Double pointed needles and sock knitting

So I've put off learning to use dpn's until winter break because during the semester it seemed so daunting to teach myself something new.

So tonight I pulled out some dpns (3 size 6s, and 1 size 5, whoops) and using Silver's Sock Tutorial taught myself to very basically use dpns.

I didn't get too far when I realized I hadn't been maintaining the k2p2 ribbing--I was just starting with k2 on each needle! Whoops!

Anyway, thus far it is frustrating but it *is* getting easier.

Attempts at stash knitting

I made a calorimetry out of some Cascade 220...it was actually yarn my roommate bought back in the days when I was trying to teach her how to knit. She ended up giving it back to me and it really was perfect yarn for me...a lovely seagreen. Sadly I don't have the ballband anymore so I'm not sure what color it is definitively, but I have a pretty good idea.

Razor Cami is off the needles, as of last Sunday night. I have ends to weave in and straps to make, but its finally in the finishing stages and I'm very excited. It's a bit snug, but too badly.

I also picked up one skein of Caron Bliss 2 weeks for $2 at Wal-mart...and made myself a snuggly, fluffy, and red scarf on size 19s. The cold spell came so quickly that I wanted a scarf. I didn't actually have a scarf for myself!

Still trucking along on the scarf exchange scarf, though I'm getting rather close to the end.

Haven't been spinning, sigh, because I've been so busy with school work. Last week was one of the worst times I've had in a while, but things seem better now.

Slip!

..So, today I went to two yarn stores.

I wasn't even really wanting anything at Knit Witts! But I still made it out of there with some alpaca d.k. >.> I'm thinking I'm going to use that for Painted Lady. That justifies it, right? If there's a project in mind..maybe..maybe.

And I bought some yarn for the DNA Cable scarf..Dark Horse Fantasy. So amazingly soft! A nice gray color for a "manly" scarf..hopefully I can finish it before Xmas, because it's intended as an Xmas gift.

And some lace weight malabrigo..I'm not even a lace knitter! I haven't even made it to socks.. >.>

Yarn related purchases needs to stop. I just bought some Artful Yarns Shakespeare--I'd already been considering getting some from WEBs and then I found some on Ravelry for slightly cheaper--so I bought 3 skeins. And I bought some yarn at Crafty Hands the other day--some for the scarf exchange...and then some in a different shade for me. Eeeeek.

Razor cami is so close to being done--I need to divide for the armpits and then make the straps and all that. I was like, hey I'll knock that out this weekend! Yeah, except I didn't think to bring home stitch markers, straights in the right size (or my needlemaster, for that matter), or the yarn for the straps.

So instead I'm working on my scarf exchan ge scarf. I had the set up rows and 2 repeats done, but then I  had to frog it because I did something funky and messed up the repeat.

I'm about to limp out of here on my fractured toe, but maybe I'll post again later.

I keep buying yarn.

The only yarn I can justify is the scarf exchange yarn, which is gorgeous. But I picked up some malabrigo yarn for me, and I recently bought some Crystal Palace Iceland solid on ravelry. And I have some Knitpicks memories on the way. Eek. I have tons of sock yarn and I can't even knit socks. Need to learn desperately.

I do not need more yarn or more wips besides what I have. The only new project I am allowed to start is the scarf for the scarf exchange as soon as I get the yarn. That is ALL.

Sigh but ravelry makes it so easy...

8 hours + of sleep

Amazing. This whole week I've been staying up til midnight and getting up around 6:15am. Not very conducive to my happiness.

But last night I went to bed around 10 for a bit, and then woke up for about 15 minutes at 11. Then I slept until 7:30 when my phone rang...my friend apologized and I went back to sleep until almost 9 oclock.

I feel so much better now that I've had a good night's sleep.

Last night I cast on for Jacob's scarf because the Razor Cami is wearing away at my fingers. Cotton twist isn't the softest thing. This Bernat Softee Chunky is pretty smooth and soft. I've got one stripe down. I don't know how many I'm going to do, I guess just until I'm about to run out of white yarn. I'm going to try and weave in ends as I go so I don't cry at the end.

Oh, and 1930? Yeah, finished it last night in time for the Ravelry UFO deadline. It's horrible, I hate it, but it's finished and I never have to look at it again. =]

All I really want to do is knit.

But instead I am writing a paper on the industrialization of biology. I hope I spelled that right, I seem to spell it differently everytime I type it.

Bought Stitch n' Bitch yesterday, just because. I only have one "technique" book and it's always good to have another. I want to teach myself how to use charts by making the little heart swatch with raised purl bumps because that would be quick but I can't let myself. I think I'm going to cast on for Jacob's scarf and just do it in garter stitch. I don't know how wide he wants the stripes, but..oh well. I'll see what I can do. I guess I'll have to get Steven to give it to him since I don't see Jacob anymore. But I SAID I would knit him a scarf so I will. And he bought the yarn and I guess it would be mean of me just to keep it.

I'm having doubts on the scarf pattern I picked out. All of the examples I could find on ravelry aren't in the color I'm thinking about using, so I think that's part of it. I think with the right color and in wool or something like it it'll turn out the way I want. (Having a car would make getting this yarn a whole lot easier. But I guess Wes will take me by there sometime this week...or he said he would, anyway.)

Back to penicillin and all that jazz. I had to remove Stitch n' bitch from my bed where I'm working so that I don't look at it...SIGH.

Yarn crisis.

I came home a bit suddenly for the weekend, and I thought I'd grabbed everything. Laptop, books, dirty laundry, clothes, knitting.

Except an extra skein of yarn. I am approaching the end of this ball of yarn and had a skein out to bring with me. I went to wind it just now and it is not there. I can just see it languishing in my dorm room. I ended up doing a lot of knitting when I was waiting last night, hence the almost gone ball of yarn. I guess this means that I HAVE to work on 1930 now, but, ah. The razor cami is so close to being done and I don't have any other yarn with me. I'm not really feeling like sewing right now anyway.

Now that I know I don't have yarn to continue, I'm itching to work on the cami. It's been my only wip for awhile, as I've been restraining myself. Now I wish I had something else to knit. Ahh!!!

In other news, I've picked out the scarf pattern I'm going to make for the scarf exchange. I'm going to go to the LYS sometime next week and find some nice yarn for it. I've been looking online but I definitely want to buy in store to make sure its the right color and feel.

Guess I should get back to ancient Greece now. Sigh. I love writing papers.

I'm  headed back to WKU after a weekend at home. Have a test tomorrow, ick. And I have a paper to write on Lycurgus. Oh, college.

I ended up spending all of Saturday by myself just studying. Yesterday I went to lunch with the girls at Las Fuentes and then spent the rest of the
day with Curcio. It was a good day, I think. I got a watch, finally.

Waiting to go to the lys on Tuesday so I can buy the yarn for the scarf I'm making for the scarf exchange--I'm 99% sure about the pattern.

College

So I'm all moved into college and that. It's okay. Not much has been going on. I'm teaching Marianne--my roommate--how to knit. We still haven't made it past casting on, but we're getting there. Still trucking along on the Razor Cami. Slow going. It's harder to just pick up now at college if I'm not just on a k row. Thinking about starting something else with this one skein of Berroco Quest.

Classes start tomorrow. I have Biotech, History, and Chemistry. I actually don't have a ton of books. I have 5 books for history but we're using one at a time, I think. Biotech is just The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat which is just a paperback. I was a little surprised I hadn't already read it.

Okay, okay, not much is going on. Later I'm going to go look for my classes again and make sure I know where they all are. Just thought I'd get in a quick update.

Packing and all that

It's in full swing. Trying to get everything ready. Wow. Just talked to my roommate, she's out shopping instead of packing. Sounds better to me.

Went to the gyno this morning. It was kind of scary, but now I have a prescription for Seasonique. 4 periods a year...hell yeah. The doctor was all women don't need periods I don't care if you skip the yellow pills. A man after my own heart.

Saw somebody I knew at the gyno and they called me old for knitting. I showed them it was a tank top and they were a lot more impressed. Heh. Razor cami is trucking along nicely. Have managed to avoid starting anything else, which is good.

Okay, okay, back to packing, I guess.

Packing

I've been packing up for college... I was in the process of packing up my clothes when I saw a large brown spider. That ended that rather quickly. With my mom's potential brown recluse bite, I'm not going near those clothes til later.

Yarn's all packed in a big tub, along with needles and everything else.

Razor cami is coming okay--somehow it got messed up. The pattern shifted but as long as it doesn't shift again it'll look fine, so.

Been sewing on 1930--almost have the backing on all the way. Need to make button bands, sew on buttons, and sew the cups to the bra. Oh, and make the straps. Blehhh.

Exercise

I did 10 minutes on the elliptical. Okay, so that's not really even worth mentioning. But considering I sat on my ass all summer? It's a start. I probably should've started preparing for the hill more than 2 weeks before I go off to college...but every little bit helps! I'm going to do some crunches and then lift some weights and probably call it a day. I've lost a ton of weight this summer--I think I had a growth spurt. I'm a bit taller and I grew out, hah, while losing about 20 pounds. (Noticeable to where someone who hadn't seen me all summer was a bit shocked when they saw me.) HAS to be a growth spurt, because I'm the queen of fast food 3 meals a day. =]

My dad keeps getting onto me about packing for college..I don't know what he wants me to start packing. I've got my books together, and all that's left besides that is mainly clothes--and yarn. Not sure what he expects me to do there.

Guess I should scrounge up some lunch and then working on joining my second skein of Cotton Twist.

Don't bother, angel. I know exactly what goes on.

As soon as I finish this row I start on the pattern for the cami. No more ribbing, yay. (Though I did have it memorized, thanks to my stitch markers.)

I'm having fears that this won't actually fit. I'm trying to prepare myself for that if it happens. Visions of myself offering it to my roommate... Ow. I'm sure it'll fit, and I know it's negative ease, but still. Just a little worrying.

I should be getting some good stuff in the mail this week. 2 skeins of Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool--pink and blue skeins. Mm. I can't wait. Heard so much good stuff about it. Also, some various sizes of dpns should be here in the next few days. I love Ravelry so much. Never would've gotten any of this stuff. The book Greed should  be here in a couple of days too, along with Science of the Prettiest and The Six Wives of Henry VIII. SO much good reading to do. =]

Controlling the stash

So Ravelry is supposed to help you knit from the stash, right? No. I know my stash is pretty small by many standards--but still. Ravelry helped for a little bit--I did some stash knitting, but now that's faded. Now I just see pretty patterns, buy yarn, or ask people about getting their yarn. Sigh.

Razor Cami is coming along quickly. If I posted a picture you would see that quickly is a relative term since I don't have much done, but I feel like for 156 stitches I'm doing pretty well. I still have 1.5" of ribbing left to go..but since it's 3x1 ribbing it doesn't feel so bad.

Anyway, the whole not having a car thing is pretty killer. I need one stinking yarn needle to finish up that scarf...and I have no way of getting it. I did go into town last night but nowhere that would have anything I could use. Hopefully I can drive the truck later and get that damn yarn needle.

In non-knitting news...I've spent a good chunk of today coloring in some coloring books. Ahh, it feels good. I have about 30 pages left in Sojourn by R.A. Salvatore...I guess I'll move onto my Guenevere book after that. That's my only complaint about BookMooch...no knitting books to mooch, sadly.

Home sick?

I feel like I'm home sick from school. I guess because my car wreck happened on the first day of high school and then I've been stuck at home since. I mean, I obviously don't have to go to high school anymore--but the combination of not being able to leave my house and a good chunk of my friends being unavailable makes everything pretty dull. Top that off with the fact that I keep taking naps and I have a killer headache.

Knitting makes it better--the 3x1 ribbing is pretty simple. I think 1, 2, 3, purl. Purl kind of sounds like 4 to me, which keeps me on track. I also am using paperclips as stitch markers for every 20 stitches, just to help keep me going in my groups of four.

I am not ungrateful. I love the Boye Needlemaster. It's very handy having all of those sizes of needles and the different cables. The only problem is the cables come off from the metal part and snag the yarn. The tips come untwisted while you're knitting and snag the yarn. If I'd had a choice, I think I would've gone with Denise. I've only heard good things and I like plastic needles. I love the metal needles too--just not the needlemaster. It's almost more trouble than it's worth.

Razor Cami in Berroco Cotton Twist Icepop

My newest WIP. I love it, I really do. I'm hoping it'll turn out right. I tried to do a cable CO to make the edge firmer and because I read it's better for ribbing, but, when I tried doing it, my head was too foggy from the wreck earlier. So I did a plain old longtail, ran out of tail, ripped it out, did it again. Now I have a good excess tail. That's okay, although it's irritating for it to not be "just right." I think I've been twisting my knit stitches too. Or rather, wrapping them the wrong way. I was working on the 3x1 rib last night when I realized I was wrapping my knits like a purl. I switched back to what I assume is the right way but knitting into some of the stitches done like a purl is a bit harder.

The cotton twist..is amazing. I love it. It's so shimmery and looks like it's several different colors. It also was fairly cheap.  I guess around 20 with shipping and everything.

I feel bad starting another item since I have a scarf to sew together and weave in ends (but I've lost my yarn needle, and don't have a car), another scarf to start, and then 1930 is lying forlornly on cardboard, half-blocked. Sewing together 1930 scares me a bit which is why it's only half-blocked. Oh well.

Who I am

I'm a redheaded 17 yold knitter named Bonnie about to go off to college. I was taught casting on, and the knit stitch, at a summer camp last summer. Everything else I've basically learned by trial and error.
I'm new to this blogger thing--I've used livejournal devoutly for several years, but that's where I keep more personal and fandom related things. I feel like posting about knitting over there is kind of futile.

I guess I'd call myself an "advanced beginner." I've yet to knit a pair of socks, due to my crazy gauge and quite limited funds to buy dpns. And maybe I'm more of a process knitter. Things I knit don't necessarily get finished. But I love getting there. (That's why circs are my friend--minimal finishing ftw!)