Life and Depression (but with a pretty cowl)

I haven't posted here in a while. Things have been rather difficult these last, oh, seven months or so. The one year anniversary of my dad's death kind of threw me in for a loop and everything else (depression and anxiety wise) came crashing down on top of it all. I've lost interest in a lot of my favorite activities (yes, including knitting). I've done a few things here and there, but nothing substantial. Things are lying about either half finished or just started and it's hard to get the gumption to pick it up. I have an excuse for everything: I'm tired, I have a headache, I don't have the energy, I need to clean the apartment, etc. So needless to say, this latest bout of melancholia has interfered with my life. But, in small baby steps, I'm hoping to turn it around.

I have a tendency when I get fed up with something (work, relationships, depression, my weight, etc.) that I think I'm going to make a drastic change overnight. Which, as anyone with a brain can tell you, is not the best way to go about doing things. So I'm trying this time to go a lil bit slower. Which is why I'm writing this post. It's something small and manageable that will give me a lil boost of confidence for the day. Then maybe later tonight or tomorrow I'll pick something else up and work on and that'll give me two boosts to be proud of. Then tomorrow maybe a lil more. And hopefully things will snowball in a positive way.

Since I haven't been crafting much lately, or reading, or writing I don't have much to share. But I do have pics of a lovely cowl I made for my friend Lauren. She was kind enough to take pictures of her wearing it for me:

 

The pattern was purchased as a kit from Craftsy. On a trip to Iris Fine Yarns in Appleton, WI Lauren picked out the buttons -- a beautiful green that works beautifully with the pink yarn. The only difficulty I had with the pattern was picking up the stitches on the back side. It's knit one side at a time and you pick up the stitches from the cast on to knit in the other direction. My stitches didn't transfer very well, but I didn't obsess over it because it's in the back and Lauren was kind of amazed with the knitting anyway. lol As long as the front pieces looked okay, I was happy.

I encourage you to try knitting from a kit once -- it's so nice. The yarn comes with the pattern and you can just get started. No guessing if this yarn is the correct one for the pattern or whatnot. Plus, getting mail that aren't bills is exciting. And yarn mail is even more exciting. Craftsy has a great selection and often has sales.

Well, my darlings. That's all I can do for today. I'll try to post more often. Maybe once a month or so to keep you apprised to my progress (overall and knitting-wise). Take care and fondle some yarn today.

Super (Yarn) Bowl

Wait, what? A post not two days later?! I'm spoiling you all. I was up late last night (so like any other night) crocheting. I've been trying to figure out a scarf pattern to match my hat without succumbing to those ridiculous diamonds. Because when I was working on my hat I had Megan by my side...to start the diamonds for me. I didn't have that last night. So I gave up on the scarf idea and went for a cowl. Ooo...cowls. Short, simple, sweet, efficient (couldn't think of another 's' adjective). So I made this lovely purple cowl with long double crochets. It was one of those repetitive stitches that I couldn't stop doing! I memorized the two row repeat. I crocheted until my wrist ached and stopped clicking (it usually clicks). During this surge of crocheting I was also watching Gilmore Girls. So, since I have all the time in the world because, you know, I don't have work or class or job applications to fuss over I've been having a Gilmore Girls marathon. It's a show of my adolescence and I never saw it start to finish. So I'm abusing my University library privileges (not really, but sometimes I feel guilty because Universal Borrowing was intended for scholastic endeavors) by ordering all of Gilmore Girls. I suppose I could blame UW-Whitewater since they have all. of. them. Anyway, it just fed into this spiral of crocheting and Gilmore Girls. At one point I thought, "Hey...I'll go to bed around midnight. Get some shut eye." Then Jess was sleeping in his car after Luke's sister came to town and Rory got a bad grade on a paper and Richard and Emily separated! (None of that was in one episode...more like five). I had to keep going. The skein got smaller...the episodes just kept going on and on...who was I to stop it? To make a long, somewhat pathetic story short I made a cowl. Last night.

Which leads me to a different problem. Tonight is Kayla's sort of Super Bowl Party (Go Ravens! I wonder how Edgar Allan Poe would feel about his masterpiece being turned into a mascot for a NFL team?). What makes it a sort of Super Bowl Party of is that the majority of the guests aren't that big into football. So it's a party to eat, drink, knit, and be merry while the Super Bowl plays in the background. (Okay, there will be some football fans there. Like 3 or 4. I'm going to visit with friends I haven't seen in a while and knit). Here's where it gets problematic. I don't have anything to work on! I know, I know...I have a huge list of stuff to start/work on. BUT! I don't have patterns picked out or the yarn purchased for most of those projects. The only thing on my needles is Megan's Christmas hat and I can't knit that with her right there. It wouldn't be polite. Though, one could argue it wasn't very polite to purchase the yarn with her either. Meh. Anyway. I do have the yarn for Jen's 70s sweater. But I'd rather work on something I won't have to pay much attention to. And since the 70s sweater is crochet and a sweater, my nose would be stuck in the pattern the whole time. Maybe another scarf? Just absently knitting? Or I could maybe work on Megan's lotus hat...since I've knit that before maybe it'll be a bit more mindless. I'll have to see about that. Another option is...socks. Socks are small and portable and I've been eyeing the sock yarn I bought not to long ago with the blues and greens and oranges and it'd be lovely made into a cabled pattern. But I'd be knitting it for me. And then I'd be breaking my New New Year's February resolution. Already. Oh the trials and tribulations.

New New Year's February Resolution

I’ve learned a valuable lesson regarding school and knitting: the two cannot possibly coexist. It's been over six months since I last updated my knitting blog. Before, it was work and class and driving to/from said work that kept me from posting. Now it's class and homework and driving to/from fieldwork and the utter lack of motivation and gumption to pick up a project. Don't get me wrong, I have knitted and crocheted at some point in these past six months. I made a few things for Christmas. I even used a glue gun to make a non-knitting but definitely pro-yarn wreath. But I have so much left to do and when I get home at the end of the day I look at my knitting basket and I can't pick anything up. Woe.

 
Let's go over what I have done in the last six months to see if that helps. One big accomplishment: I finished those damn socks! That's right. I cast-off sock number one last semester sometime and in December I cast-off sock number two.  They're all wrapped up now. And have been sitting on my plastic bin dresser for the last two months. I made a hat for Megan which turned out really small so I gave to to Kayla and it sort of fits (it's the pattern, not their heads, that's the problem). Then I made Kayla a cowl for Christmas that was very Kayla-esque in color (one of our co-workers was jealous. I love a bit of knitting envy). For Mary I made these awesome colorwork mittens which I freaked out about because I never made colorwork mittens before but they were actually quite easy (except picking up stitches for the thumbs...that was terrifying).  I crocheted Andrew an awesome scarf with a simple but manly-elegant X pattern in brown and teal. I still have something I'm working on for Megan, but it's challengingly simple (or simply challenging?) and not turning out how I'd like. She picked out a pink yarn, but I don't think it's working for the pattern. I may revisit and change the color. Make her something else fabulous and pink. I made Erin a simple but lovely honeycomb scarf in a pink/white yarn. I love the honeycomb stitch...cabling and simple. And people look at it and go, "Oh my goodness! It must have taken you forever! It's so beautiful!" And I'm all..."Yea, but my knitting skills are just that awesome." Okay. I'm not that pompous about my abilities, but just go with it. Oh, and as I referred to earlier, I made Jen a yarnball wreath! It took a long time and a lot of styrofoam balls (I couldn't believe how expensive styrofoam was!) and a bit of trial and error with wires and glue guns but it's lovely. Last time I was at Jen's it was up on the wall and looked amazing!

It's been so blustery around Milwaukee that my earlobes and my nose have threatened to fall off. I don't know why my body is complaining...my outer wear in Northern Wisconsin consisted of a sweatshirt and a scarf. But since I misplaced all my knitted outerwear (or found some of my earliest knitting attempts at outerwear with unpleasent, scratchy redheart yarn) I have nothing that helps keep the cold at bay. I even had to break down and purchase...I'm sad to report...knitted mittens. I can't find my alpaca mittens. These store bought *scoff* mittens have ladders and don't fit right. And cost $12! I could have bought two skeins of yarn or one really nice skein and made my own damn mittens. But between my lack of ambition and the dropping temperatures I caved and bought a pair. Now I'm working on a scarf to match the hat I just crocheted with the much needed/appreciated assistance of Megan. So...crocheting. I know how to crochet. Apparently I crochet like a knitter (whatever that means). And the pattern I found was free (thanks Ravelry) but the diamond instructions were confusing. Cause, ya see...in Crochetland you build off what you crocheted the row before. So indead of just worrying about the row and the stitch you're working with, you single/double/half double/treble etc. into the single/double/half double/treble etc. stitch from the row before. Which makes things confusing to my knitter's brain. Thankfully I have a go-to crocheter to help me with such things. In college it was Courtney. In grad school it's Megan. I love my hookers (not that kind of hooker...).

I’m trying to get back to my knitting roots. To get back to that energy and excitement that comes from a new project! So I have a new New Year’s resolution: finish Christmas knitting by March and then start and/or finish all the gifts I’ve promised people by the end of 2013. That’s a hefty goal. And to make sure I don’t forget as much as I’m bound to…I’ll make a list:

Megan: palmless (fingerless?) gloves, lotus hat that was too small
Jen: crochet 70’s sweater, epic socks I promised three years ago
Dad: blaze orange fingerless gloves and gater
Memo: sharks and a new scarf (piano?) since she only has the one I made her several years ago
Andrew: socks
Mary: birthday capelet, knitted headband (turning out more challenging than I thought)
Scott: Civil War socks 

I'm probably forgetting something for someone. But it's a list in progress so I can add and adjust as need be. Once I finish all these gifts I'm hoping to dedicate 2014 to me. That may sound selfish but I haven't spent time on my knitting gifts to myself in a while (with the exception of a few necessary items like my outer wear or my sock motivation shawl). ...I don't remember if I talked about my motivation shawl. So last semester I was having trouble with my knitting ambition (what else is new?) so I decided to start this beautiful shawl I saw in Jane Austen Knits. It's incredibly daunting because you cast-on a bunch of stitches and work with insanely long circular needles. I knitted like two rows and I think my cast-on count was wrong or I accidentally missed an increase so the stitch count is off. Everytime I'd become frustrated with the socks I was working on I'd start my sock motivation shawl and suddenly - like magick - the socks wouldn't seem so bad. And poof! socks are done! (maybe not like "poof!" but poof-like).

That should do for now. I'll post pictures later tonight probably when I have time/find them. I'll also work on my excessive use of parenthesis.

Pink, Interlace, Lace, Gauge and My Dream Job

Hello my lovely blogger stalkers! I hope you are all well and happy and have plenty of yarn around you during this hectic time of year. For me, knitting has been my salvation as I only have two more weeks until I complete my first year at graduate school. I'm starting to stress: headaches, stomach aches, sobbing uncontrollably (okay, maybe not the last one, but the urge to sob is there). To help me through it all I dedicate a good chunk of my time to knitting. This is a requirement for my well being. I get my work done, so I'm not neglecting anything. Fact: I spent close to 6-8 hours on a PowerPoint presentation with a recorded voice over for one of my classes. A project only worth 10 points! But I had to spend that much time to get it right and somewhat acceptable. Therefore, I need to spend equal or more time knitting or holding yarn. Life is all about balance. Anyway, here's what I've been working on:

Pretty pink fingerless gloves for Erin!

It's like Thing...only in pink!

They're a bit small on me, but Erin is small.

These were quick to knit up. I finished the first one in less than 5 hours. And that's with interruptions. I won't tell you where...

So pretty!

Then last night I finished knitting Sara's cowl! But I had to block it. Since it's wool it stretches a bit and the finished piece has to measure 24 inches. So I took it into the bathroom and gave it a quick, gentle rinse under the sink and then lightly squeezed out the excess water. I then pinned the cowl onto a piece of cardboard I saved for such blocking excursions (I don't block too many pieces, otherwise I'd invest in blocking boards. Cardboard works well enough). Blocking your knitting is important because it flattens the work. For this cowl, the "weaved" joins were a bit bunched. Blocking helped to flatten it out so it's easier to wear. Most people block lace pieces and sweaters. It can also give your piece shape depending on how you pin it. I had a purse I felted and I pinned the handle into a lovely curve.

I'm so artsy! (I can almost feel my photography friends shudder).

I just adore the colorway!

And that leaves the sock I'm knitting! It's a beautiful lace pattern (I won't block it though, no point when it's just going to stretch out a bit anyway from wear!) made with a gorgeous purple yarn! I described the yarn in an earlier blog post. It's lovely and makes me so incredibly happy that I purchased a different shade of purple for another pair of socks. What's really surprised me knitting this up is how well the Harmony circular needles are working! The last few pairs of socks I've tried to make with the Harmony needles was so excruciating that I gave up after about an inch or so. I'd have ladders (gaps in my knitting where the tension wasn't tight enough) and the yarn would catch on the needles! All sorts of issues. But for these socks, it's working beautifully.




And finally, dear bloggers...here's a question I received from Ginger about gauge:

"My primary knitting projects have been afghans and Christmas socks--both years ago. I have a problem already with the gauge. The pattern says 4" square. On #7 needles, I knit two gauges, one in stockinette and one in moss, the pattern stitch. No stitches per inch are indicated on the pattern. My pieces measure 4 1/4 inches. Do I need to use another needle size to make the right size garment? (#8?)."

The quick and simple answer is, yes, adjust your needle to get the correct gauge. Her gauge is most likely off because of her tension. Her tension isn't wrong; everyone's tension is just different which is why they include gauge instructions in patterns. Gauge is defined as the "tightness (or looseness) of your knitting" (Radcliffe, The Knitting Answer Book). In this case, you should switch to a bigger needle and repeat the swatch in the moss stitch instructions (20 stitches/28 rows = 4 inches) and in stockinette stitch (19 stitches/26 rows = 4 inches). The pattern doesn't include stitches per inch, but it should be around 7 stitches per inch. Try a #8 and see what you've got.

That is all my knitting friends! Remember to knit and/or crochet this week! If you have a question regarding knitting, please drop me a line! I'd be happy to find the answer for you!

Ps. I just visualized my dream job: reference librarian in a knitting library! How magical would that be?!