the end of break

March 17, 2012 by 3 Comments

I’m so sad that my spring break is almost done, especially since I wasn’t nearly as productive as I thought I would be with my yarn crafts.  I visited my parents, had a few days of doing nothing, and watched both existing seasons of Downton Abbey in the past 3 days.  It’s been great, especially with the wonderful warm weather!  Hard to believe spring is already here, but the 80 degree weather is proof!

Today I went to my favorite yarn store and picked up some new things!  First off is a new book:

This book is all about knitting socks, and I’m super excited to get started on something!  I’m a little concerned that the patterns will be too difficult for me before I get some more knitting practice in, because none of them are very basic.  They’re all so pretty though!  Here’s the Amazon link if you want to check it out.

I also got some gorgeous, soft new yarn:

This gorgeous soft stuff is Merino 5, made of 100% merino.  I got the fall herbs color, even though it’s spring now, because I just loved the brightness.  I got 2 of them, so I think if I have enough of it I’ll make a knitted hat and  a crocheted hat, just to see the difference in them when placed side by side.  I hope there’s enough of it!  If not I’ll be really sad.  It’s just so pretty!

I’ll leave you now — I must go to Wal-Mart and look for some gardening things with the boyfriend, who wants to make some planter boxes and grow different kinds of peppers on our back patio.  I’m excited!  Tata!

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spring break is already productive

March 12, 2012 by Leave a Comment

I’m off to a good start as far as being super-crafty over spring break!  This weekend I’ve already made a hat!  Now before you get too excited, I must say it’s a knitted hat, not a crocheted one.  It’s my second knitted hat ever, and I modeled it after something I found on Ravelry the other day.  I think it turned out well.  It was made with the remaining yarn from the two cushions I recently made, and I feel a couple more knitted hats coming on from those same leftovers.  Anyway, here’s the hat on top of my stuffed new craft bag:

You know, I think I like knitting partially because it takes more time and less yarn than crocheting does, both of which save me money on yarn (and for a struggling grad student, that’s awesome).  I do apologize, though, for not having any cool new crochet things to share with you today.  Hopefully there will be something in the works soon!

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slow to do anything

February 6, 2012 by 5 Comments

Sorry it’s been over a week since I’ve posted anything!  And I have more to apologize for when I tell you I haven’t done much at all since then as far as fiber arts are concerned.

One reason I haven’t crocheted/knitted much this week is because of one of my nervous habits: picking at hangnails/cuticles/extra skin on my fingers.  It’s one of those things I can just barely control, and sometimes I go overboard.  Not only is it kinda gross, it impedes me from working with my hands because my fingers get so sore and torn up.  I feel vulnerable sharing this with you because it’s like a big weakness for me, and I know a lot of anxiety is all in my head, so I feel like this should never be a problem, but there it is.

Here’s what I have done though:  I’ve taken pictures of a knitted scarf that’s been in the works for a bit.

The yarn for this scarf is a gift from a friend, who bought it at a local yarn shop.  It’s by Dark Horse Yarn, it’s 50% nylon and 50% acrylic.  It is so soft, it’s almost unbelievable.  Such a pleasure to work with!  And I love the lovely colors!

Here are some more pics of my granny blanket yarn and my blanket circles, which are coming along nicely, albeit slowly:

So that’s it for today, sorry it wasn’t more exciting.  I’ll try to hurry, I promise.

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finished Hermione’s HBP hat

December 16, 2011 by 2 Comments

I finished my knitted Hermione HBP hat, the pattern for which is on Ravelry here.  I’m honestly a little disappointed, which is really sad since I spent SO MUCH TIME on this!  I took so much care with the cables and learned new stitches to make the holes and everything, and the hat is short.  I wanted it to come down longer — I wish I could go back and add 10 more rows of the chart pattern.  I guess one drawback of knitting hats bottom up is that you can’t try it on as you go.  Maybe it will stretch?  I hope so — It’s so pretty and I’d so wear it if it was a little longer!
          

 

Edit: It’s my fault the hat was short — I was stupidly skipping 2 rows every so often and I skipped a total of 10 rows.  I’m going to have to make this hat again sometime and do it right!

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I’ve been busy!

December 12, 2011 by 4 Comments

So the semester is coming to a close, and I have one more paper to finish up before I’m done with my second semester of grad school!  I’m so excited for Christmas break, during which I plan to both knit and crochet like mad.  Hopefully that means more posts coming your way!

I’m hoping it actually gets cold here — today it was around 45 but I’d like it to be colder so that I can model more of my creations in public!  I love showing off what I’ve made not because they’re exceptionally good (because they’re really not), but because I made them and they make me happy.  I’ve already given a bunch of simple crocheted hats to my school friends for Christmas — it’s really gratifying to see others wearing things I made!

I’ve actually got some new things to share today.  First off, my sweet baby pitbull, Zero, models her scarf/bow and her granny square sweater.  The sweater was a spur-of-the-moment creation, and it’s meant more to keep her warm than to be stylish, but I figured I’d share anyway.

I was making her sweater instead of doing the homework on the floor beside her:

And finally, I’ve been working on knitting the HBP Hermione hat (pattern available in the ‘knitting corner’ section), so this is where I am, with the real pic to compare:

 

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