Ahh.... sorry.

I'm sorry. I haven't written in two weeks, basically since I got home from Ohio. The main reason why I stopped updating was because I'm pretty sure the only people who read this blog are my parents, and since I am now living in the same house as them, I figured an online update wouldn't be necessary to keep them posted on all my knitting projects. But I started feeling guilty. Maybe there's one or two readers out there who aren't my parents, so this is for you.

SO MUCH KNITTING STUFF HAS BEEN GOING ON, OH MY GOSH!!! My entire life is knitting now. Literally.

Since I've gotten home, I have...

1. finished my sister's scarf
2. knit 2 sample hats
3. knit a bell curve skirt for my mom
4. finished the KAL play with fire socks (sample and pattern)
5. finished that damn laptop bag
6. begun a pair of socks
7. begun a second skirt, for my aunt
8. begun a sample scarf
9. agreed to knit at least two sample shawls

Pictures.

Beck's scarf. I finished it the day before she got home from school.


Dumb laptop bag. Ok, it's actually pretty awesome and I am happy with it but it took forever to finish and I will never felt again. AND the zipper is too small, so I have to take it out. NEVER DONE. Seriously, it took forever to do everything... felt the bag and the pockets... then felt the little peices by hand, but it didn't really work, so after letting the project sit for a week I went back and knit two more pieces and felted it all in the machine instead. Much better. Then sewed everything together. Put in magnetic snaps in the pockets, sewed buttons over them to conceal ugly backings. Sewed the zipper, too small. Laptop barely fits. Must remove zipper. All together-- it was really an annoying project because of all the felting. But when I look at it, I feel pretty proud. It's really nice. It looks professional and once I take out the zipper it'll be great because it fits Sheli perfectly.

Mom's skirt. She saw mine, loved it, requested one. I made it in a different yarn though, a less expensive one, since the denim yarn would add a lot to the cost. So I used Loops & Threads Impeccable Worsted, an acrylic yarn, because it has a very sturdy, solid texture (and is machine washable). It knitted up nicely, but I had to iron it ("kill" it) because the bottom curled. Once I blocked/ironed/killed it, it became much softer. Before that, I found the fabric kind of stiff. Afterward ironing, the drape improved. Now I am knitting another one for my aunt, who also loved it, in navy blue. Mom wanted hers shorter, so I altered the pattern a bit. My aunt also wants it a little shorter than mine.
The yarn is thick and it's a very warm skirt. Unlike mine she won't have to wear a slip under it-- no gaps whatsoever. I hope she gets a lot of use out of it. She says she will wear it to work. It looks very cute on her.

And I am also doing a lot of sample knitting, which I really enjoy! I get FREE, PRETTY YARN in exchange for knitting things! Stash pics!


For the two hats, I got a huge Babs Yowzer Whatta Skein-- 560 yards of soft, pretty worsted!

For the scarf I'm knitting, I got a skein of madelinetosh tosh merino (worsted, turquoise)...
A skein of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport, 200 yards of sport weight wool in a pretty blue/gray colorway...

And a skein of Malabrigo Kettle Dyed Worsted. Yum!

I also got two skeins of an orangey silk/tweed blend.

And, I agreed to knit two sample shawlettes for an indie yarn company and they are sending me two skeins of their hand-dyed yarn per one skein project that I do!!

I love yarn. I feel rich when I have pretty yarn. My mom grumbles about how I should be getting paid in money, but I am happy to get the beautiful yarn. It just makes me FEEL so good... how do I explain it to a non-knitter? She'll never understand.

Also knitting one of the Knit Picks sock blank socks... such an effing ordeal to knit with that thing... first I tried doing two socks and two circulars simultaneously. I thought it'd be good for me since I like quick knitting. But I hated it. Not only that, but the rainbow was dyed from the wrong end... the yarn wasn't feeding smoothly out of the blank. So I had to unravel the whole thing and roll it into a ball. Then I started the socks again but couldn't stand doing both socks at once. So I started doing just one. But then I had to wind the OTHER strand of yarn while knitting with the active yarn... blehh... it's been really annoying. I mean, are you meant to unravel the blank into a ball before you knit? And if so, are you supposed to wind them into two separate balls because there are two separate threads? That is really irritating.

Anyway, maybe I'll find a better way to deal with it. The socks aren't high priority though. The sample are, and my aunt's skirt. Then eventually I have to start baby stuff and presents. SO MUCH KNITTING! Love it. And in my spare time I'm looking for a job. It's a tough market out there.