I have sucked at knit-blogging for a long time, and on an impulse after much diliberation, I have decided to bid this fair blog a painful goodbye.

I have started a new blog, which is just basically a life-blog for me.  There’s hardly any time for me to knit, let alone take very many pictures, but I do love blogging and putting my thoughts and feelings out onto the internet for all to judge :D  There will be knitting occasionally, maybe much much more once I get a handle on my classes and actually have time to knit, but I can’t make any promises.

So, fare the well, my humble knit bloggers.  Feel free to stalk me at my new home (Blogspot).

Hollerr.

However, I am so smitten with this scarf that I used the camera on my Macbook Pro to take this, the world’s worst picture ever.

This is my current obsession: the crazy striped scarf I started yesterday, that is actually not at all crazy looking.  I’m so in love with this scarf to the point that I’d like to run around outside in the snow, wearing nothing but the scarf screaming “LOOKY LOOKY, I CAN MAKE IT STRIPE HOWEVER I WANT, LOOK AT ALL THE STRIPES, LOOK AT ALL THE COLORS AND I CAN MAKE THEM CHANGE WHENEVER I WANT!”

But I think the cars passing would look at me weird, or not understand my excitement.  Dumb Muggles.

But tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, I’m going to take a bunch of adorable pictures of my beloved in the snow.  With clothes on though, I promise.

Maybe.

1.) Nascar afghan.  I got the slanted bars of yellow and red, and the “NA” of the Nascar symbol.  Tonight I plan on doing the S, because it’s so boring to the point where I can only do one letter at a time.  Plus, I don’t even have my yarn yet, so it’s not like I’m under a deadline or anything.

2.) Stocking for Dad.  My bother, mother and I have handknitted stockings from one of my late great aunts, and my Dad has a non-matching one that my mom has always hated.  So, I’m knitting him a stocking.  I studied my stocking, and figured out that my aunt used a regular sock pattern, only using worsted weight yarn with bigger needles, so it’s not difficult at all.  Just time consuming and can only be done when I’m away from my father, AKA nighttime and while he’s at work.  Which brings me to–

3.) The Masculine Striped Scarf.   I knit my brother the Boyfriend hat last year, and decided to knit him a scarf this year to match his hat.  I couldn’t remember if his hat was gray and blue, or gray and black, or whatever because I did it striped, so I grabbed all the colors I used last year, plus some other dark blues and light blues– all with gray tones– and have started a 1×1 ribbed scarf that randomly stripes.  And I. LOVE. IT.  I love it so much that it is no longer a gift for my brother, it’s a little fun project for me.  (I know that seems harsh, but my brother and I DO NOT get along whatsoever, nor do we talk at all.  In actuality, we haven’t even spoken since I left for college in August, even though I saw him almost everyday over Thanksgiving Break.  We’re just not friends, just not close at all.  And instead of making him something that I love that he won’t appreciate– which my mother pointed out, and convinced me of, actually– I’m going to keep it, and possibly pass it along to someone else who actually will like it.)  And it’s keeping me thoroughly entertained  :)  Pictures of all the colors tomorrow, when I can get some natural sunlight.

4.) College Friends Christmas Gifts.  Yeah, this stuff is not getting knitted, and I’m not sorry.  It’s boring, and I’m sick of slippers.   They don’t exist.  I’ll worry about them later… Bah, humbug.

5.) Grandma’s socks.  Grandma’s socks that didn’t get knitted because I hate the yarn and it wasn’t knitting up properly because it wasn’t actually sock yarn.  The wrapper and the manufacturer lied.  The yarn was heavier than regular sock yarn, but not exactly “heavyweight” sock yarn, therefore it refused to knit into something that actually resembled a reasonable sock.  If it knit it on larger needles, I wasn’t happy with the loose gauge, and if I went down a needle size, then the sock was so tight that I could literally stand it up on it’s own and it could probably walk around without a foot inside of it.

Anyone have an idea for Grandma’s Christmas gift that I can knit up in three days?

And as an update to the somewhat cryptic matter I started things out in last time, I just want to point out that I’m okay.  School is slowly getting easier, and after being away from school for a full three days, I’m realizing that my anxiety isn’t totally coming from school, it’s coming from other aspects of life as well.  Which I find a useful bit of information to know.

Anyway.

I’m working on a new afghan for my daddy!

I think you all remember the beast:

The Texas Longhorn Afghan I made for my uncle.  It took me four years, and a lot of freakin’ frustration.  I bitched, bitched, and bitched about this sucker FOREVER, and the weight finally lifted off my shoulders.

And now I’m going to do it all over again!

I’m designing my Dad a Nascar afghan.  Pictures to come soon, because my camera is dead (wait, what? I’ve said “pictures to come” before and haven’t delivered? what?) and I want to get further along with the color chart for the first and hardest part.  I’m using an image of the signature Nascar symbol and this chart to create my chart.  And I’m using my old pieces of graph paper taped together system to do so, so it’s kind of an obnoxious system.  When it’s all done and my camera is charged, I’ll show a picture of it.  But, for the record, I’m using Cascade 220 Wool to make the afghan.

And that’s all.

Pictures to come.

Maybe.

I’m not going to go into all the hairy details, but this hasn’t been the easiest past few months for me.  Long story short, I haven’t been adjusting very well, and I’m dealing with it.  I’m seeing a counselor, and things are getting a little easier as time goes on.

But that’s not what I wanted to talk about!

I’m finally beginning Christmas Knitting, and I’m really excited.  It’s mostly presents for girls on my floor– which is one of the good parts of school, I love the girls on my floor– and some socks for my Grandma.  Here’s the low-down:

Seven pairs of slippers, and three headbands.

It’s not really as bad as it sounds, they don’t have to be done until Jan. 9, so it’s all good.  Plus I’m going to have tons of downtime this coming week, and tons of downtime the week after Christmas.  I’m not worried, I’m actually excited to have something to do over break.

Well, okay.  Now I’ve checked in, you know I’m knitting– I’ve finished two headbands, and two pairs of socks this year, not to mention a really chunky scarf.  I don’t have pictures because I’m a slacker, but I’ll have some pictures after final exams are over with next week, and I have time to take them/have willing photographers to take pictures for me.

See?  Still alive.  Still in college, haven’t failed (yet). Just kidding. I hope.

Starting a knitting club at Collins Living Learning Center at Indiana University.
Also trying not to fail my classes, and am focusing heavily on my health, because I think I’m going to major in nutrition science now.
That’s all.

Ten skiens of sock yarn, two skiens for a scarf for my mother for Christmas, three skiens of bulky weight for a hat and scarf combo for me, the old half-finished scarf, and some skeins for some charity hats.  I’m determined to take this box, and only this box full of yarn to college, and I’ll replenish when I come home for Thanksgiving, but it’s seeming a tad small.  I’ve still got to fit this in there

Just in case I run out of things to knit.  I’ve never been to college before, so I want to be over-prepared for my first few months, and then I can adjust after that.  Plus, I like yarn.  The end :)

And regarding the Mystery Top, I’m just starting to make some progress on it after I assed it up.  I’ll post pictures of it after this weekend, as I am going to the lake for the final summer bash, The Beer Bash (that’s the legit name, I promise).  Pictures on Monday, when I will be trying to avoid the final packing.

Five Days Until College.

In a week I will be moving six hours away, and won’t see my parents for two months straight.  I’ll be living with someone I’ve only ever spoken to on Facebook and through text message, and I will be changing my title from “weirdly responsible teenager” to “college adult”.  And although it jerks my tear ducts whenever I think about not being home (I’m welling up as I write this), I can’t exactly explain my feelings about leaving.  I’m not scared, and I’m only a tiny bit nervous, I’m not exactly feeling sad to be leaving, and I know I’ll feel panicky on like Monday (not now), so I really have no idea how to describe how I’m feeling now.  I’m rethinking my choice of colleges (because of the distance, that’s my main concern) and that scares me, but besides that I’m just not ready to leave.  I don’t want to leave the comfort, I think.  I’m going to miss my mommy.

And I think that’s why I haven’t been able to pack.  I’ve been packing for two days, and I can’t bring myself to make any real progress.  The only thing I’ve successfully packed is my yarn, not surprisingly.

I’ve got the yarn for my grandma’s socks (that  I frogged), another pair of socks, yarn for Harry Potter, and some yarn to make hats if I feel the muse.  I think I may toss a few more skeins in there as well, mostly things in IU crimson and cream, in case the school spirit muse hits me.  Plus I think I may go buy more sock yarn, just in case.  You never know.  Don’t judge me.

I also went through my knitting needles, and actually organized them.  It took me forever, and tons of throwing out old projects that have been shoved into random spots around my room.  I managed to fit them all neatly into my needle case.

I have straight needles in every size I own in this case.

And I even organized my DPNs.  I found them all, in every place they’ve been stashed and shoved.  I put them into one big pile, and then started matching them by size.  For each size that had four needles each, I packed those.  I have quite a little stash of DPNs now.  I can’t wait to cast on socks on tiny metal DPNs!

The colorful storage box is sitting, ready to go on my dining room table, which my mother has designated as the Spot To Put All Things To Be Packed.  Everything else is thrown all across my room, which is going to be an issues, seeing as how I am basically hosting a “We’re leaving!” party tomorrow night after my friends and I go see a Mud Hens game, and it may be hard for us to hang out when there are piles of linens, clothes, DVD’s, and garbage bags everywhere.

Though, I guess the bags of garbage could double as bean bag chairs.  I may not have to clean much after all.

Once upon time, your little knitter was hanging out with a friend whom she taught how to knit over the winter.

KelsKels had just set her friend up knitting a scarf with the same pattern that KelsKels did a few weeks ago with the pretty wool.  The finished product looked like this:

(Made from Pretty Wool; read back a few posts, the yarn is Araucania %100 Super Fine Alpaca.)

KelsKels’s friend liked the pattern, and was chugging along quite nicely on her scarf while KelsKels knit on the Mystery Top and they watched DVR-ed episodes of Family Guy.  Carefully measuring, KelsKels was determined to get to the shaping decreases before the night was over.  Impatient, and feeling as if she were falling dangerously close to the Black Hole of Knitting (where you knitknitknit for hours long, and the piece gets NO BIGGER), KelsKels decided to consult the pattern again.  Much to her dismay, KelsKels determined that she must’ve been reading the pattern wrong, and that the shaping decreases (though they are “optional” AKA another huge HINT) were supposed to be happening WHILE she added several inches of stockinette stitch to the body.

Disapointed by her boo-boo, KelsKels quickly tried on the garment to see how it would fit.

Sadly, she realized that it was going to be too large, and that she was right, the decreases should’ve been happening while she was doing row after row of mindless knit stitch. Dejected, KelsKels ripped back the three rows of stockinette stitch and began to work them again, adding the shaping decreases this time.

With things looking to be all sorted out, the friend departed for home, leaving KelsKels to ponder her error with the pattern.  However, she was still confused, so she decided to consult the pattern again after completely one row of the decreases.  After carefully reading and rereading the pattern, the lightbulb finally came on.  There was no “at the same time” written next to the optional shaping, or “simultaneously”, was there?  NO!  Therefore, one would logically assume that while the directions are not 100% totally clear on this, the several rows of stockinette stitch are to be completed, THEN the shaping, THEN the rest of the body, as the pattern states.

And as this idea came to her, all hell broke lose.

Utter confusion, denial, anger, and frustration overcame KelsKels, and she threw herself back onto her bed, wondering what the right course of action was.

A) She should just follow the pattern, rip back the row of decreases she did, knit the stockinette, do the decreases in the right spot, and then continue with the body.  The pattern is the pattern, and the pattern is LAW!

B) There’s no denying the lose-fitting quality of the sweater when it was tried on.  Therefore, maybe these decreases are a good thing to start early?  However, visualization of knitting goods is obviously not KelsKels’s strong suit (see confusion on sleeves), and perhaps the decreases will make the bust TOO tight, and it’s better left to the pattern expert, who actually knows how to knit.

C) Ball the whole thing up, shove it between the TV and the wall and buy some sock yarn.

I have exactly twenty-three minutes to eat, blow-dry and style my hair, and write this post before I have to run out to meet up with some friends.  Long story short, I have pictures of a progressed Mystery Project, as promised.  And with progression comes one huge stinkin’ hint:

OH-EM-GEE, what could that be?

Gasp! It’s a sleeve!

Yessir-y, I’m making a garment of some sort, usually referred to as a “top”.  Henceforth, this shall be known (until someone from my non-existant blog following decides to comment and end the mystery.. anyone?) as Mystery Top.

Because I am a knitter who knows absolutely nothing, and this is my first knitted top, I didn’t understand that the increases would create the sleeves the way they did, and actually asked what to do in a Ravelry forum, to which I got responses like “trust your pattern”.  I followed their advice, but I hear so much about possible mistakes in the pattern that I tend to be very suspicious of patterns, especially if my visualization of what it’s going to look like isn’t looking right, so I was skiddish about just waiting to see if the sleeves magically appeared after I finished all the increases.  But, lo and behold, I realized that I’m a dumbass and when I moved the stitches onto some scrap yarn (the white bind-off edges of the sleeves, if you can see them in the picture), I kept showing the top with all it’s sleeve-y goodness to my mom, dad, uncle, (and cousin, and cousin’s friend, and my grandma…), screaming at them

“LOOK! LOOK, IT’S GOT SLEEVES!”

See the sleeves?