On the Road

It has been a while since my last post.  Since then I have driven to the DC are, flown across the Atlantic, and stayed at numerous places in Ireland (more detail here).  All this travel has kept me busy, but airplane, train and bus rides are excellent opportunities to knit.

I am still working on a project I started before leaving the States.  I think of it as my jester scarf because it has such bold colors and odd shapes.  It is based on the Carolus Rib Entrelac Scarf by Andrea Krüß-Anders I found on Ravelry.  I loved the different shape of the blocks forming each row, and I wanted to make the shape more obvious.  I also wanted a multi colored scarf.  After some figuring, I discovered that entrelac lends itself to a three ball rotation.  I debated using 6 balls, three of each color, in order to create a two-color scarf.  I didn't like that idea as much as using three colors.  I pulled two colors from my stash and purchased a third color of the same yarn.  I love the way it is turning out.  As my first entrelac project, I am surprised at how quickly it grows and how easy it is once you have the rhythm.  Frequently, I will find myself staying at it for 'just one more block' realizing it only when I reach the end of the row.

I have worked on one other quick project while I've been here.  I designed it one night after coming back to my trailer at the end of the day and knitted it the next day in the car.  I wanted a sky blue neck wrap.  I found that I had accidentally included the remains of the ball of yarn I used for my nephew's hat in my travel stash.  A little bit of experimenting and minimal frogging, and I came up with the pattern for this.  I call it Throat Chakra.  I still need to wash it and find a way to block it.  I may make some modifications to the pattern to help reduce some of the curling in the lacy ends.

Change is in the Air

I has been a while since my last post, and I've been able to complete a few things in the mean time.  I have seen a few tatted earrings posted on other blogs and thought I'd try to make some myself.  I created these as a simple introductory project, but I absolutely love them.  These earrings are motif #7 in the 25 Motif Challenge.  I made them out of a variegated purple and white thread and the color bisection was accidental, but I quite like it.  The picture doesn't show it well, but I also included three seed beads on the bottom of each earring.  These add some weight to keep them from flopping around.  I like these enough that I can definitely see myself making more earrings in the future.  They are fast and easy ways to use new designs.

I started this simple shrug in the hopes of wearing it to the wedding of one of my best friends.  Unfortunately, with work and school, I wasn't able to get it finished in time.  However, it is done now. The short sleeves keep it from getting too hot, but it adds a layer to your shoulders and back.  It helps fight off a slight chill by keeping your core warm.  The original pattern is the Circular Shrug by Julia Allan.  I changed the stitch pattern in the center section from a mock rib to a seed stitch.  I just love the texture of a seed stitch.  It also helps that there is no wrong side.  I made it out of plain white cotton.  What is sometimes called kitchen cotton.  It's the same stuff I use for dish cloths etc making it very easy to take care of.  All in all, I think this will become a solid accessory in my wardrobe.

As the title of this post suggests, changes are coming.  One major change is that I will be moving.  I am leaving this little college town and heading for exotic destinations; first the Washington, D.C. area then onto Ireland and Sweden.  After my jont across the pond, I will be finished my master's degree!  I can't believe I'm so close.  I hope to continue posting while I am in lands far far away.  Wish me luck!

Long time gone

I'm afraid I haven't been as busy with my crafts as I might have been since my last post.  Unfortunately, being a student makes my craft time rather sporadic.  But I have made some progress.

Last post, I was working on socks for the knitting olympics.  Unfortunately, I did not finish them.  As you can see, I still haven't finished them.  I'm a bit stalled on the after-thought heel.  This is actually my third attempt at the heel.  The sock went well until now.  I actually like the pattern, but I think if I do it again, I will include the heel with the rest of it.  The mitered squares are quite addictive and easy to work on in quick bursts between studying.

Over Spring Break, I got some old, acrylic yarn from my grandmother.  I decided I would use some of it to test some theories and make some prototypes for some projects I've been stewing over.  A double knitted swatch with increases, decreases, a yarn-over, and a cable section.  The other sample is a first prototype of a slipper, a double knit sole, no seaming, and an i-cord bind off.  I'm not completely happy with it, and will probably work on another version or two before I'm happy with it.

I am also ecstatic to announce that my sister is pregnant!  I finally have a good reason to knit baby things!  I immediately dug out my cotton yarn stash.  Cotton being easy to care for and less likely for the baby to be allergic to.  My sister and her husband are both BIG Pittsburgh Steelers' fans.  Since we don't know the gender of the baby, I thought I would make a Steelers-themed bib.  So, I created a pattern and made my first stranded knitting project.  I think it turned out well.  I still need to wash it, but I like how it came out.

What's new?

Lots has happened in the last month and a half.  It's a new year.  I'm back at school and classes are moving along at a very fast clip.  I've also moved, I changed dorms so I don't have to move for the summer during finals week.  It is also the Olympic Season.  As far as crafts go, I've slowed down since school started.  I finished the convertible fingerless gloves.  I added silver snaps after the fact to help hold the mitten part in place when I use them as fingerless.  I am happy with the results and glad I finished them before the cold snap hit us here in Oklahoma.  On to what's on the needles now.

I joined Yarn Harlot's Knitting Olympics.  The rules are fairly straight forward: you choose a project, cast on during or after the opening ceremonies, finish before the Olympics end.  I browsed Ravelry for a simple sock pattern, I have some nice sock yarn I wanted to put to good use.  I will be attempting to finish the Peppermintoes in the 14 days between lighting the torch and the closing ceremonies.  I started my project last night while watching the opening ceremonies.  Between last night and this morning, I've completed the first diamond and started the second.  You might not be able to tell, but I'm doing two at a time.  I really like that technique because any mistakes you make are at least the same on both socks.  I haven't done any mitered squares before, so I've been very excited to watch the square take shape.  I think I'll be using a lighter yarn for the next round of squares, but I'm going to wait to see how I feel when I get there.

Another project I've started is a scarf for one of my friends who helped me move earlier this semester.  While packing, he found a color combination in my stash and mentioned that he would love a scarf in those colors.  Of course, I couldn't resist.  What a great way to repay him for his help and help clear out my stash a bit at the same time!  I wanted to knit something simple, something I could knit during lectures or during a study break.  But I also wanted something that would look nice.  So, I browsed Ravelry and found the Double-double Scarf from Le Blog de MichelineL (yes, it's in French; no, I don't read French).  Two things I really appreciated: she posted an English version of the pattern, she included pictures of how to knit the stitch.  I really like how easy this is and how polished it looks.  It's based on a basic garter striped scarf.  Lovely.  However, it's going into a holding pattern until the end of the Olympics.