I am still a little traumatized by my summer working at Old Navy and I don't know how I feel about this grandma-bot machine that churns out knitted items while I spend days working on a single sock cuff but I love the knitty kitty so much I had to share:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CinTc-8vdaQ
I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season and that your knits, whether bot-made or handmade, are keeping you warm!!
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Monday, December 12, 2011
Drop and Roll!
SO many updates but it is pretty late so I will just post the main one- I am a spinner!! Thanks to my wonderful husband I was able to take a spinning class at Fibre Space. I already had a drop spindle (which I had tried to spin with but couldn't make it work) and I took it to last week's class expecting to come out of there spinning nice, even, lightweight yarn.
That didn't happen, which was disappointing, HOWEVER, two things:
1. The instructor said my yarn was lovely and in the beginning everyone's always looks like that. She also said that if I kept practicing, pretty soon I would long for the days when I could spin a natural looking thick-and-thin yarn. Maybe.
2. The yarn I spun today came out much better. I really liked it.
So...moral of the story? If you complain about something a lot and think it isn't for you, maybe you will really like it? That was how this was for me and I can't wait to spin more and try different fibers, and make stuff from my own-spun yarn!!
That didn't happen, which was disappointing, HOWEVER, two things:
1. The instructor said my yarn was lovely and in the beginning everyone's always looks like that. She also said that if I kept practicing, pretty soon I would long for the days when I could spin a natural looking thick-and-thin yarn. Maybe.
2. The yarn I spun today came out much better. I really liked it.
So...moral of the story? If you complain about something a lot and think it isn't for you, maybe you will really like it? That was how this was for me and I can't wait to spin more and try different fibers, and make stuff from my own-spun yarn!!
Monday, November 14, 2011
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Big Things Are Happening!
I am working on the podcast for real now. It is taking a lot more time than I expected. I thought I would be able to finish a short episode in a weekend but it hasn't been that simple. I have been knitting a ton recently and had been saving talking about it for the podcast so I haven't really updated but I will put up some pictures soon because I don't like feeling I am abandoning my blog!
I will say due to recent baby births, Glovember has been a bit of a bust for me. I ripped out the same pair of handwarmers twice because the first time I knit them they were too big and the second attempt was too small. Sigh.
I will say due to recent baby births, Glovember has been a bit of a bust for me. I ripped out the same pair of handwarmers twice because the first time I knit them they were too big and the second attempt was too small. Sigh.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Glovember is Upon Us!!
Happy Glovember one and all!!
I have found my half-finished handwarmer that I started earlier this year which needs a mate and that will be my first Glovember goal. This project was my first attempt at color work and except for an unfortunate purling incident which my husband has told me no one will notice I think this half-handwarmer looks pretty good. A little nervous about picking up the stitches for the thumb which are on waste yarn- have only done that for baby sweater sleeves but they give you more stitches to work with...
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Weaving in the Ends
Today was a lazy Sunday, but a super productive one. I finally bound off my second scarf for the Special Olympics Scarf Project. My mom had sent me the two she finished a while ago and I had promised to put tassels on them all- since I had some yarn left over.
Tassels. Are. Annoying.
That is all I have to say about that. I don't hate adding them as much as I do weaving in the ends or putting on buttons but I am still not a fan. All these things make a mess- you get little bits of yarn which the cat inevitably steals or you find them later stuck with surprising strength to the living room rug and it just takes so much time.
Tassels. Are. Annoying.
That is all I have to say about that. I don't hate adding them as much as I do weaving in the ends or putting on buttons but I am still not a fan. All these things make a mess- you get little bits of yarn which the cat inevitably steals or you find them later stuck with surprising strength to the living room rug and it just takes so much time.
But I am done. With the tassels and weaving in the ends and everything. The scarves are in individual ziplocks ready to be mailed and I think they look wonderful. The scarves are going to be gifts to all those who participate in next year's Special Olympics as well to those who support them. I love that all these knitters and crocheters are so into into this and can all give something uniquely from them but all in the same colors. Wishing all participants lots of luck and fun for this wonderful event!
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Cowls and Socks and Podcasts, Oh My!
So many things to talk about today. First, obviously, the WIPs for WIPW:
Then there's my sock, which I took out on the metro today instead of the cowl because it was rainy and gross outside and I didn't want the cowl to get soaked from people dripping their umbrellas or jacket sleeves all over it.
I think I am still on track to finish this sock by the end of Socktober, thus meeting my goal of completing my first pair of socks but it would have been nice to make two pairs. I know, I know. Given my schedule that is not only greedy but also ridiculous and impossible. There is something wrong with me.
After Socktober of course, comes Glovember (join my group on Ravelry!) during which I will be completing a pair of handwarmers for a good friend. I started them in the spring so yeah...good timing.
What else to share? What else? Oh well there's this- poor little penguins. Apparently they have enough sweaters now, oops, jumpers? But it doesn't hurt to keep some handy and model them on your cats. Do send pictures if you do.
There's also this, which I heard about on Cast On. It is so cool. I want one.
ALSO- what is going on with Cast On? And Never Not Knitting? Is everyone leaving the podcast-o-sphere? Where did Sticks and String go? Thank goodness I still have Just One More Row and 2 Knit Lit Chicks and Stash and Burn. I don't know what I am going to do when I am caught up with all the episodes.
My knitting podcast obsession started several weeks ago when I started a new work project. My work involves looking at hundreds of billions of boring documents all day. It doesn't involve a lot of brain activity though and so we are allowed to listen to music or whatever else while we do this. It became pretty clear early on that ABBA Gold loses its magical powers when you listen to it three times a day and I didn't want to waste it so I turned to podcasts. Generally speaking, they have changed my life. I listen to NPR, The Nerdist, WTF, Rachel Maddow, Freakonomics to name a few (I am not linking to them all) and I feel like I learn all these cool things every day. I also listen to a whole bunch of knitting related podcasts. Ones I didn't mention above that I have started listening to are YarnGasm, Cogknitive and Purl Diving (are there any more I should be listening to? I prefer them to be over half an hour and audio only so I can pay attention to my computer screen).Oh no! There are not going to be any new Purl Diving episodes either.
My only issue with the podcasts, the knitting ones specifically, is that I can't keep up with all the knitting I am hearing about. Relatively speaking, I am quite a new knitter, but because of the podcasts I feel like I know all this stuff which I don't have the time to put into practice all at once. I want to do cool things like the ravolympics, or go to fiber festivals, or dye my own yarn because it all sounds SO AWESOME. But I am at work, working, and I just can't. The good side of it is that I am constantly inspired and look forward to going to work, if only to learn about what is going on out there in the world. All these podcasts have also inspired me to create my own, but that dream has been hindered by my work and volunteering schedule the past few months. I hope to get my weeknights back at the end of next week (finally) as well as my weekends, and am going to start putting together episodes then. Phew.
This has been a very long post for me so I am going to go and work on my cowl now. I hope to be able to update soon with pictures of the matching hat I will be casting on tomorrow if not (fingers crossed) tonight.
 |
| My second burberry inspired cowl |
I only have one more repeat left to do in this pattern and then the most annoying challenging part- kitchener stitching it all together. I am actually looking forward to it a little bit because I feel like I have the kitchener rhythm down now (famous last words).
 |
| sock |
Then there's my sock, which I took out on the metro today instead of the cowl because it was rainy and gross outside and I didn't want the cowl to get soaked from people dripping their umbrellas or jacket sleeves all over it.
I think I am still on track to finish this sock by the end of Socktober, thus meeting my goal of completing my first pair of socks but it would have been nice to make two pairs. I know, I know. Given my schedule that is not only greedy but also ridiculous and impossible. There is something wrong with me.
After Socktober of course, comes Glovember (join my group on Ravelry!) during which I will be completing a pair of handwarmers for a good friend. I started them in the spring so yeah...good timing.
What else to share? What else? Oh well there's this- poor little penguins. Apparently they have enough sweaters now, oops, jumpers? But it doesn't hurt to keep some handy and model them on your cats. Do send pictures if you do.
 |
| cats love being dressed, promise! |
There's also this, which I heard about on Cast On. It is so cool. I want one.
ALSO- what is going on with Cast On? And Never Not Knitting? Is everyone leaving the podcast-o-sphere? Where did Sticks and String go? Thank goodness I still have Just One More Row and 2 Knit Lit Chicks and Stash and Burn. I don't know what I am going to do when I am caught up with all the episodes.
My knitting podcast obsession started several weeks ago when I started a new work project. My work involves looking at hundreds of billions of boring documents all day. It doesn't involve a lot of brain activity though and so we are allowed to listen to music or whatever else while we do this. It became pretty clear early on that ABBA Gold loses its magical powers when you listen to it three times a day and I didn't want to waste it so I turned to podcasts. Generally speaking, they have changed my life. I listen to NPR, The Nerdist, WTF, Rachel Maddow, Freakonomics to name a few (I am not linking to them all) and I feel like I learn all these cool things every day. I also listen to a whole bunch of knitting related podcasts. Ones I didn't mention above that I have started listening to are YarnGasm, Cogknitive and Purl Diving (are there any more I should be listening to? I prefer them to be over half an hour and audio only so I can pay attention to my computer screen).Oh no! There are not going to be any new Purl Diving episodes either.
My only issue with the podcasts, the knitting ones specifically, is that I can't keep up with all the knitting I am hearing about. Relatively speaking, I am quite a new knitter, but because of the podcasts I feel like I know all this stuff which I don't have the time to put into practice all at once. I want to do cool things like the ravolympics, or go to fiber festivals, or dye my own yarn because it all sounds SO AWESOME. But I am at work, working, and I just can't. The good side of it is that I am constantly inspired and look forward to going to work, if only to learn about what is going on out there in the world. All these podcasts have also inspired me to create my own, but that dream has been hindered by my work and volunteering schedule the past few months. I hope to get my weeknights back at the end of next week (finally) as well as my weekends, and am going to start putting together episodes then. Phew.
This has been a very long post for me so I am going to go and work on my cowl now. I hope to be able to update soon with pictures of the matching hat I will be casting on tomorrow if not (fingers crossed) tonight.
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