Vostok Shawl Progress

It has been a long time since I blogged about any kind of knitting project I have done! I have not really felt like knitting recently, with my recent craft of Pocket Letters, and junk journals. It's something that I've wanted to really get back into, however. I also want to learn how to crochet, as well. I have told myself once I finish this shawl I'm working on, I will sit down and teach myself how to crochet, just like how I taught myself how to knit.

The shawl I'm working on is called Vostok. In the past, I have knit the Henslowe Shawl by this particular designer. The pattern looked extremely complicated, but it was actually simple to follow, and the shawl came out magnificent. It's one of my favorites. So, I had purchased a pattern after finishing the Henslowe, called Vostok. It is beautiful, but I have been afraid to start it because it is a weight of yarn that I've had nothing but failure with. I felt I needed the challenge, something to bring me back to the knitting hobby.

It was the perfect project. Something that renewed my love for knitting, as this is turning out to be one of the more stunning projects that I have knitted. I have been also saving this madelinetosh yarn for something special (it is one of the most expensive yarns I own), and this pattern is really beautiful with it. I am not finished with it yet, I'm working on the edging, and it is going so slow! Hopefully I will finish it in the next couple weeks!

Michelle's Baby Blanket

A friend of mine recently had a baby late last month. I was excited for her, but at the same time... a little jealous because of my lack of ability to have children (as some may know, my husband and I have been trying for almost a year now). She's one of my closest friends I have here, and she has done a lot for me. Such as, photographing my wedding, which was huge.

I don't like to knit for other people. Usually, you know I care about you if I knit something. I will knit the occasional sock for Christmas for a very close family member (Tyler got his first pair of socks last year), but I usually knit things for myself. It's difficult to explain why, though. Everything I make I feel like I put a ton of work into, and a lot of people don't realize how much work goes into knitting. That being said, I need to know that the people I gift handmade knitted items to will appreciate the work put into them.

Michelle has recently become one of the few in my "knitting gift" circle. She loves everything that she receives, has done so much for my husband and I, so I wanted to give something to her to celebrate the beginning of their new baby's life. I decided to make them a baby blanket!

The pattern is just a simple Old Shale pattern found in a stitch dictionary. I wanted to make her something that looked impressive, yet was easy enough to get done in a quick amount of time. I had started this a week before the baby was born, so it needed to be done... quick! I panicked, thinking I wasn't going to be done in time, but after a couple of days of really furious knitting, I finished. I didn't finish before the baby was born, but it was done when I saw her next.

Her and her husband chose not to know the gender of the baby, so I picked out a neutral yellow color. It turned out really pretty! And, she loved the blanket, which definitely made all the furious knitting worth it.

A Few Finished Projects

So, usually I wake up, roll out of bed and turn on the computer. From there, I check email, then Twitter. I do my rounds on my favorite blogs and websites. Then I write my NaNoWriMo word count for the day while I chat with the fiance at work. Afterwards, I'm free to do whatever. Free to do housework, clean, watch some of my many television shows that I hoard onto the DVR. Lately, the fiance and I have been watching Doctor Who when he gets home. I'll fix dinner, and we will start an episode while we eat. After dinner, I work on knitting projects. So, today's blog post is kind of a finished project photo day. I have a couple that I have finished recently, and just got around to photographing.



These are socks that I made for Tyler for his birthday a couple weeks ago. I had tried a different pattern before this one. It was really fancy, with cables, ribbing, patterns, and even a toe-up, which had be stressing for almost a full day. I just could not understand the Judy's Magic Cast-on. But, I eventually did it, and it wasn't until I got a good 4 inches into the sock, that I realized it was going to be way too big for him. I took it out and realized I was going to be pressed for time to finish it, so I picked a less complicated pattern, which fit him much better. He had to show every single person at his birthday get-together, I think he was proud of my work, and wanted to show it off to everyone. He put them on immediately when we got home. I think they turned out nice, and they should be a good starter sock for him, to see if he likes them and will wear them. If he does, I'll probably make more for him.



This Henslowe Shawl I finished last month. It was a complete nightmare to block, and had both me and Tyler pinning it out (the poor fiance had no idea what he was doing, honestly, but I appreciated the help he did do). It was brutal, and I'm not sure I'll make another one of these. Which is sad because I rarely pay for patterns, and this was one of the only that I purchased. The instructions on picking up stitches were a little confusing, probably because I have never done Shetland lace construction before? I don't know, but I can't foresee myself doing another.



These miserable fingerless mitts. I first started them on double pointed needles, and kept taking them out for some reason or another. One day I thought they were too long, the next day too short, or, I didn't like how the picot edging looked. It was always something. After it sat for many weeks, I eventually just divided the yarn into two balls (with my cheap new kitchen scale, yay!), and cast on for two at a time. I was determined to finish them, and finally did. I am extremely pleased with them, and for the past 2 days, I've been wearing them everywhere.

Madelinetosh Lace

For the majority of my knitting time, I've been using Knit Picks yarn. It's a great value, and it creates beautiful objects. However, in looking through some pattern's projects, a lot of the things I want to make use this yarn called Madelinetosh. I don't have a yarn store around me, the nearest one is about 80 miles away, so I've never seen this yarn in person. I looked at ordering at online vendors, and bawked at the cost of a hank. I've never spent anything over $11 for a hank, and Madeline tosh was $26? For one hank??



I found this Vermillion colorway from a Ravelry member, for a slightly cheaper price. I think it was $23? Or something around there. It's only slightly cheaper than the online vendors, but hey, shipping was included on this deal. I got in in the mail, and it was love at first sight. It's gorgeous, squishy, and so soft. I've already started a project with this hank - the Rock Island Shawl. The finished project is really beautiful, but I'm 7 repeats into the edging and I'm bored already. So, I don't know.



I liked that one so much, I had to get another one. I found this Calligraphy colorway on sale at Jimmy Beans Wool. I have plans for this one too. This will become a Vostok Shawl. I loved that pattern when I seen it, and I can't wait to start it. I love Madelinetosh yarn, but honestly, I don't think I'll ever buy another hank unless I find it on sale.

Hiya Hiya Goodies

Last Monday, I finally decided it was time to purchase a set of interchangeable knitting needles. I started knitting a couple years ago, and didn't know if I was really going to like it. So, my needle case has been slowly filling up with cheap needles, ones purchased from chain craft stores. Last year, I got two sets of nickle-plated  double pointed needles from Knit Picks, but at this point in time, they are basically unusable. From them, I have discovered that my skin tarnishes nickel like crazy, so any more Knit Picks needles were out of the question for me.

Since my love for knitting is not going away, it was time to invest in some quality needles. I researched all the major brands now, Knit Picks, Addi, Hiya Hiya. After looking and looking, I decided on the Hiya Hiyas. I heard that the joins on the interchangeables were one of the best, they are made out of stainless steel (I'm assuming since my forks and spoons aren't tarnished, I won't tarnish these needles), and they since they are metal they will fit my knitting style really well. I don't like wooden or acrylic needles, at all.

I was all set to order from the Hiya Hiya website, but then I noticed that I couldn't choose what color of the Puppy Snips I wanted (cute little tiny scissors, perfect for dropping in my travel knitting bag). Getting the pink was kind of important to me, and that was when I placed my order somewhere else - The Yarn Grove.



Saying I was ecstatic when I saw this bag outside the door to my apartment was an understatement. After snapping this photo, I literally clawed through the packaging to get at my new interchangeable needle set. I've never had such umm.... expensive needles before. Well, they were expensive to me, at least. They are reasonable for the quality you get, but my fiance and I are on a budget. I'm really lucky he found it in the budget to get these for me.



The bottom is my interchangeable set. I got the Small Sharp set (sizes 2-8), because very rarely, do I need anything larger. I also got a size 1.5 fixed circular needle, with a 40 inch cable. I really want to learn magic loop, so this, I thought, would be my training needle. And, my Puppy Snips! I was shocked at the size of this, it is so small!



The interchangeable set. I can't even describe how much I love them. It came with the sizes 2-8, 4 cable lengths, little grippers to help tighten the cables, and a really fabulous case. As soon as I got them out of the wrapping, I immediately transferred my Henslowe shawl that I was knitting on some needles I got at Michaels, to my new Hiya Hiya's. I adore them. The tips are sharp, the joins are so smooth, and no longer to I need to boil cables to get them to flex! Love.

As for The Yarn Grove, I am so happy with them. All my needles were packaged so well, shipped really fast, and I adored the little handwritten note on my order receipt. It gave some kind of personality to ordering online. And, the prices were better (and, I got free shipping on these! Win!).

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.

Ravellenic Games 2012

For those who don't know, Ravelry is a really fantastic site for knitters and crocheters. It is a community, store, pattern haven, and information portal for everything yarn-related. I love Ravelry, and much of my life really revolves around it. For every Olympics, they put on Ravellenic Games (formerly known as the Ravelympics). These games are where knitters and crocheters participate in our own Olympic-type games, starting a project at the opening ceremonies of the Olympics, and going on a quest to finish that project by the time the closing ceremonies come around. It's a wonderful way to be motivated to finish a project, challenge yourself, and have a great completed object at the end. When you post your finished project into the finish line, you get a medal (an image to post to your profile, project page, or where ever you wish), as an added bonus.

I've been knitting for a few years now, have tried many different techniques, and knitted several different things. I was definitely confident to participate in these Ravellenic Games. And, I'm really glad I did. My choice of project was the Summer Flies shawl. In my past shawl knitting experiences, it takes me many weeks to finish. Mainly because I get frustrated when something goes wrong, then I put it down and don't come back to it for weeks later. I wanted to push myself to finish a shawl in a little over 2 weeks, with mistakes and all.

I started out, and was amazed at how fast it knitted up. I was on a roll with this shawl, and even finished a little earlier than I expected to. The games ended on the 12th, I finished knitting it on the 6th. It wasn't until the 11th that I did the finishing touches on it though (mainly blocking it, which took longer than I expected). I photographed it and posted it into the finish line just in time, however. Just barely. I have to give my fiance credit for helping me take the photo of it though. He stood there with the camera, taking many pictures as I looked at them saying "Yeah, I don't like that one, take another." The poor guy.



I am unbelievably pleased with it. I finished on time, it looks fabulous, and when fall comes around, I'm going to wear it everywhere. Oh yes, I am. It will also look fantastic over my cold weather pea coat. Also, it was with this project that I gathered courage to attend my first knitting group. I do have a lot of social anxiety, so attending the knitting group was huge for me. It was at a residence which raised my social red flags (I kind of feel better meeting on neutral grounds, like a coffee shop), but I went anyway, and am really glad I did. The women I met there were really great, they didn't make me feel uncomfortable or awkward in their home, and I left there feeling really excited for the next meeting.

Anyway, I'm still hoping and waiting for my medal for finishing my Summer Flies, it's obscene how many times I refresh the forums to see my name listed among the other Ravletes. But it should come soon. After participating during these games, I can't wait for the next one, I had such a fun experience, and it really boosted my love for knitting even more than I thought possible.

Gardening Indoors

This morning, I woke up early, intending on playing a little bit of Aion before the fiance woke up. However, that didn't happen. I got the idea in my head to finally fix my RSS feed for the blog. It has apparently been broken for a little while, I'm not sure what is wrong with it. It's still not entirely fixed, but at least it works on RSS readers. I spent all morning, and into the afternoon working on it. It's almost 9pm now, and I still have not even opened up Aion.

Spring is here, and I love flowers, plants, veggies, and herbs. However, I have no garden, patio, deck or balcony. Instead, I have a small room filled with west facing windows. When I first came here, we went out and purchased a lighting system, so I could grow some plants. I started out with planting a lot of seeds in little newspaper pots. I planted broccoli, herbs, roma tomato, peppers, and much more. But sadly, quite a few contracted something called downy mildew, and were slowly dying. I pruned infected leaves, as much as I could, but in the end, I had to toss out several, because they had died. I did save a few though, some asparagus ferns, lavender, chamomile, and a sage. Now, my lighting system has two levels, the top for seedlings, and the lower level for large plants, such as an Easter Lily the fiance bought for me a few days ago. I've never kept a lily indoors under artificial lighting, so hopefully it works out. Yet another plant experiment I have going.



Growing up, I never really lived with anyone who really gardened. The most gardening experience I had, was watching family members bring in houseplants, then watching them slowly wither away from neglect. So, my knowledge of plants and gardening is very limited. But I am learning by the day. I have had some success though. Shortly after Christmas, I planted a few basil seeds, and a few weeks ago, I got to harvest some leaves off of the basil plant. And now, I am harvesting at least 30 leaves off of it every Sunday. It's fantastic having fresh basil, from my own plant when I need it.



That said, I will not give up! I'm starting to plant seeds once again, with new strategies. Instead of using newspaper pots, I'm trying out toilet paper rolls, which is much easier to control where the water goes, smaller, and it seems to be easier, in general. Here in this photo, I'm growing some Yolo Wonder bell peppers, and some dimorphotheca flowers. I had dimorphotheca sprouting before, but it was yet another seedling to fall victim to the downy mildew plague that swept through my apartment. Hopefully this one will be better, I think I eliminated the problems that caused it.



I also planted more basil. I couldn't help it. I love my basil plant, I want a continuous stream of herbs coming through to my kitchen. I have taken a liking to freezing my basil leaves. After I harvest from my plant, I rinse off the leaves, and pat them dry. Then, I fill up an ice cube tray halfway, drop about 5 leaves into each ice cup, and put in the freezer. When those are completely frozen, I fill up the ice cube try completely and freeze again. Then, I take the cubes out, and put them in a ziploc bag. To put in spaghetti, or any other pasta dish, I just drop the ice cube in the pan with my pasta sauce, the ice will melt in it, and the excess water will evaporate, leaving me with the basil. I'd imagine this will work with any herb as well. I'm going to try it. The taller seedling is cilantro - I lost my last cilantro to spider mites (I had no idea they even existed until I googled them. By then it was too late for the plant). This one will do better, I have a counter measure in place when those evil spider mites come back.



In addition to my little sunroom container garden, I also have plants scattered throughout the windowsills in the apartment. I have these 4 behind the couch. The first one is apparently a polka dot plant. It was a mystery plant I fell in love with at the nursery (hey, I can't pass up a pink plant!), I asked a worker what kind of plant it was, and she told me... but by the time I walked out of the door with it, I had forgotten. So I googled, and google told me what it was. It's a little unruly with the flower spikes, and I think it needs a trimming... really soon. The second plant is my lemon balm that I nursed from seeds. I LOVE this plant. I don't know why. I think the leaves are gorgeous and I love the shape of them. When you rub a leaf and smell it, it smells just like lemons. And, people make teas out of lemon balm as well. The last two... planted in a Panera and a McDonald's cup, are Asparagus ferns. They aren't the most attractive plants I've seen, but they add greenery and pretty into the apartment.

I seem to have knitted washclothes under every plant. It's funny because while I was on Amtrack, moving here, I made tons and I had no idea what I was going to do with 8 washcloths. Now, I have at least 20, and am constantly running out. I always have to rummage through my yarn to find more cotton to knit up some more.

Starting a Shawl

I think it's time to take a small break from blogging about my apartment, what do you think? Well, for the past couple days, I have been pretty sick. I think it might be a cold, but I'm feeling worse each day, so I'm thinking it might be something worse than a cold. Because I don't want to just lounge around doing absolutely nothing, I wanted to knit something. I'm not interested in knitting another pair of socks, considering I haven't even worn the 3 that I knitted previously. Also, I kind of wanted something bigger, something more of a challenge to complete. Something that wouldn't just take me a couple days to finish. Shawls seem to be popular for knitters on ravelry, so I started looking at a Haruni shawl. The more I looked at it, the more I loved it. After looking through the pattern, I realized: Hey, I can do this!

It starts with a provisional cast on, which I had no idea how to do. Several YouTube videos, and an hour later, I finally had my 3 provisional cast on stitches. Somehow, I came out with something that I'm actaully proud of. It's still in the works, and I think this is a fabulous pattern to knit. It's easy-ish to memorize the lace repeats after doing them a couple of times, and it's quite fun, even for a beginning shawl knitter.



I got a bunch of this yarn in a variety of colors for my last birthday, and I made a pair of socks out of one. I was unhappy with the way the yarn looked in the sock, it looked almost self striping. However, the yarn used for this shawl, looks fantastic... Almost like it was made for this project. And it's pink, who can complain? I love it so far.

Knitting something this large is really helping with me not feeling well, it helps pass the hours, so while I'm sniffling, blowing my nose, and nursing full body aches, the days don't seem as long.