Sunday, September 25, 2011

Yop post 12

Sick. No knitting, No Crochet. Feel Icky. Going to bed. Next week...

Sunday, September 18, 2011

YoP post #11, Shh! It's A Secret

More socks this week. This time just for me... at least I think this pair is for me :) sometimes things just don't work out for me, too big-too little. But this time I WILL get it right! I just know it. Here's a Pic of the toes which are done so I can move on to the pattern rows. Yay!

One of my newer projects are these adorable tiny bunnies. This one is only about the size of a penny. The whole point of these is to lose them. I know crazy right? So you make a bunch then take them with you whenever you go out someplace and put them with a little note attached in unexpected places to brighten peoples day. Example.. library, grocery store, bank.....only since there so small be sure to put them out of childrens reach like the Non-Fiction section of the Library or the top half of the grocery shelves. You could of course make them with worsted yarn and leave them almost anywhere. The point is to make someone smile for a while. Most of my scraps lately have been from all those socks I'm churning out so all my bunnies are tiny. There's a whole Group about it on Ravelry so come chect it out if your interested.

A sweet find during my Saturday yardsale adventures. I do love to find something I want at a really good price and this was free! I'm using it for my crochet hooks :) Perfect right?
 

My very first Felting project. Don't know what it is but can't wait to find out. The color runs a bit (turned my finger greenish a bit while knitting) and I don't know what to do about that so if anyone has any Idea whats gonna happen when I try to felt it please let me know. If you've ever had this problem you could take away a quite a bit of my anxiety just by leaving me a comment. I really hope it wont mess up my washing machine.

Here's the suprise! I finished the hat I am making for my Mother for Christmas. Matches the scarf pretty well. Now all I have to do is make up the Wristies/fingerless gloves and the set will be ready.

Maybe for next weeks post you all can find out what I plan to make for my Father.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Crochet VS. Knitting

when I first began to knit 1 year ago (plus a few months) I was sure I would never Crochet. Not even a chain! I had been told and had read (in S. McPhee's book) that crochet was a waste of yarn and that it may be quicker but if you had limited funds for you stash building then each stitch in crochet used 3x the amount as a knit stitch. So as a beginner I decided not to waste yarn, at least not that way :) (there was a lot of wasting and longish ends and mistakes).

Then I decided about 3 months ago to do a patternwhich called for a *gasp* chain. I tried to do it without looking. Failed. Borrowed a book and read Only the How to Chain part. Failed. Then I bit the bullet and just read the durn book.

The patterns were fabulous-the language was jibberish. Really loved the patterns though! Borrowed a Video. I did much better with that. I know because the first of my Granny Squares was born (Shameful yes, still working on the same ones as my YOP project list) So I made a few washcloths and a baby blanket and I love to crochet. Still love my knitting too.

What I've gotten from all this? Well I firmly believe that Crochet is not a total waste. So okay I wouldn't use it for everything but really who would only color in say violet for the rest of thair lives.

Knitting is done nice and thin unless you purposely Double knit or add cables. If you are going to do that then your using just as much yarn as you would with crochet. So if I want a nice thick cloth I crochet and if I want a thin piece I knit and if it dosen't matter, I use what I like or what has the best looking pattern. I think if I ever wanted a really warm blanket I would crochet in sc all the way! none of tha washcloths was ever tighter and thicker than that and I tried each st I learned as a cloth first.

So tell me what you think Knitting VS. Crochet?

Saturday, September 10, 2011

YoP Sunday Update #10

Haven't gotten to anything off my list lately. Too bust exploring my new love of sock making. 3 Pair down and 1 pair on the needles. I am trying to slow down and get back to the list so the pair OTN is going to be just "waiting/visiting" knitting.

I do have a question for everyone though. Do you take your on the go project with you everywhere or would it be considered rude to take it with you to...say a barbeque? I took mine and worked away at a pair of socks while chatting with the family and friends that my uncle invited. That is pretty much when I decided I may be knitting too much or at least too many socks.

I have been working on that uber secret matching set for a B-day present but I still can't show any pics yet and I have done a few rows of my other wip's (the mystery shawl and Cornfield stirt), started something new and quick too. I think I needed a quick project to make me feel like I was getting somewhere.

As to the Mystery shawl, I'm glad so many people like it, I had wondered if whoever gets it for their present was going to like it with so many different designs going on and absolutely no symmetry, so that bodes well :). I didn't mean last week that I wasn't going to work on it anymore just that I disliked that week's clue. I've moved on to the next clue now so once it's done I'll post another pic.

Speaking of Pics here's a couple to show what I've done lately. The socks without their ends woven in yet.

Another start to a baby set. 2 little mitts in a soft lilac color with shells added to make then girlier.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

A Trip To Apple Country

I don't know about everyone else but I would rather take short Day Trips than go on a true vacation. For one thing your money spending is spread out, meaning we are more likely to be able to stop and look around if I see a good Yarn Shop or touristy place. Also each season has it's activity, at least to me. It's nice to go to the beach but if you have to drive more than 3 hours It's gonna cost ya (gas, hotel, food) which for us means fewer trips. I like to go only about 2 hours or less on our Mini-Vacations. Get off at 1 exit and both side of the road are littered with the Apple Orchard signs. We call this place Apple Valley because it's up in the Mountains of Western North Carolina


This Trip was to Hendersonville for some apple picking. There's this site I go to that lists a lot of Pick-Your-Own Farms. I have a garden and a tiny Postage Stamp Orchard but nothing is quite like going to a nice big orchard and exploring all the different varieties of apples (or any other P-Y-O produce). Rows upon rows of colors, flavors, and textures.

Last time we went apple pickin' (2 years ago at Coston Farm) I made homemade Jelly and Concentrated Apple Juice and a little bit of Dried Apples for baking and such. The jelly was good, the juice was perfect for taking on camping trips because I canned it in little half pint jars so it made a nice big glass of apple juice, just add water-style but the dried apples went awful fast around here.

See what I mean about variety! Some for eatin', some for Homemade Apple Pie Filling (recipe later) and the rest for Dried Apple Bits. I am kinda realistic about our fruit habits around here. Only got about 18 or so for eating and Gala is totally the winner there. All-in-all I think we picked 6 varieties (that big one doesn't count it's just decoration).



I want at least 4 pint jars of dried apple bits. We love having Hot Apple-Cinnamon-Brown Sugar Oatmeal especially come Winter. Sounds bad for you with the brown sugar but "Midget" likes to see me sprinkle a bit on, it's mostly for show since I  only put a Tbls in the pot while I'm cooking everyones breakfast.


The place we went this year was Grandad's Apple Orchard. It was awesome! They had a corn maze (I didn't get any pics of that because of the misty drizzle coming down) and some animals to feed and even a few scary Dinosaurs. Here's a cute pic of the hungry critters.

You can just see the tail of the Triceratops? dinosaur in the top corner :) and the Raptor in the other top corner.

One of my favorite kind of trips is just driving around until you reach a small town and then discovering everything it has to offer. All the little shops in Town and country roads leading to who knows where.


After all that excitement I got to stop by a Yarn Shop too! Got some fuel for my new Sock addiction. I get a little bored going up the foot (toe-up) but once I get to the heel I fall in love with socks all over again (thank you Sweet Tomato Heel and Cat Bordhi). Plus some nice black yarn, so black it gets red hints when the light hits it just right and some black with silver twined in. That's it for this post folks. If anyone from Ravelry-Yop is reading this "Hello from the other half of my life : )".

Sunday, September 4, 2011

YoP Blog-A-Long #9

Not alot of variety around here this week but plenty of progress anyway. I said last week that my Sock KAL had started and for me it was soooo much fun! I even decided to make another pair right away. The first pair (Adult) were too big by about 1/2 inch so they went to my Mother and the second pair (child) went to my kid and are 1/4 inch too small. *Sigh* So someone might be getting a pair of colorful socks for Christmas. Slight variations on pattern and off with another pair for "Midget" this time in blue. You can see them at the end of this post. That should keep you reading :) I think. Fortunate for me my whole family (the ppl I knit socks for) like ankle socks so it's way more worth the price of sock yarn, especially since I only buy it "on sale". I still have enough of this color to make 2 more pair for only 3 bucks it's almost what socks cost at the store.

We re stained the floors this week as well. Just didn't feel the first coat was dark enough and the second coat really added the shine and texture we were looking for. You can see a little foot down there too, someone decided to go running across my picture. All in all a unique pic if I do say so myself.

I don't know what to thing about this weeks clue to my mystery Wrap. It keeps going but I've decided to stop right here I just see no point in continuing when I dislike it so much. I do love the leaf part but I hate it when they break up repeats like that with half a leaf at the bottom and the other half continued at the top. Still I do love this mystery in the all together.

Good! You made it this far :) Here's the newest pair of socks for my girl, cast on from memory and modified for rounder toes. They look bigger but really that's only an inch and a half of work for 2 hours of conversation/knitting multitasking. I'm doing these from 1 skein so pulling one from inside and 1 from outside the skein. I knew that this would mean I'd have to make 2 pair this way to get them to turn out the same but I decided "why not". Then I remembered that knitting with wool means a different texture from each direction as well. I rubbed the yarn one way and then the other way and there isn't much difference with this yarn and since I'm making 2 pair I don't think it would matter anyway but it did give ma a moment of panic. Can you imagine wearing 1 nice sock and 1 scratchy sock, Ick!
Anyway there's my week. I can't believe all of you have gotten so much done. Big things too! Blankets, Shirts, Shawls and here I am complaining about a couple pair of socks taking a whole week and a half. Beautiful work ppl.