Learning Something New

After my frustration with the After Hours shawl, I decided to take a break from knitting for a couple of days. I've finished several more rows in Dragonflies and I think the end is finally in sight. I still have 75 more shells to do (and the dragonfly gusset), but there shouldn't be any problem getting this shipped off to my swap partner by the end of the month. Yippie!

The break from the needles didn't last too long though, and soon enough I was back to working on the Ggester at lunch. This hat is crazy huge, but I don't think it'll be too much of a problem for wearing. It's just a silly hat, so who cares if it's a bit loose. I know I said that I was only going to work on it at lunch, but this morning I just wanted something mindless and soothing to work on so I started and finished the first of the 3 "happy points." Unfortunately I was a bit too mindless while working on it and ended up screwing up the placement of the seam and decreases. The decreases are on the outside instead of the inside of the point which means it's not going to hang how it's supposed to. Also means that if I fix my mistake with the other points then they won't hang naturally from my head. I think I've figured out how to fix it, but I'm really not looking forward to the other 2 points.

The yarn finally came on Thursday for BFF's Seahawks Mitts! I don't remember if I've said this or not, but I decided on Transition Gloves for the pattern and this means I finally have to learn color work. This isn't a traditional Fair Isle pattern, but the same techniques are used for adding color. The ribbing is done only in green on tiny Size 1 needles, then it's time to switch to Size 3 and start adding the blue. So far I think I'm doing ok. My tension was off for the first couple of rows, but I think I've solved that problem by holding the green working yarn in one hand, and the blue in the other. It's really strange getting used to using both hands for adding yarn, but I think I've started to get the hang of it. Finished row 12 last night. Only a bajillion more to go. Oh, and for added fun, I'm doing them 2 at a time on 1 needle. It's how I've done the past sets of gloves and didn't expect any problems. That was before it occurred to me that I have 4 balls of working yarn hanging from my needles. Obviously not the brightest decision I've ever made, but after the first night and a tangled mess, I think I've got a rhythm down to prevent massive tangling. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

I can't believe I forgot to post this with last weekend's pictures, but I've started on Swatch #3 - Seed Stitch. It was fun and relaxing for the first couple of rows (and I don't seem to be having any problems with it), but now I find it to be downright boring. I've been avoiding finishing it all week, but I should really get back to it so I can finish it and move on to something more interesting!

In other news, I've signed up for the Hogwarts Super Kit Swap 12 (HSKS12) and received my spoiler and spoilee information tonight! The term actually starts on Monday (I think) and since this is my first round with HSKS I'm super excited to get started. Unlike my usual swaps I know who my upstream contact is and my downstream knows who I am so it looks like I'll be making some new HP friends. This group really seems to focus on getting to know each other and creating really awesome and special swap boxes for the spoilees. This swap is based on book 7 (timing with the new movie) so our theme is horcruxes and instead of being sorted into houses, we were sorted into families. I'm part of Ron's Muddle-Headed Mates. Sounds about right, dontcha think? Instead of my usual Slytherin silver and green, we get new colors too: Maroon and Orange. This scares me more than a little, but it still has potential. Can't wait to see if and what my spoilee does with it!


Day 12, Triangle 2: 21 shells = 2 hours 20 min
Average: 6.6 minutes per shell (this was at Wednesday night craft group)
Day 13, Triangle 2: 12 shells = 60 min
Average: 5 minutes per shell
Total: 231 shells = 18 hours

Lace + Heroes = Bad Idea

After having such great luck yesterday with my After Hours shawl, I spent all day today itching to get back to it. It was just so much fun. Knowing that I reallllllly need to get Dragonflies done by the end of the month, and that I don't actually have to finish After Hours until Christmas, I was a good girl and did a row of Dragonflies while watching Heroes before getting back to the knitted lace. The problem is that I got involved in the plot and I didn't want to stop watching it when I wanted to start working on the lace. Yesterday I discovered that it takes one heck of a lot of concentration to follow the chart and knit with fingering weight yarn on slippery size 11 needles. I had to give up on watching tv or trying to chat with anyone and just focus on the pattern. Once I got into the groove I was able to turn music on, but that's it. Tonight I started out with the music and the knitting, but I sooooooo wanted to know what happened on the show and I thought I was doing good with the pattern reading, so I got cocky and watched the next episode. Big mistake. On the row before I was supposed to put in the next lifeline I totally screwed up. Somehow I'm off by like 2 stitches. It's enough of a difference that it needs to be fixed, but I can't figure out where the problem is. I just stared at it for like half an hour. This is what I get for being distracted by the pretty. How can I be expected to focus on the knitting with Peter and Sylar fighting. I should have just put down the needles. But I didn't. And now I'm paying for it. Arg. I should also know better than to knit at night. Now I'm all craky and sad and stressed and tired and sleeping is going to be an issue. Also having a total "I freaking hate knitting" moment. So wish me luck. In a few seconds I'm going to rip out 9ish rows of lace. Yeah, thats more than 3 hours worth of work. I'm going to have to step away from this for a few days before I kill it. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Maybe I'll put lifelines in every other row now.

This means I don't have a pretty crafty pic to post tonight. The second triangle of Dragonflies looks exactly like the first one, and the current state of After Hours is less than the pic I posted yesterday. Dammit. Seems wrong not to post a picture of something though, so here's a shot of Peter trying to kill Sylar - the scene that started it all. Stupid distracting tv.

Day 11, Triangle 2: 9 shells = 40 min
Average: 4.4 minutes per shell
Total: 198 shells = 14 hours 40 min

Happy Labor Day!

This weekend was a crazy busy one and I should really be thinking about sleep, so this is just going to be a quick post with lots of pictures :-)

On Friday I finished Swatch #2 and got a couple more rows done on the Slytherin Ggester.

Saturday was filled with dyeing 3 skeins of yarn (Buttered Popcorn, Secret Santa, and Clifford), and lots of work on Triangle #2 of Dragonflies.

Sunday I went to the fair and didn't do any craftyness of any sort. I did try deep fried oreos though. Can we say ewwwwwwwwww?

Today was spent recovering from all day at the fair. Made some stitch markers for some upcoming swaps (I love my new design!) and for the After Hours shawl since the TARDIS ones I love so much are just too cumbersome for this lace project. I also got to row 15 on the shawl! Not one problem with it yet. Go me :-D I love that I can finally start to see the design coming together. Btw the red line through the pattern is a lifeline. If I do encounter any problems I can rip back to that row and it'll hold my stitches so I don't have to start the whole thing over again.

Day 10, Triangle 2: 36 shells = 2 hours 35 min
Average: 4.3 minutes per shell
Total: 189 shells = 14 hours

Pumpkin Pie a la Mode Sold!!!

Can you believe it? I sold my first skein of hand dyed yarn :-D
It's the first of Schmutzerella Yarns Superwash Sock. 462 yards of orange/white/brown squishy awesomeness! It will be going out in the mail tomorrow to ProudNana and I can't wait to see what she makes with it. Rumor has it that there might be a shawl in her future!

The sale came from me talking about the pictures I took when I got home this evening of 3 skeins that are alllllllllmost ready to go up on etsy. I hope to have them up and available in the shop tomorrow. It took too long reskeining these 3 that I almost lost my sunlight and had to quickly run to take pictures. I hope to do more photography tomorrow for the ones I didn't get to today. For now here's the super pretty Electric Mint Chocolate Chip, Blue Goo Goddess, and Foxglove Fantasy.

In other (and not nearly as exciting) news, I've finished the ribbing and my first silver stripe of the Slytherin Ggester. It amazes me how much faster this is going than the Jackson hat, but I have significantly more knitting experience under my belt now and it's a simpler pattern. I'm also pretty sure that this is the first time I've ever changed colors while knitting. How weird is it that I haven't done that before now? Not like it's a big deal, but I'm still fairly excited ;-)

I started working on Swatch #2 (K1P1 ribbing + stockinette), but then got so distracted by the awesomeness of selling yarn that I didn't finish it. Oh well, I'll work more on it tomorrow night. So far I'm thrilled with how evenly the stockinette is working up! It's been a loooooooooooong time since I've done flat stockinette (I almost exclusively knit in the round) and apparently my purling has improved significantly since the last time I attempted it. My ribbing seems pretty good, but the stitches have a tendency to lean a bit. I'm wondering if this will be corrected with blocking or maybe I'm just being overly perfectionist.

Unfortunately I haven't spent any time on Dragonflies this week. I've been so caught up in the exciting new projects that I haven't even thought of it. Not good. That little bugger needs to ship out by the end of September. With the long weekend ahead of me, I think it's time to pick up the hook again.

Swatch #1

Yesterday was one of those days in which I was crazy tired all day for no apparent reason. I hate it when that happens, but it wasn't going to stop me from knitting my first swatch for the Masters program. That was my first mistake. You'd think I would have learned by now that I shouldn't knit when I'm tired and cranky - it never ends well. The swatch was simple enough (K2P2 ribbing with garter stitch) and I didn't really have any issues. The tension was pretty even in the garter (always knew I could do that in my sleep!), and my ribbing was adequate - but not good enough. The second K was entirely too loose and was pulling awkwardly in just about every row. At this point I was super cranky, took pictures, and gave up for the night.

I posted pictures of the ribbing in a couple places on ravelry with a cry for help, and my wonderful friends came to the rescue! Apparently this is an extremely common problem and it can be corrected by making the transition between knit and purl just a bit tighter to take up the extra slack. I discovered that there are several ways to do this, and I was ready to try again. At knitting group tonight I re-knit the swatch, this time giving the yarn an extra tug when switching between knit and purl, and I'm thrilled with the results! My ribbing is significantly more even :-D

Now I'm curious to see what happens when I block them. A few people thought that I didn't necessarily need to re-knit my swatch, that the ribbing would even out with blocking, but I'm glad that I did. I learned something new and I hope that my ribbing is more consistent in the future. Can't wait to work on swatch #2 tomorrow!

In other news, my yarn that I dyed over the weekend is finally dry!!! I didn't have time to reskein it tonight, but I'm really excited about it and I wanted to show it off. I'll add new pictures tomorrow (and hopefully put them up for sale) just so long as the sun cooperates. The lighting on these pics suck, but it's better than nothing.

Red Hat

Pumpkin Pie a la Mode

Electric Mint Chocolate Chip

Lime Italian Soda

Blue Goo Goddess