Sick Day Knitting

Its been about a month of so since my last post. It's been a transitional time for me. I just changed to a new job two weeks ago, and for the past few days I've been fighting off a horrendous bug that's taking a slow and agonizing tour through my tonsils, larynx and sinuses.

But although these things have affected my blogging, they have not affected the actual amount of knitting! 

Normally I like to post about finished projects but this time it's more of a progress report. Originally I was going to blog about these awful fingerless gloves that resemble something a Neanderthal may have fashioned around the same time as the first bone chisel, but it's almost too embarrassing to share. Besides, they have since been banished to the topmost shelf of the coat closet which is my house's version of the Bermuda triangle. Mainly because I have trouble reaching it. 

Let's save that one for a rainy day.

Right now I'm working on a variation of this seed stitch infinity scarf. I had lots of time to work on it this past weekend while restrained to the couch with nothing else to do but pop pain killers and drink tea. It's a super simple and forgiving pattern since it's basically knit one, purl one x 2-3 balls of yarn. So far I've used up the yarn I had so it's only partially done:

  

Yep, pretty much a big grey rectangle. Tne pattern calls for size 17 knitting needles but the biggest I had on hand were 13s. I like how it's turning out but I might make another one using size 17s or maybe even bigger. I'm really into the ultra-chunky knits!

For yarn, nothing too fancy this time. I'm using Bernat Roving which is is mostly acrylic and can be found cheaply at Walmart. One thing I find about the cheaper yarns- you don't have to roll them into a ball. Wnich we know from experience can be a huge time saver. Also it knits up pretty soft and cushy, so I think it was a good choice.

Story time:  I was reluctantly getting my sick carcass ready for work this morning and decided to take a tea to go instead of my usual Nespresso, having found the tea more bearable to swallow Since getting sick. So I fire up the kettle and pour myself a tea in the ceramic travel mug I isually use for coffee. The mug has a rubber heat guard on it but the boiling water made even the rubber part too hot to hold. 

And I thought to myself, "if only I had something else to wrap around this so I could pick it up without giving myself a second degree burn. What am I going to do?"

And then, I remembered my first craftacular accomplishment:

I felt very smug indeed. It was the highlight of my day. Honestly.

Baby Alpaca Wool Hat!

A couple weeks ago when I was just discovering the kind of yarn junkie I am in danger of becoming , I bought this baby alpaca yarn just because it was so soft I had to have it. I didn't know what I could knit with it but it was enough just to have in my stash and snuggle with it from time to time .

That's right. Snuggling with yarn.

My next project was actually going to be these beautiful fingerless gloves with a merino/silk blend,  but I hit a snag. I didn't even get as far as to cast on the double pointed needles, which I was thoroughly intimidated by.  This was as far as I got on that project:

That's right. I can't even roll the skein into a workable ball of yarn. I'm ashamed to say that I spent the better part of a week trying to save this train-wreck but after all my efforts, the thin, fingering yarn finally snapped and I was left with an unsatisfactory sized ball and a giant tangled nightmare. I don't want to give up on it but let's just say I'm taking a hiatus from this project.

So, turning to my next piece in the Ravelry queue, I turned to the alpaca wool and attempted a hat.  It was my first completed project on circular needles. I chose Crazy Aunt Purls Brangelina hat. Way easier than I thought it would be, although I did the entire thing on circular needles instead of switching to the dpns as the pattern suggests , simply because I couldn't find size 11 dpns at my local walmart this morning. There was a lot of twisting and contorting the circular needles near the end but I got 'er dun!

I knitted this very casually over the course of three or four evenings.

Here's the finished product:

There's one part where I seriously messed up and dropped a stitch while knitting the ribbing. After I finished, I noticed there was a loop sticking out and in the process of unravelling. So I just tied a knot in that sucker and keep that part of the hat at the back- again, I ask: who is going to be staring at the back of my head? 

I am loving this wool though, it's like  having a baby alpaca snuggling my head. Great pattern too! I can see myself making more of these in the near future.

What should I knit next??

Cowls!

I'm kind of obsessed with cowls right now.  In particular I am loving Garter Girl's Burberry Inspired Cowl. So far I have made two, with plans for more in the near future. Both times a added 2 extra pattern repeats more than the one from the original, because I like a slightly longer cowl. Anything shorter feels a little too turtle-neck-y for me.

The first one I made was after I had been knitting for just a couple weeks. It was a actually the first pattern I ever finished! I didn't think it would make much difference if I used a bulkier yarn weight, and so I turned to my stash of Loops & Threads Cozy Wool. It took three balls to finish it, and it came out quite "cozy" indeed:

Really,  not terrible for a first try!  But I wanted to make a sleeker version. I bought some of this lovely Berroco chunky Alpaca yarn for my second run at it, and I think it came out even better:

I actually made this one for a good friend of mine, but had to snap a shot with my creation before giving it away. :) So of course I will need to make another for myself! I would like to find a yarn similar the the one the pattern calls for, which is a merino/ silk blend, but that particular yarn has been discontinued and finding a similar blend in the same weight has been hard to find.

I really like the alpaca but the silk would give a nice sheen to it.

As far as technical execution, I got the hang of the cables pretty well but I didn't have the patience to learn the provisional cast on. Also,  the YouTube tutorial I found on the Kitchener stitch was giving me nightmares, so I decided to heck with a seamless finish, because how hard are people going to be staring at the back of my neck anyway??

But I want to learn those techniques eventually! Anyone have any advice on provisional cast on sand Kitchener stitching??

The iPad cozy!

After my foray into the world of cables which resulted in my highly coveted coffee cozy, I felt comfortable enough to tackle this ipad cozy.

I just really like my household objects to be sufficiently cozy, okay??

I fittingly used a skein of Loops & Threads "Cozy Wool" that I found on sale at Michaels. It was actually a bulkier weight yarn than the pattern called for, but I like the way it turned out;

My stitching to close up the bottom is pretty shoddy work, but because the pattern is such a snug fit for the iPad, it stretches it out enough that it's not overly noticeable.

Not quite as inconspicuous is the reverse side, where I forgot to add a cable and as a result there's a big flat spot where the braid just gives up on life.

Not pictured. You don't need to see that.

Overall, I think it's a great free pattern that's perfect for beginners and quick to make.  Even I can finish one of these suckers in a afternoon.

I think I might like to try making another ipad cover but using a different pattern.  Maybe one with a button? But there are so many patterns to choose from! Any recommendations?

Creations I'm not too embarrassed to post on the internet - The Coffee Cup Cozy

Once I got the hang of "knit one, purl two" it was time to try an actual project with the hopes that the finished product might resemble something other than a 19th century sanitary napkin. You know, something with a little more purpose than this:

Yeah, I still wasn't getting the whole binding off process.

My first attempt was the "Pumpkin Spice" coffee cup cozy, perfect for beginners and a crash course in cables. I used cheap yarn to practice the pattern with and after several attempts (half of which I used the wrong sized needles and the wrong weight yarn) I finally made it to the end where I could actually sew on the button! Here was the result.

Not perfect by any means but you can almost consider it a functional piece of craftwork. The trick I found with cables is to knit as "relaxed" as possible, especially the two rows before the cable row.  It also helps to use plastic needles as I lost many stitches to the evils of  those slippery aluminum needles. I also found I needed to count the stitches after every row or I would magically end up with err... "Extracurricular" stitches. But really between all the stitches I dropped and all the ones I inadvertently added, I think it balanced out. I mean, doesn't it work like that?

And yes,the button is slightly off centre. I think it gives it character.

How often have is used this coffee cozy at home, you may ask? Exactly zero times. But next time I hit up the Starbucks drive through you better believe I will brandish this piece with pride. No more cardboard sleeves for this textile-savvy caffeine addict!

Gnitting... ? I think it's with a soft "G"

About three weeks ago, after months of drooling over knitted scarves, gloves, and cardigans on Pinterest, it occurred to me -  What of I just make this stuff myself? How hard can it be?

So I ran over to my local Walmart (Michaels who?) and bought a pair of knitting needles (there are different sizes?) and yarn (Double Worsted What?) and loaded up the first YouTube tutorial I could find on knitting. 

After several hours of diligent study, I ended up with this:

Not one to be easily deterred, I kept practicing, and the triumphant result was this:

What. It's a bookmark. I mean, binding off is for losers, right?

I'm happy to say that the following days and weeks have seen considerable process. I may like to do things the hard way (ie- skim pattern instructions and/or disregard them altogether) but sooner or later I end up with something I'm proud of. Or at least something that will serve as adequate tinder post-apocalypse.

 I started this blog to stay motivated, to spare my friends and family from spamming up their Facebook newsfeed with my latest "accomplishments", and to hopefully blunder my way to a garment or accessory I can somehow wield in public. So... stay tuned!