Projects Update

So for the HLBOES, I think I know what pattern I'm going to make for Minerva's hat. That is, if I can pull it off... it's an intermediate-level pattern with lots of cables. Fun.

Projects to Start/Finish:

• Snake for Jax! It was supposed to be done by Christmas... sorta, but I haven't quite started yet. Maybe it'll be for her birthday instead.
• Hat for my sister. It'll be a simple one, knitted in bulky weight and only one color. It's just that I have to get off my behind and start working on it.
• Mini-sock for the Reducio Mini-Sock Swap! Since I don't know what colors it'll be in, I can't exactly start that yet.
• Crocheting a squid for the Mini-Swap. Again, I have to go get the yarn or use stash yarn. Either would work, probably.
• Uhm, my socks? I fail epically at picking up along the gusset and I still haven't been able to figure it out, so I don't think they'll get done very soon.
• Tube scarf for me. This'll be my "take with me in my bag" project, as a tube scarf in stockinette stitch is very easy, just a lot of knitting.

Newly Finished Projects (Pictures Soon?):

• Fair Isle bag I made for my sister! I am most proud of this one because it took me forever to finish it, though most of it was telling myself to finish the lining.
  
• Wine cosy I made for my grandmother. This one was just a major pain because the yarn was more difficult to handle than what I'm used to.
  
• Two hats as Christmas gifts.
• Almost a plethora of washcloths... I still want one for myself, so that's what I'll be knitting while traveling today, probably.

But that's all for now! See you all later.

Swaps

So while Andromeda is the HoH for swap, I'm going to be working on the Tri-Wizard Tournament, so that should be a lot of fun and I'm actually quite excited.

I'm also excited because I'll get to do HSKS7 this year and return for another term. Now I'll not only be more experienced as a swapper, but also as a knitter and so I won't have to be so inventive with my patterns for the handmade object. I'll actually be able to take a pattern (maybe from the wonderful book Dagmara gave me?) and use that.

In other news, I finished the child's size hat and I already put it in the collection bin. It turned out rather nice. I'm thinking about putting the pattern up online for anyone who wants to use it. It's a basic beanie pattern with a bit of colorwork, which is what makes it fun. The colorwork is originally done in one contrasting color, though it could easily be adapted for two.

Anyways, I should go soon. It's time to start the day and I'll get the pattern up later. It's a very fast knit.

Hats, Hats, Hats

For the HLBOES, Andromeda and I had a duel and we each had to make a Dobby Hat. I made hers in Gryffindor colors and she made mine in Slytherin colors. I recieved hers in the mail today, along with a gummy snake and a set of US size 8 circular needles, perfect for working on another SPEW hat whilst my Fair Isle projects take up my other set of circulars. ^_^

Just a personal note, but I think those colors are some of the ugliest two I've ever seen together. I am not meaning offense to people who happen to like orange, but orange doesn't seem to go well with light blue/purple/whatever that color is supposed to be.

And I don't know what that means for the HLBOES HoH duel, but I guess we'll have to wait for Grandma and Pren to decide that. And I hope Andromeda likes what I put in her package, too. :)

So I think I shall be starting a second SPEW hat, similar pattern to my first one, only I'll be donating it locally this time. We're having a local warm clothing drive at my school, so I think it might be nice to knit something for them.

And now I am off to knit and watch a movie... and I'll be knitting while watching a documentary with some friends tonight. I just need to keep my hands busy or else I'll start chattering, which would be utterly rude. I'll probably end up taking my Special Olympics Scarf to work on.

Yays!

I'm so happy! First of all, I'm mailing Cassandra's swap package off to her tomorrow morning. Second of all, I got a package from Pren, which totally made my day. Pren, if you read this, you did well. PoA's my favorite book in the series. ^_^

And so despite having a very long weekend that ended up making me more tired than rested (no suprise there!), there are things in life which are good. Especially knitting and where I'm planning to take Seven (one of my fictional characters who's utterly adorable).

Swap Reflection

So this whole swap has been one entire learning experience for me. Here's a quick recap of what I've learned over the past two months as I've been working on various projects.

Please don't read if you don't want spoilers about what's in the kit for Cassandra. Thanks.

Colorwork. I've never done colorwork other than those horizontal stripes before, so this was a first in many areas. Not only have I learned how to do duplicate stitch on something flat with a chart, but I've also learned how to duplicate stitch on something that's small and knitted in the round (2 dozen stitches on size 1.5 needles). I've also given a try at undeliberate fair isle-type colorwork, as demonstrated in the hat I made for SPEW.

Cabling. This was probably my favorite part of what I did for the project, but I was able to cable the handle to the bag I made. It turned out nicely, but you can see my cables get better as you go from one end to the other; it was the first thing I've ever cabled.

Hats. This was actually the first hat I made. Not only did it involve colorwork, K2P2 ribbing and decreasing in a pattern, but the hardest part of the project was transferring from the circular to the dpns. I'll keep that in mind next time I make a hat because I dropped just about every third stitch and had to pick it up again.

Any sort of blocking/finishing. This should be self-explanatory... especially with the bag.

Dreaded Kitchener Stitch. Actually, it wasn't that bad and the book I have made a lot of sense with the way it was explained. Shaping the heel and working with the gusset on the mini-sock I made was actually a lot more difficult. This was the first sock I've ever made and I got lots of pictures of it because I'm not keeping it for myself.

This isn't something new, but I've always found it difficult to come up with presents for people. I've been told I do a really good job at it, but it's not easy and I honestly don't know how I do it. This swap was one of those times and I found myself reading through correspondence to find little extras to pack away in the kit I'm sending off. It's just one of those things where I want everything to be perfect, you know.

I don't have the knitting skills of a lot of the people in the group, so my handmade object isn't going to be as good as theirs are. I've only been knitting for about a year now and it's only been in the past few months that I've even done anything other than scarves and washcloths in something other than plain garter stitch. But what one can do with a little imagination and quite a bit of determination is actually quite amazing.

More Projects

So I've found a bunch of other places for knitting for charity. I also have a surplus of the Red Heart Supersaver Yarn, which is far too nasty feeling to use for anything that I make for myself (I've recently acquired some Cascade 220 for a few personal projects), but after I finish the scarf I'm making for the Special Olympics, I'd like to make a hat.

To-Do List

1. Finish the stuff for Cassandra C. Like the bag.

2. Finish the scarf I'm knitting for the Special Olympics.

3. Make at least one hat for charity.

4. Make Christmas gifts in time to either send them off or give them away.

5. The duel hat in burgandy and gold.

I'm going on a road trip Thursday, so I'll probably have a fair amount of time to knit in the car. Hoorah! I'll likely be taking the scarf I'm working on to keep me busy; it's a simple enough pattern I don't need to be paying complete attention to what I'm doing.

Update

I've decided I really want to start blogging regularly, so I suppose I will just update on my knitting progress today.

Fortunately, I got the scarf tie done in time to wear it last night and it looks rather decent for a very last-minute project. I ended up knitting through math class (we were watching a movie, so it didn't really matter).

I've also been frogging Cassandra's bag because I realized I messed up on the duplicate stitch part. At least it's fixed now because I went back and ripped out what I had messed up on earlier today. Now all I need to do is get back to where I was (with it done correctly!) and finish it. Thankfully, the cabled handle is coming along rather nicely.

For the duel, I got the list of things I need to have in order to make it. Thankfully, I have everything, but I'll have to make sure that my size 8 dpns are available for use. I also have both size 7 and 9, just in case I don't make the gauge with the 8s. I'm thinking of using burgandy and gold for the two colors; Andi said she'd use green and silver for mine. :)

List of Skills to Learn

1. Cabling: No seriously... I've started to cable, but I'd like to get a lot better at it. I'm currently using a dpn instead of a cable needle and it's worked thus far. I'm doing a left-twisted cable for the bag for Cassandra.

2. I-Cord: So many things call for an i-cord and I don't think it'll be that difficult. At least I hope it won't. Apparently I was supposed to start with an i-cord for Severus, but I kind of missed that part. Oh well, I'll just have to do some more work at the end to make sure his stuffing doesn't fall out.

3. Duplicate Stitch: This is quite important for color-work. I'm doing a duplicate stitch for the bag I'm making for Cassandra (hoorah for new skills all in one project!).

4. Intarsia: Perhaps Intarsia would be a better choice for the colorwork I'm doing on this project, but duplicate stitch is easier to understand.

5. How to Follow a Pattern: This one should be self-explanatory. Unless I'm intent on doing everything by my own patterns (hahaha), I should really get better at following a pattern someone else has written. Especially when it comes to socks.

6. Socks! I really, really, really want to learn how to make socks. *loves*

7. Fair Isle: Another colorwork technique that I'd love to learn. There are so many beautiful projects using this technique that I would love to be able to do.