Knitting in class...

is my favorite thing in the whole wide world. I love having something to do with my hands while I am listening to my professors talk about whatever class I am in. Currently I am working on the Wingspan shawl which is super awesome for Class knitting - it's garter stitch which makes it easy to knit in class, but the short rows makes it really interesting and fun. Hopefully i can get it finished before June 1st, although the shawl is currently almost halfway done... so I think that finishing it by then won't be a problem.

I also have to try again at spinning my green roving. it is another few points on my Yarn Adventures. tomorrow is going to be an interesting time knitting, because it is 4/20. Not exactly sure how I am getting to the LYS because of that. but get there I will! (I need a canning jar)

I want to answer questions about myself and my knitting, but can't find a getting to know you list online, so I am just going to think up questions and then answer them one at a time.

Question 1: what is the most interesting thing you have ever used as a stitch marker?
ANSWER: I recently ran out of stitch markers while knitting in public, and bit off the string on my tea bag and tied it in a loop so that i could keep knitting!

t shirt yarn bag CUSTOM TO YOU!

so I have been afk for a long time, but as an offering, here is a new pattern! my LYS is doing what they are calling Yarn Adventures, and I get points for (1) making recycled yarn (2) knitting a market bag out of that yarn and (3) writing up a pattern for it! I have only two Tshirts, but they are XL so hopefully that will be enough yarn.

for this bag you need a plethora of tshirts (like I said, i have two but you might need more) and BIG needles (i used 16" circular size 15 (10 mm) needles)

find a T shirt yarn tutorial and make yarn. I will probably also make plarn (plastic bag yarn) for a second bag, but GOODNESS one thing at a time! to attach one ball of yarn to the next, i knotted mine together, but you can glue or sew yours. :)

**A note about working with T shirt yarn - just because it has tons of stretch does NOT mean you should stretch it while you're knitting. make sure to keep your stitches loose enough!!




Handles: make 1 or 2 depending on your preference
** the reason we are making the handles first is so that you are not trying to guess how much yarn you need left over for handles. that way you can knit to the end of your yarn without worries!
CO 26 stitches
R1: knit all stitches
R2: knit all stitches
BO

the reason you knitted two rows instead of one is to have ends at each end of your handles. DO NOT weave these in - you can use them to attach your handles to your bag. (my pictures will show an alternate bag because i didn;t think of this brilliant idea until after I had finished my handle)






Body:we're knitting the body from the top down
CO as many stitches as you need to knit in the round comfortably (I cast on 42 stitches which is going to make a HUGE bag)
join in the round - be careful not to twist! and then KNIT one row
after you knit that first row, you can either continue knitting in the round or do what I did and try a mesh pattern - I did the Faggot stitch which is K2tog, YO for a bunch.

when you get near the end, knit solid for a couple rows, then BO using a kitchener stitch to make the bottom of the bag. if that is not something you wanna do, you can BO and then seam the bottom

add the handles! that's it! you're done!

my two XL shirts made a nice produce bag, and you can add more shirts and cast more on your needles for a bigger bag :)

Guess what I just ordered!

its........... SWEATER YARN!!

I ordered off of Ice Yarns and chose colors that KJI would love (hopefully)... so they are in the MAIL coming to ME!!!

I bet that I also have some more sock yarn coming in the mail for me... i am waiting on a shipment of minis for my blanket... they will be lovely and hand dyed

speaking of dying, I will be participating in my first DIY swap, using sock yarn I got in the mail yesterday. I am going to use hair dye, so it's a good thing I have some extra yarn to test on! hopefully I don't fail too much at this... I think that it will work (It should work) and i hope it will because I have no backup plan.

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