Going to the Dark Side

Just kidding... No crochet vs knitting jokes here.

I've been thinking about this for a while. I LOVE crocheting, don't get me wrong, but there's something about the way knitted fabric drapes... I can't quite explain it. Anyway, to learn (or actually RE-learn) how to knit has been something I've wanted to tackle.

So yesterday I decided to finally take the plunge. I was out at Wal-Mart killing time looking at yarn and hooks and stuff like that, when it occurred to me that while looking at the crochet hooks and pattern books was fun, what I really seemed to be drawn to by some unknown force were the knitting needles. I thought that was my subconscious telling me that I was ready to try it. I picked up a pair of straight needles and a set of circular needles, both size 8 (which translates to my favorite H hook size in crochet.) I also bought some pink yarn because, well, my very first crochet project two years ago when I started back up again was a little pink afghan. I decided to continue that tradition.

I also bought Leisure Arts's book I Can't Believe I'm Knitting! which I've decided is absolute pants. (My book has a different cover, but same material.) The wording is ok, but the little diagram drawings don't do much for me, and I'm an equal parts visual and written learner. I NEED those pics. But I don't want little drawn diagrams. I want pics of real hands holding real needles and real yarn. I want to see the intricate twists of REAL yarn around the needle. So after a half hour of trying to cast on using the method in the book, I threw the book on the floor, stomped on it, sat back down, and tried to do it from memory how my grandmother taught me when I was around 10 or 11. (I figured if I could teach myself how to crochet with no book {and at the time I was doing it it didn't occur to me to look online for tutorials} then I could teach myself to knit with no book, too.)

It went ok, but apparently she taught me to double cast on using BOTH needles. I guess this is outdated because everywhere I've seen online shows to cast on in this weird method holding the yarn in your left hand curled around your fingers where it then does a little dance and laughs at you for having to contort your hand in such an unnatural way and THEN try to get the yarn to stay on a needle with nothing to really grab it with (like a crochet hook.) GRRRRR.

So yea, I cast on doing it the way I remembered, then started the knit stitch. Ok, we're rolling good, 20 stitches cast on, 20 stitches knitted, everyone's accounted for and all is right with the world.

Now we turn. Hmmm... I seem to remember my grandmother never turned her work, but simply just went back and forth. Apparently she was ambidextrous? I turned mine, because that's what the book said. Even though the book had led me wrong in casting on, but still, let's just give it another go, shall we? So we turn. And we knit some more. But wait.. why aren't these coming out the pretty braided look on one side and the ugly sideways loops on the other side? Why are the ugly sideways loops on both sides? YUCK! That's not how I want something to look!

Again, I delve further into the book and realize, oh yea. DOH! Purling. Ew. Just when the knitted stitch was starting to feel ok and my hands weren't ready to pretzel themselves, I have to do something even MORE cruel to them and make them work totally backwards to purl. Hmmm... So we purl a row. And though my hands and fingers were about ready to go on strike, we had 20 stitches purled, again everyone was accounted for and all is right with the world.

And we turn again, this time knitting. 20 stitches knitted: we're doing good. So I decide, ok, simple swatch thing is going all right, let's rip it out and try again. But after the horror of the text written cast on method, and my not-quite-sure-I'm-doing-this-right "remembered" cast on method, I decide to forage the wealth of splendid information available to me over the internet.

Annie's Attic stitching help section, which was SO VERY helpful to me when I was remembering to crochet two years ago, really let me down when trying to use it to help with knitting. It's almost like those little videos were snickering and making fun of me. Don't laugh!

So after a little further searching I come across a WONDERFUL site called KnittingHelp.com run by a lovely lady named Amy Finlay. Hurrah! I felt like leaping with joy across my living room. This site was simply that good.

First thing I looked up is casting on. Where I find there are like a million different methods to cast on. Wow. So I start with the first one, which looked similar to the dreaded laughing hands method in the Leisure Arts book, but not quite. She has little videos that show you exactly how to do everything and the neat thing about them is she TALKS and explains what she's doing as she's doing it. Fabulous! So we start. And hey look at that, I'm casting on using the one needle and curled yarn around fingers method and my fingers are no longer laughing at me - they're actually working the yarn on the needle! Life is good.

I then looked up how to do the knit and purl stitches on her little videos and found I'm a Continental Knitter (aka "German Method" and sometimes called "Left-Handed Knitting.") I found this amusing... A right-handed crocheter who's moonlighting as a left-handed knitter. Who knew?

Anyway, after this loooooong diatribe, I go back to the photo above. It's a simple basket weave. I cast on about 55 stitches, did a garter stitch for the first 5 rows, then knit 10, purl 10 across and alternating row after row. After about 12 rows, I switched it around to start the new set of boxes. What I'd eventually like to do is make a baby afghan with the pink yarn using this basket weave pattern, but I think for that I'll knit 20, purl 20 so that the boxes will be larger.

I'm in the process now of binding this off (after all that work I'm not going to rip it OUT!) And then I'll start the actual afghan after that.

And just to please my right hand, which is longing for a crochet hook instead of these blasted needles, I'll include this picture from two years ago of the very first thing I crocheted:













I remember when I was working on this and how awkward my hands felt holding the hook and yarn. It's good therapy because it makes me feel that eventually I'll stop fumbling over the needles and get better at knitting just like I did with crocheting.

Wish me luck!

More Caps

Here are two more that I've finished. I got bored with the original pattern design so I've been experimenting with doing different things but not changing the structure of the fit.

These were both done with Caron Simply Soft. The one on the left is Lt Country Blue and White, and the one on the right is Country Blue and White.

My favorite is the one on the left. I like how the hat and the brim are opposite colors. The darker blue one was a pain to do, so I don't think I'll do that pattern again, but I do like the finished product.

CAPS to the Capital

A bunch of us on CAL Pals are participating in a charity drive called "CAPS to the Capital." It's a great cause and think of all the babies who will benifit from these tiny hats. Please go check the site out!

Here are six that I've done so far. I made some changes to the edging on the caps because... well, basically because I can never do a pattern without adding my own twist to it. Some of these have a reverse sc for the edging, a couple have a scalloped edging, and a couple have long sc stitches to add texture. My favorites are the blue one in the middle of the top row, the cream one with the purple edging next to it, and the pink, white, and purple one in the middle of the bottom row.

I'd like to make many many more of these before the January 7th deadline. I figure one or two a day or so should do it. They work up really quickly and they're an easy project.

And as for the big news, I still can't spill the beans yet, I'm sorry. Soon. :)

Ch-ch-ch-Changes

Wow.

Some serious stuff is going on here at my household. Nothing bad - don't get scared. But big time changes.

I can't yet talk about the details simply because I'm not sure who I know that reads this, but wow.

A rush of emotions are flowing through me: excitement, terror, elation, nervousness, you name it, I'm getting chills and thrills of every kind almost constantly.

Everything is happening so fast, too! It wasn't but a couple of weeks ago when things started going full speed ahead and we've barely had time to catch a breath since.

And it hasn't even come to a finish yet! There's still more coming, and that's the part that I'm the most nervous about, either way that it could go.

I'm sorry that I have to be so cryptic. You'll know soon.

*sigh* Wow.

How Boring Am I?

** #14 was about the Northern Lights. Here's a pic of the very first time I'd seen them, from November of 2004. We had just come home at around 10:00 at night and I got my camera and tripod out of the car, set them up, and pointed the camera straight up at the sky where it seemed to be the "core" of the Aurora. Still one of my favorite shots. **

I saw this on Sara's blog called "Crochet All Day" and thought I'd give it a try. I got 71 out of 150.

What you do is copy the list and bold the ones you've done. :)

- How boring are you? -

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink (though it was a tiny bar)
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said ‘I love you’ and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 10 provinces
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your cds
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Gotten flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Had a one-night stand
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror.
96. Raised children.
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Created and named your own constellation of stars
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an illness that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146: Dyed your hair
147: Been a DJ
148: Shaved your head
149: Caused a car accident
150: Saved someone’s life

I'm going to tag Brandy, Sue, and Courtney!

Teaser Pic #2

Here's an update on how the ghan is going! I've joined 42 squares so far and there's LOTS more still to go on. It's looking pretty good! I do think that this will be one BIG HUGE HONKIN' afghan though!

Tiny Bear #3

This is Shelby! She's my 5th little bear, and the 3rd one I've done with Bernat Baby Fingering weight yarn.

I named her after Julia Roberts's character in Steel Magnolias. With all that pink, I instantly thought of Roberts's stand out line from the movie: "I like pink. Pink is my signature color."

I'm tickled pink with how Shelby turned out. I did a few things differently with her and I really like the changes.


One of the most noticeable differences would be the pink nose. After doing Opal and Olivia with brown noses, I thought I'd give a pink one a try. I think it's so sweet!

Another change is the eyes. I went to JoAnn's yesterday looking for different beads to use for the eyes. The doll buttons I was using just didn't look quite right. They were nice and round, which I liked, but they stuck out so far from the head, which reminded me of rat's eyes. lol yuck

Anyway, I picked up quite a few different beads: some 4mm crystal beads in green, aquamarine, sapphire, and light blue, some black seed beads (which I'm not really crazy about), some round beads in pink, purple, pearl, white, clear, light brown, tan, copper, and butterscotch, and finally a multi pack of hematite round beads in 3mm, 4mm, 6mm, and 8mm. I tried all the beads on her face, but finally settled on the 4mm hematites. I REALLY like how they look! Next time I'll only use one strand of black floss to sew them on though, but I think they look really nice, and I like the fact that they're not as dark as flat blacks.


Another change is the way I did the paws. I used the same pink floss I used for the nose to embroider little lines on the paws and pulled just a little tight so that they would dimple a bit for toe definition.


Last big change was the feet. I made the beginning rounds a little smaller and then when assembling them onto the body, I placed them a little further back. This kept the front of the tummy from flattening out - it keeps that rounded belly look, which I love.






Shelby stands just over 4" tall, so she's about the same size as Olivia and just a tiny bit taller than Opal. This size is perfect for sitting on a desk or a small shelf. Speaking of which, I need a better place to put these little beauties!

Her collar is a flower that was borrowed from another pattern for a square motif. It was worked up with Bernat Softee Baby in pink with a size #0 hook.

She's been brushed just like the other bears to give her that fuzzy look and feel. Now that I've got smaller beads for eyes, I think I'll go a couple of hook sizes down. I'd like to make one in this yarn that's smaller than the three I've made so far.







And of course, my favorite type shots with these little bears ;)



















I made her a little blanket (or as my sons call them: ni-ni's). I figure she needed a little something. ;)

I hope you all aren't sick of these little bears. I just love working on them and seeing each one as they come to form. They're all unique in their own way and it's so fun to do different things with them.

Rereading Meme

I was browsing through The Daily Meme earlier and saw this little meme. Perfect for me! I have several books I reread. So here goes. :)

Booking Through Thursday

This week's questions were suggested by Marie.

1. Do you ever reread your books?
   
   Sure do!


2. If so, which ones? If not, why not?
   
   I'll just focus on Fiction for today:)
   Here are the ones I love to read over and over:
   
   *Mary Higgins Clark - A Cry In The Night
   
   *Helen Fielding - Bridget Jones's Diary and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (the book was MUCH better than the movie)
   
   *V.C. Andrews - any of the Flowers in the Attic series
   (I know, it's a guilty pleasure)
   
   *William Goldman - The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure (The 'Good Parts' Version)
   
   *Stephen King - Christine and The Shining
   
   *F. Paul Wilson - The Keep
   
   *Judith Michael - Deceptions (another guilty pleasure)
   
   *Gregory Maguire - Wicked


3. Do you read the books the whole way through or pick through for favorite scenes?
   
   Well, I guess that depends on what book it is! The Mary Higgins Clark books (there are more I reread, but the one mentioned above is my favorite) I reread all the way through. There's too much a chance to miss something if you skip around!
   
   For Bridget Jones, I do both. I've read them cover to cover several times each, but I do love to just pop open the book and jump right in anywhere. They're by far two of my favorite books in all of my collection.
   
   In the Flowers series, I mostly read all the way through. The stories are so... mind boggling.
   
   Ahh, The Princess Bride. Cover to Cover. Definitely. And Goldman's commentary dialogue inbetween the prose is hilarious. If you've seen the movie but haven't read the book, you have to read it!! It's fantastic.
   
   Stephen King's Christine is a book I'll literally read cover to cover, and go right back to the beginning and start over. It's easily in my top five favorite books. It's extremely well written in true King form: slow build of character form while malevolence and terror circle around the reader. Fascinating. The Shining is just downright frightening.
   
   The Keep is a book my hubby recommended to me 5 or 6 years ago. It sounded boring as hell when he described it, but I gave it a chance. Turned out it was a book I read cover to cover in just three days! I literally couldn't put it down. Gripping. Another I'll reread cover to cover. There's no skipping around on that one!
   
   Deceptions is a book my mother had and I just picked up one day. I was worried it was going to be a trashy romance novel (wouldn't you think that with a title like that?) but it wasn't. It's one I'll read cover to cover everytime.
   
   Wicked I picked up after I'd seen the musical in Chicago. I LOVED the musical and the book, though very different, is fabulous. I've read it twice, cover to cover.


4. What qualifies a book for the reread pile?
   
   It has to capture me. For me, when I sit down with a book, if I can totally get taken into the story and no longer be aware of my surroundings in real life, that's a good read.

Opal Revisited!

Those of you who follow my blog might know who Opal is. For a refresher, click here to see the original post after I made her.

Well since I've done all the other bears, something about Opal just didn't sit well with me.. I'm not sure exactly what, but today I decided she needed a bit of a make over.

And what girl wouldn't love that?

I decided to make her a dress and matching hat which I designed both myself. I think they turned out really cute!

I did the bodice and sleeves part in rows, then put it on her like a tank top, did a slip stitch, and then the skirt was crocheted while she was wearing it. That made it a little difficult, and of course I can't take it off of her without cutting it off, but I was able to crochet it without any seams from that point.

This was the first time I've ever crocheted a wearable, so I'm pretty excited with how they turned out!


Here's a look from the back so you can see more of the hat. The brim of the hat and the skirt were worked in the same way and then finished with a round of reverse single crochet. I'm kind of debating on doing a little set of panties for her, as the skirt rides up pretty high -- poor girl's showing her naughty bits!




And a shot of the back of her dress. At the top I just tied it with a small bow.













And one final view of her:













And just because I'm visual and can't resist,
here's a before and after:

Happy 4th of July!

Hope you all had a great celebration!

Happy Independence, America!

Happy (early) 4th of July!!

We went downtown tonight to see the fireworks but were unfortunately in a horrible spot and I forgot my tripod.

So instead of showing you the really sh*tty photos I took of the fireworks tonight, I'd like to share some of my favorites that I took a few years ago in Illinois.


These were taken in 2003 just a month and a half before Joel and I got married. We were in Rockford visiting family and friends for the 4th and saw quite a fantastic display of fireworks that night.








And of course, the grand finale.

We're going to go to some more fireworks tomorrow night in a small town just north of here. Hopefully we'll be in a much better spot and I won't be stupid enough to forget my tripod. lol :oÞ

Finally!

Just in the knick of time!!

I've just finally gotten this thing done after letting it sit for two months and wander into the UFO category. I resurrected it the other night, out of guilt that the 4th of July was fast approaching and I hadn't touched it in weeks. There were 12 stars sewn on then, and I knew I had to get my butt in gear to get those last 38 done.

It felt like 3800.

But I buckled down and after much jeering from my husband and sons (who had all but given up on this being done in time) just finished it.

We'll be taking it with us tonight when we go down to watch the fireworks, if this supposed big threatening thunderstorm doesn't delay them.

I hope you all have a happy and safe 4th!

The Power of a Gift, pt2

Isn't this beautiful! I just received this gorgeous bookmark from Julie. I love it!! Such a pretty pattern and her work is perfect! I'm loving the beads.

I know I'll be showing this off to everyone I know!

Thank you thank you THANK YOU, Julie!!

The Power of a Gift

We're doing a bookmark swap on CAL Pals and my partner was Julie. This was such a fun swap to do! It didn't take hardly any time to make the bookmark, but what a sweet and fun little swap to do. This was my first crochet swap - I'm definitely going to have to do more!

Anyway, Julie received her bookmark today, so I can show it here on my blog. I borrowed the flower from another pattern, but the rest is my design.

She LOVED it! I'm SO happy. I just saw her thread on CAL Pals saying that she got it, and she said the most wonderful things about it. It made me cry!

I'll be checking my mail in a little bit to see if hers got to me yet! I can't wait to see it, and to post here to show everyone!