Ugly Christmas Stocking

So, I know Halloween hasn't even passed yet, but I have lots of scrap yarn that I wanted to use up, and two of the colors happened to be red and green. Soo, I decided to knit this Christmas stocking pattern. I did end up using up two scrap colors, but it was gray and black rather than green or red .. I still have lots of scrap yarn to knit away!

Well, personally, I think the stocking itself turned out pretty ugly.

I didn't even bother making a collage for this as I think looking at it from one angle is enough. As you can see, you basically just knit one giant sock. But the way you're supposed to make the heel is so different from when I made my sweetheart socks, and personally, I think it doesn't look as good. Maybe it is made differently because it isn't meant for wearing. Whatever the case, even though its ugly, I can't wait to put it out during Christmas once Halloween passes.

Shining bright like a diamond

An ultra quick weekend knit! My first headband! (I can cross that off my list of things to do!) Its made with intertwining diamonds, but I added a seed stitch band to complete the look. It was made with some baby blue leftover yarn (but still didn't use it all, darn!)

Throwback Saturday

Look what I found amongst the renovations going on in my house!

 

 

It's that hideous ribbed scarf I made way back when! It was the second scarf I ever made if anybody recalls. It actually looks okay photographed since my camera is blurry, but its so stiff to touch annd, its got tons of holes! Like this one:

Its pretty amazing to see myself come this far though. I guess the next time I finish a project and am too hard on myself, I should look back at my old stuff and hopefully see the progress!

For a Baby!

Protip at making friends at work: knit things for them!

I have a pregnant coworker and as I've never knit baby clothes before, I decided to knit some baby accessories for her! (As well as use up a ball of scrap yarn). Here's the link!

 

The hat was supposed to look more like a bear, but I think it looks more monkey-like because I put the ears too low. For the mitts, the blue doesn't contrast with the gray very clearly. Moreover, related to my last post, when I was on my second mitt, I was dangerously low on yarn ... so I decided I wouldn't have enough yarn to finish the mitt and changed the pattern so I could use blue to finish the mitt. As a result, the mitts are mismatched. I think it looks pretty cute though!

 

I learned to do something new too! It's called the duplicate stitch, and what I used to embroider the bear paw on ne of the mitts! I almost foolishly thought there weren't any other techniques I've had to learn yet!  

 

Wow, baby things are so small though!! I kept wondering if these can fit an actual human being! I can't wait til I have a kid of my own though! I want to knit more baby things!!

A Dangerous Game

Feeling a little nervous ... playing a game of 'will there be enough yarn to finish this project?'

Joining the 23 club!

I'm back from vacation! I had a blast road tripping down to the States. I usually don't share non-knitting related things, but in case anybody is remotely interested in my life, here are some snapshots of the getaway!

We made stops at Portland, San Francisco, Malibu, and L.A, looking at all the fun touristy areas, and the beautiful scenic landscape views. We did so much more than these four pictures can convey, but these were some of my favourite photos.

When I came back after relaxing for so long, the first thing I wanted to do was pick up my needles and start knitting something! Unfortunately, my house is going under renovations right now, so all my knitting things were packed away. As a result, I finally made time for my other hobbies. What other hobbies do I have you might ask? Well for one, I like to read (I find that's a hobby most knitters also like to enjoy). I managed to finish two books, Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King, and the Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Honestly, I can't remember the last time I finished a book, so I felt very accomplished once I was done. Too bad I'm not on board with audio books, because if there was a way where I can simultaneously read and knit, I would probably be doing that all day.


That wasn't all I did though. I started playing some games again. A new game came in the mail called Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright, so I picked up my Nintendo 3ds and started playing that. I also spent some time trying to beat my boyfriend in Mario Kart 8 on the Nintendo Wii, but alas, I have yet to beat him. I'm also trying to 100% FFX-2 remastered on the PS3 .. so yes, I've definitely been keeping myself busy.


Anyway, today was my birthday, and my amazing boyfriend got me a crochet case to keep my hooks in, and let me spend $100 worth of yarn on a shopping spree online!! For sure I will show you my yarn haul when that comes in the mail! You can guarantee that I am super excited for when that arrives, and I've got projects planned for each of them! As much as I love my other hobbies, they don't compare to my love for knitting. It's just so relaxing, and it can also be flexible in being really mindless, or it can really make you think. But, I guess it can't be a bad thing giving my fingers and wrists some rest!

Green and Blue

I feel so relieved! I was able to finish this project before I headed off to vacation! (Heading to Malibu!) It's called the dijon top, and I wanted to make it as soon as I first laid eyes on the pattern! It's adorable! However, it is a little short, but I think it looks cute with short shorts. A little flirty, and with a strong summer feel!

So, why is it green and blue? Well, the answer is simple ... I could tell there wasn't going to be enough blue only after knitting the back. Good thing I still had some green fingering yarn! I don't think it looks too odd with dual colors since the bottom is still the same ivory.

 

Here's a closer up of the feather and fan stitch that the tank is composed of!

It's so pretty even though it was easier to make than it looks. Its basically a bunch of K2Tog with YO. Anyway, I'm so glad its done, I'm going to probably bring it with me on vacation! 

 

Knitting with Toothpicks

Good news! First of all I finally finished off the baby light brown yarn I bought waaay back then (you know, the one ball of yarn that wouldn't run out even after knitting a scarf, gloves, mitts and a bookmark?).

 

 

That's right, I incorporated it into a birthday card for one of my close friends! If you couldn't guess from the picture, their birthday is coming up soon. (Now I just have to think of a good present for her too ...)

 

Anyway, I made it after seeing it as part of a post on an article about what to do with your leftover yarn. For anybody wondering, its simply 1 x 1 ribbing. I think it looks adorable with the toothpicks acting as its needles. In actuality, the needles were the size US 0 ones I bought from the dollar store that I always wondered what I'd use it for. It was definitely strange using such skinny needles. It almost felt like if I pushed it a little too hard, the needles would just either snap or bend. The yarn itself is pretty light weight too, but even that felt like it was too bulky for these needles. Together it created the cutest itty bitty ribs though! But back to what I was saying before.. I'm definitely glad I got rid of one ball of leftover yarn from my stash!

 

Well intentioned gift, but...

As I look for a new project to do, I've been looking through my yarn stash seeing what I would be able to make. I come across this:

Its eyelash yarn, given to me last Christmas by my aunt and uncle. While I don't want to sound ungrateful, (they definitely had an idea of what I wanted if they bought me yarn) and I'm trying to be appreciative... I do want to say that I honestly have no clue what to do with this yarn. No clue at all. I tried searching it up on google too but the results I get are like 'use eyelash yarn to line a hat/bag' or 'an eyelash scarf!'. These might have been good ideas though if my yarn weren't also odd colors. Orange + dark brown + green makes me think of Halloween. Not something I really want to line a bag/ hat with (and plus I have two balls... I don't want more than one eyelash lined hat existing!), and also nobody I know, including me and my aunt and uncle, would probably be willing to wear an orange + dark brown + green eyelash scarf (which contrary to the last post, two balls of this doesn't seem to be enough to make an entire scarf anyway). So, what can I do? I don't want it sitting in my stash forever (I feel a tad guilty every time I see it there, as if it knows I don't like it or something). Perhaps I should add 'Use my eyelash yarn' to my knitting list. It'll be more impressive than knitting a sweater when I find some use for this!

P.s. In case anyone is keeping count, this is my 50th post! I'd love to do giveaways someday to thank my handful of readers for actually reading my humble little blog (maybe if my audience ever reaches the double digits heh), but the only thing I'm willing to give away from my precious, yet poorly stocked yarn collection is... you guessed it, this eyelash yarn. So ... if anybody wants it... give me a shout!

Show your Stripes

My newest project was sort of a spontaneous one. After the finish of my last project, I asked my coworker if they wanted me to make them anything since I was looking to start a new project right away (can't go one day without knitting it seems). They said they wanted a scarf, which was fine except I didn't have enough yarn of one color to make a whole scarf. So, I dug around, and finally found a pattern that she'd be happy to receive, and I'd be happy to make. I present to you... the Leftovers Cowl.

 

 

It didn't really use up a lot of my leftover yarn. The only color it completely used up was the white one. Normally, this would be a pretty boring knit for me since its basically just knit stitches while alternating colors, but it actually wasn't since it allowed me to binge watch my shows while mindlessly knitting. I got through 31 twenty minute episodes, heh!

It wasn't as if I didn't learn anything either. I learned how to do the provisional cast on stitch, as well as how to do the kitchener stitch in the round. I think I'm way better grafting now as it is actually practically invisible and not [immediately] obvious where I connected my tube together. Anyway, I'm really happy with how it turned out! I definitely want to knit more nice looking scarves. I know I should be proud of my earlier projects, but it actually does bug me that my first four scarves/ cowls were so ugly, haha. Well the only thing I can do is keep knitting more and more!