the things I do for you

this is a picture of love. my lovely cashwool reduced to simple thread so that Jacob can look like a BAMF in Humans v Zombies. he wanted me to sew on 11 NERF darts to his bandana to show how many humans he had turned into zombies. my beautiful yarn!!!! :( i love him a lot apparently.

new pattern!!

YAY!! Snowman!!!!!!

Sweater

no I am not making one. I just unraveled one!! hoorah! it was surprisingly simple... I had a lot of fun with it. now comes the measuring and the winding and the TOUCHING SOFT THINGS!!! cause I can. so far it looks like ramen noodles, bu that's okay. I already have 95 yards measured out and balled up with a little piece of paper attached to it so that I know ow much is there. probably shoulda washed the thing first but what are ya gonna do??

I have the bug though. now I want MORE SWEATERS for unravelling. MORE MORE MORE!!!! (secret santa if you are reading this.... go find a good one)

I also really really REALLY wanna make tshirt yarn... I was thinking I could tiedye it first and then cut it up so that it would have an awesome pattern. we'll see. (damn that makes me sound like a mom. to myself. weird........)

anyway, upcycled yarn will shortly be making an appearance in my Etsy store (the new one!!!! TiedDyedandBonafide) as will handdyed nylon sportweight yarn. WINNING!!


in other news.... started a sock (another pair) that will look like this. only yellow and dark dark DARK brown (almost black) that has an afterthought heel (maybe red?? have not decided yet.) tis is in addition to the house socks that i am making for Ginny and the elefante from sock yarn that I am making for Keeley. SO MUCH SOCK YARN!! you say. then I won't tell you about the MORE SOCK YARN I bought this weekend.

12 in 2012

twelve knitting goals on 2012. oooh lala!!! As I get going on this, I will post more links and such to this page but for now suffice it to say that i will be a very good knitter by the time next year is over. I want to try 12 new knitting things in one year (although the ones i finish at the end of this year will count too!!!)

so far I have these for goals:

socks with an afterthought heel
finish my afghan
finish my amigurami
toe up socks
lace
something with little needles
sweater or cardigan
gloves
learn entrelac
double knit something
(this is 10 so far!! YAY!!)

so at this point I need four more goals... hmmm... I will think about it
PS these goals can overlap. I am thinking specifically that lace and little needles will overlap, or something liek taht

Yes i am crazy

but not for the reasons you think (or maybe EXACTLY for those reasons). I dyed yarn for the first time two days ago!!!! (cheers erupt from the crowd) the picture above is my first real attempt at beauty... I call the colorway Anansi the Spider ( which makes my spellcheck LOVE me) - a green/orange colorway 100% cotton... and for SALE!!!! (check my Etsy account... TrunkJunkie! :) )

Beginning Something New

My first contact with dye was when I was very young as a girl scout... we did tie dyeing. and we did a ton of it!! I still have shirts that I dyed over the years in my drawer. Which is why I smiled like I was seeing an old friend when I pulled out the Procion Dyes from my package from Dharma Fiber Trading Company... In many ways I was. Even though I have never dyed straight up yarn before (except a few premature and frankly unsuccessful attempts with Kool Aid), I know how this dye will react to certain types of fibers ( like.... cotton for instance. or wool.). I am so so so excited to get together with Adrishoes and work on dyeing yarn together! (for those of you who are crocheters, her blog is the one to beat. Check out the blog In Stitches for her creations)


Speaking of poorly dyed Kool Aid yarn, my first attempt at that was unsuccessful. my green all washed out the first time around, as did the blue, and the orange I tried turned into a salmon pinkish color, which may not even stay in anyway. I created a solution for the yarn though.... I am making a baby blanket to either donate or sell on Etsy (I have an Etsy account now!! check it out... I'm TrunkJunkie). which REALLY scared my boyfriend.... I had to explain that it wasn't for me. :) pictures up soon!

Swapping is FUN!

So I am not sure how I like the Mystery Item that i am making for the one swap... it seems a little strange with the yarn I am using. (this will all be so much easier when I am able to actually TELL you what I am talking about.) the pattern that i am improving is a go though because i love the way it looks... just not sure about the yarn. As far as other swaps go though... i couldn't be happier with the package i sent today for the Doctor Who swap! I splurged a little on yarn because that was the most important thing in the box.... but I also made cute Doctor Who cards with envelopes and sent Licorice tea with a steeper (for loose tea). yum yum yum! :]

because everyone needs something pretty

what perfect timing! just as the Doctor Who swap was ending, I got paired for another swap! it's a one item swap, and this month it is a "surprise" swap - you give your partner a list of things you would like, and they make one for you. I looked at my partner's list, and decided on a project (i won't say which one in case she finds her way here!), and i am trying to write a pattern for it. with a chart!! should be exciting. once I swap I will post the pattern here. :)

My new Dishtowel

Not bad for a first time if I do say so myself... I am now working on a second one. by this fall I hope to have six but we shall see if that comes to fruition.

Expanding my horizons

Because I obviously didn't have enough knitting to keep me busy, I have started a new craft. I picked up some iron on embroidery transfer patterns at the local Michael's while my sister was looking for supplies for her handmade christmas gifts. In case any friends she has stumble across my blog I will refrain from telling you what they are except to say that I WANT ONE. also I never made anything that big/time consuming for any of my friends, so she is definitely putting me to shame. Last year she made handmade bracelets, and they were beautiful!!!! so jealous haha.

But I digress. my New Apartment (which doesn't actually exist yet) needs new dishtowels when it DOES exist, so I found cool patterns that LG and DL will hopefully like... they are all rock symbols, so like an electric guitar, a drumset, a microphone, and a keytar (which will be SUPER awesome). currently I am working on a pattern that says "ROCK ON" in rockish letters and has a rocking out hand, in that longhorn sign thing. so far it says ROCK and has a hand (which is pretty decent for it being less than 24 hours into my project). when the first dishcloth gets done I will DEFINITELY post it up on here...

it's a secret... :D

I have started working on my afghan block for my Aunt Joni... and I am having fun trying to come up with ideas for Rowan's block. I still want to ask my boyfriend and his family if it is okay that I honor her in that way, because I never met her and I don't want to overstep my boundaries.

as far as the other knitting projects in my life go... I have been cranking out my red scarf/kerchief thingie and C recently asked if I would make her an earflap hat and matching gloves for next winter. living up north gets cold. uff da!! and who knows, if I like it I might make two sets. the current plan is a black hat with purple edging and then purple fingerless gloves.

I am also in a swap for Doctor Who fans... what fun! I should be getting my partner today but we'll see. :D I was thinking i could get some cheapish yarn at Coldwater Collaborative but... sad day! their yarn is rather expensive. hopefully I can find cheaper yarn elsewhere.

Sorry it took me so long to get this up!! here's the picture of Aunt Nancy's Square. It has been really hard to figure out how to design my square for my aunt... I was so young when she died I didn't get a chance to know her. so Aunt Joni's Square is waiting on some inspiration. Rowan's Square on the other hand I have a few ideas for... I was thinking about making a square with a tree (a Rowan tree) and in the trunk have a pair of angel wings. no idea on the color though... it would be great to make it in a fun bright color.. I never met her but I hear all the time about how full of life she was.

Blocks

I am no stranger to the quick project. but I have always thought that making an afghan out of blocks was kinda like cheating... a big project out of smaller projects?? what madness! I hate doing the same thing over and over though, so it makes no sense that I have such aversion to these afghans. But I mention this only because I have decided to take a baby step towards my own block afghan... I just joined a Ravelry group to contribute squares to a afghan that would then be auctioned to raise money to help pay for a surgery to prevent cancer. I am no stranger to what cancer can do to a family - my great aunt is going through chemo right now and I lost an aunt to cancer when I was little. I designed this square in honor and in memory of all of those people whose lives have been touched by cancer, and especially my great aunt, who is like a gramma to me. I hope that over the next couple weeks I can design another block for my aunt, and another for my best friends cousin, who died far too young.


Without further ado... Nancy's Square

I used caron simply soft in cool mint and size 7 needles... but any yarn will do.
the lady who will put together the afghan I am donating to has asked for a 6 by 6 square, so that's what the measurements are here
gauge is not important as it is a rather small project... whatever you decide looks about right will do
(and repeat anything in astericks to the end of the row)
Cast on 33 stitches
Row 1: K3 *p3, k3*
Row 2: p3 *k3, YO, p3*
Row 3: k3 *p4, k3*
Row 4: p3 *k1, k2tog, YO, k1, p3*
Row 5: k3 *p2, p2tog, k3*
Row 6: p3 *k1, YO, k2tog, p3*
repeat these six rows 5 times (I think) or until the piece reaches the desired length.

a picture will be up as soon as I can find my camera...

Knitting knitting knitting

projects are really the best after they have been finished... which is what i have been trying to do with the projects I brought home from college with me. my most recently finished project is the Unstrung pattern for my bestest friend Ashley's birthday, which is today. thank goodness they are done - and in the nick of time! I am so happy with how they turned out - they are equal parts awesome and sweet. the thumb was interesting and I actually enjoyed working with the little rounds. next project will be to finish my red scarf/kerchief... and then perhaps a quickly finished project?? one can only hope... although knowing my luck I will fall in love with a super complicated sweater or some such nonsense.