Second Pair of Socks!

So I finished my second pair of socks a couple of days ago!  They are the Guitar Man Socks (see Ravelry) and are made out of Claudia Hand Painted Fingering Weight Yarn in the "Toast" colorway.  I made them for Andy (my bf) for an early Valentine's day gift and also a gift for our 1.5 year anniversary which was Wednesday.

My Etsy Shop!

So folks I finally set up my Etsy shop.  It is a place to buy and sell handmade items.  I am going to be selling articles of my knit line called Dramatic Knits.  You can visit the shop by going to to DramaticKnits.etsy.com or you can click on the link below.

First Pair of Socks & a Quick Hat

Quick check-in with everyone (or lack thereof) that reads my blog.  I finished my first pair of socks a couple of days ago.  I am extremely happy with them.  They are a little snug, but that is because I knit them according to the pattern which I'm sure is for a woman. I just wanted to get a pair of socks done before I started worrying about whether they would fit me or not.

This is Lorna's Laces Basic Sock Pattern.  Knit on size 0's.  The colorway is called Mineshaft.

Well after I finished the socks I wanted to knit a hat for myself while I could still use it with the cold weather.  Plus it's in Noro that I picked up last week.  My local yarn shop doesn't carry Noro so I had to pick this up at another store that is about double the driving.  It is the Ernst pattern from Jane Ellison's Noro Family.  It's in Noro Cash Island color 10.

I'm really happy with it. While I was knitting it I wasn't so sure.  I went up a needle size because I have a rather large head.  But the ribb pattern allows for a lot of stretch.  So that's what I have been up to lately.

P.S. I may have a student teaching placement soon! More to come.

So I Can't Seem to Get this Posting Thing Down

So really you would think that since every time I post I feel guilty about not posting in forever that I would start posting on a regular basis.  Nope, not me.  I just can't seem to get it down.  But yea life has been interesting here for me on my end of the world.  I working on getting a student teaching placement which is not going so well.  All of my advisors seem to be fed up with me and have stopped talking to me.  I don't know what to do, they are advisors, it was my understanding that they were supposed to advise not hide away in their offices and pretend that problems don't exist.  But anyway that's enough of my rants on school.

Let's talk about my knitting.  I have been a knit-aholic this holiday season. Let's take a look at some of the completed handknits.

This is the Windowpane Throw that I finished for my mom. I had started this over a year ago when I got back into knitting.  I wanted something relatively easy and cheap.  Well I not think it looks easy and cheap, but my mom loved it which made me happy because she is the kind of person that has an opinion about everything.

These are the Fingerless Music Gloves that I made for one of my best friends Reggie.  He plays clarinet and is a Music Ed. Student Teacher right now.  I know he's going to love these.  Hopefully, I find out this weekend.  I'm a little late getting them to him, but he said he might be coming into town this weekend, so we'll see.

These are called Sock Yarn Mini Wristers.  They are extremely easy and pretty quick.  I made them for my friend Bree.  In the picture on the pattern these are made with variegated yarn and with the solid color here they look kindof plain so I added some cute little sunflower buttons to give some added flair.

Now people I am going to have you read about this next project before I let you see it because it is that amazing.  I just finished it yesterday.  It is a scarf that I made as a belated birthday present for one of my other best friends Katie.  I showed her this pattern around Halloween thinking I would make it for a Halloween swap I was in.  I didn't end up having enough time, but I had bought the yarn and I remembered Katie thinking it was really cool and saying she would wear it everyday if I made it for her.  So I figured I would make it for her for her birthday which turned out to be only a little over a week after Christmas.  So when her birthday came around I had to tell her what I was going to make for her, but now it is here.  It is supposed to be from Harry Potter.  I don't read the series so I don't know.  But ladies and gentlemen let me introduce you to the Dark Mark Illusion Scarf.

 

                      

I just thought that this scarf was really cool. Besides this I have knit the Divinely Soft Drop Stitch Scarf for my friend Michael that I forgot to take a picture of before I gave it to him.  I also made the Linen Stitch Scarflet.  That was for an All About Me Swap. I had the yarn for ages and have been wanting to make that pattern for awhile.  Well I got reintroduced with acrylic. I'm sure it has its uses, but not many.  

And that's about it for me.  I started my first pair of socks yesterday, so stay tuned for more progress.

Ok, I've been bad.

So I haven't posted in forever.  I've been bad I know, it's not like anyone probably reads this, but I started this as a journaling of sorts towards my knitting adventures.  But I have definitely slacked off.  I have started following blogs and I read what these people right everyday and I think to myself wow I'm not that immersed in knitting.  I don't feel like my life is going to drop away from under my feet if I don't knit everyday.  I do, however, have a fond passion for it now and feel that my life would not be the same if I couldn't knit again.  

Anywho, that's just my apology for being absent for so long.  In recent news I'm trying to hurriedly work on Christmas gifts.  I have finished one.  I made a shrug for my sister and I think it turned out much better than I anticipated.

I'm also working on a windowpane throw that I started over a year when I got a renewed interest in knitting.  Also, I've barely started a pair of music note fingerless gloves for one of my best friends.  I have come to a halting point because I don't know how to "make one" also the pattern tends to confuse me and I have to wait till I talk to my knitting professor, or one of my other best friends, so she can show me where to go next.  That's about all the news for now.  I will post some pics of stuff that I have completed recently for a halloween swap I was in.

I'm Taking a Day Off!

So I just made the decision about 5 minutes ago that I was not going to go to my two classes today.  I feel that I deserve a day off.  Anyways, I thought since I get to do whatever I want today, I'm going to take the time to update my blog.  Well let's see where I left off with my latest knitting news.  Well I finished my "Favorite Animal Swap" and sent off the package including the owl headband.  I think the headband turned out beautifully, but the only problem was that I bound off the normal way when the edge was ribbed and the top didn't really have any stretch to it.  So I'm not so sure she is going to be able to make it fit her head, but maybe she can use it as something else.  Who knows. LOL

Well since that was completed I had only a couple of days to work on my afghan and the shrug that I'm making for my mom and sister, respectively, for Christmas.  But then my next swap "Halloween" started and I knew that I was going to have to bustle.  Because the crafting phase of this swap is scheduled to finish on October 31st, but you really want to finish in time to mail out your package so they can have time to cherish it during the holiday.  So I went in with my friend Katie to one of our local yarn stores.  Let me just tell you, anyone from the Bloomington-Normal, IL area must try out MaryLynn's Yarn Garden.  She is the most amazing person.  I sat in her shop for over 3 and a half hours working on a skull dishcloth, which I finished!  She made us coffee and it was nice to chat it up with some of the locals.

A couple of days ago I started my second project for the "Halloween Swap" which is a felted knitting tote with a skull on it.  This is going to be my first time felting anything so we'll see how it turns out.  I just finished the skull diagram last night, so most of today is going to be spend finishing it up.  So unfortunately since it's not done I don't have a pics of it yet, but I will soon. No worries!

Monogamous Knitting

So I came across a discussion thread on Ravelry about a month or so ago which dealt with monogamous knitting.  Someone was interested in knowing who only knits one project at a time.  This was extremely interesting for me to read because I had always been a monogamous knitter before.  I couldn't understand how someone could carry on more than one project at a time.  Part of the fun in knitting for me is following the pattern to a "T" and using all the suggested yarns and materials.  Well so in this sense I am the kind of person that wants to start something and become immersed in it.  That means I wouldn't even consider moving on to a new project this I had my current project completed.  There was only one problem with this.  My first project that I started since my resurgence of knitting came along was a throw.  Well when I read this it was April or so and I had been working on that throw since December.  (In fact I'm still only about half way through it)  So I had never actually completed a project yet.  I figured it was time to try something new.  I then put the throw aside and made my first hat.  It was a Norwegian Star Earflap Hat that I made for my boyfriend for our anniversary.  (see pic)  Right after that I started working on a shrug that I am planning on giving my sister for Christmas.  We right after I cast on the shrug I needed to start making my projects for the Favorite Animal Swap I'm in.  Well I have been knitting away on these projects.  Well I'm working on the last project for the swap which I started last night.  Only thing is that last night things weren't working out all that well for me and I got discouraged.  When I sat down to do some knitting tonight I just couldn't look at the project that I started last night. I didn't want to have anything to do with it tonight.  So I went back and spend a couple of hours working on my sister's shrug.  I am almost done with the first sleeve and I super excited.  Reflecting right now before I go to bed I realized that having more that one project going at a time doesn't make life more hectic or confusing, it allows for possibilities. I am now not confined to one project.  That's what would happen before I had my resurgence in knitting.  I would knit for a couple of weeks, get bored, and stop for a month or so.  But now that I have all these possibilities I am able to step away from something that gets on my nerves and move onto something that brings my spirit back up.  Anyways, that's my random thoughts of the night.  Hope everyone had a great weekend.  Until next time!