Unpacking, and The Best Medicine

So much has changed, dear reader, since last I posted. I blog now from our apartment in Chicago, the apartment that I share with my fiancée.

Yep. Not only have I moved across the country, but I am now engaged. The move was a serious adventure, complicated vastly by the fact that it was grievously ill-planned. In the end, we carted an entire U-haul's worth of boxes (mostly filled with books) up three flights of stairs at 8pm after having two hours of sleep (total) in two days of driving. Yeah, not so smooth. But, we are here, and we are slowly unpacking and arranging our new life.

It's funny, I thought the hardest thing about this would be the physical unpacking, but it's more the mental side of it: adjusting to the new town, not knowing anyone, finally having my own kitchen, and being a Big Girl. The past couple of days, I've really been struggling, and I realized today that I haven't knit in at least a week. Maybe more. I was going to earlier, and found that I didn't even have the will. That's when I realized that I was really not okay. So, I had a little snack and a lie-down, and now I'm going to give myself a big dose of the best medicine I know. I betcha I'll feel better in the morning.

Twists and Turns

It's been a bit since my last post: things have been a bit odd as Ben and I prepare to move to Chicago. There are so many little twists and turns that precede such a big step, and it can be very disorienting. However, things have been gradually improving, and we are looking forward to a wonderful adventure. In the meantime, I've been working on my Celtic bag, and I'm almost finished with the front. I tried binding it off once, but the edge of the bag expanded and was ruffled, so I went back and decreased strategically, which produced a variety of pleasing results. Firstly, it made the edge smaller than the rest of the bag, which will create a nice shape on the finished bag, and the way that I placed the increases made the cables end in a way that I really like. Overall, I'm pretty excited, and I can't wait to crochet on the edge and buttonhole, and whip up the other side of the bag. Then, I can make the strap and line this baby. I'm feeling very successful, so far.

Swimmingly

Well, my Adventures in Charted Knitting are going quite well! This much cabling means slower going than usual, but I'm really getting the hang of reading the chart, and it's starting to feel natural. Best of all, I absolutely adore this cable. I know I'm going to love the finished bag. I just hope my mods work out the way I want them to. I'm very pleased so far!

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.