Simple yet fancy stitch

So who knew a fancy garter stitch could produce this?

The bumpy texture makes it look like a waffle! It's so nice to see a simple pattern this time to balance out all the elegant looking lace work and cable work. 

Look at this awesome pile of panels that I've accumulated!

I can't wait until it's finished!!!! Sigh, but I'm so tired from life lately. Work, and family and relationships just make me so exhausted! And I feel so guilty that I haven't been spending quality time with my Ellie! I've been having my dad walk her lately because all I want to do when I get home from work is sleep. 

Knitting is so therapeutic for these stressful days, but sometimes I even feel too tired to knit. It's so hard to stay positive, and I'm starting to feel like a horrible person for being so pessimistic all the time. The sad part is, I feel like I wasn't always this negative. But the least I can continuously tell myself, is just keep knitting one stitch at a time!

New colour for the Blanket!

My first white panel for the blanket! 

It was a good choice that complimented the pattern quite well! It looks a bit like snow covered evergreen trees doesn't it? 

That's number 10! I'm so close to finishing! Six more to go!

100th post!!!

I've always imagined my 100th blog post to be something exciting - like maybe I designed something awesome or I finished this really tough project. Instead, it's about the 9th panel of a blanket I just made.

So basically, nothing really special. Nobody really has an interest in a blanket in the middle of progress; they want to see how the end product looks like. I wish I had something special to show, for my 100th post, but all I have is this:

And, it even looks so similar to one of the other panels already.

It's the one in the right in case you can't tell the difference (coincidentally, they both are green as well). It just looks more spread out. Despite what appears to be my negativity, I quite like it. I mean, it looks different enough for me to like it, but not special enough to be part of my 100th blog post, which it is anyways. 

But to make this post sort of special, in celebration of me keeping up this blog and updating it until there are 100 posts, I just want to thank everyone who has read my blog, even just once or in passing, but especially those who comes to read more than once. It makes me excited especially when someone from another country (so not Canada) reads it (I've had the US, Australia, Russia, Ireland, France, UK, Poland, Turkey, Sweden and Germany) so I know they aren't just my friends from Canada that I've sort of mentioned my blog to and they read it out of obligation because they're so nice to me. 

I mean, I don't have trendy new designs people can buy or download, and I don't have tutorials or anything like that, so honestly the fact that anybody has read what I wrote even once makes me so so happy! I just like talking about my knitting, and whatever other thoughts I might have that sometimes aren't about knitting, and it looks like some people are actually enjoying it! It's a cool feeling that's quite hard to explain, but long cheesy story short, thanks guys!!

50% of the Way

With the finish of this: 

I am halfway there to being done! It reminds me of a bunch of Suns shining brightly! This one was actually difficult, not because it actually was difficult but because the instructions were confusing. One of the lines said "k2, yo, k1, k2tog. Twice, k1, yo, k2". Well the 'twice' there confused me. At first, I thought it was a weird way to write do the k1, yo, k2 part once more, but it turned out to be wrong. Then I wondered if it meant to do the first part twice .. But it also wasn't it. It also wasn't do k1 twice. So, not sure if it was just something that I didn't know what it meant, but it must have been because a Google search yielded no explanations. In the end, after using logic and reason, it turned out twice referred to the k2tog. So why didn't I think it was that at first? Well because the k2tog ended in a period, and then it said twice, so I had no idea it would be connected together. But I guess it's common knowledge that twice meant do whatever came before it twice, and now at least it's part of my knowledge too!

Anyway, I laid everything that I've knit so far out, to see approximately how big it would be.

It actually looks like it will be very small!! Maybe a baby blanket size. Perhaps I should add an extra row? Things to think about .. 

Lucky panel number Seven

Number seven has been finished! And boy, is it a beauty! 

It looks better when it's stretched, but since I'm using 100% acrylic yarn, I can't really block it. But I'm sure once I sew it together with all the other panels, it will naturally stretch out, and then you can see all its intricacies. 

It's so pretty! I love how it looks like the stitches just suddenly switch directions, and go against each other. Like a lot of pinwheels blown in the wind :) 

On an unrelated note, I went on a coworker date with sushi and ice cream the other day, and the ice cream was amazing!

The ice cream parlour was like an old mom and pop shop! Very classic feel to it. The ice cream itself was amazing! I ordered the butterscotch sundae, and it was so worth it! It tastes just as good as it looks! 

See?! Who needs to hang out with their boyfriend when you have friends? Obviously not me! I can find stuff to do while he's away! I got my knitting and my hanging out! I got this .... 

Here's another one!

I really love lace patterns I find! This next square I knitted was a lace pattern, and I find it just beautiful! 

Reminds me of a mix of tidal waves or peacock feathers. Something pretty, and oddly calming.

The only thing I'm disappointed in, is that I didn't use up all the yarn. 

So close! Not enough for one more square, but enough to make me feel a tad guilty if I throw it out. I think I'll just keep it though.. You never know when you'll need tiny bits of yarn I suppose! 

It's a gem!

The latest mystery square knits into what looks like jewels! And because of the green colour, it looks like emeralds are emerging from the fabric! 

Here's a close up!

It's another panel that only utilizes knits and purls to create a pattern! Thankfully, unlike the yellow zigzag pattern, it's much more prominent. This one was a pretty basic one to make, so I finished it fairly quickly. 

To be honest, I was considering using the  wrong side as the front when I make the blanket because it creates some cool looking X's. 

But, I've decided against it, because I've chosen to just go with how the blanket was supposed to look like. Plus, the longer I stare at the right way, it starts looking all 3D which is pretty cool! 

Seven more to go!

Being a good host!

As promised, I was a good host today! I took my cousin to many nature adventures, along with the dogs who had a long and satisfying walk. Before that though, first for lunch, we went to visit my aunt and uncle's house where we got to eat homemade hamburgers!

It was pretty yummy, but I have a huge kankersore so eating fatty and fried foods hurts a lot (although it didn't stop me!) 

After, we went to a river behind their house! The weather thankfully behaved (weather always changes so quickly here)

I really loved how the clouds formed. Makes me seem like a better photographer than I am, even though it was the nature that's pretty, not my photography skills. 

Then, we went to a nearby park! It's surrounds an inlet that connects to the ocean. Many people sail their boats around, and there were lots of dogs and joggers making the place pretty lively.

It was a lot of fun, but I'm so tired now! I definitely want to fit in some knitting first before I sleep though! Day is never complete without my stitches! 

Finished Another One!

Wow, I really am being a negligent host to my cousin who has come to visit, haha! That's pretty evident with the finish of my second square completed today! (I swear I'll make it up to her tomorrow!!) 

This one has cables! 

I've always loved the looks of cables! It looks like cords just weaving around each other! This particular cable pattern also looks like it has an added twist when  the cables intersect.

I'm starting to wonder if the colour palette is going to go well together .. It's all the fault of the bright green colour, but that's the one I want to use up the most (I mean, what else could I use it for? No way am I going to wear bright green hats or gloves or scarves). Also I have to consider the fact that I've run out of the bright yellow colour, so that's going to be the only bright yellow square in the whole blanket. I'm thinking I'll add in white squares to soften the entire look. 

Welp, twelve more squares to go!

Dream of Sailing Away

This latest mystery stitch is pretty fitting for what's happening in my life right now! As I mentioned previously, my cousin from Hong Kong has come to visit! And we have sailed away on an adventure to tour around The city! 

I love how intricate and beautiful it looks! It reminds me of sailboats floating in the water, drifting to wherever .. (Still yearning for something exciting, I am!) I actually made so many mistakes in this pattern though. It was actually pretty difficult to knit I thought. You start off CO 41 stitches, but for some reason after every pattern repeat, I end up with 38 even though I was very careful! As a result, I had to sneakily make 3 more stitches each time to make up for it. I think it's pretty unnoticeable!

The only flaw is that the pattern naturally curves, so I'm just worried when it's time to sew the whole blanket together, I might run into some obstacles.. But I'll worry about that when I get to it! If no one has noticed, this was the leftover yarn from my Frankenstein sweater! It was pretty cool working with it again! It's a lot less sticky than the 100% acrylic yarn leftover from the GoT blanket. 

I didn't finish this as quickly as I finished the other one since I've been busy being a good host, (sort of .. Okay not really). I haven't really taken her anywhere yet since I still have to work, so my sister and parents have been showing her around. We did play Mario jenga though, and I felt like we bonded!

I feel a tad guilty as I could have taken her around today (since its Easter holiday), but my mom insists on bringing her to visit a relative that I don't particularly like, so I said I wasn't going. I know, maybe I should've sucked it up .. But I'll try to make up for it tomorrow! I have discovered that her favourite cuisine is Japanese! Specifically sushi! Surprise surprise, that's my favourite too! (No wonder we're family!) So, I'll take her out for a nice meal :)