. I also broke down and bought the mini-me, but went scavenging for the panther beanie baby.

I also tried the weekend of Halloween to tye dye strip a shirt orange and pink. The dye didn't go completely through, so I will have to try again at a future date.

I haven't strung the ghost children soul pearls or the seeing stone (as you can see) but the button skeleton key held up ok. I will have to continue to fortify it with crazy/gorilla glue to keep it together.

I cast on for the sweater a while back, but I've gotten caught up in other projects for other people, so I haven't made much progress. But it does look nice with what I've done so far. :D

The blue cotton is super soft and I think it'll be really comfy. The silver threading is really subtle and pretty. I'm also excited to be using the Supernatural inspired stitch markers I made. Though since all of them went to marking this project I want to make more with the charms I have left over.

I'll have to be sure to work in some major knitting time for the sweater. *nods*

Mittens of Yggdrasil

In the midst of trying to make all kinds of projects, I knit up some fingerless mitts for myself so that maybe I can take advantage of the nice fall weather and knit outside. This will hopefully help me to get some sunlight so I'm not quite translucent when in the sunshine.

I'd found this pattern on Ravelry. I love the tree! This was also recently after seeing Captain America and renewing my interest in Norse mythology. I still have a burning desire to pick up a mythology book. It's been so long since I read up on the Norse pantheon.

Thus, I waited to find the perfect yarn to knit these up. And low and behold, Etsy came through. AnotherCraftGirl had some other yarn that had caught my eye and when I scoped her shop, she had this luscious chocolate and caramel hand dyed colorway.

It knit up rather quickly once I got the hang of the pattern. This was also a project I semi/pseudo cabled sans cable needle. O_o

That was interesting. It might be a skill I should foster more, but I have a tendency to drop stitches so maybe when the cable isn't overly complicated. Like this pattern I'm itching to knit up from the same designer. I want to find another nice colorway to use, but I'm not sure what. I also kinda want to make them a bit long since the Yggdrasil mitts took less than 50 grams of the skein. They might look cool in some of the semi-sparkly yarn I have lying around.

I was also able to use this opportunity to pull out the recently purchased pumpkin stitch markers. Aren't they cute! The leaf is the different one to mark the round beginning. Oh Etsy, why do you have such amazing things? I wish I was half as crafty as some of those people on there.

As you can see, the mitts look pretty fantastic if I do say so myself. :) They are shorter on the fingers that I'd generally knit, but I wanted to be able to wear them while knitting so need greater finger room to properly tension the yarn.

And yes, this was an excuse to take a picture of my glitterly orange Halloween nails.

Since I got side tracked on discussing other projects, I'd like to add that I have stalled on the last Pay It Forward Project. I might have to change what I make again. We shall see. I won't have too much time since I wanted to get it done for Christmas. Lots of ideas and a few projects started for her that I could finally finish. >_>

Not a SQUIB, but MAGICAL!

Ahahahaha...yeah. I haven't posted in a while since my strategic management class ate my life. I turned in the final project/paper after not learning anything. Fortunately I had Dad (who teaches this stuff too) around to bounce ideas off of. I'm happy to say that I learned from him and that I did it by myself. He was also happy that he'd done what he could to help without walking me completely through it or doing it himself.

Anyway, *washes hands of class* that prof is off my list. :P Hopefully I'll end up with a good passing grade.

As I mentioned ages ago. I've been waiting for my Pottermore letter. Well they announced today that all the Beta letters had been owled. I got mine yesterday and was up until 5am battling the site crashes and plowing through. In the midst of this I was knitting a certain pair of glommitts. :D Rejoice in the return to knitting!

OMG! It's really amazing! :D There is information galore and all kinds of neat graphics. It's almost too much to take in. I know that I'll have to go back through and read again after a reread of the first book.

I was having a blast yesterday chatting with Rika as she and her beau were plowing through too. XD

I forgot how much I love the train. I might have to figure out how to knit a mini-plushie Hogwarts Express. *nods* I also need to knit myself an owl. I bought one, but have no clue what to name it. Leaning toward Priestly. ;D

There was little doubt, but I still feel validated. RAVENCLAW ALL THE WAY!

Now to work on brewing potions and waiting for dueling to return so I can cast spells! Book 2 comes out next year! :3

Gifting fun giftys!

Got together with KA and her lifemate Bean. I'm going to be screwed when they get married since I've known the girl by first and last name forever...I don't know that I'll be able to change it in my head.

Anyway, had dinner with them and finally gave birthday gifts...a month and seven months late. Eh hehe. Yeah. Figuring schedules, so not my strong point.

Interesting, and humorously, enough Bean and I wore the same shirt without consulting. HAHAHA! That's what happens when you are nerdtastic.

Anyway, I gave each a coffee cup cozy that is hand sewn and reusable from sewtara's Etsy shop. I actually had to get one for myself since I got a ceramic coffee cup with lid that didn't come with a cozy. *pouts* Ah well, I picked a good one.

Along with that KA got a little panda pouch. I am a firm believer that one can never have too many pouches to store things in. Bean got a set of teacups that are cupcake molds. KA had told me when we were last out and about that he wanted them, soooooo. Yesh. :D

As you can see I knit a panda plushie too. This was for KA. She's a big panda fan. It was entirely too entertaining making this little cutie from Katie Boyette's KnitWit book. I have plans for a few other patterns within. *cackles*

There was also a knitted little wonder for Bean. KA and I discovered that there was a mutual love for Dr. Who. That being said I decided Bean needed 11's sonic screwdriver a la yarn.

In the midst of the shopping and browsing of Etsy, I realized I forgot to include a small item for each. *headdesk* I'll have to remember for next outing with one or both of them. *sigh*

They actually got me something pretty freakin' sweet too. KA commented that she loves journals, but doesn't journal well. So I reap the benefits since I do both things. Well, perhaps not well, but I use journals for various things. Anyway, they gave me Keri Smith's Wreck this Journal. I'd seen this when I worked at BN and always meant to buy it. Muwahahaha! I was doing a little googling on it and came across pictures of people following the journal's directions. It got me thinking, I might document this and post about that. Then I found a blog that is doing so. She calls it Wreck this Journal Wednesdays. I'm not sure if I can stick to that schedule, but I can certainly take pictures and post what I do to it.

Yes...this is going to be entertaining. :D

knitting in pop culture

I've been really amused to come across a few knitting references in movies and literature lately.

I think another part of this is the yarn bombing movement. It's been making the news so putting knitting in the spot light. I really love the Wall Street Bull yarn bomb. :D

Dumbledore refers to knitting the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince:

"No, I was merely reading the Muggle magazines...I do love knitting patterns."

Mostly, I completely understand this compulsion. I have ridiculous amounts of fun looking at knitting patterns. Whether I knit them or not is irrelevant. They are creative and inspirational. Then again, I like to stock pile them away in hopes that I might knit them in the future. I also have a compulsion to buy yarn. My stash is huge.


Tangled refers to it twice. I love that Rapunzel knits. Look at Pascal hidden in her scarf! He's so freaking adorable. Hehe! She's knitting English style too.

And one of the ruffians does later on in the movie. It's part of the listing all their dreams.

If you haven't seen it, go and watch. One of the better animated non-Pixar movies to come out of Disney's studios in a while. Cracks me up every time I watch.

I look forward to finding more knitting references.

Cap for the Cap't

Went to see Captain America (for the second time) today and had lunch with a friend from high school. Hadn't seen him in a few years. It was nice. We had a good chat and I was able to gift him my fifth mystery project. (The fourth is still on the needles slowly being knit...)

Since he was the only male to respond to the Pay it Forward challenge, I had some trouble determining a pattern for him. This is also due to the fact that most patterns seem to be made for women by women. Nothing wrong with that, but trying to find something for a guy it rough.

I chose a hat pattern called Windschief. The guy who wrote it has some really neat stuff that is masculine, but also simple as he does patterns with knit and purls, no fancy stuff that makes it flourishy. I think it turned out well. :) He seemed to like it. (And it fit!)

It really decided me when I had the thought, you can't really have too many hats.

This didn't turn out to be the best picture, but it was better than the ones I took without the foam head. Which, haha! I bought a foam head so I can model hats and hold my blue Coraline wig. :D There is actually a mild level of excitement about this.

Anywho, really enjoyed being able to catch up with my friend, and he was all Captain America, yes! So I told him I'm calling him Cap from now on. :D

Leaf your thumbprint please...

I had an awesome vacation going home to Grandma's farm. I hadn't actually seen a chunk of my family in about 4 years due to various circumstances. I was so glad to make it up to see them. Saturday was the big day! I did the poster reveal to Kels on Friday while there were a bunch of us sitting around at Grandma's unfurling large tissue paper pom-poms. :) She liked it.

The wedding was so neat. Casual, fun, and light. Lots of rustic little details that made it memorable. I'm glad that I could be a part of it with my tree. Even if I haven't really drawn much in a last few years...actually I don't remember the last thing I drew. >_> Anyway, the tree turned out great, both before and after! I had the most trouble doing the lettering. OMG. The thing took me about 6 hours to pencil, ink, erase and detail. O_o I'd forgotten how time consuming art could be. Also, I found a tree I would totally draw for my own wedding. :D Cause even with no prospects, having some ideas is never a bad thing.

There was pizza making, rope braiding, pom-pom fluffing, and 40s music pumping out during the reception. It was loads of fun and lots of family visiting. :)

I did take a knitting project with me too. My first shawl. Ugh. Did I struggle. There is so much attention in the pattern with YOs and various knit togethers. I ended up casting on, knitting, frogging, and restarting several times. Mum actually said to me at one point, "this is supposed to relax you." HA! I like the challenge even when it drives me bonkers. :P I ended up knitting most of what is show on the road coming home...so about a 2 hour drive and a 3 hour plan trip. Go me!

Also, the pattern is called Allons-Y and makes me giggle when I think on it for Dr. Who and 10. ;D I actually have a few other shawl plans but they will have to do on hold. My project queue keeps getting added to by friends asking for things. I think I'm just about over my no in the round stage for the moment too. So next days off hopefully I can knock out a set of mittens... *fingers crossed*

Shark Bait!

I walked into work last night and was greeted by my glomitt wanting co-worker. (He actually asked about my blogging and declared that he needed an awesome nickname...I'm leaning toward Shark Bait.)

I had to tell him his glomitts were on hold. However he had a new request for me. He wanted a Baby Shark Sleeping Sack. It's pretty fraking cute and hilarious.

So I went hunting for pictures or maybe even a pattern. Found a few pictures of the one he found (along with the Etsy listing) and a few other amusing shark related knits.

Mostly I love the hat I found. On Ravelry and the knitter's webpage. I also completely adore the girl's expression.

So because he's a geek and declared he'd take amusing obnoxious photos if I knit him the Sleeping Shark Sack, he might end up with a hat or ipod cozy (see the Etsy treasury) in it's place while I figure out a few of the other projects I've got going. I'm pretty sure that making the hat would actually help me suss out the construction for the sleep sack.

But it is amusing as hell...and I like being entertained. XD

Round and round she goes...

I love knitting in the round. I've made several things that way. This is probably because I don't like purling since I am slower at it. :P

However, for the last week or so, all projects I've cast on for knitting in the round on circulars has resulted in twisting. Which I don't notice for a few rounds, then I have to rip it all out. Thus I shall work on something knit flat. Like my Coraline sweater. Between that and the mystery project I have left, I should get through the small vacation we're going on for my cousin's wedding. :)

Mostly I'm frustrated since a few of the things I'd like to get made for friends are in the round on circulars (like that neat purple swirl hat shown). *pouts* Just need to take some time away from it I guess...

Guess what came by post?!

That's right! The Coraline sweater yarn has arrived!

Now to print the pattern, knit a swatch, and decipher the pattern.

After glancing through it, I think this one is going to be a big learning experience. There were a few terms and notes that I didn't fully understand. KnittingHelp and Google will be my BFFs.

But for now, I think I'm going to knit the TARDIS.