I'm Back!

and hopefully to stay. It's been forever since my last update. I wish I had a valid excuse, but honestly I don't. I've been feeling really out of sorts and depressed lately. I'm slowly starting to battle back and force myself to do things that will make me feel productive and human again. Sadly, my knitting was one of the first things to go when I began to feel down. I've been kinda stagnant. I really want to get to a better place, but there's something in my chest that starts growing every time I want to do something. I get so anxious. Everything seems so overwhelming and scary and undoable. So today I decided that I'd start fixing things and trying to make myself feel better. I just checked in at knutty knitters, and I was so surprised and touched to see that they were missing me as much as I was missing them. That definitely was a big pick me up. As for my knitting, I've been working on my patchwork blanket. It's nice because it's all a bunch of small pieces, and nice and digestable.

Check out the new look!

Kynan was gracious enough to redo the outlook of my little bloggy! I'm totally smitten! I know it's been forever, and I feel positively awful about that. Life has been pretty busy lately. A few weeks ago I went on a weekend get away up to Down east Maine, then up to lovely St. John, in Canada. There I got the Stitch n Bitch Handbook, which is fantastic. I also got everything I need to make this awesome hat in there. I've started the hat a few times now, but it's on dpns, which is a new skill to me, so it's been a bit tricky. I also begin an awesome patch work knitting blanket. Kynan's been helping me out making a few squares of his own. I also got the lovely Laura Wesley to do the translating for my dawanda store, and am planning to finish up my products and get some up there today. I also am almost completely finished with big blue. The blanket itself is huge and awesome and really warm. Now I just need to attach the stars. I'll definitely post pictures of my wonderful creation.
I've decided that for today's stitch, I'll show you the one I've been using for my blanket. It's called rice stitch. Mine looks almost nothing like these pictures. I used Lion Brand Homespun yarn which is really chunky, and size 10 needles. The back looks a lot different than the front. but still wicked sick. I do think that it does look better when it's tighter though. The stitch itself is really easy. The thing I liked about it, especially when working with Kynan is that it's pretty easy to spot errors and also very easily fixed. The top picture is of the front.


Rice Stitch
Row One: *k1,p1; rep from *
Row Two: k
This is a picture of the back. It's kinda got a nifty little ribbing thing going.

On that note, I think I'm going to leave you for today. I promise that my next post will not be 20 years from now. Also, I plan to post some pictures of my WIP's and my newly completed projects.

A Day for Rain and Dye. (And a kitchen fire).

When I last left you, I had just finished preparing my yarn. Because I mistakenly saved my pictures to the internal memory of my camera, I only have pictures for the last half of this process. Next it was time to soak it in the sink in a mixture of water and vinegar. I submerged them as best I could, and left them for a half hour or so. Next I set about preparing my dyes. Following the directions, I placed each little tab in a bowl with a small amount of water, waited for it to dissolve, then added more water and stirred it up. After that I transferred each dye to it's own bottle using my funnel. Unfortunately, because I suffer from bouts of absentmindedness, I purchased the solid colored squirt bottles. After I labeled them all with my trusty Sharpie, I put my dyes in each and filled them all up. Then I laid out my trash bag on the counter, and covered that with my pieces of plastic wrap. I decided that I would start with my smallest skein, and off I went squirting it like mad. The instructions said to use a sponge brush, but I omitted getting this item at the store, and instead wastefully mopped all the excess dye up with paper towels. When I was done with my dyeing, I made my steamer.
I used my lobster pot and some tin foil. I made a bowl above the water (remembering to put the water in first), then poked some holes in the tin foil. As soon as the water began to boil and steam came out my little vents, I placed my big skein in and placed the top on. After a half our I took it out. I did this again for the other skeins. During this time, my burner caught fire and I was forced to toss my pot off, and pour water on it as the flames got bigger. I didn't really have the presence of mind to take a picture. Last winter my stove top caught fire and incinerated a toaster that was sitting on it. I got melted plastic on myself and got demoted from my job. Now I only have 2 burners left because the others got covered in plastic and had to be tossed out. Bad things happen when stoves catch fire. Anyway, not to be dettered, I moved my pot to the only other working coil. All of the skeins (and me) survived and were moved to the sink. As they cooled off the in the sink, I began to unwrap them. Once they were cool enough I submerged them in water the same temperature. Any cooler and the yarn will felt. (This actually happened to my smallest skein.)Ideally the yarn shouldn't run, but of course mine did. I drained the sink again and refilled the sink and added a dash of vinegar. I agitated them gently for a few moments, then hung them up to dry. By this time I had begun to notice that they were looking very pink, and sure enough, they were nothing but pink and white. I'm not going to lie. I'm pretty pissed. I have no flipping clue how this happened. All of the other colors disappeared. I didn't even freaking use pink. I placed a message on the discussion board at knutty knitters and the ladies at prayer shawl and so far no one has any clue what happened. I don't really even want to go in the bathroom. I'm so devastated. :( I already had decided what I was going to use the yarn for. It's been a few days, and to make matters even worse, the color has faded even more. Right now the yarn is almost white. Looks like I'll be trying out Kool Aid just as soon as I regain my nerve. And get rid of this horrible failure which is still lying on my bathroom floor.

This is a story about the time I wrapped my arm, chair and bookcase in yarn...

Well, I promised I'd tell you all about my adventures in dying, so be prepared for quite a story. Today I went to WalMart to get some cheapy white super saver yarn. I dug out my left over egg dyeing kit, and started cleaning out both of my sinks and counter-top. The kitchen sink is almost empty for the first time in who knows how long and next I'll clean off the counter which is covered in chocolate frosting.I was going to head back to the store when Kynan got home to pick up a few more supplies, but alas, it's almost 8 and my baby still isn't home. I miss him. Oh well. I guess this will be my big project for tomorrow. Anyway, so once my dishes started drying, I set about preparing my skeins.
The result was a pathetic looking hunk of yarn all scraggly looking on the ends. The first skein I didn't think out very well and rather than wrapping the yarn completely around my arm from hand to elbow, I just went back and forth from top to bottom holding it in my hand. Then I tied it up in a few strategic places. I then tried to twist it into a figure 8.
The next one I decided to make longer, so I wrapped it around my chair. Like a fool I wrapped it vertical first, then realized that in order to get it off, I'd have to cut it. Feeling a bit humbled by my stupidity, I began again, wrapping it horizontally around the outside. I took it off and tied it just like I used to tie my t-shirts when I did tie-dye at summer camp.
For my last and most ambitious skein, I decided to make it gigantic. I wrapped it around my bookcase. I can only imagine what my neighbors must have thought as they walked by my front window and saw me tying up my helpless bookcase. Needless to say, the resulting skein was huge. I tied it up in at least 15 places, then twisted it into a beautiful figure 8 and tied it up some more. This is definitely my nicest looking. It almost looks like it was made by someone who knew what they were doing. So now I'm all set to begin my dyeing. That begins in my next entry.

No sleep for the wicked (awesome).

It's one of those rare times when I really don't feel like going to sleep. I went surfing today in the remnants of I don't know which hurricane and got totally battered. It was absolutely amazing though. I then staggered over to my mom's house where she fed me and let me curl up on the couch and catch the House marathon (hooray!). I also went to church for the first time in a few months. I briefly chatted with one of the women in prayer shawl and she lovingly offered to help me learn to knit socks and hats. I've become terrified of using multiple needles. It seems so confusing. I know I'm going to need to learn to use them if I want to do things like cabling and obviously hats and socks. I'm really excited. I also did a little reading today about dying yarn. That's another thing I'm wicked excited to try out. Apparently you can use stuff like Easter egg dye or sugar free Kool Aid. This made me happy as I conveniently just happen to have a Pas kit left over from last Easter. Tomorrow I head to the store to pick up what will hopefully be my last skein of yarn for big blue, and I think I might pick up a cheapy skein of white yarn and go for it. Naturally I'll post photos of this little experiment. I'm dying (haha) to see how this goes. I never thought something like this would make me positively giddy. (Or as much as you can be when you're totally sleep deprived.) I've also been online checking out knitting blogs, and I've compiled quite a few. I'm very pleased that I went out and did this because this, to me, is one of the most helpful tools to help me grow as a knitter. My brain is a dry little sponge that just can't wait to suck up every little bit of information it can. On a totally unrelated note: Kynan finished the banners for both my blog and my dawanda shop. I haven't posted anything yet, but I'm thisclose to getting something up. Tomorrow I'm heading over to Fedex to see how much it'll cost to send my first little project. I'm really excited to start getting my stuff up, but I really don't have a name for any of my products, and I'm dreading having to create descriptions for stuff and figure out policies and stuff. I think tomorrow I'm just going to have to suck it up and do it. Even if it's just a little bit. Now that I have a new banner for my blog, I need to re-tool my color scheme, as they are apt to clash terribly if I don't. Now it'll look big, bright and beautiful. I want to start so bad right now, but I really don't know if I'll have the energy to see it through. I start my classes again tomorrow, which is pretty exciting, and I'm almost positive I have an appointment to meet with Dr. Wyatt about maybe tweaking my meds some. I was feeling pretty crappy when I placed the call 2 weeks ago, but now I actually feel like I'm doing pretty well. I also need to mention somewhere in here that I have become a full fledged star knitting addict. I just sit and make star after star. This has led me to try and possibly create a blanket or scarf made entirely of stars. If I pull this off, consider everyone's mind blown. I might post again tomorrow, but I'll probably be busy and exhausted. Look forward to freaking awesome things later this week. (I have no idea what they are yet, but hold onto your hats folks!)

Tearing it Up! (but in the most un-fun way ever.)

I've been waiting for a reason to post this awesome pictures I took the other night of Iris and Kynan, and after waiting for a week with no real reason, I've decided that I'm just going to post them. Iris's new favorite place to hang out is on the back of the love seat where I sit and knit. She can chill and look out the window at everyone and everything that comes in and out of the building. At night she curls up behind Kynan like a little fuzzball with her crazy tongue hanging out at all different angles. She looks pretty ridiculous in this picture here, but I think it's a fair representation of her character. I like this idea of taking pictures of my dog and posting them for everyone to see.
Now I just need to get some pictures of little Spirit in here. He's absolutely adorable, but he's kinda hit or miss when it comes to pictures. He looks harassed most of the time. I supposed anyone (including yours truly) would begin to look worn down if they had (v)Iris to deal with all day.

That said, I will get right down to business; me and Unicorn latch hook are currently at odds. After discovering a small problem the other night, I quickly realized that things were much worse than I thought. I then undid half the project, thought I was all set, then started again. Well I was wrong. Now I need to take it all out. Balls. I ran out of yarn to work on big blue, so I've been looking for a new mindless project while I wait. Latch hook was supposed to be that project, but instead its become an ever-escalating nightmare. Oh well.
In the interim I've started knitting the stars for my blanket. I'm rapidly becoming addicted to star knitting. I found a nifty pattern to make stars for big blue. It's a really easy pattern and can be found here. I need to be working on my flowers, but I keep screwing it up. One thing I detest is casting on like 55 stitches, messing up half way through a pattern you don't really understand, then having no choice but to take it apart. I don't mind working on tricky little patterns. I just hate having to cast on stitches over and over again.
Moving beyond that... Time for the Cause of the Day! Today's is the Heather Spoll No Hair Day Hat Program. This program works by creating groups of knitters who work expressly on making hats for chemo patients. The website provides help to start your own chemo cap knitting group or places to join one. This would be a great project for a prayer shawl ministry group, or other community service project. They also have patterns if you need an idea on what to make. This is an awesome opportunity to make someone's day, so take advantage of it!

I've been dying to try out lace for awhile now, but I've always been so nervous. My worry is that I'll spend most of my time completely lost and confused, screwing up constantly and with no idea how to fix my problems short of starting again. Finally my curiosity got the better of me and I went for it. This is a really easy lace stitch pattern that I uncovered. The picture really doesn't do it justice. Mine looked awesome and I can hardly wait to make a cute little scarf using it. It works up really quick and isn't complicated at all. So here it is!
Diagonal Eyelets
Cast on any even number of stitches
Row 1: K1 *yo, K2Tog, rep from * to last stitch, k1
Row 2: K
Row 3: K2, *yo, K2Tog, rep from * to last stitch, k2
Row 4: K
Just keep going til you're done!

And I will close with one more picture of boy and my dog.

Finally, Time to Put the Icing on the Cake!

I hope everyone had a stellar Holiday weekend! I headed up to Maine with the fam. I hung out, read HP, worked on my puzzle and just chilled. I love not having to worry about anything. I slept late, ate when I wanted and didn't have to worry about the dogs. The sky is so clear at night, you can see straight into the Milky Way. I left my knitting at home so I could give my poor hands and wrists a break.

Which brings me to my first topic. Keeping you hands and wrists healthy! I started getting really bad wrist cramps a few weeks ago, so I decided to go online and see if anyone else had this problem, and what they did about it. And I found a few things. I found this blog article about keeping your hands healthy. If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, it has a few different links to exercises, info about carpal tunnel syndrome and some wrist braces as well. I think the most important thing is just to listen to your body and if it's telling you to stop, just do it. No project is worth permanently damaging yourself.

Now onto something exciting! Unicorns! I don't know if I mentioned this, but awhile back I ordered a sick unicorn latch hook from amazon, and low and behold! it was waiting for me when I returned from Maine. I tore open the box like a kid on Christmas morning, only to discover that the latch hook wasn't included. Now I was the kid who needed batteries. So despite just driving 3 hours, we got back in the car and headed over to WalMart. I hate that place. Anyway, I picked up a hook, the yellow yarn I plan to use to make the stars on big blue and some tiny little size 4 needles to make my stars and flowers. When I got home I went straight to work on my lovely latch hook, and it totally was worth the wait. I still have a ways to go, but Kynan told me when it's done he's going to put it on his desk at work.

I'm hoping to get the flowers on my scarf today, especially now that I have my tiny little needles. Because this pattern is pretty easy, I thought I would share it with you all. I got the pattern from Stitch n' Bitch Nation. It's got some sick patterns in it, but I'm really not ready for them yet. I can make flowers though. They have patterns for a 5 and 6 petal flower. I only made 5 petal, but I'll provide the patterns for each. (Sorry for the awful quality, I've been using my old camera til we send in the new one for repair.)

5 Petal Flower

Cast on 42 stitches on straight needles (I used size 4)

Row 1: K.

Row 2: K2, *k1, slip st to left needle, lift the next 5 sts over and off the end of the needle, k slipped st again, k2; rep from * to end.

Rows 3 and 5:  Purl.

Rows 4 and 6:  K1, *k2tog; rep from * to end.

Break yarn and thread tail through rem sts.

6 Petal Flower

Cast on 50 stitches on straight needles.

Row 1: K.

Row 2: K2 *k1, slip st to left needle, lift next 5 sts over and off the end of the needle, k slipped st again, k2; rep from * to end.

Row 3 : K.

Row 4: *P2tog; rep from * to end.

Row 5: *K2tog; rep from * to end.

Break yarn and thread tail through rem sts.

And there you have it. Enjoy!