I’m gonna be keeping myself busy in 2007!

I got a set of circulars thanks to my dear hubby!

I LOOOVE these needles! I switched the sweater over to the Boye needles so I can see all my work stretched out as I work on the sweater.

I’m still getting used to having the wires attached, but I like that the actual needle part is shorter and doesn’t get caught on blankets/pillows/couches/husband/person that are near my elbows.

Speaking of the sweater….I am DONE swatching! I don’t have it down 100% perfect, but as long as I’m paying attention to what I’m doing, I can get it right and usually fix any mistakes I do make. Plus, since I’ve got it mostly down, the mistakes aren’t as noticeable.

After Chauntel & Tracy’s help:

Finished! (the extra mini-swatch was done on the circulars to make sure the gauge was still right because ny straights were *slightly* larger even though they are supposedly the same size):

I stopped by Chauntel’s house on Saturday to say hi and borrow some knitting books. She gave me a TON of yarn (yippeee!) and so far my favorite is this mill-end cone that is a beautiful lavendar color. I already started on a scarf for MIL’s (other MIL – not the one I made the belt for) birthday in January. On my new circs of course!

(The ball is the largest center-pull ball I’ve ever done – and by hand!! LOL)

Lastly, a non-yarn creation

Christmas Breakfast!!

I hope you all had lovely Holidays! Hooray for a short week

PS: Oooh, I almost forgot….the last crochet project I did was the java cozy for my mom. I love how it turned out and she loved it too!

 

Getting my knit on.

Now for the promised pictures!

First off, I am jumping on the fan bandwagon and posting my signed “Knit 2 Together” book. I LOOOVE this book! I’m so glad I got it as my first real knitting book. I can’t wait to get started on a project from the book…although it’s gonna be probably a month till I do. *sigh*

Now on to the meat of this post: I did my first blocking! And I took pictures to prove it. I read Eunny Jang’s recent post about blocking, and it really helped. My only complaint was how freaking loooong it took to dry! But it’s a little thick and I did put a towel under it (on top of a very large, thick plastic bag), so that might be why.

Pre-blocking:

Soaking (I used no-rinse “Soak” in the Flora scent):

Draining:

Expressing the water:

The pinning process:

I only blocked the side strip (which will make up the side panels and strap) on the sections that will be sewn to the side.

All blocked and writing the pattern (which I will share when it’s all done and I know it looks good!):

Here it drying the rest of the way on a clothes drying thingy, with the scarf for my mom next to it (don’t mind the mess). It’s amazing how much better it looks! I can’t wait to get it finished.

And to top it all off….here are my first real cables! I’ve been wanting to figure out how cables work, and I finally did. Yippee!

They are attached to my sad looking little tester swatch, but there they are and they are cute I put my handy-dandy new cable hook thingys from Knit & Pearl (Clover brand). I really like how they work.

 

Getting the knitting bug…

Ok, so I keep seeing more and more cool stuff that’s made by knitting… It’s not fair! I’ve got too many crochet projects to finish!!

I actually need some sweaters, and I think I may just end up caving in and starting one once I learn something beyond the basic knit stitch. Speaking of that….this morning I decided to pull out my knitting stuff and take a look at it. I knew I inherited a bunch of knitting needles from my Oma (my Dutch grandma), but I didn’t realize quite how many!

I think there’s everything from 0-15 (with many multiples) in there.

I forgot I had started a practice sampler a while back so I could practice and teach myself to purl (that wasn’t very successful….I got frustrated and gave up). Chauntel showed me a simple cable at last week’s knit group, and while I remember the basic concept, I don’t know the pattern in which to make the cable look nice. Anyway, I attempted some cabling on opposite sides just to try it out and get a feel for it. I’m sure it’s totally botched, but that’s why it’s a sampler

Finally, I got a good start on the shawl for MIL (two rows so far). I love the Caron Simply Soft yarn, it’s inexpensive and feels great! I think it might become my staple yarn.

 

WIP Pics!

So, I brought my new bag to work (to show my co-worker my projects) and went a little crazy with the picture taking…

First off….introducing my New Bag!

Look at what it can fit inside:

The baby blanket in pieces

I laid it out so I can get a good eye for how big it will be and see exactly how many I need to make. I’m going to use a cream color (like the cream in the plaid afghan) as an accent and to fill in the spaces in between the granny squares (which are about 3.5 inches square). I’m not 100% sure how I’m going to do that yet, but I’ll figure out something. If I don’t figure out something fancyschmancy, I’ll just put one more row of granny square stitches and then sew them all together and make a border. Maybe I’ll do a picot border…I don’t think I’ve ever done that before.

Anywhoo…the last picture is of the infamous afghan!

I can’t believe how far I’ve gotten on it already! I might actually be able to give this as a Christmas gift to my parents! There are 9 cream stripes in the pattern and I’m just about to start stripe 6!

By the way, I made a few copies of the pattern to bring to Knit Group on Thursday since someone asked me last week, and who knows if someone else will want it too!

 

Project ADD

So, I convinced DH that I *needed* the Good to Go Knitter’s Tote from Michaels (and I did have a 50% coupon that Chauntel gave me (THANK YOU!) that saved me $20. Yippee! I even justified buying some yarn (Caron Simply Soft in black for the shawl I’m making for my MIL).

As Michael’s says:

You’re going to love this Knitter’s Tote! It’s crafted exclusively to hold everything you need for storing or transporting your knitting project. Outside pockets hold plenty of yarn. Each skein pocket has an eyelet inside so that yarn can be threaded into the interior of the bag. Protect your yarn when you pull it through without having to take out the skein. Inside pockets hold all your accessories, like scissors, tape measure, and pins. Zippered and clear acetate pockets make all your supplies easily visible and accessible. Rulers and knitting needles have a spot at each end of the bag secured by elastic bands. There is plenty of room inside to hold your project and books.

And love it I DO!! I currently have all six pockets full of yarn (two for the afghan, two for the baby blanket I’m working on and two for the shawl). The inside fits my notions box, the afghan (which is nearly halfway done), the baby blanket squares I’ve made so far (about 10 3.5″ granny squares), and a few books. As long as I finish at least one project before too long, I should be able to carry all of them in there (the afghan might be kicked out eventually).

Speaking of projects. I am suffering from project ADD. I have two projects in the works (plaid afghan and baby blanket), yet I’m feeling bored and ready to start something new (namely, the shawl). I’m trying to finish the items I really NEED to do first, though, and using the plaid afghan as my “I don’t have to think while I work on this” project. The baby blanket squares are easy to work on since they’re small, but I feel like I’m doing chain loops every 5 minutes (oh wait, I am!), and that’s getting old faster than I thought. *sigh*

Oh well…press on Marieke, press on.

Anyway, off to finish my workday…

 

More Knit & Pearl

I went in again to Knit & Pearl to buy a few things I needed. One was a Size I crochet hook.

I’ve been wanting to get one made of natural materials (I’d LOVE to get some Brittany crochet hooks) and they carry Clover Bamboo ones. So, I bought one and I LOVE it! It’s so much nicer than the metal ones.

I also picked up some stitch markers (very handy!) and Crochet Today magazine I’ve been eyeing every time I’ve been in there, LOL!

(Can you tell I’m having fun with pictures?)

 

Confessions

Saturday, I was picking up the husband from work, but he had a few things to finish up. Knit & Pearl, the new local yarn shop, is right near his work (this could be dangerous), so I popped over to drool over some yarn.

I ended up buying a couple notions and this is where my first confession comes in…

I bought my first gauge. Yes, my first.

I’ve been crocheting for years and I’ve never owned (or used) a gauge. First, it was because I didn’t really understand the significance of using one. My grandmother had taught me how to knit and crochet and I don’t think she ever used one. Second, the things I usually made were without a pattern (you don’t really need a pattern to make a scarf), or wouldn’t really be messed up if the gauge wasn’t quite right (ie: an afghan).

My second confession…

I don’t hold my hook properly.

Now, my grandmother first taught me to crochet, but I re-learned it again later on (and taught myself the English terms since I only new the Dutch ones, and learned how to read a pattern). I eventually got The Crocheter’s Companion as a tool to help me in learning new techniques, etc.

But I never paid attention to the “how to hold a hook” parts since I already had that down. But at knit group last Thursday, I noticed that Sierra (the other gal crocheting) was holding her hook completely differently than I was and she teaches crochet. So I got to wondering whether there is a better way.

I check online and I found these two different styles on the Lion Brand website:

This is closest to how I hold a hook (the “pencil” style), but I actually hold it more like you’d hold a spoon:

This is the way Sierra was holding her hook, and the way I saw most websites show you how to do it:

I may try changing how I hold it and see if it is easier on my wrist. Otherwise, I may just keep doing it the way I do it since it works for me!