Merry Christmas Everyone!

I got a really cool Christmas gift I want to show everyone! ......... It's a yarn bowl!

I think I mentioned wanting one a while ago. I remember trying to use a normal bowl way back when, but I never kept up with it since.. I also needed to use the bowl to eat, and sometimes the yarn bounced out of the bowl anyway. But this is so cool! It's got holes in case you use more than one colour and they won't tangle, and it'll prevent the yarn from rolling out. I love it!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope everybody is out there having a really cozy Christmas as well!

Baby bag!

Wasn't sure what to label this as. I guess a blanket? It's not quite a top. Well, or maybe a bag? It IS a bag with arms, haha. But anyway, I thought this project would be a lot faster than it actually took. I think it took me 2 months? I probably didn't consider how thin the yarn was. And also how boring knitting the back would be. I didn't bother photographing the back, but it's 26" of straight seed stitch. The front was much more interesting to knit with the cables and button band.

I think it looks pretty good! But I think if I had bought more expensive yarn, it would've looked even better. This was cheap Wal-Mart yarn, and knit up, it was a little too thin for me to think that it can keep a baby fully warm. Maybe it can keep a baby warm in the spring/fall? But definitely not winter. 

I'm happy with it though! And also that I get to make more use of my creepy baby doll! In the picture, it looks too big because I made the bunting bag for a 3-6 month old but my baby doll is newborn size. Still, it's quite adorable isn't it?

Quick Knit

Last several days have been rainy and boring. My introvert-ness is in full gear and I've basically looked like this all weekend so far: 

Lying around in my pjs harassing Ellie.. Of course, I fit in some knitting too while watching some of my shows. Just lazy lazy days. 

So what have I been knitting? Well, honestly, it's a scarf that I didn't want to knit. My sister lost her cupido stitch scarf I knit for her two years ago (lost hours worth of work!!) However, I still have pretty much an entire ball of it left so she told me to knit her another one. I didn't want to really knit it because the yarn she uses makes it hard to see any pattern because it's so fluffy, but I also wanted to use this opportunity to use up that ball of yarn, so I just knit her a simple 2x2 ribbed cowl. I made the cast-on number too big though, so it looks sort of awkward, but I think it still turned out okay. 

Cozy enough, wouldn't you say?

Omnomnom

My dad's coworker is pregnant and due in February, so my dad asked if I could knit something for her. After some browsing around Ravelry, I came across the cutest newborn hat! 

It's a fish that looks like it's going omnomnom on a little baby's head! I was also happy I got to use that new creepy baby model I bought! 

It's the same yarn that I used for the baby dress I made before, in case the colours look familiar to you. You had to pick up the stitches to put together the finals, but strangely, picking up those stitches were easier than if I was picking them up off an edge, so I didn't get annoyed at all.

I was originally going to use buttons for the eyes, but my mom said it might be uncomfortable for the baby since their heads are so soft and squishy, so I opted for cut out fabric instead. I think the end result looks better than if I had chosen to go with buttons, so it was a good call on my mom's part.

Anyway, this came a day late from Halloween, I guess a newborn could go as fish-food? Haha.

For Halloween, I went as a pirate grabbed from random stuff around the house, and some props from high school. 

And random, but I took the cutest photo of Ellie yesterday, and I love to show her off of course!

Some Knitting related purchases

So lately, my dad has been asking me to knit some baby things for his coworker who is going to give birth next year. So, I went out and bought some baby yarn. 

Nothing fancy- just some soft yarn bought from Wal-Mart (because I'm poor). I really liked the colours! White with a dash of soft yellows, pinks, and blues. I also too my knitting obsession further and spent way too much money on this:

Yes, I bought a little toy baby to be my model after I knit baby stuff. It always bugged me that I had to use my Lumpy bear as a model because Lumpy isn't baby sized or baby shaped. Plus as a bright pink fuzzy knitted bear, he takes away from the knitted piece I actually want to show off. And he also doesn't  make my model pieces look that great. So yea, those are all my justifications of buying a plastic baby. The cashier asked if I wanted a gift reciept.. Little did she know the baby was for me, haha!

Wowow! You'll like what I made!!

I know I always say this, but I'm so super proud of myself! After two months, I completed my second cardigan! It was my first time knitting sideways instead of bottom-up on any top. For some reason, it felt longer that way.

The sleeves were knit normal bottom-up though. Near the end, I was pretty sick of knitting that same elongated checkered pattern.

Anyway, I don't have a lot to say about this. Maybe my brain is tired from all the knitting. Well, it reminded me, as well as reaffirmed the fact that I hate picking up stitches!!

I always feel like I do it so unevenly. But anyway I'm just going to throw a bunch of pictures your way!

Spontaneous Project

I am actually in the middle of knitting a cardigan, until I became really bored of it, and did something I never did before.. Started and finished (a really small) project in the middle of knitting another project - I know, so scandalous!

It's just a really cute bow!

I attached a clip to the back of it, and just started clipping it to everything!

For example... It can be a hair bow

OR ... It can be a bow tie! 

Isn't it adorable! It actually is supposed to be a lot bigger, but since I just used scrap yarn, I ran out, and had to improvise. I think it turned out alright though. Like usual. Pretty adorable if you ask me! 

Off to an Adventure!

I knitted an adventure backpack! I'm not sure how practical a knitted backpack is, but damn if I don't think it looks adorable! It makes me look a bit like I'm 12, but hey, that's probably my maturity level anyway.

Notice how I totally tried to take a nicer picture than the plain ones I usually take in my home? Well... Like this one anyway (to show off the back)

 What I like about this pattern is that it utilizes so many knitting skills!

The only flaw I found in this pattern is that the backpack is actually extremely long. I think if it was one pattern repeat smaller, it would've been just right. 

I chose the colours white and green because I only had two balls of green yarn and I knew for sure that that wouldn't be enough but I really wanted it to be green (since green=nature=adventure) and I think my intuition played out quite nicely. 

Speaking of adventures.. Here are some pics on my latest ones!

Maybe next time I'll bring my backpack along!

[EDIT: Previously, I hadn't really thought about lining the inside of my bag, but my mom, ever the seamstress found some leftover waterproof fabric, and gave me some to line my bag with!

I thought it was a great idea since it will greatly reduce the yarn stretching out too much when I put things inside it. And plus it makes everything look a lot neater. 

I guess now I can say I'm officially done!]

Went into a store...

My friend introduced me to a local yarn store that I didn't know was near me all this time! It's called Black Sheep Yarns. 

It's so much nicer and such a different experience than the big box stores such as Wal-Mart and Michaels, and it feels more personal than buying yarn from online. There's a nice lady that works there who also is very knowledgable and was really nice about answering any questions.

Of course, I couldn't leave without buying anything! So I bought... 

I'm planning on making a super slouchy hat. Or maybe I'll make something else, but it was so soft, I had to buy it! 

A "Why me" sort of day

Sometimes when things go wrong, everything goes wrong. 

I guess that's what I get for buying cheap needles. Luckily, I had one of the same size that I didn't throw out yet, so I'm using that one to finish my project. 

But on top of this, my tablet is starting to break down, and I'm feeling sick on a long weekend. On the bright side... (because I'm trying my best to be optimistic here), my project is coming along quite well. No stitches dropped when transferring from one broken needle to the next! 

Starting Anew

It's been too hot to knit, hence the two month silence from me. But I've put aside all my walks, hikes, and outings with friends to finally, finally pick up this: 

Nothing like knitting in my PJs in the middle of an afternoon! 

I've been quiet

Sorry for the lack of updates! The last two weeks were pretty rough, as a big event happened in my life where I felt I hit a wall and was forced to come to many unsettling and uncomfortable realizations. Anyway, to keep my mind off unhappy matters, I actually haven't been knitting at all. I turned to other hobbies, some new, some really old.

One of them is puzzle building! 

I actually am 90% done now, so that's an old picture. But it took me two to three days to get to even this point. I used to be really into puzzle building- it actually depends if I come across a puzzle that I decide I really want to build. I can't really explain why, but it was oddly therapeutic building this. 

Another new hobby that I didn't even know existed until a week ago was colouring books for adults!

I love artsy things, and when I was a child I absolutely loved colouring in colouring books, so this is really nostalgic. It doesn't even feel childish either. It feels like I'm helping to complete something beautiful. And it is beautiful! 

This is all I've done so far. But isn't it neat? It's so intricate, and pretty, and creative. I just never thought I'd be colouring for fun again, and not even feel childish doing it. When I first heard of it, I knew I needed to buy it. 

Lastly, I've been trying to jog/hike - do something healthy, be closer to nature. 

Nothing like fresh air to keep a healthy mind! And I can't get enough of breathtaking views. 

So why aren't I knitting to keep my mind off unhappy things? Well, I love knitting obviously, but I find once I get comfortable with the pattern, it leaves more room in my head to think. And I just wanted to not think at all. Every other hobby I've mentioned above leaves me no space to think, requires all my convcentration or makes me too exhausted to think. 

Plus trying all these new things and rediscovering old things have made me really happy. I feel peaceful! 

Baby Princess

My first dress!

Unfortunately, not wearable for me. It is wearable for little toddler babies however! ... As well as my Lumpy bear!

It's so adorable!! I made some slight mistakes though - the armholes are uneven size (whoops!), but like usual, nothing major! I got really really lazy at the end however when weaving in ends ... I began to just tie a bunch of knots! Hope that that will hold the dress together and that the whole thing won't just burst as the poor child is running around.

Anyways, I think the dress will look good with a matching headband, don't you think? 

Procrastination

This is the problem when your pattern mostly calls for row after row of purely knits and purls. For all the love I have for knitting, it still gets boring. Today, I worked on my current project until I finished watching all the episodes there were to Episodes. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything else worthy of watching on Netflix, and couldn't bring myself to knit without watching anything, so I put my knitting down for the day to focus on other things.

I went and bought my husky a long leash so that she could roam around the backyard by herself. 

She surprised me by following along near me quite well despite the option of not having to go where I go. It made me feel pretty gleeful as there was a part of me that was always a tad disappointed that she just isn't that loyal in comparison to Yuna who had moved out. But I guess she must be somewhat! It gave me a little hope that my dog does love me as much as I love her. (Okay, I knew she likes me, but she likes everybody, and I wanted to be special!)

Anyway, after hanging out with my dog, I only had the patience to knit two more rows before putting it down again to read a book. The last time I read a book must have been a couple of months ago! So this was nice (also, notice the familiar bookmark?)

I have this .. preference for only enjoying reading when I'm reading outloud. I mean, I can silent read, like when it's inconvenient to read outloud or my mouth is dry or something, but I really do like hearing my own voice say words. 

Too bad you can't knit and read at the same time, or else I'd probably trade in Netflix with a good book. It's also too bad that I don't like to listen to audio books! 

Anyway, I'm really hoping to get my ass in gear and finish the project by this week. I feel especially anxious to finish it since its for someone. But man.. I'm hating the repetitiveness of it all. 

In Dog News...

I love love love dogs! 

I slept over at my cousin's the other day and hung out with her Pom! 

I don't think I'm used to small dogs! They're so small and scuttle-y but so cute! Her Pom unfortunately doesn't get along with other dogs, so I can't let her play with mine. Speaking of, they are being all lovey dovey lately.

Sleeping together, and also playing together at the dog park! I tried out a new dog park, and although it's a bit further than my usual dog park, I like the environment there much better! More space, more shade, lots of bushes and logs and other things that scream nature! Here they are playing a scene from the Lion King!

Today, I only took Ellie out for a nature hike with my friend (my sister had Yuna at her place). 

I hope she enjoyed the walk! The scenery is beautiful! I'm so happy that there has been so much sun lately and that I actually get to enjoy it too! Blue skies, green grass.. And chilling under a tree, my kind of day! 

Too bad I didn't bring my knitting, it seems like it'd be a good spot to relax and knit loose! 

Baby Soft

An old old friend of mine spontaneously messaged me on Facebook asking if I could knit her something for her new baby. At first she asked for a baby blanket. My first thought was No Way.. Not for somebody I haven't talked to in years, and especially since I just finished knitting a baby blanket. And also because it's time consuming and expensive! 

But ... I have such a hard time saying "no" to people. Well, I did say no at first. And then I started feeling bad because somebody is basically just telling me they really like my work! However, since she didn't offer to pay me, and I felt too awkward to ask for any payment, I told her I will knit her what I felt like knitting. After all, I had some baby yarn in my stash I wanted to use! 

Soft colours, perfect for a little baby!