Yarnarchy!

pre- fun

2009-07-31T14:05:00.000-07:00

Ugh. I hate doing prep work. Prewashing for quilting, checking guage for knitting... they both suck, because they delay gratification. I guess i'm a better person for doing it, then, for having the patience to do it, even tho i hate it? Hah. Right. Well, at least i know my finished works will come out right, but still, i want to do it noowwwwwwwwww *whining like a 4 year old*

So this little rant about prewashing comes from the fact, that i am, indeed, prewashing some fabric right now. I'm making a present for my sister for her/our birthday. It's going to be quilted. That much she already knows. And since she checks this, I guess i can't really post anything else on the matter until i give her this thing!!! That's going to be even harder than waiting for this load of wash to be done already! But, again, all worth it in the end.

Reusable produce bag!

2009-07-20T14:39:00.000-07:00

A reusable fabric produce bag! Very easy to make, and keeps all those plastic produce bags from messing up your good "i use reusable grocery bag" image at the check out line.

2009-07-20T14:35:00.001-07:00

Steeler's hat for the baby- very easy to make. Cut a rectangle that is 7" or so longer and an inch wide than the desired head size (I found a baby head size chart by googling, well "baby head size chart"), make a brim by folding over the bottom edge twice (should take up about 3" of fabric), fold fabric right sides together and sew with a half inch seam, turn rightside out. About 4" down from the top edge, start cutting fringes about 3/4" to 1" wide, all the way around. Take an extra length of fabric, wrap around the bottom of the fringes, and voila! 10 minute baby hat!

2009-07-20T14:30:00.000-07:00

A quilt I made for my friend's baby, who is due in October!

and the baby hoody begins

2008-06-19T21:53:00.001-07:00

Ugh. so, i started a baby blanket, Hoodie, for my could-someday-be-my-SIL (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hoodie-baby-blanket). I've got about 5-6" knit, of maybe 30 or so, but i'm having issue with arthritis and hurty muscles when i start knitting. It really ganks up my wrists for work, and i end up having to put things down for a few days. then i don't really pick them back up... alas. Well, the good news is, i've got a few months to make it happen, including one trip to Pennsylvania, which will translate to a good number of empty hours to fill.

And with that, i just got all excited and happy to be going home. It's for a friend's wedding, which is great, and it'll be almost a year since i went home. Last time was October, and we'll be going in early August. I got a new ipod screen player thingy from Woot for $30, and it'll be awesome for watching movies on the plane with the boyfriend, we can watch the same one on a 7" screen instead of both trying to stare at a 2"-something sized ipod screen. I love flying, it is almost a luxury activity for me - i get to sit around and do nothing for a few hours! nap, watch a movie, knit, chat on the lappy (in the terminal at least) and then all of a sudden you're in a different place, and when that's the place you called home for 22 years of your life, that's a martha-stewart sized Good Thing. See my friends, my family, chill out, and just not worry about finding a new job or a house... these are major sources of stress for this little lady that can't be cured with Sailor Jerry and Cotton-ease. Well, at least not on a daily basis.

The last time i flew i made up a little clutch for my sister for her (our... we are twins!) birthday. it was felted and had an image intarsia-d in... well, it didn't go so well. It shrunk a lot more lengthwise than widthwise, and didn't really come out that great... but it was still cute, and i think she appreciated the work that went in to it (she knits too). There was a lady on the plane next to me knitting a baby sweater with intarsia, and probably size 3 or 4 needles... omg the work! but it was a beautiful piece and i envied her skills.

well, i am inspired to pick up my needles and work a few rows. if i do just a little at a time it ought to get finished in time. how many days till my trip? ahhh... far too many, to be sure!

yarnarchist once again..?

2008-05-25T18:01:00.000-07:00

well hey there! long time no see. since i started waitressing, workin' the needles is occasionally painful on my wrists (and vice versa, knitting hurts my wrists when i work...) so i really haven't been knitting much of anything. However, i'm sortof feeling lame and uninteresting, so i think i'm going to pick up my needles and start some projects to spice up my life. right now, i have a little dish cloth on the needles for a quick and inspiring project to jump start things once again. i can't decide what my next real project should be; should i try (another) sweater? hats? socks? something for my mom's birthday (in 2 weeks, none the less. + time to ship!) ... something for my beau's sister's new baby (due in august... this is possible...) ... Oh, lament! so many things to knit, so little time.

Well, in other knitting news, i've restarted my interest in Ravelry, where you may or may not be reading this right now, and found some groups w/ local knitters, i can't wait to stop by a sNb session and maybe meet some cool people. god knows i've been in vegas long enough, it's about time i meet some kindred souls!

mk, well, time to surf through patterns and find something inspiring... maybe a square baby hat, or a yoga mat bag, or that bathroom mat knit with rags... OOOooOOoo. Maybe i'll learn how to cable, finally! yay, knitting!

Sweater!

2007-09-30T21:57:00.000-07:00

So, i'm making a sweater! Finally! I've been knitting for probably 5 years now (yea, OMG, that many already? Wow.) and have yet to knit a project as big as a sweater. I started a blanket... it's about a foot and a couple inches long now. Considering i started it for a friend's sister's wedding present, and it's been at least 3 years since then, it's probably going to take me 12 years to finish, at this rate!!! Lol. It's just boring to knit the same 4 row patten over and over again for about 4 feet of knitting. I'll knit about 4" and get sick of the darn thing, put it away and forget it for a few months to a year. The last i worked on it was when i moved out here to vegas, which was a year ago last week. Time is funny; a year seems so long, until it's over, and then it seems like no time at all.

Well, i digress. Some project details:

Pattern: Janda from Knitty
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft. Black.
Guage: 18sts/24 rows = 4 inches in stockinette stitch

If i went straight with the pattern and used the recommended yarn (Mission Falls Cotton), the guage is 18/24 on size 7 needles. Caron Simply Soft uses the same gauge, but with size 8 needles. It worked out perfectly actually, i got to use a MUCH cheaper yarn and didn't need to change the gauge or do any math to get the pattern to work with the substituted yarn! Talk about a perfect project for a beginning sweater knitter. Not to mention it has taken maybe 3/4 of a skein of yarn to do the back, so it'll probably take 3 skeins to do the whole sweater. Should cost me about $9! Could have been even less if i used Michael's 40% off coupons for the yarn, but why bother making 3 trips to save maybe $3.

Anyways, I already finished the back. I can't beleive how quickly this is actually going; i bought the yarn on the 19th, but i probably didn't start it till a few days later, tho i can't really say for sure. Either way, the back peice is already done, and i started the ribbing on the front peice. Everything has knit up really well, and although i wasn't 100% certain on the pattern directions, the back peice has come out frikkin' awesome. The measurements are right on and things even look pretty good. The ribbing is knit in a K3-P2 patten, and on the one row i knit a few purls by mistake, but you really can't tell unless you're looking for flaws. Well, here's a pic of the back!

The Janda pattern has racing stripes crochetted up the side; my original plan was to crochet some bright yellow stripes and make a Steelers sweater, but i think i might end up just leaving them black/uncrocheted and just have a really cool black sweater. I'll have to put it all together and decide at the end what it is meant to be.

As much as i love the knittin' tho, my wrists and elbows really kill me after a knit session. Not really good news for a server / computer dork, where all i do is put stress on my wrist/elbow joints in one form or another. Guess i should just take some aleve and give it a rest more often... but it's so exciting to be kicking butt on this lil project here, i just want to knit till 4 am and do as much as i can and get it done! i'll keep sending updates as i make my super awesome progress. I think i might be addicted to sweater knitting now :)

Oh, and i did a little redesigning here on the yarn-blog. It looks like a St. Patrick's day leprechaun threw up all over the place, but i'm working on an alternative to blogger. Frankly, the templates are way too complicated for me to have the patience to try to edit directly, and the template editor in blogger doesn't give me much freedom to edit what i want to edit. So leprechaun puke it is, for now.

Socks rock sock rocks!

2006-07-30T20:08:00.000-07:00

I finished the pair of socks i was making!! Why yes, i did finish the second sock about 8 months after the first, why do you ask? LOL. Anyways, the soxors roxors, and i am very proud of myself. Who knows what is next, a hoody maybe? oOOOooOOOOoo. Pictures up eventually!

warm n toasty

2006-01-12T16:02:00.000-08:00

I made a sock!

word! Dude(s and 'ettes) - it was easy as pie. Getting the 2nd one to match the first has been a wee issue (knit too much ribbing at the top... i don't think i'm going to frog it just because of that).. the 1st one i messed up joining the knittin' to a circle, and had one stitch too many which i had to deal with later and it kind of made a mess, but i so don't care, it looks like a sock which is all it has to do. the pattern was pretty easy too.

yay for socks!

Yes another...

2005-12-07T05:36:00.000-08:00

Hey folks. Last year about this time i received my first free ipod. And yea, by free i do mean - FREE -. The way these offers work are that you complete an offer- usually companys like AOL, Stamps.com, and Netflix have offers for you to complete but there are many different types of offers if one of those don't suit your personal tastes. Then, you have 5 people sign up and do the same. These companys give the offer sites money for getting people to sign up, and they reward their members with items like free ipods!

Anyways, this offer is for a Free Video Ipod. If you want the 30 gig you'll have to have 5 people sign up, if you want a 60 gig you'll have to have 8 people sign up. If you are interested you can sign up Here. Thanks!

tons o free patterns

2005-11-29T06:01:00.000-08:00

Here ya go! 630-some free patterns

christmass...

2005-11-21T12:47:00.000-08:00

Yep, it's that time of the year again.

So far, i'm maybe 2/3 done with a scarf for the boyfriend's mum for christmas. I'd like to also knit a scarf for his sister. I really just want to re-make Cotton Candy, but somehow i feel like that's cheating, since i already made that pattern before for previous boyfriend's sister. :/

So, i dunno. Maybe i'll make her a purse or something. Or a scarf with a different pattern.

That's pretty much the update. Pictures ... sometime eventually.

I wish i had the cash to buy the yarn for a sweater.

spinning

2005-10-15T19:52:00.000-07:00

Yes!!! i made my own drop spindle last night, and worked on spinning!! !

a little bit, at least. i was using Jo-Ann fabric's line of yarn, the reeaaallly thick stuff that the name of escapes me right now. it's 30% wool and 70% acrylic and just barely twisted. So, i ripped it apart and tried my hand at drafting and dropping and spinning and shafting and all that.

the yarn, as it turns out, sucks for re-spinning. too much acryllic maybe?? I think i'm going to order some wool and give that a shot. There's some nice videos online of drop spinning, you can find them here at Joy of Handspinning. The lady spinning the wool has some mad skills, mine are pretty weak right now.

as far as knitting... well, nothing going right now. i think i might start some hats and scarves for the x-mass season. maybe some mini-gloves for christmas trees, i hope i can find the pattern.

alas without a lad

2005-09-10T20:18:00.000-07:00

so, i want to spin.

in a bad way.

and it's Knitty's fault. there's a blog/article about the one writer learning to spin. and it made me want to spin.

BAD. i won't rest until i do it. i get paid thursday, so i'm going to order some "roving" (i guess that's the term for card but unspun wool.) and make my own drop spindle. and im going to do poorly at it, but i'll get it.

and it will be awesome.

2x2 Ribbed hat

2005-08-23T07:43:00.000-07:00

So, i made a hat too.

It's a simple 2x2 rib. I didn't really use a pattern for this, but this is what i did:

Size 7 needles
Lion Brand Wool-Ease

- CO 80 St.
- Knit 2x2 rib for approx. 8.5", longer if you want to flip/roll the bottom up.
- Decrease the crown by
:RS: K2, *P2TOG, K2*, P2
:WS: K2, *P2, K2*, P2

Coral's done!

2005-08-23T07:38:00.000-07:00

Yes indeed, she's done! Well, she's off the needles at least. I've yet to block and sew the seems, but i'm figuring that may take about 15 minutes one it's dry, woohoo!

here's the last set of pictures i took:

Well, coral's finally off the needles, i just need to sew the seams!! I don't have pictures yet, but here's the archive of what work i've done on her.

Coral will look like this when she's done:

August 16, 2005

Pictures of Coral, at least what i've finished of here. I'd say i have about 6 rows yet to knit, ooo it's almost done! This is the front peice (second peice is "in detail"):

And this is the "whole" work, where the needle is marks where i've completed the front peice, you can see the back behind it.

Random archived entry...

Currently, this is the only pic i have of the work i've done on the project:

2005-06-22T11:38:00.000-07:00

update: found the magazine. still haven't done anymore work on the pretty thing tho.

deet deet de deet news update

2005-06-16T10:31:00.000-07:00

Well, i've lost the magazine that had my pattern in it. I can pick up a new one i'm sure, but i'm such a cheapass these days, and i don't have a lot of time to make it to the yarn store.

So, i gotta find something else to knit in the interim.

ribbit

2005-05-02T10:29:00.000-07:00

So, i've finished the back to my shell, but haven't started the front yet. Well, technically i did start the front, but i was unhappy with the casting on so i frogged it. I'm going to give it another go tonight :)

Purty new things

2005-04-12T14:27:00.000-07:00

Hey errybody that may still read this. Sorry bout an extreme lack of updates. Over winter i managed to knit two really awesome hats, some scarves, and now that brings me to the summer knitting season.

I picked up the Spring/Summer Vogue knitting issue, and fell in love with the first pattern in it- for a really gorgeous beaded shell. I'm not sure if i'll do the beading or the ribbon work, but who knows? I just hope to have it done for the beach, and as this is my first really complicated/wearable item i hope it turns out at least 'pretty good'.

So, here a pic of the "finished product" as in the magazine:

And here's what i have thus far:

The yarn the pattern calls for (and for once the one i used) is Plymouth "Fantasy Naturale" which i got 7 skeins for $33, amazing price thanks Kathy at Kathy's Kreations. I'll keep this updated as i move along, and try to get some pictures of those hats up too!

2004-12-25T21:14:00.000-08:00

So, i finished Molly's scarf! She loved it :) the mini-mittens too! Now i have to do a couple more scarfs, then i want to try a sweater... we'll see how that goes!Oh, and i picked up some new yarn at Jo-Ann Fabrics, they're making their own yarns now, it's called "Licorice." It's a landscape/100% wool, should look awesome felted!

Merry Christmas :)

2004-12-05T20:03:00.000-08:00

So, there's this store in the Washington mall, Artist's Co-Op (in name and function). There had some stuff there from Ursula's Alcove (a textile place of all sorts), woven ponchos, but also some really easy felted hats.

the felted hats were $35.

Man, $35 for a felted hat. fabulous if they actually sell them. I think i'll give the Co-Op a call and see what the deal is, like how much the artist gets for their product.

-always researching my future career as a yarnarchist,

T

Yarn Parade!

2004-11-30T06:15:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the yarn parade! Here are some of my current projects-

The Mike D Scarf:

This scarf is for my buddy Mike D. He asked me to make a scarf for him, and i decided to make it Mike D-style, meaning: As crazy as i could! This is made with simple a Red Heart yarn; a teal-green solid and an ombre with the exact same teal-green color with purples, beiges, reds and blues to match.

It's just a simple drop stitch pattern, which makes the scarf nice and relaxed.

Row 1: K
Row 2: *K, YO*,
Row 3: K, dropping the yarn-overs-- repeat 2 and 3 till your heart's content

I've been knitting 2 rows with each of my colors, with row 3 being the first of each color. I've seen this pattern with weaving yarn through the gaps, i might do this with a bright red and a gold.

The Cotton Candy Scarf!

Sh... this scarf is my beaux's sister's christmas present. Knit with Lion Brand Landscapes on size 13 needles, it's just a plain stockinette stitch, knit double-wide so i can fold it over and sew up the side and have a nice look on both sides.

So far, it looks like i'm going to need 5+ skeins of this Landscape yarn, and at $5 a pop... thank god for 40% off coupons, fo sho'.

SHHHHHHHHHHH

I'm not posting the whole picture, because this is a super secret surpise for my beaux's sister. Whenever i finish it. But here's what it looks like really close.

Woe to stockinette stitch!

2004-11-29T05:48:00.000-08:00

Well folks, back so soon.

Knit news:

I knit a scarf over Thanksgiving break. It was beeauuutttiful.

Keyword: Was.

I used Wool-Ease Thick N' Quick on size 13 needles, and the 5 foot scarf took about 4 days to complete. Not too bad, actually. I used their green and orange in a vertical stripe pattern, 6 st green, 6 st orange, 6 stitches green. A nice quick pattern if you're looking to get aquainted with bobbin (color) knitting.

My folly?

I made it in stockinette stitch, the entire thing. The whole thing curled in. Terribly. it looked more like one of those things you shove under a door to prevent drafts than a frikkin' scarf.

So i'm going to knit it again. This time using a stitch that won't curl.

onward and upward, folks.

Welcome to Yarnarchy!

2004-11-28T18:30:00.000-08:00

Ahhh, yarnarchy, yarnarchist. nice to meet y'all. Things are going to be a tad slow here till i get around to taking and editing pictures of my current knits-in-progress, but I shall use this time to introduce myself.

'Allo, m'name is Trish, and i'm a yarnarchist. What exactly is Yarnarchy? Well, it's sort of a clever play on words or so i'd like to think. Yarn + Anarchy = Yarnarchy. Except, well, yarnarchy has nothing to do with disestablishmentarianism or the like.

It is what it is.

Anyways, i'm just a college gal who spends my time with my animals, my books, my computer, and of course- my yarn.

Hang around, and i'll get to the knitting as soon as can be.