Knitting Club

Hello

Today Knitting Club has a new member!!! I'm very excited that our small group is growing! I can't wait till work slows down (around November) so I can host proper knitting club gatherings at my house with delicious knit friendly snacks (nothing that will induce greasy fingers- promise) and cups of fancy herbal tea or homemade hot chocolate. . .

Not to mention that my mom will be able to join us and she is a terrific hostess.

Knitting Club went by so fast- and I even (almost) showed up on time! Before I knew it, I had almost the entire sleeve for the hoodie finished. A few more rows to go- and then I start working on the hood and pocket and then I'm done! I'm quite impressed at how fast it went considering how little time I have right now. Hopefully I will be finishing the project by next week Knitting Club! I also have to remember to bring a copy of my Chocolate Marshmallow Banana Nut Bread Recipe (aka Satan's Banana Loaf :P ) in exchange for a book borrow.

It is almost time to start thinking about my next project. . . which I will probably end up buying more yarn for (not like I don't already have enough for 1,100,000,000,000 projects)

I'm thinking of possibly making my mom a shawl (inspired by knitting club)- she makes me a lot of stuff- and the only thing I've ever made her is sea creatures, which she loves, but can't wear them. The time it would take me to finish it would make it a Christmas gift.

Pattern and yarn suggestions appreciated!

Work, Sleep, Knit

Seems to be just about all I do. . . knitting being the smallest part, with sleep coming in a close second. The little time I do have to myself to knit is usually between 4:30 and 6 am. Usually no one is up, and I can just lay back relax, watch some TV and work on my projects.

- I finished the front of the toddler sweater and attached it to the back. Already feeling accomplished. Started on the sleeve- but I'm getting a little hesitant as the directions are a little bit confusing. I mean seriously, how much effort would it be to clarify yourself? I don't know why patterns do that- is it out of sheer laziness? Or not to insult more experienced knitters? IDK.

I'm going to just keep knitting and hope it comes out alright!

Migraine

Unfortunately I had the worst migraine of my life today- which interfered with my knitting time. Migraine time consisted of wrapping myself in a black fitted sheet and hiding in the dark for 3 hours- trying to not gouge my eyes out or smash my head against the wall. Or throw up again. I should probably go see a doctor. None of this really has to do with knitting, I'm just a bitter knitter. However- KNITTING CLUB is tomorrow- which is the highlight of my week- being the one day I let myself out of house/work. Hopefully I won't be dead tired from work insanity. Gonna head home now and see if I can get a row or 2 done on my sweater before I fall asleep.

Knitting With Subtitles

I love watching foreign films but it makes it really hard to concentrate on knitting when you are reading subtitles. Not to mention it has probably been months since I last took out my contacts and my TV isn't huge and is at some distance from my bed. Sooo-
I pretty much look like a squinty-eyed pirate knitting.
I was starting on the toddler hoodie front piece- which is very basic stockinette and a few rows of K1P1 ribbing. I managed to keep one eye on my knitting and one eye on the TV so I didn't make any mistakes. The movie "Män som hatar kvinnor" or "Men Who Hate Women" or "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (as it was listed under- very poor name for the movie) was in Swedish which has some similar sounding words to English. Excellent movie.
So my tips on knitting with subtitles:
- Pick a project that is easy and repetitive- something you can knit instinctively and not have to think too much about
-Put down the knitting for the last 40 minutes of the movie- because that is when all the exciting stuff happens!

Projects

Hi!

I thought I should document all my endeavors into knitting (and overall crafting).

Things I am currently working on (right now):
Typical Lion Brand Hoodie (sized for a toddler)-
I had been eying the pattern for about a week or 2, but didn't quite feel inspired to spend money on homespun yarn (which I don't really like and wasn't extremely cheap)
until I went to Joanne's fabric store and saw some in lavender for 97 cents each. I went ahead and bought 8 balls of it- figured I could make the toddler sweater as well as a child sweater- and for 8 bucks WTF why not?
I checked on www.ravelry.com to see the reviews on the pattern- most people didn't like it too much or complained, but those people also were likely to say "This was my first sweater" so I figured I will just go ahead and try it for myself and see whats what.
First off- I didn't swatch. I hate swatching. I just want to start my project already! But since I am using the yarn that the pattern calls for (for once) I didn't think it was necessary.
Knitting is going fast- in my limited time before going to bed- I've managed to finish the whole back. Of course the back is the easiest part- but I am feeling confident!

What I'm not feeling confident about is my fishnet/sweater/dress thingy that I decided to knit. I'm not using a pattern. I'm using expensive yarn. It is huge. It will look horrible on me. I screwed up a chunk of pattern and refuse to frog it. Why do I do this to myself? It is also considerably heavier than I expected it to be- and might have to add sleeves just to support the damn thing. But I have no sleeve patterns- will also probably have to make that up too

Other projects- MINI ALIENS!!!

I'm going to knit 100 for myself. Don't care if this sounds crazy I want 100 of them. I have 40 so far- that isn't counting all the ones I gave away/were stolen. It is an extremely easy knit- and I can make them even while working out on the stair machine (not that I've been to the gym any time lately)- but for now they are resting because I'm trying to work on more "serious stuff"

As for the rest of the stuff- I will post about it later. I have so many half finished (and half-assed) projects that it is too many to list right now.