Death Note and Star Skirt-ness

Here is a picture of the current progress on the Star Skirt. I've finished about 5-1/2" of 23". It's going pretty fast, just watching movies to keep be interested. It's difficult as 95% of the skirt is K, K, K, K, K... you get the point. Every now and again i get to do this crazy thing where i knit 5 together, don't release the stitches, K5tog, and again to make the beautiful fun stars. The problem is doing this even once is crazy hard and doing it 3 ties in a row 8 times around the circumference of the skirt is not great fun. But apart from missing some of the sub-titles for the Live Action Death Note movies the skirt has been a pretty "blind" knitting adventure, letting me catch up on some media.

I'm sooo happy i bought a cheap stitch counter to use with this project. It's tons easier then marking or writing down my progress here and there all over the pattern. Good $2 : )

Drop Spindle | Roving | What does is all mean?!?!?

Essentially it means i have found yet another way for me to enjoy yarn/knitting/crafty good~ness : )

Last Sunday i took my first Drop Spindle class at Knit-One-One. The class was the first of two on the basics and I learned:

• How to "Pre-Draft" the "roving" (loose fiber pre-yarn good~ness) prior to starting
  
• How to create a "Lead" for the single (which is one ply of finished yarn)
• How to spin the Drop Spindle and start to form the singles by pulling the "twist" into the fiber
  

On the left is my VERY first singles i created patrially in class and then continued on at home. The right is the Drop Spindle i got in got class and some white fiber i'm currently spinning.
Here is my "Homework" roving that i need to spin and winde into balls to learn "plying" next week in class. I'm not so big on the orange...but i'm learning so i won't be so hurt if i screw it all up...but i've been doing REALLY good so far.
And here is what happens when i get excited and start to learn something new. On the right is some cotton/hemp my teacher gave me as a challenge. This stuff is SUPER hard because the fiber length is so short (something like 2"-4"). Most wool has something like a 4"-7" fiber length so the stick together for a while and you don't have to worry as much about the thickness when you're drafting. Wool = good learning yarn. On the left is what i bought DIRECTLY after class as i drove straight to Article Pract to get some additional roving to work with. I basically pictured myself spinning all week...which clearly has not happened by looking at the pile of homework i have to complete in the next 48 hours. I bought some camel/silk, but have not looked at the fiber length yet...but it will be a hat! I think it's important to make something, albeit small/easy, with a medium as you start to give yourself some encouragement. And if it's not even i'll just use the thick/thin yarn bucket hat pattern i love. It's sooo purty!

Completed Sweater!!!

Completed Sweater!!!
Originally uploaded by dre_ah

It's finished! My VERY FIRST SWEATER!!! I'd super excited. I still could block it to help give it a more slender shape to reduce some of the boxiness. I'm wearing it right now..and it's only a tid bit itchy. Nothing i can't handle for my first beautiful sweater. YEA!!!

Skirt "Star"-ted

Last night i did my duty, and did swatches with the yarn i chose (2nd Time Cotton) for the "Star Stitch Skirt". I just could NOT get down to the gauge the pattern called for. I was 10% off. Light bulb! I thought "This is cotton yarn and i'm going to WANT to wash and dry this skirt with the T-shirts and jeans ... lets put the swatch through the wash/dry and see what happens". Well this great idea both proved that i CAN wash and dry the skirt without injury - AND - i mostly have the gauge (off by like 2%).

Tonight i got home and cast on all my 156 stitches and went to it. Damn does it take a while to get through all of those stitches! Well after two hours of going round and round, i put it down for the evening. I'm thinking this will be a great "couch movie/anime time" project as most of the time i just knit, knit, knit...

Needle Note: To hit the gauge with the 2nd Time Cotton I've moved to sz 4/3.5mm (WB) and sz 6/4mm (Body)

Pattern Change: The pattern calls for 1/2" elastic, but i think with the added weight of the yarn and my general bad luck I'm going to go for 1-1/4" elastic and casing. This should ensure it can support it's weight, and that it doesn't pinch in too much on my shape either.

Just a "little" yarn crazy

I decided it was time to learn socks (buying mentioned in previous post)...but this has lead to additional buying as other projects are starting to finish up. I decided i "needed" some new yarn on friday and took myself out to Article Pract to purchase some. Bad idea! I spent WAY too much money, but i got great yarn! I also decided i'm going to make a ... skirt!!! This is going to be awesome! I got this great recycled cotton yarn that will be beautiful! The skirt is not allowed to be started until i finish the sweater...but that should be in the next few days and i only have to finish the other sleeve. I made a deal with myself that i don't have to have it all sewn up yet. With that i can take my time since it needs to be blocked and i'm super afraid. Can anyone help me with blocking? :(

Well onto pretty pretty yarn!

One down, one more to go!

I finished the first sleeve for the sweater. It's amazing how much i draw on my pattern making skills when thinking about knitting. It's more amazing that i'm just starting to put together that sewing and knitting are the same ends to a means. Oh well, i get slack since i'm still recovering from the crazy moth spraying/allergy attack.

A Fiber outting anyone?

I came across a "Fiber Festival" that will be in Berkeley at the end of April. To be specific it will be held on Saturday the 26th from 10am to 6pm. "Color: A Fiber Festival" I've been getting interested in hand spinning and i think this could be awesome fun! Also it's near~ish to downtown so i was thinking maybe a stroll over to the fiber goodness noon~ish and then lunch some where downtown afterwards? (I've been craving the Persephone sandwich from Jupiter)

Who's in? : )

Finished Scarf!

I've finished the scarf for Jason! It came out great! Just manly enough so as not to be "pretty" in any way, but fun and different enough that it didn't cause me to want to take a shotgun to my face : )

No! I don't want to get out of bed!

Stupid allergies from hell! Today was not a day for "time to get up" to encourage me to do anything but fall back asleep...multiple times. I'm going through allergy painfulness and am super glad that i have my cute blue scarf and matching headband to save the day and keep me cozy while i sit at work for th next few hours trying disparately to escape.

Florian Sweater:
Well i'm back onto the sweater after MUCH too long of a break if i'm going to meet my "finished in April" time line. I've got the front and back done, and started the first sleeve last night. I'd forgotten how much i LOVED this yarn. I never would have thought i'd like ribbon yarn so much. Well it's a small pain to knot with, but it makes up for it in style ; )

The BROWN scarf:
Almost done with Jason's matching scarf. Too bad i didn't start it like 3 months ago when he could have used it, but oh well! It's almost done and will wait for him until it gets cold again. I'm going to try and "soften" the scarf and hat. This will be a first and an experiment. Wish me luck!

Socks anyone???:
Well i ordered a book, needles, and some yarn for a sock pattern i fell in love with. This will be the first pair of socks and i'm SUPER excited!!! The goal is to start making socks as fast as i was turning out hats for everyone a few years ago so i've got GREAT hand knit christmas presents for all. Wish me LOTS of luck ; )