Fingerless Mitts

I had some yarn left over from my Haruni Shawl I made several months ago, and it's just been sitting for a while. I decided to use the yarn up on some project. I came across Susie Rogers' Reading Mitts. This, I decided was the project I'm going to make. The yarn I planned on using is beautiful, and probably the best color I'd ever seen. The project that went with this yarn had to be spectacular.



I'm still working on them, but I'm pretty happy with them so far. I've taken them out twice already, for various reasons. I decided to do the turn over hem differently the first time, then decide to make them shorter for the second time I ripped them out. But still, I persist in making them. Winter is coming, and I think these will come in handy. I don't like normal mittens or gloves because I like to mess around on my phone, and I can't really do that with my fingers covered, because of the touch screen. These should be good for that, I think. I've tried the gloves that have the special thread or something in the index finger of the glove... they just don't do it for me. They work, yes, but all the ones I've bought were really poorly constructed. Poorly enough that I think I'd be better without them.

Blackrose Socks

My mother's birthday was back in May. I knit her a shawl, but never got around to sending it. Either we didn't have the money to send it off (Geez, shipping can be expensive!), or we just couldn't get up to the post office for one reason or another. Well, anyway. Her shawl used about 1 and a quarter skeins of yarn, and I really did not like the colorway she chose. She loved it, but it's not my type. Too dark, dreary and depressing for me. So, in the time that we haven't gotten to shipping the shawl, I made her other goodies to go with it. I'd never, ever use this yarn, so I may as well use the rest of it on stuff she'd enjoy, right?

I knit her a pair of socks right before I left California, and she had told me that she loved them, and wore them all the time because her roommate never turned on the heater in the winter. So, I decided to knit her a pair of socks. I asked her to go through and pick out a pattern she liked, and I'd knit it for her. She picked the Blackrose Socks. I, myself, was eyeing this pattern as well. It's sophisticated, so I was happy she picked this one out. This way, I can see how the socks looked in person, to see if I wanted to knit a pair for myself.



In the end, I decided I didn't like them. She will most likely love them. But, for me, I didn't like how they turned out. The gussets are weird, the toe turned out weird too. I'm sure it's my fault, but I was using double pointed needles on this project that called for another method. So, I didn't understand what I was supposed to do and just made my own way up as I went along. They are still wearable though, and still look like socks.



The whole time while making those socks, I was afraid of running out of yarn. If I run out, what would I make then? As I knitted, I kept watching the ball of yarn get smaller and smaller. And when I finished grafting the toe of the second sock, I was stunned that I still had a little tiny ball left. I honestly did not believe that I was going to be able to finish these.



With the remainder of the yarn, I made her a little lip balm holder for her keychain. I put it on my keyring for the picture, but it's being sent off to her. This turned out kind of cute. I may make myself one out of some scrap yarn ball I have wandering around the apartment. Having my lip balm on my keyring would be very helpful, so I'm not digging around the bottom of the bag looking for it when I need it.

Busy Playing Guild Wars 2

You ever wonder if you have too many hobbies? I do. I knit a lot, I tend to my African Violets, other plants, maintain a household, listen to audiobooks, browse Ravelry (it's an addiction, really!) and I play games. A lot of games. Currently, I play World of Warcraft, Diablo III, Aion, Minecraft, and now... Guild Wars 2. I've been waiting for what seems like forever for Guild Wars 2, and when it came out, obviously, I was excited. However, it wasn't until Monday morning that we had the funds to purchase it. At $59.99, it needed to be budgeted into our finances. That said, for the past 2 days, I've been playing as much as I can. While I'm only level 9, this game appears like it will go on forever. I'm not even joking. 2 days of playing, and I'm not even out of the starting area. Which, I guess is a good thing, because I'll feel like I'm getting my $60 worth.



(I cropped a good portion off of the sides of the above picture, my screen resolution was too big, and made for some really small, bad blogging pictures). Made by NC Soft, the people who put on Aion, the world really reminds me of Aion. Guild Wars 2 has that beautiful, whimsical feel that I love. It's a MMO, but doesn't seem to be the traditional type (the go kill 12 worgs and come back to turn the quest in type, instead it has a general description of what needs to be done with a progress bar). It has events that you can team up with other members to help, customizable armor, and the character selection is fantastic. So far, I've only ran into one jerk in-game, which is pretty shocking, considering by level 9 in other games, I've had already come across many jerks. (And by saying jerks, I'm being nice.)



As for me, I chose to play a Ranger. Because who can resist having an exotic cat as a pet to fight for you? Not this girl! As stated above, currently only level 9, and having a great time leveling up. Also guildless for the time being, as a few people I know are still setting up the guild and deciding which server everyone is going to be on.