KIP

Now that I've suddenly got loads more free time, I've signed up for knitting circle get togethers. Go me! I can't make Wednesdays this month, and I've got finals until the 8th, but hopefully I'll make one in December!!!!

And it looks like I'll have my own place in Feb, *squee*, so I can host stuff in my home as well. :)

I'm going to add a "Works in Progress" section to the sidebar, as well as a "Completed Projects" section...but not now. Tonight I sleep.

From Justy's Site

You appear to be a Knitting Guru. You love knitting
and do it all the time. While finishing a piece
is the plan, you still love the process, and
can't imagine a day going by without giving
some time to your yarn. Packing for vacation
involves leaving ample space for the stash and
supplies. It can be hard to tell where the yarn
ends and you begin.
http://marniemaclean.com


What Kind of Knitter Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Knitting Circle

I would like to start a knitting circle, and I've been thinking about names. A couple I've thought of are "Stitching Bitches", "Naked Knitting", "Chicks with Sticks" (Chicks and Dicks with Sticks, if we get a member [hee hee] of the male persuasion). Anyone else got any ideas?

I know that I can totally host the knitting thing starting in March or so (Burnaby), but Kate and D would probably like it right where they live... so I open the floor. I figure if there isn't a knitting group in the next three months, I'll be organizing it. Besides, I'll be right out by Peechie and pretty close to no name yet. :) (Neither of whom have expressed interest in a knitting group, but hey, I'm just like Florida...counting votes 'creatively' ;) )

Don't Hate Me!

Look what I've got.

A bunch of it got really tangled at work today, and since they were going to throw it away, I got to take it home with me. I don't know how much I have, but there's at least four or five different colours, and probably eight or ten balls.

::GLEE::

Purchasing Online

I wonder if I'd ever be able to buy yarn from online? I suppose if it was something I knew already...like Boa, or Fun Fur, or something like that. But so much of yarn shopping for me is tactile. First, the colour catches my eye, but then I have a need to pet it. I've been known to surreptitously (and not so much) pet the yarn that comes through my till.

Would you ever buy yarn online?

Worthwhile investment.

The five bucks or so that I spent on the yarn to make my stripy toque and scarf are probably the best $5 I have spent in ages. Not only did they keep me busy during various times (bus rides, hospital stays) but they look fabulous and I wear them ALL THE TIME.

Boa Keyhole Scarf 

Here's how it looks draped a little 

Red Haired Striped Yarn Ninja! 

Kate: Read this before you start that hat!

Now that I've got your attention... ;)

Check your yarn! If you're using worsted weight yarn, you'll need to add 22 stitches onto your initial cast-on, then follow the same directions. I used bulky, but adapted it so that it fit. Gauge isn't stupidly important for hats, but you might wind up with one that will only fit your sister if you follow the directions I gave.

Stripy Ribbed Scarf

Needle size-10
Yarn-Bulky weight Red Heart "Misty". I used whatever was left of the ball I used to make my stripy toque (AKA my jaunty new chapeau) plus another 4 oz ball.
Cast on 24 (EDIT: Sorry...mine has 36) stitches, or however wide you want it (multiple of six)
Knit 3, purl 3 all the way across the row. Repeat until it's as long as you want.

Final dimensions-mine wound up being about five and a half feet long and about six inches wide. And wow, is it ever soft and comfy!!!

Christmas Presents

I've started making Christmas presents now. I'm planning on giving two people "knitting related" stuff and at least five people knitted goods. This will severely cut down on the amount of money I'm spending, since I have all the yarn and needles I need for everything, but it will eat up time like mad. I hope my boyfriend doesn't mind me knitting instead of cuddling while we watch TV some nights. :/

Better detail (I hope) on the keyhole

You should first have a bunch of rows knitted. That's the easy bit. Next you knit half of the rows, turn the knitting, then knit them again. Knit those rows again, then turn the knitting and knit back to the beginning of the row. Do this a bunch of times, until the strip of knitting is as long as you want. There should be a poor, neglected set of stitches on one of the needles.

OH! I think I remember the step I forgot to include in the original keyhole instructions. (sorry...I didn't have the scarf in front of me...) Cut the yarn when you've got the Right (as in "correct") Side facing you. This would be either side, since we're doing garter stitch (knit each row).

Join the yarn to the end of the poor neglected stitches and knit as many rows as you had, then knit across.

Knit until you run out of yarn or until you've gotten to the right length.

Better directions found here.

Boa Keyhole Scarf

US size 10 needles (note: don't make my mistake. Don't use purple needles with purple Boa. You'll NEVER find that stitch you dropped. EVER. I had to frog (rip it...rip it...) out the first three rows about eight times)

Cast on 22 stitches
Knit about ten rows, then create the keyhole.

Keyhole: knit 11 stitches, turn the scarf then knit them again. Do this for about ten or fifteen rows, then do the same for the 11 stitches on the other side. Knit that side until you have the same amount of stitches, then knit across both sections.

Knit until you run out of boa.

Final dimensions: varies. It's a really stretchy sideways and lengthways.

Public Knitting

I have discovered the truth of knitting in public. When someone is sitting there knitting, people will come up and ask questions. It's kind of neat. I was up at university on Monday working on the matching scarf to my jaunty striped chapeau and a girl asked me if it was hard, how I did it, what I was making, etc. Kind of neat! (plus, she was cute, so that was nice too. ;) )

Stripy toque...finished it last night. The pattern is under the pictures. 

The top of the stripy hat. See the spiral? 

Stripy Toque

-adapted from "Hip to Knit"
About 3 oz of bulky yarn (I used Red Heart Misty varigated)

I love using varigated yarn. Two reasons...it makes me look way more experienced than I am, and it makes it easier to see where my mistakes are. "Ah, it's in the red section...oh wait...the whole piece is red. Crap."

US size 8 needles

Make sure you use long ones...you'll need them. I started out with short ones and I kept dropping stitches off the end when the needles were in my knitting bag...very frustrating... If you're not used to long needles (I wasn't when I started, but I sure am now...) it'll just take a bit of practice to keep the yarn from tangling around the end of the right hand needle.

This is adapted because the original pattern called for worsted weight yarn, and I REALLY wanted to use this stuff...it's bulky, but it's so soft. And it's a pretty colour.

Cast on 77 stitches.

Knit one row

Purl one row

(this is also called the stockinette stitch...if it's the first time you've done it...it is supposed to curl. And yes, it's really freaking annoying for the first little while. *grumble* But it makes the lovely roll at the bottom of the hat.)

Repeat until you get about 6" or so of fabric, unrolled. For me that happened to be about sixty rows (30 of each. Or maybe it's 30 rows...15 of each, but that seems awfully short. Anyway...about 6")

End on a "wrong side row"...which means stop after you've just done a purl row.

Knit six, then knit two together. Do that until the end of the row. You'll end up with 66 stitches.
Knit five, then knit two together. Do that until the end of the row. You'll end up with 55 stitches.
Knit four, then knit two together. Do that until the end of the row. You'll end up with 44 stitches.
Knit three, then knit two together. Do that until the end of the row. You'll end up with 33 stitches.
Knit two, then knit two together. Do that until the end of the row. You'll end up with 22 stitches.
Knit two together across the row. You'll end up with 11 stitches.

Leave the stitches on the needle and cut a tail of about 18". Bring the tail through the stitches from the other side of them so that you form a circle. Sew up the back seam, and you've got yourself a hat.

Final dimensions: not sure. It fit me like you see...as well as my dad and mom. My mom's got a fairly small head, I've got a medium one and my dad has a large one. The curled brim makes it pretty easy to fit anyone and the yarn stretches like crazy.

Yadda yadda yadda-new blog

So, in November, I started knitting. So far, I've completed two scarves, a baby afghan, a toque, a weird little "cylinder cap" and various rectangles and squares with the leftover scraps of yarn. This is mostly for myself so that I remember how I did these things, but feel free to use the patterns if you want. Most of them I've adapted from books or magazines.

I decided I wanted to learn how to knit after seeing balls of Bernat "Boa" coming through my till at the craft store I worked at. The thought process went something like this... "I NEED a scarf made out of this stuff. I can't knit. I don't know anyone who knits. Ok...time to learn how to knit."

My favourite way to knit is while watching DVD's of TV shows. I knitted almost my entire striped toque during about eight episodes of Queer as Folk, season 1.