Happy Mother's Day!

It's time to show all those mothers out there how appreciative you are. I love my mom (Aww... yes, yes, I know). She's helped me a lot throughout my life. I may not have appreciated her at the time (especially in my teen years), but looking back it's quite extraordinary the things she did for me. I'd dare say going above and beyond the call of duty. I won't go into details, but let's just say in times when I needed her most she didn't fail to be there and even put me ahead of herself. She's pretty awesome! :D

I thought in honour of the day I'd share some patterns. It may be too late to make these for this year (unless you're super fast hehe), but there's always next year. They're still cute too. :3

30 Days of Knitting: Day #3

Do you have any other WIPs?

Yes and no. I have ideas I'm working on, but I need to get some yarn. So... technically it's on hold.



I've been playing Portal 2 and getting really into it, so I'm thinking of doing something related to it. I'm not sure what yet. I did start crocheting a companion cube awhile ago. I might finish it. I got a bit stuck on the corner pieces. It didn't look right. :/



My boyfriend just got himself a HTC Thunderbolt (awesome phone btw! I would be jealous if I didn't have an Incredible S lol), so I told him I would make him a cover for it. :D I made this Creeper (Minecraft) case for mine and was thinking of making him one too. I used acrylic yarn, but I think I'll get some nice cotton yarn for his. Too many fuzzies on mine now. :P

30 Days of Knitting: Day #2

What is on your needles?

I've been experimenting again with colourwork. I'm determined to find a technique I'm comfortable with and can transfer my patterns to. I've tried Fair Isle and Latvian. There was some success, but I had to edit my patterns A LOT to get the effect I wanted. I also had to duplicate stitch more than I would've liked. I had switched to crochet, but what I'm currently working on is an intarsian (is that even a word? fo_O) Horde symbol on a gadget case. I would say phone, but it's a bit wide for mine... it's probably more suited for a Blackberry or even a camera. I haven't finished it mostly because I became a bit discouraged... I didn't use the best yarn (just scraps I had lying around), so of course it's not quite how I would like it. :/ Ah well, one day I'll finish it. :)



I used my phone to take the picture and for some reason it makes the red super glow-y XD Would be cooler if it actually did glow like that! But I assure you it's just a normal (albeit vibrant) red. ^^

30 Days of Knitting - Day #1

I haven't been very inspired lately. I suppose I'm in a bit of a rut. I haven't given up on my adventures in colourwork, but I'm having trouble solving how I can do my patterns in a way that isn't too difficult. I don't expect it to be super easy, but the ways I've tried have either created bad puckering or way too many ends. I know there has got to be an easier way even if it's readjusting the pattern itself. Perhaps I should pick up another project and come back to it when I'm less frustrated. :P

Since I haven't been knitting/crocheting very much lately I haven't had a whole lot to post about. I thought I'd take up a 30 day challenge to keep this blog active. :D First question is: What was your first finished project?

Like a lot of knitters/crocheters I have a ton of UFOs in the back of my closet. Some that are still sitting there I started when I was just starting high school! XD The first project that I finished and was proud to wear around were a pair of knitted fingerless gloves. I actually had made 2 pairs.

I was about 16 years old and I had just rediscovered knitting. My father had given me a huge bag of assorted needles he bought at the Goodwill. I'm talking all sorts. There were plastic, metal, wooden. Big long straight needles, circular needles, small double pointed needles. There were lots of sizes to pick from. It was awesome!



I'm not sure where I found the pattern from. It was from a knitting magazine my mom had got me for Christmas. I want to say it was Knit.1, but I can't be sure. The back issues don't match to the time I knit them. Anyways, I got 2 skeins of some cheap self striping acrylic yarn. One was warm colours (magenta, yellow, orange) and the other more cool (aqua, green, lilac). I started that day and finished one glove. I had to go to a family dinner and I brought along my knitting stuff where I finished the 2nd one there. I loved them a lot because they were just what I needed. I didn't like wearing gloves and usually kept my hands inside my sleeves. These were bright and kept my hands fairly warm through the winter months. I used them for years. I still have a pair stashed away in a winter coat in case I need them.

Good things do come in small packages!

A few weeks back I had been browsing around Amazon looking for deals on tunisian hooks. For some reason I've been at a loss at finding them in the city here. Granted I haven't searched high and low, but at the usual haunts I was at a loss. Which is really strange because I would've thought they'd be everywhere! :twisted: Since it's not something I was dying to get I only peruse around in hopes I'll come across one. What I didn't expect to find was this little wonder. A teeny tiny 9" bamboo circular needle. I thought that was the most brilliant thing ever! :D I suspect it's aimed more for people who make socks, but in my recent adventure into colourwork I'd thought multiple times how much easier it'd be if I could knit in a continuous round. I had no idea tiny circulars like that even existed! The smallest circumference I own is 12" and it's too big for what I want to do. I tried it and I had to really stretch it and it made for some very difficult knitting. :x

Colour work madness

I've been messing around with colour work lately. Over the holidays I was given 2 awesome books. The Essential Guide To Color Knitting Techniques by Margaret Radcliffe and Mastering Color Knitting by Melissa Leapman. :D They're both very informative and if you're going to dive into colourwork I highly suggest picking them up.



Truth be told I'm not the best at stranding. I've made attempts in the past, but it's ended up in disaster. :roll: I thought armed with my new books I'd make another attempt. I guess my problem is that I would rather create my own patterns than follow them, so in the process I make things more difficult for myself. It's also been some time since I've knitted. Usually I'm crocheting as I find it much more portable and easier to backtrack if I do make mistakes. :P

It's the most wonderful time of the yeeeeeear!

More like busiest. It always surprises me how whenever December comes around it can make me feel like I have so much to do, yet not have anything to do at the same time. I've been busy making some gifts and gear to keep me toasty in the cold. I'll put up some pictures after Christmas since some are surprises. :P



I've been really interested in Latvian mittens lately. I haven't done much fair isle knitting (in fact very little) and I'm liking the challenge. A few weeks ago I picked up some DPNs and tried to find Latvian Mittens: Traditional Designs & Techniques by Lizbeth Upitis at a few local yarn stores. No luck there, but then I really wasn't expecting to find it. Chapters didn't seem to have any in stock either. I tried the library, but it's only available as reference (ie. you can't take it out :/). I was afraid it might be out of print. I tried to search for similar books, but it seems everyone recommends this book as THE book to get if you want to get into Latvian mittens. I found it on Amazon.com at a reasonable price and ordered it. I'd never ordered from there and especially the American one, so I was a bit concerned about duty fees and taxes. But, it got here within a week and everything was cool! :D I also splurged and picked up some yarn from Knit Picks which arrived a couple days ago. I'm so excited! Now just to choose which pretty pattern to try...