Charted Territory

I'm not always good with change, and sometimes that makes my life difficult. This is particularly true in the case of charted vs. written patterns. I grew up crocheting, and later knitting, from written patterns, and I've never made the leap to charted patterns. It started as simply a preference, but I think it is beginning to pass into the realm of fear, and so I've decided that it is time. There are literally dozens of patterns I haven't knitted yet because I don't read charts. But, I'm planning a totally epic Celtic cabled bag, inspired by the lovely evening I had seeing the movie Brave, as well as my love of all things Scottish. The pattern I want to use as my jumping off point has a charted cable pattern, and I've decided the time has come. Let's do this.

Punch

Hello all, Ben and I just returned last night from a long visit with some very good friends. While there, I finished a pair of socks and a dice bag for my friend Aero. I'll post pictures of the socks when I have good quality ones. For now, here's a nice picture of a nice little present I was able to whip up for my oldest friend.

Aero and I have been close friends since we were about twelve years old. We all play Dungeons and Dragons, and when I found a bit of yarn in my bag in some of our mutually favorite colors, I offered to make her a bag for her dice. She absolutely loves it, and it came out the perfect size to hold her set of dice and her two figures.

More posts soon, hopefully of blocked mittens!

Emerald Isle

Hello all! Happy Fourth of July to my fellow Americans, and I hope that my Canadian friends had a lovely holiday earlier this week. I come to you today from an actual computer, which is helpful, because I can provide you with better quality and more appropriately placed photos!

On this Fourth of July, I find myself nestled quietly away, cozy and ready for this thunderstorm that's threatening to come down. I have to say that I'm fairly content, and I'm looking forward tot he rest of my quiet evening. I have a few past projects to show you, so I figured I'd get started today. This is an earwarmer that I made at the request of my best friend.

Pattern: Bow Headband by Beth Postelwait

I really liked this pattern. It was a great opportunity to finally learn to do short rows--which were a little more challenging than I anticipated. I understood the concept of the short rows, but wrapping them correctly without over tightening them was a tiny bit tricky. However, I got the hang of it after a while, and I'm pretty pleased with the final result.

I made a couple of modifications: Firstly, I made it a button closure instead of just sewing it all together at the end, because Shelley wanted to be able to put it on and take it off without disturbing her hair. It was actually Shelley's idea for me to hide the buttons under the bow, and I'm very pleased with that decision. I also knitted the middle portion of the bow, instead of wrapping yarn around it like the pattern calls for, just because I like it better that way. Shelley's happy with it, too, so it all worked out very nicely, and there's even yarn left over to give back to her.

Shelley is Scots-Irish, and with that comes her beautiful red hair, so this color that we chose together looks utterly fabulous with her hair and skin tone. She's using another skein in the same color to knit her first non-fun-fur scarf, and is making me very proud with her enthusiasm. We're both hoping she doesn't get herself into a mistake that she can't fix, because she's in Bavaria for the next month, and there's only so much that can be accomplished over Skype.

Oh, and remember those mittens that I swore I'd finish on Sunday? I DID. They aren't blocked yet, but I'll be getting on that soon, with pictures to follow. I also have a few more projects to share, so I'll be back tomorrow with pictures of the Traveling Woman that I cranked out at breakneck speed last week. I only have one other major WIP in the basket: the Brandywine Shawl that I put away for my own good, some time ago. It might be time to revisit her.

A Year and a Day

Last June, I decided that I wanted to start a pair of mittens. I titled them "Mittens in June?" in my Ravelry notebook, deciding to start them early so that I could have them done before it got cold enough to wear them. Unfortunately, that did not happen. Not only were they not done in time for the beginning of winter--they didn't get done for any of winter, and are still sitting here, unfinished. Until today. It is July 1st, a year and a day since the month I started these. I am moving to Chicago in less than a month (had I mentioned that?) and this madness has to end.

Today, these mittens are going down. Sadly, I'm not even sure if they will be warm enough for a Chicago winter, but it's the principle of the thing.

Quick Traveling

Hello everyone! Once again, it's been the better part of a month with no post. I swear, this app is going to help. At some point. The problem is, actually, that I really have nothing to show off at the moment. I finished the Mara, but have not blocked her (or the Ishbel from a while back-I was trying to hold out for more blocking mats...it's not looking good.) However, Ben and I took a quick trip to Chicago to apply for this apartment that we really love, and in the 38 hours we spent on the train getting there and back, I started work on a large Traveling Woman as a farewell gift to a dear friend who has helped me through some very difficult travels this year. That is still very much in progress, but it needs to be done by Thursday, so I should have some pictures very soon. In the meantime, just imagine a giant pile of unblocked FOs. That's my bedroom.

Oh, and I've also been very badly bitten by a new project. Fellow blogger Kate has just finished up a stunning Veil of Isis, and I seriously need one of my own. I've looked at this pattern countless times before, but hers pushed me over the edge. I was contemplating this morning knitting some lace in a dark, dramatic color. I'm not sure yet whether this is the project for it or not. I really love Kate's version in the grey. But, what I love most about this pattern us that it incorporates many of my favorite shapes and motifs, and it just has so many of the elements that make me love lace. Now, I just have to find the right yarn--and considering the condition of the yarn funds, that may be a challenge.

From the land of fiction

I decided that I would experiment with the Blogger app on my new iPod. So, here I am, posting from backstage during act two of the play I'm currently in. Here is a (bad quality) picture of my massive, seemingly never-ending Mara, who is doing double duty as a prop. Since I have a good bit of downtime in act two, I get to do at least a little bit of knitting every night. I am really looking forward to finding but how big this baby is off the needles. Also, my costumer for the production, who is also a friend and fellow needle worker, told me that I could wear it in the show if I finished it before the end of the run. So, I have renewed motivation to finish it soon! Be back soon with pictures of my finish-it-upitis.

The Long Road Home

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen of the Blog, It's been quite a long time since I've been here. In that time, I've gone through a lot of really difficult developments and changes. Ultimately, I've come out more or less on top, and I know what I need to do to keep things that way. The first of these things is to learn not to bite off more than I can chew, and the next is to take more time to do what I want. So, hopefully there will be a bit more blogging, since there will be a bit more knitting. Also, I got an iPod Touch as a graduation gift from two of my best friends, and I have a blogging app that I hope to implement in the very near future. I have been tackling much of my WIP basket, with one item finished and three very near completion. I haven't taken pictures of any of them yet, mostly because I've been too busy to go outside. Did you know that a human being can paint an entire set in one night, then spend the next night learning an entire role as an emergency replacement, then spend the next night onstage performing that role on opening night? I didn't either until I did it. As proud as I am of myself, I hope to never take on that kind of workload again. Anyway, although I don't have any pictures of my knitting, I do have some pictures of someone else's:

(please excuse the badly lighted iPod picture)

That's my ten-year-old brother, a few minutes after I taught him to knit. We were sitting on the couch watching Food Network together while I knitted, when I leaned over to him and said "hey, did you ever consider learning to knit?" He immediately turned to me and said "YES." So, we commenced. He learned so quickly, and before long he was trucking along on his own. He had a couple of setbacks when I left him to his own devices while I did some chores, but overall he's really doing well. I'm so proud of him, and I'm so glad that we have knitting to bond over, now. I hope that he sticks with it. He seems really excited about it, and he doesn't get excited about much. I will return soon with some of my recently finished and almost-finished WIPS. Happy Tuesday, everyone.