One sock Finished!!

I finished my first sock today! I also went to my first Red Cross meeting and got signed up as a volunteer for the American Red Cross. Is this a coincidence? Or much more?

Here is a WWII Era Poster from the Red Cross.



Here is the picture of my completed sock!



Here it is on my foot! Yeah! It is hard to photograph your own foot, by the way.


And here is an action shot of it on the ground.



I know I know, so many pictures. Obviously I am quite impressed with it. I am actually impressed I could make it at all!! I used Silver's online Sock Class. The link is over there in my links section. I recommend it for people making their first socks. And I also recommend using worsted weight yarn and size 6 DPNs for your first sock because 1. It will go faster which is encouraging 2. It is easier to see what you are doing than with sock yarn.

Now, One to make one for the other foot!
Cheers!

sock still in progress

okay so I have been working on my "practice sock"... and things were looking ugly.
See - the ugly.
The reason it was so ugly is I kept messing up the part where you switch needles on a purl.

The side I switched with a knit came out good.


But eventually I figured out what I was doing wrong and my ribbing came out better. So that is a relief. I left the mistakes in though, because I wanted to try making the rest of the sock.

Last night I got to the heel turning point. It is amazing you can make a heel out of yarn without really doing anything fancy, it is like magic! MAGIC! All of the sudden, right in front of your very eyes is this:


Very cool. I think I may finish the sock tonight. Whee!
Jessica

Socks and stuff

Okay, well yesterday I decided to cast on a sock and try to make one in hopes it would help me make baby booties. Baby booties (in case you didn't know) are very small. Therefore, very tricky for a newbie like me who is very clutsy. So I thought, well hey everyone says socks are not that hard... I should try and make one in practice!

And so to have guilt free knitting time, I did the laundry. Laundry takes a long time to do here. The dryer dries for an hour before things are done. So with our laundry that is like 3 hours plus the additional 40 minutes from the first load's washing.

One drawback to this method of guilt free knitting is this: folding.


But then again... doesn't my sock yarn match my clothing well?
This is Knit Pick's Sock Memories in "Flower Power". My KB also loves this color.


So I spent all yesterday trying to knit some socks and also folding laundry and cooking. (how did I become someone who does these things? Anyway...) So flash forward 24 hours (it is like time travel here today) and this is how far I got:


You'll notice that there is a different color variation on this needle. That is because I have frogged about 6 times. I can't seem to get it. It's the ribbing that is messing me up. Somewhere along the way I have to purl while starting another needle and I mess it up and get it all twisted somehow. I don't know how or why but I am going to post on a forum somewhere.

Also I decided maybe bigger needles and yarn may help. So yes, I am back to the old standby orange yarn and size 6 needles. That is what I will attempt today to see if I can get the bugs worked out.

baby hat for AFA

Well the baby hat (and first DPN project) is finished!
I like working with DPNs but I think decreasing is a little harder because of the breaks that the needles switching causes. I have to work on that.

Anyway, here is the hat I made for Afghans for Afghans. It looks pointed in the picture, but it doesn't look as pointy in person. I guess it must've been the camera angle.

I'm pretty proud! Yay!

DPNs - Not as hard as you think

I believe that should be the new slogan for Double Pointed Needles. Not as hard as it looks! I was amazed at how tricky they look, but that they were not so difficult to use. I started on a pair of size 6s today with some worsted weight yarn. Yes, the same yarn I always seem to use, in my beloved orange wool.

I am planning on making a baby hat and booties for Afhgans for Afghans, a charity knitting group that makes items for people in Afghanistan. You can find out more information about this group if you click on the button over in the right hand side of your screen.

And really I want to get into sock making because they are small, easily protable, and everyone likes socks. But that will be another day's adventure. I feel just getting started on some DPNs is exciting enough for one day. And also I decided I need to really work on one project at a time.

So here are my 1st four stiches!


And here is a (blurry, sorry) shot of what I have right now.

Rock on!

Lace Schmace

I worked on a lace project and I really don't like the way lace looks. I mean, I like lace items other people make, but I can not get my head around liking my own. So I think I will put it in a bin and wait utnil the lace mood strikes me again.

The yarn looks grayer in this picture than it does in purple. It is beautiful yarn - Alpaca Cloud by knitpicks.

survey says!

You are Mercerized Cotton. You are always very crisp and neat. You are very playful and are happiest while outdoors in the sunshine. You are sometimes accused of splitting hairs, but in the end people find you pretty easy to live with.


843 other people got this result!
This quiz has been taken 27446 times.
3% of people had this result.

Want to know what yarn you are? CLICK HERE TO TAKE IT!

Yesterday's news!

Well I was lazy in all senses of the word yesterday so I never posted these. I finally finished my first spa facecloth. It took a lot longer than I thought it would - three nights worth of work. I think maybe because of the stitch I used? I do not like the color variation of this yarn, but it was the only cotton yarn I had lying around this place, and I wanted to do a prototype before I ordered cotton yarn to make some more. I made it in moss stich, and it came out rather well. I like the weight of it, it is nice and heavy, yet fairly soft. So I think these will make great little gifts to give to people. So I ordered some more cotton yarn to make them in prettier colors.

Here is the picture of the facecloth.


Here is a picture of the binding off, which is impressive only because it is my first bind off where I had to switch between binding off in knit and purl. Every other binding off I have done so far has been only in knit. So this is relatively exciting to little beginner me. :)


Also I frogged the coworker basket weave scarf. I will make her something else. I started to not like it and really hate working on it. I am eventually going to turn this yarn into a hat for a baby with the Afghans for Afghans program. As soon as I get those double pointed needles I ordered yesterday in the mail. (hey, I had to buy 25 dollars worth to get free shipping, don't look at me like that! I had Holiday Present yarn to order.)

Here is the scarf before frogging...


Right now I am working on a lace scarf. I am not sure how I like it, and as soon as I have a few more rows I will take a picture and add it to the site. i am still working on adding more to the side ----->.

blog under construction!!

Well, I have been meaning to add my favorite websites onto the blog over there -------->
I haven't done it because I stink at trying to change the code, even when I am basically cutting and pasting. :)

I have added new categories and will add more of my stockpiled websites over there later. You see, I am supposed to be cleaning. But since it was my own idea to clean and no one else's I figured I could take a short break while the floor was drying. but now it is dry, so I am making myself finish some more cleaning (bummer!).

So look forward to new and interesting things to come.

an itty bitty bag

Well I decided that I needed to carry some money, an ID, and a lipstick with me to the Dining Out. So I whipped up a little bag of my own design. I used the same yarn as my shawl. Here is the pattern I made, but if I was to do it again, I would have done 4-6 rows of plain garter stich before tapering off for the flap.

*********************************************************************
Pattern:
You will need less than 1 ball of sport weight yarn for this project.
1. Using size 3 needles, cast on 56 stiches.
2. Garter stich until slightly bigger than your ID card.
3. Bind off 28 stiches
4. Taper off by knitting together the very last two stiches of every row until left with one stitch. Pull yarn trhough loop and secure.
5. Then fold over, sew bottom and side of bag. Use a brooch to hold the bag closed.
**********************************************************************

Is this using short rows to shape? I am unclear of what short rows are, still.

Anyway, it only took a couple of hours (4 I think) and it kept me busy so I didn't worry as much about the Dining Out. [using up yarn you don't really like $3. Brooch 10,000won. Total cost $14, not worrying about dining out all day, priceless] I used such small needles because a. I had them and they are new - so why not try them out and b. because I wanted it to be thick enough that no one could see in the bag (for certain time of the month products).

Here are some pictures...

Here is after I bound off half the stiches (which was hard, I had to use a saftey pin to hook the stich to pull it over the other stich because they were so small)


Here is the bag finished and open.


And here is the front

The Dining Out Shawl is DONE!

Okay so it is finished. I think I will try and find a brooch somewhere tomorrow to hold it together. Failing that a knot will do or perhaps just holding it.

I think I could have made it with three balls of yarn, except my yarn, facing the indignity of being made into a beginner's shawl decided to commit suicide instead and hung itself. This is my second skein of yarn to suddenly become so entangled I have to stop knitting. This time I was under pressure so I didn't undo the whole skein from the outside in and re-ball it like I did the orange skein earlier this week. I just cut it off an started a new one.

So here is the Suicide yarn:


Here is the finished product, which I admit does not look all that different from this morning's shot.



And here is me in it. (pardon the T-shirt) - and even worse, I now see how much the mirror needs cleaning. Eww. In my defense I live in Barracks and this mirror is one of the least gross points of the room, trust me. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have a nicer shot of myself in this shawl and I will replace this one. :)



I am worried, however that it looks like what it is - my first shawl and it isn't good enough for the dining out. I guess we shall see.

Anyway, here is where I got the idea of the pattern, at Lion's Brand Yarnalthough I warn you I find their site very hard to decipher. I kinda guessed on one part and I am not sure I did it right...Also they use way bulkier yarn and you can see mine is longer in the back yet covers less of my arms. It is just the way my yarn worked with this pattern, I think. Or I could have read it slightly wrong. :) And I didn't use any of the edging like they have.

Well I had better sew in my yarn ends.
Happy Knitting.

after 1 full day

Well here is the shawl in progress after 1 day and almost two balls of yarn (I have to add yarn anyway, so why not take a picture?)

Here it is in all it's glory. I keep throwing in the mini Ipod for scaling! You also can spy into what I am reading these days! (Harland is reading "In cold blood" I already read it. Go see "Capote". Now.)


And here is a close up of the pattern.

yarn glorious yarn!

Today I went yarn shopping with my co-worker (Joe)'s wife. Yarn over here is expensive but at least I found some to make a shawl for the friday night's dining out. Now I just have to freakin' knit my fingers off.

Here are some pictures of the yarn. I have my I-Pod Mini in the picture so you can see how small the Korean balls of yarn are. They are 85.5 meters. It hails from Austalia. I was surprised at their selection... they had a ton of very fine yarns, lots of lace yarn. Even this isn't thick... it is pretty thin - more like sock yarn.

And it is washable, yet somehow is 100% wool. Very interesting!


I also got some yarn from knitpicks today in the mail! And various other treasures! So it was a very fun knititng day! Look at the cool stuff I got! This is all things for Holiday present making!!

magic scarf/basketweave

Right now I am starting a basketweave scarf. Here is a website that has some great pictures of the pattern.crazy aunt purl's magic scarf pattern

I am thinking of making this for one of my new co-workers. It seems pretty simple, and it looks like it will knit up quick, which is a plus. Also it looks much more complicated than it is - which impresses non-knitters. I have all this leftover yarn from the Secret Susan Project which will be revealed in May when her birthday arrives. Probably most people's gifts will be revealed on this blog way before they get them, but since Susan actually reads this blog every once and a while, I have to keep hers off of here.

Plus I have to do something while waiting for the yarn that is in transit from the States to me. I want it here NOW. Actually though, I am glad I live over here - for I have this idea if I was close to a yarn store everytime I saw a cool pattern I would want to knit, I would be dashing off and buying the yarn for it before finishing the stuff I was working on.

In this new box of yarn coming, I have the yarn for three Holiday gifts. Therefore I will not allow myself to buy more yarn until I have made these three gifts.

Sometimes you have to lay down the law... to yourself.