Lizzlemermaid's Knits

School kicked my ass today. After I spent so much time studying for these two tests today, and finishing a grand total of 2 veil points this week (I know, right??), I'm pissed. Why? Because BOTH tests kicked my ass.

I'm really pissed about it. I've gotten very little knitting time in, and my UFO pile is just growing from the socks and veil (although I guess both could still be considered a WIP). I just want to finish something, or whip up something small and fun just to feel like I've accomplished something.

My friend Candice sent me some pictures of her adorably pregnant belly. She's due in April, so maybe I'll make something for her baby. Just to cheer myself up. If I quit procrastinating by blogging, and actually finish my work on campus today, then I could probably swing by Michael's and pick up some cute froofy-colored baby yarn and whip something up to send her. Then work on the veil.

Luckily I don't have as immense of a mountain of work this week, so I can maybe catch up on some back knitting as well as some back work. When did knitting become so stressful too?? Knitting is a hobby! It isn't supposed to be so stressful! *Sigh* Maybe over Spring Break I'll finish some UFOs.

This past Friday, I had to say screw it to all my UFO/WIP goals, and whipped up a hat because it was SO DAMN COLD on campus. I made a hat from the leftover Manos from My So Called Scarf. It felt good to cut down my queue and stashbust all in one fell swoop, and now that my head and ears aren't freezing I can get back on track.

I was so impressed with myself for making a hat in an afternoon that I decided to dedicate Friday afternoons to UFO busting, and working on getting all those done. I sat down and made a list of all my UFOs, what still needs to be done, and what I'm missing to finish it. Honestly, it's a little sad how close I am to finishing some of these things. Luckily, I don't really have to buy much to finish these, but unluckily, it seems I'll be doing a lot of yarn de-tangling.

Just so I can come back later in the year and look at my progress:
Project Progress (As of 1/1/09)
Nathan's Blanket 15%
Anemoi Mitts 25%
Tilted Duster 60%
Yellow Booties 50%
Intolerable Cruelty 85%
Tea Cosy 85%
Baudelaire's 0% (Frogged, but will be part of my personal sock club)

In other knitting news, I'm making a decent amount of progress on my socks and veil. I'm trying to push through on this veil edging, up until now (ignoring the rocky start) I've found this project fairly enjoyable, but it's starting to feel tedious doing the same 20 rows over and over. I really want to get to the more interesting part.

I just have to keep chugging a lot, and relish in the sense of accomplishment that comes with finishing a UFO, a WIP, or even another 20 rows on this veil.

So, once again, the craziness of life and school caused this blog to be neglected.

The Yarn Diet of '09 is officially underway. The only yarn I bought after the New Year was for projects I meant to start before the year ended, but didn't get around to getting, so they don't count. So now I'll only be knitting from the stash, unless I need a specific yarn for a gift or charity. No new yarn for me!! It'll be necessary now that I've cut back my work hours. Money is going to be seriously tight.

I joined the stash knit-down group on Ravelry to help me stay motivated, and they have a lot of cute ideas for reducing your stash. I've joined a couple, my favorite of which involves knitting a pair of socks a month from the stash. I put together a little bag full of note cards that list a pattern and a skein of yarn to go with it, and each month I'll choose one at random and knit it. This month is Anna's Basic Sock pattern, and I'm knitting it with my Creatively Dyed that I got at Stitches. I got pretty far, but it was too big, and I think I've finally gotten it to a point where it'll fit me, and won't have crazy pooling.

I definitely neglected knitting during the holidays, but despite that I've managed to finish 23 of 85 veil edge points. It may not be as much as I'd like done, but I feel like I"m making decent progress, and I feel less daunted by this gargantuan veil now.

My only other knitting goal right now is to finish off all my forgotten UFOs, so that I don't have to look at them any more, staring at me sadly from the WIP basket. I'll keep you all updated as I try to make progress on those.

For right now, though, my camera is broken...I dropped it...and I need to get it fixed. I just have to find a decent camera repair place, because apparently the Wolf Camera in Tyson's mall doesn't fix cameras. Hm.

Alright, now it's time for me to go get back to some school work.

GRRRRR.
I tried to be good again tonight and work on a UFO that's been hanging around. I didn't even get into a full round of my Anemoi Mitts when a damn needle snapped in half! I couldn't even believe it. So I went to find something else to work on, and I found that two of the needles had slid half out of their stitches. The sock had partially unravelled in a really bizarre way. I decided to just say "Screw it", and so I frogged the whole sock. I'll redo it at some point, but I just couldn't find a good point to restart it. Not to mention that when you pull a needle out of the stitches, bamboo yarn just wants to slither down and not let you pick the stitch back up.

I'm so pissed. I now have another massive knot of bamboo yarn, because the Panda Cotton is now a freaking massive knot. I somehow only have four of my five Inox 2s, and I don't have enough 1s to work on the Anemois.

All I wanted was to get some knitting done as a break from studying, and I just ended up more frustrated. Boo! I love the look of bamboo yarn, but I'm starting to feel like it's not worth the hassle.

At least I get to start the veil tomorrow. I just have to keep teling myself that.

I decided to be good last night! When I was watching reruns of House last night I wanted to cast on another something-or-other for charity, but decided instead to tackle one of those hibernating FOs. I ended up finishing the Hawaiian dishcloth, which only took about 2 hours to finish.

It turned out OK. The variegated coloring sort of swallows the hibiscus. It actually shows up better in the pictures than it does in real life. I used it as a washcloth this morning, but it didn't hold up very well. It's gotten all stretchy and I'm not really sure what to do with it. I'll probably run it through the washer and dryer so it's clean and then actually use it as a kitchen rag like it was intended. It's a cute pattern. Just not sure how practical the pattern is.

Anyways, Pics:



I used sized 10 needles, which is probably part of the stretching problem.
I knit it with Sugar 'n Cream, which is supposed to be pretty durable, but we'll see.

On the needles for charity:
A baby booty. That also needs a mate.
Baby Hat

On the needles/Hibernating/Needs to get done:
Intolerable Cruelty
Nathan's Christmas Surprise
Anemoi Mitts
Tea Cosy
Baudelaires
Tilted Duster

After about 37 attempts, I've managed to finally get some crochet done! Yay! For some reason, I was just not wrapping my brain around this whole double crochet thing.
Well, I finally got something!!
I had some free time this afternoon, and I thought I'd give it another go so that I might actually have this blanket done for Nathan before Christmas.

Behold!

Double Crochet!


Hooray!

It's not the best, but whatever, I finally got past the point that was tripping me up, and so now maybe I can proceed. Maybe!

Hm, let's see, since last time I updated, I've run out, once again, of usable yarn for Intolerable Cruelty. Grrr. I've tried freeing up some more yarn, but I'm not making much progress.

I finished my Warm Woolies socks, and I'm almost done with another hat for charity that I've been working on while riding the Metro. Somewhere along the line I finished those Noro Mitts, but I don't think I ever posted pictures or anything. So here are some WIP and FO pics.


Socks for Warm Woolies! They were so easy, but I'll probably make a vest out of the rest of this yarn at some point. I think I have enough.



Noro Mitts! I love them! They're so warm, but the color pattern didn't stripe the way I thought it would. I didn't even know the skein had blue, but it was a nice surprise. I hoped it would come back, but it didn't.


Here's some of the hat. I've made progress since this was taken, but I like the way the twisted rib is turning out!

Not much else to report knitting-wise. I'm so excited for Monday, after finals I'm casting on the veil!!!! I've been petting the Fino in anticipation!

And my reminder to myself:
On the needles for charity:
(Italic projects are on the needles)
Irish Hiking Hat (Charity Hat #4)
Warm Woolies Socks
Twisted Rib Hat
A baby booty. That also needs a mate.
Baby Hat

On the needles/Hibernating/Needs to get done:
Noro Mitts
Intolerable Cruelty
Nathan's Christmas Surprise
Anemoi Mitts
Hawaiian dishcloth
Tea Cosy
Baudelaires
Tilted Duster

Yesterday I woke up really late and lazed around all afternoon, but that's what tends to happen after two night shifts in a row! I finally took some updated pictures of some of my yarns to get more shots of their true colors. Some of them still aren't a good representation, but they look better, at least. The only yarns that didn't get updated are those that are still in St. Louis. I also took some pictures of my stash as it was all piled on my bed. It really reaffirms the need for a yarn diet:


Here you can see my dog looking wistfully off in the distance. He wants nothing more than to lay on my yarn and get hair all over it. I think he's also slightly resentful that the stash was getting more attention than him at that moment.


"Come on, Mom! Let me roll in the soft, fuzzy pile!"
(For some reason, he's cut off in the regular journal view, but if you go in to leave a comment, you can get the full view of his frustration!)

I know that my stash isn't extremely out of control, and not nearly as huge as some of the stashes I've seen on Ravelry, but I have enough yarn to last me through 2009, I think minus yarn for gifts. Nathan just requested a pair of wooly gloves, too, so I'll have to buy yarn for that, but maybe my New Year's Resolution will be to burn up the stash in '09.

Then, just for fun, I also took pictures of just my sock yarn and lace weight:


I'm excited to start finally knitting with some of these.

If you didn't already notice in the previous pictures, I finally got around to picking up my Fino for the wedding veil. I'm now the proud owner of six skeins of silky-alpaca-goodness. This yarn is sooooo heavenly! It was absolutely worth the extra money for the silk content. I had briefly considered buying a different white lace weight, because it would have been much cheaper. In the end I decided to go with the Fino. I mean, it is my wedding after all!

I'm not going to cast on the veil until after finals, because otherwise I'll get no work done, but I've been petting the yarn many times a day and smooshing the skeins in my hands. The Fino, the Ring, and I had a fun little photo shoot!









It's absolutely gorgeous and has just the right sheen. It'll be perfect for the big day!

As for my projects, I've finally made it to the ruffle of Intolerable Cruelty, and I'm almost done with the second Warm Woolies sock. Progress is slow, but steady, I'd say!

Well, knitting has been a little slow going because I had to work all weekend, and had a lot to do this past week for school. I'm holding out for Thanksgiving break so that I can get a lot done!

I did manage to finish one of the Warm Woolies socks. It's pretty simple and easy, but I've only been able to knit it on the metro. If I hadn't screwed up twice and had to rip out some, it would've been done earlier. Maybe the second sock will go a little more quickly.

I've also gotten a bit more of Intolerable cruelty done, but one row still takes me forever, so I only get one or two done here and there. I'm not at the ruffle yet, but can't wait, because I get to switch to a bigger needle size. Woo Hoo! I almost wish this skirt was more portable, because I'd just take it on the metro with me, but I can only take things that fit in the front part of my book bag, because the rest of it is too full.

Nathan and I are going to the Mason home opener tonight, so maybe I'll take it there with me. Or one of my other sad, lonely projects. Maybe I'll bring the Tilted Duster, because it's so cold out now, and I keep wishing I had it finished. Hm. We'll see.


On the needles for charity:
(Italic projects are on the needles)
Irish Hiking Hat (Charity Hat #4)
Warm Woolies Socks (one is finished!)
A baby booty. That also needs a mate.
Baby Hat

On the needles/Hibernating/Needs to get done:
Noro Mitts
Intolerable Cruelty
Anemoi Mitts
Nathan's Christmas Surprise
Hawaiian dishcloth
Tea Cosy
Baudelaires
Tilted Duster

So, I finally got a little thingy that lets me upload pictures directly from my memory stick of my digital camera.
So now I feel compelled to update my Ravelry stash pictures! Mwahaha!
Ok, so maybe not right away, but I'm sure it'll end up as some form of procrastination in the future. I also upgraded my Flickr account to organize my stuff better.

So yeah, here are my latest stash additions from Stitches East!


Here's some 100% Superwash Merino sock yarn from Creatively Dyed. I loved the colors, and I didn't want to pass it up!


Here's some Knitting Notions sock yarn. I've been craving some gorgeous autumn colors, but I know better than to think I'd wear golds and yellows as a shawl or something. These will be some amazing socks instead. I love to smoosh this yarn.



I also got two skeins of Malabrigo Sock. Mmmm...Malabrigo! I was originally only going to get the chocolate brown, but my enablers talked me into getting the red, too. I'm SO glad I did! I would have regretted not buying it!


I also got a great deal on some alpaca laceweight. 2580 yards for $24! Steal! I'm going to have to learn how to dye yarn, now. I'll have to think of a pretty color for it. It's probably going to become one of those huge shawls from Victorian Lace Today that I don't want to shell out big bucks to buy the yarn for. With so much yardage I have a lot of options.

Sure enough, these purchases were enough to push my stash out of it's little bucket, so now the sock and lace weights have their own little cubby. Observe:


And that's the container that the rest of my yarn lives in.

And lastly, just for fun, here are the hats I gave Nathan's mom!


Here's the most recent hat that I finished:

Hey all!
So, I had a great time at Stitches East this weekend! I bought way too much yarn, of course, but it's all sock and lace weight, so I'm sure it'll be put to good use. I told myself no random worsted weights or anything this time, and did a good job sticking to my rule. I'll talk a little more about what I bought when I post pictures, and I'll post pictures once I have a way to get them off of my digital camera. I currently have no means of doing that, but I'm working on it!

While going over how much money I spent, and reorganizing the stash in my room, I've decided that I need to go on a yarn diet. So now, I'm not only on a WIP diet, but a yarn diet too. The fiance pointed out that I have way too much yarn, and that I'll never use all of it, so I'm taking that as a personal challenge. I have a ton of great yarn, and I should be using it! So no more! The only exception is more wool for charity projects, but that's not expensive. I'm not sure how long this yarn diet will be, but I'll figure that out later. As for the WIP diet, I'm doing alright. I finished one of the charity hats, and the Noro Mitts. Intolerable Cruelty is no longer banished, and I'm chugging away. I forgot how long it takes to finish a round on that sucker. Only 10 more rounds until I start the ruffle, so I don't have too much left. It's my current TV project.

So now my knitting is broken down into must-finish WIPs that are for TV, and then charity projects for knitting on the Metro. I've got this under control. Plus, the charity knitting helps with the stash busting, because it's using up a ton of wool that I otherwise had no plans for.

So here's the current state of the WIPs:
(The italicized ones are the ones that are at the center of my attention at the moment)

On the needles for charity:
Irish Hiking Hat (Charity Hat #4)
Warm Woolies Socks
A baby booty. That also needs a mate.
Baby Hat

On the needles/Hibernating/Needs to get done:
Noro Mitts
Intolerable Cruelty
Anemoi Mitts
Nathan's Christmas Surprise
Hawaiian dishcloth
Tea Cosy
Baudelaires
Tilted Duster

I finished the fourth charity hat last night, and then gave all four of them to my Nathan's mom. She was really happy to get them. It felt good to finally give them to her, and not have them sitting on my desk anymore doing nothing. I guess my burst of charitable knitting came at a good time, because another woman used to knit hats for the organization, but she just past away.
After I gave away the hats, I cast on the Warm Woolies socks, which I'm knitting double stranded with some blue Lion Brand Wool that I foolishly bought last year with some vague notion of knitting a bag. Sock 1 is knitting up really quickly, and the fabric is thick and sturdy, which is good. Hopefully I'll have these socks knocked out in a few days.