Sunbeam Soapbox

The new year doesn’t really start for me until my birthday (Jan. 26), so let’s say I wrote this in plenty of time. ;) It’s not really 2010 I’m concerned about but being 21. What will being a whole year older make me feel? And how do I want to embrace the changes of becoming an adult? Particularly considering how out-of-place I feel, now that people will start to recognize me as an adult instead of a child. I don’t at all feel ready for the responsibilities of the adult world; I just feel like I’m being thrown in it. Time to sit, reflect, and plan.

My knitting resolutions for the year, prompted by recent knitting-related epiphanies I’ve had:

1. Knit more often.
   aka Don’t be afraid to take the time to step back from what I’m doing and untangle a problem, aka Don’t freak out and try to ‘abstain’ from knitting when it’s all I can think about and I’m ’supposed’ to be studying. If all I can think about is knitting, I will save myself quite a lot of anguish if I knit for 15 minutes and soothe my mind instead of staying agitated about it for the next three hours. Also, too often I meaninglessly browse the Internet when I think I ’should’ be studying but all I’m thinking about is knitting. I’m wasting more time, not less, by doing that. So: knit more often and knit every day.
2. Don’t be afraid to start over.
   I’m knitting more anyway, so it’s not going to matter that much if a project is not going according to my plans and I have to rip it out.
3. Relax. After all, that’s why I’m knitting in the first place.

It’s not more intense because, well, I’m not that intense. My biggest goals for my 21st year are to grow socially and spiritually and have a Happiness Project, and maybe get a job for once. I’d love to learn to read Tarot, to draw, to write a novel, to write poetry, to read more Good Literature, etc. etc., but right now, what’s important in my life is that I cope better with dealing with other people, and not through the Internet. Because of that, I won’t set my expectations very high on anything else. It’s all waited this long, I think it can some time longer.

However, in the spirit of Knitting More, I’ve been re-organizing my Ravelry queue. I hope they keep the Wishlist feature! I like it. The possibility of someone sending me a pattern I’d like? Awesome. The possibility of sending people patterns as a surprise? Excellent! So hey, if you want to send me a birthday present, I have a few patterns on my own wishlist… and I suppose I’ll do a little more re-organizing and figure out what I really want to knit, what will really fit my style, and what I want to knit next. But first I have to pick my brother up from school. Happy knitting!

Huh. Although “WIP Wednesday” sounds so much better than “WIP Thursday”, Thursday is seeming more and more conducive to posts than Wednesday is. It might have to be WIP Thursday. Well, Wednesday or Thursday, as long as I do it.

Although this time around I don’t have a whole lot for you. The shawl looks pretty much the same as it did last week, with just a few stitches bound off, so I’ll just show this picture again:

Most of the knitting on the vest is finished, but it needs to be washed and blocked before I’ll start sewing it together and finishing the neck- and button-bands. However, I’ve been meaning to wash my handknit socks for ages, so they were the first to get a bath, and now I have to wait until they’re dry. Which takes foreeeeever. Bah!

I did make this while watching a movie the other day (Wings of Desire—pretty good movie, except for one monologue at the end!):

Mom’s been going on about how she loves the one dishcloth I made and left home, and how she needs new dishcloths, so when we went to RiteAid one day I picked up a ball of Sugar ‘n Cream to tide me over before this:

Yesterday I got out all of my yarn and tried to organize it a bit, so I know what’s where and where to look for interesting things. On the left is leftovers of yarns, and on the right is full skeins (and partials, if there are matching partials). There’s a little more yarn than that, but not much. I try not to keep a lot of yarn or I’d get confused. The only thing is that right now I’m between projects, and I don’t know what I have and what I could make with it! So I might be knitting dishcloths for the next week and a half, then get myself to a yarn store once I’m back at school. Or maybe I’ll do something more exciting with the worsted-weight leftover yarns. Not really sure yet.

So I haven’t yet typed up my 2010 knitting goals for the world to see, but I finally sewed these up, washed them, and waited days for them to dry before finally putting a hair dryer to them.

Ta-da! Awesome orange mittens. I’m heartily bemused by the comments on these mittens—here and on Flickr. You see, the yarn here has a story. I didn’t pick it up myself, but an old friend decided one day to send me things I might like. I only know this friend online, but apparently the force of my personality comes through so starkly that he picked out the best colors to match *me*.

Which makes me happy.

I’ve been carrying around this yarn for a couple of years now, Brown Sheep Naturespun Worsted, and trying to figure out what will make it the best. I knew I wanted something in colourwork (because I’m obsessed). It was hard to come up with a pattern and I kept wanting to do something really ambitious, but honestly? These two colors go together so well that the simplicity of the pattern just lets them do their thing.

And that thing is bring brightness and happiness to the world.

So go new mittens. (Which I desperately needed, as my only pair of mittens wore a big hole in the thumb the second week of December in Minnesota.)

orange herring (Ravelry):
Pattern: Herringbone Mittens by Elli Stubenrauch
Yarn: Brown Sheep Nature Spun Worsted, orange and red-brown
Needles: US 5 / 3.75mm and US 3 / 3.25mm. I probably would have done better had I gone with the “women’s medium” sizes of US4 and US2, but I really didn’t want to go that small with the gauge. Too much trouble.

However, one of the nice things of having real mittens right now is being able to measure my hand against it. Whilst mittens should be somewhat looser than the actual hand fitting inside them, these, with the exception of the thumbs, are far too big. But now I have two mittens to compare my hands to, so the next time I knit myself mittens (hopefully not long now as I’ve found how quick and easy they are!) they won’t be so big! I’m a little surprised at how close-fitting the thumbs are, to tell the truth. Those are most definitely snug.

So—what do you thing is next? Bird in Hand? Or any of the number of mittens in my Ravelry queue or favorites? Time will tell!

(January 11 and first FO post of 2010… I’m so on a roll here!)

As part of my 2010 knitting resolutions (which I haven’t yet written up here), I thought I should do WIP Wednesday posts. Whoops—Wednesday flew by me yesterday, so it’s time to play catch-up (again, already). So here are the three projects occupying my attention right now:

No, my second Ishbel certainly hasn’t gone by quite as quickly as my first did, but I still love the pattern. I tried to do a large stockinette and small lace section but was about to run out of yarn, so I ripped it to the stockinette section last week for the small small size. I only have about 15 rows left, so it’ll be done soon, and I’ll have another pretty Ishbel to wear around my neck. :)

One of my January knitting goals that I have as of yet failed to clarify here was to knit mittens. Well here I go! My current mittens are a year and a half old and falling apart. They were the kind you could flip the top off so you could use your fingers, which really, don’t keep your hands THAT warm when it’s 6˚F out. I’m stalling a bit to put in progress on Ishbel 2 and the next bit, and because if I sit down to finish the top I’m going to have to weave in ends. Blasted ends. I’ll get to it soon.

And my Vestvember vest. Oh wait, it’s not November? Yeah, that’s how long I take on things. I’ve got two fronts and this is the back, halfway done, so it too should get finished soon. Fingers crossed I don’t procrastinate on washing and blocking it as I usually do. This is a good evening knit that doesn’t require tons of concentration.

I’d like to start (and finish?) another sweater before winter break is over, so I guess I better get knitting. Have a great Thursday!

Happy New Year! I am really excited for 2010—I’ll finally turn 21 and at the end of it I’ll be very close to finishing my undergraduate studies. Which means, horror of horrors, that I’ll have to figure things out and be close to knowing what I’m going to do “next”.

But first, I’m under the impression that in the past few days people have been talking about the past year and then resolutions and hopes for the next. I think I’ll do the same, and split it into two posts. First I have three last FOs of 2009 to present:

My favorite aunt and uncle requested hats for Christmas (in the summer). I completely forgot until December. Luckily hats are easy and I whipped these two up pretty quick.

uncle’s hat (Ravelry):
Pattern: Marsan Watchcap
Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers in 2445. I was really impressed with this yarn. Such beautiful colors and it felt so soft under my fingers.
Needles: Size 7 bamboo circulars

aunt’s hat (Ravelry):
Pattern: Stella’s Hat
Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers in 9408. See yarn notes above. Great yarn.
Needles: Same
Modifications: Knit to 7″ instead of 6″ before starting brim. Thought it would stay puffy at the top that way. In retrospect probably should have just knitted the 6″, as my aunt was folding the brim up to wear it. Then again, she said she could pull it over her ears as she needed to (and she will need to).

These have been done a month, but I keep procrastinating on washing them, which is why I hadn’t posted them yet. They’re Through the Loops! Mystery Socks of 2009. These were so much fun. And so cute. The yarn is pretty delicate though. I’m not sure how I feel with wearing them on an everyday basis; they seem more like something to wear on special occasions.

oh my lusciousness (Ravelry):
Pattern: Mystery Sock 09 from Through the Loops!
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Sock, which is pretty inexpensive actually
Needles: 2.5mm

Finished in 2009:

2009 really wasn’t the year for knitting. It was more of a year of personal growth—although there were backslides at times. I think I’m growing and changing. But I’m scared of a lot of it. All I dreamt of achieving is behind me, so now I have to figure out my new dreams, and how I’m going to achieve them. It’s scary. It’s hard to believe.

And at the same time, the knitting has picked up. I’m enjoying it a lot more. The last four of 11 of my finished objects were knitted in the last two months of the year, and the knitting mojo is staying. (Soon I’ll talk about my current WIPs, soon!) Stay tuned, because next time I’ll talk about my knitting resolutions for the year. Happy knitting!

Well, my week without e-mail/blogs/facebook/twitter was pretty successful. Yesterday when I woke up bleary and not really ready for the day I knit for an hour and a half—finished a mitten, actually. :) Which is a great way to start the day, much better than thinking about what a failure I am for not checking blogs.

So, let’s say mission accomplished, and I’ll probably stay off for the next few days as we’ve got relatives over and things are hectic as usual until next week. I keep forgetting to take a picture a day. Ah well, I’m enjoying myself, mostly.

So busy coming back home that I haven’t been taking pictures this week—oops. I’ll get back on track with the picture taking today. After I do some lazing in the sunlight through my window. I’ve also been enjoying looking through all my knitting magazines and dreaming about what I’m going to knit next. (I have plans! Which I’ll tell you all about next week.)

But first I’m taking a week-long break from blogs, Twitter, and e-mail, the second I finish this post. I’ll still be on Flickr and Ravelry, working on my Beauty and Joy project and knitting projects, respectively. I need a break from blogs though. And the computer, really. I’m on it far too long and right now it’s time to spend with my family and cats. I’ve missed them far too much in the past few months.

So: see you in a week! Have a great one. =)

This was a long time coming, oops. But now I’m trying to mark things as “done” in my head, and that includes posting about it here—not just wearing it. ;)

Ahem.

What do you think? I look absolutely strapping, right? :D I’ve been getting great compliments on this argyle sweater I got at JCPenney to put more ORANGE into my wardrobe. I think it’s doing a great job. And this new LIME GREEN shawl? Matches perfectly.

Since I tend to have the heat on super low and it reached something like 10˚F today, it was a very very good day for wearing something around my neck, even inside. Layers are a VERY good thing. Even over cold faces.

I couldn’t believe how easy and quick Ishbel was. I’m even working on another now—although I think I’m going to wait until I get home to a swift so I can re-wind the yarn a bit, then I might frog part of it and re-knit it. Large stockinette body and small lace chart is turning out to be too big for me, and I’m too worried about having enough yarn with it.

But that’s for the next Ishbel FO post.

I’m sure part of how fast it was was that I was stranded in an airport for 5 hours when I started it. Needed to do something all that time, although I slept once on the plane. But the other part is that it was fun and interesting and not TOO mentally consuming. It worked without my thinking about it too much (unlike some other garments I could name!)

I think I might have to add shawls to my repertoire of knitting tricks.

first shawl (Ravelry):
Pattern: Ishbel by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Fyberspates Sock yarn bought in Edinburgh, Scotland, home of Ysolda Teague herself :)
Needles: Bamboo US 6

Ta-da! Sooner or later I’ll post up some finished socks too!

A little over a week ago, Phoe suggested The Beauty and Joy Project, which I jumped to participate in. I don’t participate in a lot of online stuff because of a lack of time, but I’ve been really struggling with happiness lately, so I forced myself to sign up. My resolution? Take at least one picture every day of something that makes me happy and upload it.

I’m not doing too bad. I’ve even been taking multiple pictures in one day because I’m so happy about something! Here’s a sampling of seven pictures from the first week: