All posts by peneloping

Presents (from myself)

January 5, 2012 peneloping

I may have mentioned before that I lurve getting things in the mail. Today I got two packages!

Last week I ordered a bunch of supplies from Knitpicks (but alas, no yarn!).

I (finally) bought blocking mats (I’ve been ~~using~~ destroying my yoga mat), and some t-pins, and also bought two sets of point protectors (I hate when I have a few too many stitches on DPNs and they keep sliding off), and also a stranding guide for color work (it was only a dollar so I thought I’d try it out).

I’d also wanted to start a notebook type thing for keeping track of pattern notes, yarns used, charts I draw up, etc., but I could never find one that was big enough, had a large enough spiral, and had an elastic band. Until I actually looked for one on Amazon and found one that had everything I wanted.

It even has three different types of pages (lined, graph, blank)! It’s basically perfect. I think I’m going to do notes on the lined section, chart sketched on the graph section, and project pages on the blank section.

I especially wanted the elastic so I can tape in yarn samples and ball bands and it’ll still hold together.

Now to dig through and catalogue my epic mess of scrap yarn..

Jetlagged

January 4, 2012 peneloping

Well, I’m back in Boston where there is an utter lack of snow. Or anything resembling snow.

As a form of protest, I’ve spent the afternoon oggling patterns and buying yarn online.

My next two projects are going to be this one and this one, probably in that order, although I guess it depends on which yarn arrives first.

I popped over to my lys earlier because I knew I’d seen Berocco Campus in there before. Sadly they didn’t have the color I wanted, and every single other colorway is either a mix of gray/black/white which is not what I wanted, or was a hideous mix of colors. So I ended up ordering the yarn from WEBS. And now I’m antsily attempting to work on Seester’s Christmas sweater instead, whilst intermittently checking the shipping status of the order I just placed two hours ago every fifteen minutes.

I ordered yarn for Bazan from eBay because I couldn’t find the colorway I wanted anywhere else. And of course the more places that didn’t have it, the more I wanted it. There was a moment right before I clicked “Place Order” when I asked myself, am I really going to wear a red shrug? But I decided that yes, I am, so I bought three skeins. For $5.80 each! Even WEBS lists this yarn for $12.95 per skein! -happy dance-

Speaking of Seester’s Christmas sweater, I think I mentioned that she squee’d over my Effortless Cardigan when I wore it at home and decided she wanted one in a plum-ish color. I’m currently about 2.5″ past splitting the sleeves. Note to self: straight stockinette is no fun when you’re impatiently awaiting more exciting yarn deliveries.

Finally, as the title suggests, I’ve been here two days and am still feeling groggy. You’d think that three hours wouldn’t be that hard to adjust to but technically waking up at 10am here is like waking up at 7am back home, and that’s quite a difference. Especially when you take into consideration the fact that I actually woke up at 1:30pm today. Which technically, my body thinks of as 10:30am, which is a perfectly respectable time to wake up.

Anyway, my point is, pictures later and apologies if none of this made sense.

Finished Project: Ron Weasley’s Hallows Pullover

December 31, 2011 peneloping

Pattern: Hallows Pullover by Melissa Metzbower
Yarn: Knitpicks Wool of the Andes Bulky
Started: September 23, 2011
Finished: December 11, 2011

Ravelry page

I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Remember the Super Secret Project I mentioned a few times and promised to post pictures of but never did?

Well, it’s done!

I can’t recommend this pattern enough. It uses bulky weight yarn so it knits up super fast, and the pattern is pretty easy to remember. I did make a few adjustments though. I lengthened the body by about an inch. For the sleeves, I did increases every 5 rows instead of 4, up to 67 stitches, and then knitted even for an extra 22 rows to accomodate Boyfriend’s monkey arms.

Love! It looks just like Ron’s in the film:

Boyfriend was pretty happy with his Christmas present.

1 Comment finished knit cables - deathly-hallows - hallows pullover - knitting - ron weasley - sweater

Finished Project: Veyla in Dusk

December 22, 2011 peneloping

Pattern: Veyla by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll in Dusk
Started: December 20, 2011
Finished: December 21, 2011

Ravelry page

I think I’m jinxed when it comes to Ysolda’s patterns.

I absolutely love nearly all of her designs, but I’m always a little apprehensive to start one because for some reason I will always inevitably make some stupid mistake or assumption that leads to a tangled mess that does not remotely resemble something wearable.

When I first started these, the first thing I did wrong was to assume that because they were gloves, they must be knit in the round. So I cast on 23 stitches and started knitting in round. It was not until an embarrassing number of stitches later that I realized that I was knitting a pretty little finger warmer.

My next attempt failed because I didn’t realize the chart is read back and forth and not all from the same side. In my defense, I’ve never actually used a chart that wasn’t symmetrical before. In my stupidity, I failed to realize that the chart was also written out until after I finished an entire cuff.

In the end we came to a truce, and the result is these gorgeous little gloves. These are going to live with my friend but I have a ton of the yarn left since they hardly require any so I’m definitely making a pair for myself.

Note to self: you have tiny wrists and maniacally large hands so make a small cuff and a large mitt.

A lesson in gauge

November 14, 2011 peneloping

Sometimes I get cocky and forget that I’ve only really been knitting for less than a year. And with that, I forget that each new knitting project I pick up teaches me something new.

Cables aren’t new, I learned cables with my Hermione sweater. But the blackberry stitch was new. And the idea of alternating skeins when working with hand-dyed yarns. And (I feel sort of stupid about this one) the importance of gauge. That was new too.

I’m not exactly sure how I’ve been getting away with it, but up until now I’ve never knitted a swatch, nor have I ever consistently checked my gauge on a project. I would pretty much just buy the correct weight of yarn and use the recommended needle size and run with it.

When you spend $19.20 per skein though, it’s a little hard to just “run with” anything. When I had gotten to about the eighth row, I checked my gauge and realized I was knitting waaay too loosely and was going to end up with a behemoth sweater. So I ripped it and now I’m checking like a maniac every few rows and for once my gauge is perfect.

My only question is, how the hell is anyone getting gauge on this sweater with size 7 needles?? I’m knitting super tightly on size 5’s and it’s perfect. I could probably even go down to a size 4 and knit normally.

In other news, I really love this pattern. And this yarn. And the color.

*drool*