Mods and Math

So I swatched and swatched trying to get the yarn I have to be the sweater I wanted. Or really, any sweater I saw that didn't look halfway to horrible. But my yarn doesn't want to be any of those. It wants to be something different apparently.

I had a look at the schematic for the Julianna sweater, and it's really simple. So when the swatch of the pattern stitch turned out disgusting:

Seriously, it looks like an army of moths had their way with it

I had the thought that maybe I could do the same shape but switch out the pattern stitch.


Then I had a look through the Big Book of Knitting Stitch patterns that DM got me for Christmas last year. I looked through all of the patterns I'd bookmarked, especially the lace ones, but none of them were right. I wanted something that was moderately easy so that the project could be portable in most situations (as opposed to those projects you can't take anywhere because you get that concentration look on your face that makes you look like you're trying to lay an egg or something).

Then I realized that I could just harvest one of the lace patterns from DM's afghan, tulip lace. I adored it in the afghan, and it's pretty simple.

Today I've done the swatching and measuring, and the math:

Now I can cast on and hopefully get some progress done on this thing

In case you were wondering, DM's afghan is done. I need to finish weaving in ends and then it's taking a tumble in the washer (I'm horrible to my handknits, but that's what acrylic yarn is for anyway) and it'll be ready for the gift box. Pictures will follow, but for now I'm ignoring it because I hate weaving in ends with a burning passion (seriously, they make machines for knitting but not for weaving in ends?).

My stitch count for NaKnitMo is 13,616 so far, and since my daily goal has been 1,000, I'm well over my count. Maybe I should have given myself a more challenging goal cause I'm not having a super hard time with this one. I shouldn't jinx myself though. Maybe next year, unless I do NaNoWriMo instead.

National Knitting Month

Today I have classes and a proposal essay to write in between with whatever free time I can spare, but I'm procrastinating cause I don't wanna. (Can you hear the whiny tone to that?) Actually, my first professor cancelled class after giving us candy and bonus points for showing up today, because it's Halloween and she didn't have a voice to lecture with so I have a little bit of extra time and I thought I'd update the blog. 

I have no new projects to share, but I was excited to announce that I'm gonna participate in National Knitting Month (NaKnitMo). I actually really wanted to participate in National Novel Writer's Month, but I realized I'd be sidetracked by my knitting, and I really do have to get DM's afghan done. (It's just shy of 90%, with only 2 pattern repeats left, and the 8 row moss stitch border). Anyway, I decided to look and see if there was a knitting equivalent for NaNoWriMo, and there was! I joined a Ravelry group for it, and pledged to do 30,000 stitches in the next month, beginning tomorrow. That's about 1,000 stitches a day, which is about 3 rows on the afghan. I've been known to do 9 or ten in a day, so I knew I could manage the number of stitches. I was worried about what I would do when I finished the afghan, because I know that at that rate, I would be done in less than 2 weeks, and probably sooner because I'm an overachiever when I want to be, so I committed to actually start Juliana once it was done (using the yarn frogged from the Owl Sweater).

My overall plan for this challenge is this:

• Knit 30,000 stitches for the month
• Finish DM's afghan, using it to complete a part of the challenge
• Work on Platypus socks at school, making sure to keep track of the number of stitches knit for those as well, because I'm not sure at-home knitting will make the cut.
• Finish up my stitch count with the Juliana sweater, hopefully getting a large percentage of that project done so I might be able to use it while it's still cold.

I've decided to get Benji's teddy bear done next month unless I finish the challenge early. Because it isn't a knitting project, I doubt my ability to actually count the stitches and I actually really hate crocheting toys (sorry to you amigurumi lovers, but I suck hard core at it) so I'm putting it off until I absolutely have to do it.

Anyway, that's pretty much it. And since this post looks really boring without a picture, let me give you this:

That's my arm where mom and I played hangman while waiting in line for early voting. In our defense, we aren't actually crazy, we were just really bored and we only had a pen to entertain ourselves (I had only brought DM's afghan to knit, which I couldn't very well do in front of her). 

I haven't really got a clever name for this post

I have an FO to showcase:

I've finished DS's Harry Potter Hufflepuff bag. I'm entirely not happy with it, and I've already told her that if she doesn't like it, I'll make her some socks or something. The tension on the checkerboarded part is horrible, the yarns weren't the same weight and it definitely shows.I am happy with the lining though. It took me a couple of hours, and there was a day where I started it and had to completely pull out all the stitching because I didn't have any pins to keep the fabric lined up straight (yes, I sew by hand, I really need to learn how to use the machine I've got cause I've apparently lost all talent for the seamstress thing since those costumes for Drama Club in high school). Today I went digging around in the boxes and finally found my sewing kit, and voila, pins! Anyway, there's that.

I've also got a go-to-school project since the only other Christmas projects are an afghan (which is too big to take with me) and a crochet bear (which is too fiddly to take with me- don't start with me, I know it's only crochet but those amigurumi things throw me for a loop, no pun intended, every time). So I started a pair of socks with the yarn from my Georgia vacation, which comes with a coordinating color for the heels and toes:

 I'm doing an afterthought heel on these because they're for me and I like the look of the afterthought heel better than my short-row heels. I don't know what I'm doing wrong but mine don't look as tidy as they should. The colors remind me of Perry the Platypus, thus the Ravelry name. It astounds me how much I've gotten done just at school. Well, there was that movie I watched with mom and I couldn't work on her afghan, but mostly this is just what I've gotten done in the last two weeks of school. I blame Astronomy lectures and poor scheduling which caused about 2 hours worth of gap time between classes.

Mostly, my life lately has been this monstrosity:

It's about 75% done, and has only about 4.75 pattern repeats before the moss stitch border. It looks like it'll be wide, but not that long, which is good for mom cause she's short but she likes to wrap blankets around her shoulders. I'm hoping it'll be finished by the end of the month, but it might spill over into November. Regardless, I've got plenty of time,  which is really nice. I still haven't looked into what I'm working on next but I really should. I fear startitis, but I think I've ever really had a problem with it.

We Can't All Be Mad Hatters

I finished Michael's Beanie last night. It was kinda out of the blue but I remembered last post that I still had to make that, and it was the perfect size project to take to school, so I brought it for classes yesterday. It started the day like this:

 After my Astronomy lecture, the two hours of breaks between classes because of poor scheduling, and an extra hour because my statistics lab was cancelled, it looked like this.

At home, I only had to add maybe an inch (which flew by on my size 7 needles) before I began increases, and it was finished before I knew it:

Sadly, though, that was the last Christmas project I could fit in my backpack and take to school.

The Hufflepuff bag is flying by, and I'm studiously ignoring the very obvious tension problems, mostly because I think they're due to a difference if yarn weight and nothing I can do short or tearing the whole thing apart, buying more yarn and starting over will help. I don't think my sister will mind, so there's that. And you can clearly see the badger, and that's the most important part.

I also worked a little on DM's afghan, and I'm excited to get back into that once my sister's bag is done. I'd forgotten how much fun the pattern was. And it goes so quick, I should be done in no time. Then maybe I can start on something for myself. I'm thinking of making myself a pair of wristwarmers like Renee's, or a bolero like Erin's, or maybe the Julianna cardigan on ravelry. Plus, I still have a skein of footprints sock yarn from my stay in Georgia that I think I'll take to school for something to knit while I'm there, since I can't bring an afghan or a stranded bag (the bag isn't that big, but the pattern isn't simple enough to work on during the Astronomy lecture, and my biggest goal for school knitting is to stave off the boredom during that class).

Also, Howl's Moving Castle on audiobook finally came in and I've been listening to it for the last few days. It's been super awesome. I think having watched the movie made it easier to understand the setting (since this author is notorious for lack of context). Anyway, I've got nothing but praise.

Relieved

So today, I dealt with a personal problem that's been dogging me for almost a month now, and I'm very happy to see that worry put to rest. To celebrate, I'm gonna update the Blog (and watch Avengers, cause that's how lame of a life I have).

I started and finished (today!) another Christmas present since I last posted. Renee's Fingerless Gloves (for Renee of course), a super easy and fun project, and I seriously don't want to give them away. They'd definitely come in handy in my Astronomy lecture, where I swear if the ceiling were inclined to pour water, it would turn to snow and we'd all make snow angels, it's that cold. But, alas, they have another destination. Actually, that puts paid to the entire set heading to Virginia (Salt River Socks, A Manly Sunset, and Spicy Turmeric Bolero are also headed there, all to the same family).  Oh right, a picture would be nice:

Sorry about those pictures, but seriously, I defy you to get a good picture of your own arm while holding the camera in the other hand. And of course, I couldn't get a pic of both at the same time. Anyway, there's that.

Also today (well actually yesterday but I frogged that one) I started a new project. A Hufflepuff bag for my sister, using some truly craptastic stash yarn. It's going really quick actually, which makes me think that the finishing is going to take a lot longer than usual, because nothing just goes well for me. Anyway, pic for that:

So it's October now, and I have exactly 4 Christmas projects left to finish, including this one. A hat, a crochet bear, and half an afghan await me once this bag is finished, but I might have to concede to starting a pair of socks to knit at school since all of those are either too big or too complicated for that. Anyway, I do expect to finish on time, and maybe a lot earlier than originally slated. I should probably plan for that eventuality and have a project ready so I don't develop a case of Startitis. 

Anyway, Avengers awaits. I'll have an update when I'm done with this bag probably.

Nauseated

Since I'm not really feeling my very best, I'm gonna do this post in list form:

1. Check out the Avengers chalk art I discovered at my campus on Monday:

I saw this, with the arc reactor and Tony Stark quotes, plus a bow and arrow with Clint Barton quotes. I'm sure there was more, but since I don't live on campus, I didn't really get a chance to wander around and find the rest.

2. Apparently I have lost the ability to spell or pay attention in class. I tried to take notes in my English class today but couldn't even manage to spell beauty (I just had to spell it out loud to make sure it was right for this post), and my notes ended up covered in a badly drawn doodle of a scene from Courage the Cowardly Dog:

3. I did finish knitting something! Joe's Zombie Socks are totally finished, which leaves only one more pair of tardis socks and maybe a pair of socks for my sister or maybe something else, I haven't decided yet. Then the sock knitting portion of the Christmas knitting is over. Of course, then I still have 40% of DM's afghan left to do, plus a pair of wristwarmers and a hat. But I keep telling myself that it's only nearing the end of September. I can manage. And hopefully I won't be up til 3 in the morning on the 24th if I keep to my schedule. Oh, here's a picture of Joe's Zombie Socks, since I totally lost the thread of what I was originally talking about:

And that's all for now. I've got some homework to be getting to anyway.

Socked

This post is full of socks and sock-talk. For FO's today, I only have one. Rose Tyler socks, so named because they are rose-colored, but they also have a nice strong dark pink, almost brown color, which makes me think of Rose Tyler and her beauty, but also her strength and steel. Just a simple pair of stockinette socks, but one more pair toward my seemingly never ending list of Christmas presents:

These will go to Jen, and I know they'll never repay the amount of kindness she and her family showed in housing me for the summer, but I hope she likes them all the same.

I'm working on a pair of socks for Joe (Jen's husband) now. They're a 3x1 rib. I settled on that pattern because I wanted a simple pattern, nothing as boring as stockinette, and nothing as complicated as lace. The colorway reminds me of zombies for some reason, thus Joe's Zombie Socks. The yarn is slate gray/blue and green and orange marbled. I didn't notice until I looked at the photo, but the socks are knitting up with a nice spiraling color pattern. Check it out:

 They're definitely a lot more orange than this photo implies. It seems that my new city new stops with the clouds and rain though, so good pictures are hard to come by. I had to get a new phone and I upgraded for a better camera on it, only to find out that it doesn't really matter here because it never stops raining long enough to take a stupid picture.

Anyway, other knitting news. I got a new set of needles in the mail last week. Knit Picks circulars, size 0 for magic loop Tardis Socks:

I was all excited to start the minute the needles came, but they took too long and I cast on for Joe's socks in the meantime. I'm trying to keep the WIPs down to 2 with Christmas coming up, so I'll be able to see each finished present and know where I stand, so that meant I couldn't cast on for the second pair of Tardis socks til Joe's socks are done. I'm making steady progress though, and I definitely thank my astronomy lecture for that.

I've left DM's afghan alone, as promised. It's in the deep freeze for now, til at least the other pair of Tardis socks are done.

Anyway, that's the update. I hope to keep the Blog in the loop, but I have a hard time justifying blog entries for stockinette socks. Now that my room's all set up (we finally re-did the floors, so I was able to move furniture in) and I have a desk to work at, maybe I'll be a little more productive.