Crafty

I've been in nesting mode for the past week.  I woke up one day and was struck, for the first time, at how white my apartment is.  Every wall is white and they are bare.  You may ask how I had never noticed this having lived here for seven months.  Who knows, but something had to be done.

I took to the internet and started researching DIY home decor for cheap.  DIY because I like doing things myself and cheap because I'm broke.  Pinterest is my new favourite site and I'm on it all the time.  It's a site where people can collect websites devoted to anything and store them in one place in a very visual way.  I'm such a visual person so this site really inspires me.  There are TONS of crafty DIY ideas on the site.  I scoured for a day or two and decided on my two projects:  fabric wall art and a twine picture display.  Here's my inspiration for the wall art: Bella Dia fabric panels.

I modified it a little.  Instead of foamcore I used small bulletin boards I found at the Dollar Store.  And instead of double sided tape I used flat headed thumbtacks.  It worked really well.  I couldn't get the sticky tack to stick to my walls so I used twine to hand them up instead.  For the fabric I visited my local fabric store and bought from the discount aisle.  I also scored some quilting squares from Walmart.  And here's the result:

I hung them over our bed and I'm really happy with them.  Hopefully I'll add more eventually.  

Next was the twine picture display.  This one I'd seen awhile back but couldn't remember where.  All it takes is pictures, twine, clothes pins and thumbtacks.  Super simple.  I hung this above our couch in the living room.  I'll add another layer or two when I get around to printing out pictures to hang on the twine.  For now I just used some postcards and prints I had.  

I'm happy with both projects but need to add more to both of them.  I've already got my eye on some other crafty projects but I need to focus on school work for the next couple weeks until this term finally ends.  

Seaming

I tackled the first round of seaming on the baby blanket today.  I seamed 16 squares together and am super pleased with the outcome.  I am a damn fine seamer.  Mattress stitch is the greatest knitting invention ever and I feel I'm starting to master it.  I think the picture speaks for itself.

I also love that it's starting to look like a real blanket.  I'm also pleased with the sizing thus far.  It should be a good fit for crib.  And only 37 more squares to go.  

What a square

A good friend of mine is expecting a baby July.  She is my hubby's best friend and was even the best "man" at our wedding.  So this means a baby blanket is in order.  I love baby blankets.  They have a warmth to them that I love.  Instead of doing a one piece blanket, I wanted to try something with more of a quilt feel.  So I set off making tiny 4 x 4 squares.  I want the blanket to be big enough to fit inside the crib but not too huge.  I figure it should be 8 squares long and 7 squares wide.  In other words, 32" x 28".  I also wanted it to have a patchwork feel so I'm using many different colours.  

I'm using odd balls that I have around the house to do this project which means it's gonna be completely wool because that's all I knit with.  I know it should be acrylic so when it gets pukey it can just go in the washer but I hate acrylic yarn.  

By my math I need to make 56 squares to reach the right measurements.  That's a lot of squares.  I've done 13 so far.  So that's 43 left.  Yikes.  But I do have awhile to finish.  Plus there's something satisfying about doing the squares.  It doesn't take long to finish a square so there's a pretty good level of satisfaction.  We'll see.  

Another Sleeve

Here we have another laptop sleeve that I completed yesterday.  It's worked in a worsted weight yarn rather than Aran and has the single cable going up the middle.  I'm very happy with it and have uploaded the pattern for purchase on Ravelry.  

The yarn is wonderful but not commercial so I can never buy it again.  I got it at a craft fair back home from a local fibre artist.  It's hand painted beautiful shades of purple from lilac to indigo.  I'd been looking for a project for this yarn for a long time and I think I waited for the right one.  I even had a little left over which I turned in to two squares for a leftover blanket I'm starting.  

V Day

I said to myself I wouldn't do a Valentine's post.  But it appears I am anyway.  This will be brief.  Here's a song that I think is suiting.

Short rows

I was always under the impression I had a firm grasp of short rows.  They're a means of adding shaping to a piece that is being worked flat.  I've done the Calorimetry headband before and that was a success.  But for some reason I can't figure out the shawl collar for the Rockefeller Sweater.  It's the final step in completing the sweater and it's driving me nuts.  The pattern doesn't make sense to me.  The part that it wants me to work on after the turn is going in the wrong direction and doesn't seem to work the area where the shawl collar is meant to appear.  So, I put it aside last week but now it's cold and rainy here and I want to wear the sweater.  Maybe after this paper is finished I'll try again.  Grr.

Stumbling

I love stumbling.  Love it.  Some days are better than others and today was great.  I love to stumble design websites.  I have a facination with home design concepts.  I don't have much design sense so I like to ogle. 

While ogling today I found an artist called Rachel Denny.  She works with fibre and makes domestic trophies.  Have a look.

Cabled MacBook Sleeve

Well here it is.  My very first pattern.  It's cabled MacBook sleeve and I'm very happy with it.

I put the pattern up here on Ravelry here.  

Multiple projects

I did something this week that I never do.  I started working on multiple knitting projects at the same time.  Usually I like to stay focused and committed on one project at a time.  I also consider myself pretty good at this and rarely stray from my projects.  But for some reason the socks I'm working on became a tad boring after I mastered the pattern.  I had an itch to work on something else and I justified starting a new project if it were smaller than the socks.  What came next was a failed attempt at an iphone case.  Then inspiration struck in the form of a macbook sleeve.  This would be an easy distraction with instant satisfaction because of the aran weight yarn I'd be using.  A couple of days later I was here:

A simple cable pattern that will hold the macbook nicely, fingers crossed.  The yarn is Briggs & Little Heritage in fawn.  This is yarn that means a lot to me.  It's made in Harvey, New Brunswick about an hour away from where I grew up.  They've been making yarn in the same spot with New Brunswick sheep for over 150 years now.  As you might have guessed, this makes it Canada's oldest yarn mill.  This has always been a point of pride for me as a New Brunswicker.  My grandmother used this yarn and so do I.  I like that.  Of course I haven't found any out here in Victoria but that could have something to do with being at opposite ends of the country.  I knit a bit longer and pressed my work to see where I was and now it looks like this:

It's at about 16" so far and I'm happy with it.  Pressing it helped a lot to see where I was and how much I had left to do.  Did I mention this is a pattern I wrote?  Fancy I  know.  This will be my first.  Maybe I'll write it properly in a PDF when I'm done and post it on Ravelry.  

Discouraging knitting day

My knitting skills moved to a new level last week. This gave me a sense of confidence that turns out is unfounded. Confidence swelling, I thought I'd take a swing at writing my first pattern. Big mistake. After five attempts, I gave up. Pattern writing put me in my rightful place and taught me to pace myself. This is what I love and hate about knitting: it's humbling, annoyingly humbling.  It was an iphone sock if you're interested.  Maybe I'll take another swing at it some time.

I needed a break from my Polly Jean socks.  They're semi-intense and tired me out a bit.  But I'll be back at them today because it's important to do a little bit everyday, otherwise I let my feelings of inadequacy fester and that's no fun.

Pattern Charts...oh my

I like to think of myself as a simple knitter.  My projects aren't flashy and require an average amount of skill. That said, I've decided to take my knitting to the next level.  This level includes pattern charts, something that have always scared the pants off me.  I used to think "How will I keep it all straight?  Those charts are way to intricate and complicated for me to wrap my head around."

You may ask what prompted me to take my knitting to the next level?  In short, showing off for my family and talking a big game about my knitting skills.  The next person on my sock list was my step-mom Julie and stupidly I let her pick out her own pattern, something I never do because it leads to people choosing ridiculously difficult patterns.  So, the lovely Julie picked these...Polly Jean by MJ Kim.  I panicked and said "no problem" before I even looked at the pattern.  A rookie mistake.  Later, hands shaking, I looked up the pattern to see what I'd gotten myself into and what did I see?  A pattern chart.  Gasp.  I skimmed the symbols and saw twists and lace techniques.  Gulp.  Then I realized this was an opportunity, albeit a terrifying opportunity, to move to the next stage in my knitting abilities.

So I jumped in.  And here's the result five days after starting:

Yes that's my hand inside the sock.  I'm attempting to simulate a leg so the pattern can be seen.  They're pretty leaves that cascade down the leg and onto the foot.  I'm pleased with the pattern and even more pleased with myself.  It was slow going at the beginning.  It felt like I was deciphering hyroglifics at first, but as I got more familiar with the pattern, I got more comfortable and understood what the chart was trying to tell me.  Not bad.  Looks like Julie will get socks after all.  

Christmas Socks

Every Christmas my goal is to knit a pair of socks for everyone I love.  This plan fails miserably every time.  This year I only succeeded in knitting one pair of socks for my lovely mumma.  I began in September and promptly finished on December 27th.  Did I say promptly?  I meant disgustingly slow.  I do have the excuse of being a grad student with many books and journal articles to read, but I choose to use this excuse sparingly.  Mumma's socks came with me to Cuba where I knit on a beach for the first time.  They also came home to NB with me.  That's an impressive amount of mileage for a pair of socks.
In fact, these socks should have their own passport.  I imagine the passport picture would look something like this.  

Or this,

I must say I'm happy with how they turned out.  I wanted a simple and clean pattern that would show off the yarn.  I'm in love with the yarn.  It's Fleece Artist Nyoni and I love it even more because I got it almost half off.  I believe the Nyoni sock yarn has since been discontinued, but they have others just as beautiful.  The pattern is Harris Tweed Socks, which looks like a cross between a broken ribbed and basket weave pattern.  The ribbed element means they're very good at staying up, something very important for winter boots or bed socks.  There's also a hint of silk in the yarn which means that have that lovely smooth feeling.  Sigh.