Baby it's cold outside!

What a blustery, snowy week! It was so windy yesterday that the snow was blowing sideways! So I stayed in most of the day and finished my knitting project: fingerless gloves!! 

Berny seems to like them too ^-^

I started the first one on Friday night, after great debate over purchasing double pointed needles. This was my first project ever knitting in the round, and my first time using dpns! And I am very happy with my end result!

I'm not the best model haha

 I found this pattern in 60 Quick Knits which I mentioned in my previous post. The needles I used were size 8 and the yarn is Loops & Threads: Impeccable (found it at Micheal's) It's worsted weight, 100% acrylic, and in the color grass =) 

60 Quick Knits calls these Wrist Warmers, or something, but they cover more than just your wrist:

Chilling out on my laptop while I rest ;)

Eek!! Knitting on double pointed needles!!!! This is exactly the thing that scared me away from using dpns in the first place. But really it wasn't that tricky. Or scary.

I finished the left glove on Friday night and finished the right glove on Saturday! The first one took me four hours to complete! I didn't time the second one, but I have a feeling it took substantially less time to knit. The ribbed pattern adds a nice texture and it also helps break up the monotony while knitting.

The lone needle in the middle is the marker for the thumb!

While I had my camera out, I figured I should take a few shots of my other finished projects:


The oh so multi-colored Granny afghan! (it wasn't finished at this point)

Berny loves it!! haha

Ta-daaa!! Finished and on the bed. That's a queen sized bed, so the afghan is very very large =) I haven't actually measured it. But I'm very pleased with how it turned out, and I'm positive I'll be crocheting more just like it (maybe less colorfully sporadic)

And this is a knit rib scarf for my brother's girlfriend for Christmas:

close up! trying to show off the ribbing

I love love love ribbing! It looks fantastic and it's so easy and quick. And after these knitting projects, I have knitting on the brain so much that I can't help myself examining all the knitting around me! Basically all my clothes and fabrics are knitted, so I can see why I'm so hooked on it. It's an art that surrounds me; I'm submerged in it (although, I willfully subject myself too).

Alright, I must start some homework! 

Happy knitting and I hope everyone is staying warm!!

Scarves Update!!

Beware! Long post!!

I haven't been as busy crocheting or knitting as I'd like to be, but I've managed to finish a few of the scarves I was working on:

Granny Square!!

As you can see, I still have some loose ends to weave in, but it's finished for the most part. I love the look of Granny Squares, but boy I hate sewing them together! I think it's the starting then stopping, starting then stopping that I don't like. I would rather crochet nonstop.

This was kind of an experiment to, one, have more practice crocheting Granny Squares, and two, see how it would look as a scarf.

Ribbed Scarf!!

I started this last week after deciding to practice the Front Post Stitch. While I absolutely love the texture and warmth from it, it's a bit thicker and wider than I'd like. Also, my choice of yarn is a little too scratchy for my taste, at least for around the neck. But I love the colors too much! (leftover from Granny Square)

Close-up of ribbing:

Irregular Rib Knit!!Haven't worked on this one as much...knitting just isn't really my thing I guess. One thing I don't like about knitting scarves is my needles aren't long enough to hold the entire length of a scarf, so I have to knit the width instead. Ultimately it takes a lot longer in my head because I have to turn the work much more often. I ran into this problem with the Ribbed scarf as well. It feels like it's taking forever!

Pink Scarf!!

I finally finished it! And I absolutely love it! I love the yarn and the texture, and the color! But I think I will give this to Scott's mom, because I started it with her in mind. I hope she likes it =)


Another Granny Rectangle!!

Let's see....I think I crocheted this right after I finished the black and white Granny Rectangle (which I gave to my grandma for Mother's Day). This turned out a little Christmas-y, but I used up extra bits of yarn that I had.


My Yarn Bag:

It's ginormous so it holds A LOT OF BALLS =) I also like the design on it. I purchased this bag probably five years ago at a store downtown which has since gone out of business, sadly.

Biggest Ball Yet:

This is the largest ball of yarn I've ever purchased!! By itself, it's practically a pillow. And it's so soft! Unfortunately, it's very difficult to crochet or knit with. It's from Jo-Ann's Fabrics: Rainbow Boucle, "A soft and versatile tonal boucle."

I know it will make a lovely scarf or hat, or even a blanket, but it's super hard to see the stitches since it's like little loops are intertwined with a thread. But I'm not giving up on it yet. Because it's a big ball of yarn.

Actually, when I purchased the Boucle yarn I had a specific project in mind for it, a Chevron scarf. But that's really out of the picture with this yarn. So I might still make a Chevron but with different yarn. My grandma crocheted me an afghan with this stitch and it's beautiful! That's not the reason why I want to try the Chevron stitch, because I know it won't come out nearly as perfect as my grandma's, but I want to try it nonetheless.

Shower, Tea, Knit... a Perfect Order

One of the nicest things after a shower on a chilly, windy day, is a hot cup of tea.
Lately I've been enjoying Yogi Tea, especially the Detox, Egyptian Licorice, and Egyptian Licorice Mint.

However, in light of some spring cleaning, I found a few boxes of tea from past holidays. While my friends know I like tea, I'm very particular about the kinds I drink.

The one I chose for tonight was from Timothy's:







I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that the tea is in "silk" bags with actual tea leaves and not just tea dust. That said, I tried Chai tea, and it was horrible. After a few sips I couldn't drink anymore. Absolutely flavorless. It reminded of really bad coffee, like the kind that literally tastes like boiled cardboard.

I googled the company to find more information on them, but haven't found anything substantial yet. I did find that Timothy's manufactures individual "K-Cups" for coffee and tea...so you can brew just one cup at a time, I guess? sigh...lazy. I'll keep searching.

<:3 )~~~

Besides being misled cute tea packaging, I've started and stopped a new crochet project. After the black and white Granny Rectangle scarf, I decided I skipped a step in the process and started working on plain Granny Squares. I crocheted nine squares alternating in bright blue and spring green (both Red Heart), and single crocheted around each with black.



I started sewing them together, but I'm feeling a bit burned out of them haha I'm not used to projects of stop and go, only going! I would really like to finish this scarf by the end of the week, and I know I can, I just need to do it! I normally don't choose bright colors like this but I was thinking how nice it will be to wear a bright springy scarf in the middle of winter!

Also... I picked up my knitting needles again. I am horrible at knitting, mostly because I go too fast and then a stitch falls off and I don't know how to put it back on, or I miss a stitch...you really never know with me. Anyway, I found a SpiceBox at TJ Maxx today, and it's an Introduction to Knitting, which, I felt couldn't hurt even though I already know the basics (though not so well). Plus, it came with a few cute patterns, four skeins of wool/soy yarn, 5.5 mm bamboo needles, a darning needle and stitch holder, all for $7. What the hell =)

I really like the bamboo needles too. I have three sets of metal ones but compared to the wooden ones, they are much slicker. No wonder stitches kept falling off! (haha....that'll be my excuse). Anyway, I started a Checkerboard pattern which is new to me, but it's very neat looking!




I haven't knitted very much because it takes me such a long time! But you get the idea what it will look like, I hope. This wasn't the yarn that was included in my super box buy ;) it was just a ball in my yarn bag but I have a feeling it's Red Heart. It's a nice yarn to practice with because it's thin yet has a lot of stretch to it. I wonder what I originally bought it for...

Well, this has been a marathon blog for me because I've tried to squeeze three separate things into one. Hopefully my next post will less of a catch up of what I've been up to!

Happy crocheting and knitting!!