A new term! (preparing)

I didn't get much done in November because I was so busy trying to get my 50,000 words for NaNoWriMo. Good news? I won for the second year in a row! Now I'm back to working on the last presents for family. I've got half of my niece's scarf done and once I'm done, I'll start on her hat. I'm just about finished with the ribbing on the hat for my oldest brother too. After I finish it, I'll start on the hat for my other brother. 3 hats and a scarf... That's all that is left of my Christmas knitting. Yay!

January is trying to sneak up on us. With January comes a new HPKCHC term, making me a second year! I have been... hmm, how should I put this? Haha. I have been really into Kingdom Hearts as of late. My favorite of the series is Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days where you really get into the story of Roxas while he was in the Organization XIII. Calling on that, I made myself this icon to use during my second year:


Zexion, number six. You don't see him much in 358/2 Days and he isn't in Kingdom Hearts 2. Zexion is mostly in Chain of Memories, the one I haven't played too much of. In Chain of Memories and Re: Chain of Memories (remade for the PS2), you attack using cards and that takes a bunch of getting used to for me. Once I showed it to Bubbles, she was trying to think of which of the Organization XII members would be Slytherin-like. Naturally Xemnas came to mind. Xemnas is the leader of Organization XIII, number one. And Bubbles is my number one knitting friend. So, I made her this:

She was so happy. I love doing little things like making icons that just make my friends day. All of my friends mean so much to me. ♥

Little Progress

I've not really been knitting all that much this month. This year NaNo isn't as easy for some reason so its hard enough to keep up with the daily word count (1,667 per day) and I really want to get 50,000 again this year. I was able to finish my Cancer dishcloth from Divination last month though.



Instead of keeping it for me, I decided to give it to Mom as part of her Christmas present. She has no idea on the other part of it, which I know she'll love. I was able to finally get ahold of Dan and get a size to make his Jayne hat that should fit (he never measured his head and it was hard enough to just talk to him..) I should have enough yarn to make myself one too!!

I've been working on my cousin's scarf that is the second part to Arithmancy from last month. It's between a fourth and half done and doubled in about an hour while I was watching an anime. I might go back and put in another DVD of something so I may be able to finish it today!

Present progress:
Mom: finished
Dad: not yet started
Josh: not yet started
Justin: not yet started
Allison: starting later today if all goes well
James: finished
Leslie: finished
Katie: not yet started

I'm really slacking on the job here, or it feels like it. Christmas is only a little over a month away and hardly anyone's presents have been finished.

My November Classes

Charms - a hat for my brother Justin
Potions - a hat for my brother Josh
Herbology - finishing up my Scorpio Scarf from last month I'd originally wanted to do for Divination
DADA - if I have time, a cowl for me
OWL - as many of the remaining hats as possible but definitely Allison's hat.

I'm also going to be knitting 3 garter scarf for various family members who want simple scarves. They don't make it fun, but they do make it quick! Then in December I can knit Dad's scarf and be all done! (unless I decide to knit more presents for friends..)

I have all of this on top of school, work, and NaNoWriMo. (6,895 words so far btw!)

November Classes

Wow, classes for November have already been posted?! Sweet. I'm going to list what they are here and then see what I want to do along with some more work on my OWL.

Astronomy: Astronomy is one of the oldest sciences in the world, and the movements of heavenly bodies have been studied since ancient times.The list of cultures where Astronomy was of great importance goes on, including but not limited to- Mesopotamia, India, China, Nubia and others. Knit, spin, or crochet something inspired by one of these ancient stargazing cultures.

-Your professor has an inordinate fondness for historical computers. The oldest known of these is the Antikythera mechanism, which was used to calculate the position of various heavenly bodies. Bonus points will be awarded for any project that interprets the Antikythera mechanism in fiber form.

Charms: Impervius This charm makes something repel substances and outside forces, including water.
Create an item to repel something for example - water, food, crazy stalker guy, Mother-in-law, etc. Explain what it repels and why you need to repel it.

Protego - The Shield Charm The shield charm causes minor to strong jinxes, curses, and hexes to rebound upon the attacker, or at least prevents them from having their full effect. It can also cause a shield to erupt from the caster’s wand. Create something as a gift to shield the recipient from harm…e.g. someone who gets a lot of colds - create something to help stop them getting colds.

Transfiguration: Create something that will Transfigure a person, or a person’s body part, into something else. Or if, while working on your Herbology assignment, you find a weed that is impossible to get rid of (ie, finish up), you may bring it here for Transfiguring into something lovely and useful.

Herbology: This month’s project concerns another important aspect of maintaining your garden or greenhouse: WEEDS!!! A weed is something in your garden that you didn’t plant or don’t want around. It could be a perfectly good plant - to someone else. Your task is to take that weed from your WIPs or stash and get rid of it (by making something with it.) Post should contain why said project is a weed, how long it has been a weed, and how happy you are now that it is gone, a before and after photo would be a good idea!

DADA: This month, we’ll be exploring Quirinus Quirrell. Please reflect on how you would react and compensate if Voldemort were grafted onto the back of your head. Would you wear a balaclava? A cowl? A turban? A toque? Show us your kicky Dark Lord-concealing headwear. Extra points for house colors, making the prof laugh, or embroidering (or knitting/crocheting in) the inside of the hat with Voldemort’s face.

Potions: Something that represents who/what you love the most. It can be anything you love passionately. Please elaborate what this item represents to you or an item for a loved one. Something this person is going to enjoy and love or something with spirals.

So much inspiration for classes..

End of the Month Pics

As I said in my last update, I finished 35% of my OWL. I tried to get a couple classes finished but it didn't happen. But since we get 5 points for starting, I took pictures last night and posted them. That's a total of 65 points for the month of October. Not bad.

For Divination, I decided to do a dishcloth with the Cancer symbol on it. This was taken with my camera phone because the flash of my digital makes it impossible to see the sign in the blue of the yarn. I'm actually almost done with it and when I finish will be giving it to Mom, who is also a Cancer.


For Transfiguration I was going to do the scarf Ziva wears in the opening credits of season four. She wears it in at least one (I swear its two but I don't have the DVDs of season 3) episode of season 3. I gave in and downloaded the episode I knew she wore it in so I could get a screenshot of it since finding it was being impossible:

I'm knitting the scarf on circulars so I can sew the ends together to make it flat when I'm done. I hate so much how stockinette curls on straight needles. This is my way of getting around that.


For Arithmancy, I managed to finished my fourth pair of fetching (they're such an easy knit that its no wonder I've made so many!) but I didn't get the scarf to match started so I turned in the gloves for partial credit:


Finally we have the picture of my OWL 35% that I turned in for 50 points. The purples look more like blue but ah well. The hat in the picture that is a WIP I'm going to try to finish soon because its for my nephew and it will be another WIP completed.


I started to many WIPs this month and never got them finished.. Before October I had two WIPs and now I have.. seven? Man. I've never had that many WIPs at once before!

An Update!

I have now completed 35% of my OWL - that's almost 4 of the 10 hats needed!

I've decided to see how quickly I can knit up something for Divination and Arithmancy. For Divination, I'm going to be doing a dishcloth with the Cancer symbol on it. The pattern can be found here - the author of the pattern has one for all 12 signs! And for Arithmancy, I'll be making yet another pair of Fetching and a simple garter scarf for my cousin. When I get around to finishing what I originally wanted to do for Arithmany, I'll have a glove/scarf set for me and a hat/scarf set for my cousin. All in the same blue.

There's only a week left of October and I've still got a lot of knitting on my plate! I ended up with so much inspiration for projects this month and no time to knit it all because I had to focus on my OWL to get the 50 points for my 33%. If I don't get a chance to finish many of my WIPs before December, that's what I'll focus on.

2 Hats in 2 Days!

I'm proud of myself! Today I finished another hat for my OWL. My OWL change was also approved so that puts me at 25% of being done. 33% will soon be in sight! I'd like to at least get 40% done. Thats four hats. All of which have been started. After these are done, I'm planning on making my niece a butterfly hat in purple since I don't have any pink and don't want to go out and buy more. I'm sticking to just Red Heart for my OWL to use up some of what I have, so I don't want to have to go get more. I only knit with pink for special people because I'm really not a fan of it. Red is so much better..

My OWL progress:

I'm not sure I'll make the 33% by thr 15th like I'd wanted, but I'm close enough that I feel like I can do it before the end of the month. I just need to work on one of my OWL hats a little bit everyday. Other than that, I can knit my classes, starting with Transfiguration.

Fall OWL Changes

I finished the first hat of my OWL today! But it was when I went to start another that I found a problem. A couple of the patterns are on the lionbrand site. And I've had problems with their patterns before. For my OWL I went through and found lionbrand patterns because it was the fastest way I knew of to get hat patterns. Unfortunately, one of the ones I picked for my OWL was another of those messed up patterns. Also, I'd been thinking about changing a couple of the hat patterns to fit my holiday knitting a little bit better. So tonight, when I realized I would have to change my OWL patterns since I simply can't do the messed up lionbrand patterns, I decided to change the patterns to where I'm happy with them. Here are my new OWL patterns:

Ellen's Knit Hat x1
Slouched Tuva Hat x2
Rosalie x1
Hermione's Cable and Eyelet hat x1
Windy City Hat x2
Butterfly Hat x1
and a hat of my own pattern x2

A bunch of these will probably end up being for me, but at least two of them will be presents so it counts as holiday knitting! XD

Partial Fingers?

I want to find a pair of fingerless gloves to knit for myself before NaNo so when I type and I'm cold, most of my fingers will still stay warm. After searching the Rav database I found.. one pair that looks like I could do it. It can be found here. I'm not so sure I'll get it done before NaNo but thats okay. I still have a few pairs of gloves (to which I just realized I've only used two patterns for fingerless gloves. XD) that I can wear.

Omg.. no way!!

http://www.kniittiing.com/index.html

I wonder if this is really true.. If it is, omg! That'll be so cool! And make me get off my ass and get a Wii faster. Knitting on a Wii? How awesome will that be!

*spazzes*

Presents!

For all my talk about getting presents done early, it hasn't happened. I've gotten a few started, but none of them actually finished. In September, I started five projects and only finished four. Out of the four, I made two pairs of house gloves (Ravenclaw and Slytherin), a lace headband, and a pair of fetching. The headband and Ravenclaw gloves were mine. But the Slytherin gloves and fetching gloves were supposed to go to a couple of friends. I now want to keep the fetchings for me and I'm pretty sure the Slytherin gloves are too small..

So that takes me back to square one with no presents done. And its already October. I'm going to end up doing so many hats this month and next month for my OWL.. The 10 for my OWL, one for mom, one for my brother, one for Transfiguration and another for my Arithmancy hat/scarf set. I also have two scarves that are supposed to be presents but neither of them have really fit into my class schedule. Ugh.

The farthest I've gotten is halfway done with the presents for Mom and Ash. I really need to get off my lazy ass and focus on presents. But I'm such a greedy knitter and like knitting for me way better..

But seriously? Most people are going to get to pick a hat out of a basket because I'm not going to want to make anything else/have time to.

Gold Star!

I was awarded a gold star from my HoH (Head of House) for my Fetching III! She gives them out for special projects or things she thinks deserves a gold star. I'm so happy I got one!

My October Classes

Arithmancy: Hat and Scarf set
Divination: Scorpio Scarf
Transfiguration: Jayne Hat

I also want to do a pair of socks. I'm not sure they'd fit as Libra socks even though the colors of Libra are blue and green which is the colorway I'll be using. I don't want to make myself do them so if I get them done, I'll put them in detention. (Detention = anything you knit that isn't for a class/quidditch/your OWL I think)

Most of this month and November will be spent focusing on my OWL. I'm not sure I'll complete it but I'd like to at least get the 50 points for 33% at the end of October.

October classes!

The classes for October are up! I'm really excited about all of them, especially Divination. I LOVE Astrology. It's going to be hard to not knit something for each of the 12 signs.

Charms: Create two objects, one normal sized and one either engorgio’d or reducio’d, include an object for scale in both pictures.

Divination: Knit, spin, or crochet something inspired by at least one of the twelve astrological signs.

Arithmancy: a) Something that can be used as two things. For example, a wrist warmer can also serve as a mug cozy.
b) Two items that complement each other or make a set. For example, matching gloves and scarf. Or a scarf and a hat. (Note: a pair of gloves counts as just one item). Make them as a set. Please explain why you would wear them together. They don’t HAVE to be the same color but they have to match in some way.
c) A reversible item.
d) Construct a garment made of two pieces that have to be sewn up together. Please post pictures of items pre and post sewing if you choose this option.

Transfiguration: a) Taking a knitting pattern and converting it to crochet, or vice versa. Obviously, some changes and modifications are allowed, but it must remain fairly close to the original design. Retaining some elements of the original design, such as a crochet trim, are to be expected from beginning students with this advanced magic and will not result in points deduction. You must link to the original pattern in your post!
b) Taking an object or image from real life and Transfigure it with fiber. This can be done in any way you choose - e.g. spinning yarn to represent the colors of fall, making a knitted version of your cat, making a hat just like one seen on tv (Jayne Hat, anyone?). You are welcome to use a pattern, but you MUST post a picture of the object that inspired you, what you are Transfiguring, along with your completed assignment. (NB - Hogwarts rule: Spinners must work a swatch or small item to receive full credit)
c) Knit or crochet a model of your Animagus either as a 3-d toy or a colorwork design.

DADA: This month’s assignment, make something that is inspired by: 1) an historical figure that is now deceased 2) an undead creature (zombie, vampire, skeleton, ghost, etc.), or 3) both (now would be the time to make that Zombie Abe Lincoln) Bonus points, as always, for house colors or making me laugh.

Herbology: This month’s project revolves around the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Garden Pests (and helpers). A garden does not exist in a vacuum and a good herbologist has learned how to keep unwanted visitors away from their precious gurdyroot, puffapods, and screechsnap. KNOW YOUR ENEMY!!! Your task is to create something that identifies a garden pest, demonstrates a way to prevent pests, or aid you in getting rid of said pests. Your post should contain what pest/helper you’re after, why it’s a pest/helper, and how your project relates to it. And of course - PICS!

Defense Against the Dark Arts: On hiatus

I didn't finish Defense Against the Dark Arts, or DADA, this month because I ran out of time. However, I will be finishing these mittens before Christmas since they are a Christmas present. When I get a chance in the next couple months, I'll work on then. Until then, they'll be sitting in project hiatus.

Potions: complete!

I'm sliding at the very last second, but I have completed my Potions homework. The picture is kind of crappy because I can't get my camera to upload to my computer and have to use Mom's. And its 3am so thats not happening tonight. I'll update this post later with a better picture. The same goes for my Transfiguration post of me wearing the headband.

Pattern: HP House Gloves by therealkarity
Yarn: Knit Picks Comfy Worsted in Silver Sage and Jalapeno
Needles: Size US 8 needles
Mods: 28 sts (it started out as 30, I swear!) and size US 8 needles
Comments: They're too small for me so the friend I made them for won't be able to wear them. >_< I really need to work on swatching before knitting. Maybe then things would fit right.

Transfiguration: complete!

I've finished my third class! This time its Transfiguration in which we were to learn the art of blocking. I knitted myself a lace headband and steam blocked it. It was my first time really blocking anything besides a small swatch. I think it came out pretty well.

Post-blocking:

Wearing headband:

During blocking:

Pre-blocking

2 days left!

There's only two days left to finish up any of my HPKCHC classes that I can before the end of the month. I should be able to finish four, but not the 5 I'd planned on. If I can only get this much done without NaNo, how am I ever going to get anything done in November?

Charms: turned in
Herbology: turned in
Transfiguration: ends need weaving in and then pictures
Potions: 30% and going to try hard to finish
DADA: Sitting at the 30% mark. Won't finish this month.

Still.. I did get a lot done compared to how slow I normally knit. Haha.

The thing about knitting for others

I think I've figured out why sometimes I have such a hard time knitting for others. Its only really one big reason.

Fitting. I can measure what I'm making all I want against my own arm/head/foot/etc. but it does no good when I'm not exactly sure how much bigger to make it for whoever I'm making it for. If I'm making it for me, I don't mind taking forever to keep redoing it until it fits. But if its someone else, how am I supposed to know when its just right for them? I have no way of knowing. All I can do is guess and hope I'm right.

It's starting to be the time of year when everyone starts thinking presents. I'm making mine this year and probably every year after this. But I always fear that what I make won't fit.

HPKCHC OWL Proposal

So.. My fellow Ravenclaws convinced me that there's no harm in trying to do an O.W.L., even if I don't think I have time for it. We're natural overachievers so of course I agreed. XD I'm submitting my proposal later in a few minute but I decided I'd also post it here.

therealkarity of Ravenclaw submitting her Arithmancy O.W.L. proposal.

1. Identify the pattern(s) you will be using (original designs encouraged).

Lace Beanie by Lion Brand x2
Rosalie by megi x2*
Hermione's Cable and Eyelet Hat by Jackie Lauseng x1
Watch Cap by Lion Brand x2
Ellen's Knit Hat by Ellen Harpin x1
Kitty Hat by fluffyhelen x1
Slouched Tuva Hat by Turvid x1

*Ravelry link

2. Photograph of the yarn(s)/needles/materials involved.

Yarn:
Needles:
3. Two or three sentences describing the planned crafting sequence and analyzing any areas of potential difficulty or new skills learned.

I am normally a slow knitter. To complete 10 hats in two months will be a great accomplishment for me. Some of the hat patterns have stitches I'm not completely used to yet, like cables. I'm hoping it will help me get used to cabling a bit more.

4. Photograph of your swatch or explanation of why a swatch is not needed. Please note that "I never swatch" will not be accepted as an explanation.

I have swatched for the first hat. My gauge is about half an inch off and I will fit the gauge before I start knitting. If I need to include swatches for the others, let me know.

Thank you so much for considering me!

Charms completed!

I have now completed my September Charms assignment for HPKCHC. For the month of September, the Charms assignment was to make an item using the Water Charm Aguamenti. You can see Harry using this in the HBP movie when he and Dumbledore are in the cave.


Pattern: Fetching
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft Brites in Berry Blue
Needles: US size 6
Mods: 6 sts in waste yarn instead of 7.

Blocking success!

I'm excited! I've been working on my project for transfiguration and since it needs to be blocked, I tried steam blocking a swatch of the same yarn. And it made all the difference! Being able to see the difference in it makes me so happy! I love being able to accomplish new knitting skills. Next on my list is going to be learning how to knit continental.

HPKCHC Fall Classes: Updated!

Potions: Slytherin Gloves - for Nova
Charms: Fetching - for Leslie but I may make myself another pair of the same color later. COMPLETED
Herbology: Ravenclaw Gloves - a test pair to figure out the correct pattern. COMPLETED
DADA: Bella's Mittens - for Ashley
Transfiguration: Lace Headband - for me.

I should have probably posted this awhile ago when I finally decided, officially, on what I'm doing for each class. I also had to drop Care of Magical Creatures because I just won't have enough time to do a sweater for Emmy before the month is over. I'm still going to make it for her before Christmas so she can wear it this winter.

If I can do mostly presents next month too, most of them will be done!

Herbology: Finished!

Its taken me awhile to complete, but I've finished my September herbology assignment for HPKCHC. I've already cast on and made a bit of progress in Charms. For the month of September, the herbology assignment was to use a yarn at least 50% from plant origin (ie. cotton or bamboo). I used Knit Picks Comfy Worsted in Planetarium and Silver Sage. It's 75% cotton, 25% acrylic. I know I've already showed you these gloves when I posted my free pattern, but here they are again so you can see my completed herbology assignment.

Free Pattern: HP House Gloves

I've finished my third pair of gloves in house colors. This time its Ravenclaw. (although in the book its blue and bronze..) I've finally figured out the pattern enough to be able to share it with everyone!

Needles: size US 6 or 7. 7 if you want them a bit loose.
Yarn: Worsted. There's no specific kind of yarn you need. You'll need two different colors.
Other items: Stitch marker, tapestry needle.

Blue & Silver or Blue & Bronze for Ravenclaw
Scarlet & Gold for Gryffindor
Green & Silver for Slytherin
Black & Orange for Hufflepuff

Color A is the darker color, color B is the lighter.

CO 32 sts in color A.
Join round and place marker.

Knit 15 rows in color A
Change to color B and knit 15 rows.
Change back to color A and knit 15 rows.
Change back to color B and knit 15 rows.
Change to color A for the last color change. Knit 7 rows.

Knit with waste yarn for 6 sts. Slip the sts back to the left needle and knit them with the working yarn.
Finish the stripe so it has 15 rows of color A.
Bind off.

Thumb: Remove waste yarn and place live stiches on needles. Knit the stitches on the bottom needle. M2. Then knit the stitches on the top needle. M2.
Knit 4 rows.
Bind off thumb loosely.

Weave in all ends and enjoy!



If you make these gloves, let me know! I'd love to see what you come up with!

HPKCHC Fall Classes

I've finally figured out a project to do for all 6 of the classes. I don't have to do something for all six, but it just ended up being that way. Which means I probably won't do an O.W.L this year because it would be way more than I can handle with this plus school and possibly a job soon.

Charms - Nightingale Gloves*
Potions - Basketweave Scarf
Transfiguration - Ridged Lace Cowl
Herbology - Ravenclaw Gloves
Defense Against the Dark Arts - Bella's Mittens
Care of Magical Creatures - Easy Dog Sweaters

* means that its a Ravelry link.

Most of these are for me. XD Only my projects for CoMC and DADA are for someone else. I'm making Bella's Mittens for my brother's girlfriend Ashley who loves Twilight and Emmy needs a sweater for the winter.

Fetching KAL

I'm sure most people know of the FGF group on ravelry for the many people who loves to knit fingerless gloves. Myself included. Right now through the end of September there is a KAL for the Fetching pattern. Its one of my favorites. If you remember, I made Alli a pair in pink for her birthday. Well, I finished a pair of my own, in black.

Now that they're done, I'm very happy with them. The thumbs aren't perfect but they fit me better than the ones I did on Alli's. Simply because my thumb isn't big enough to need 7 sts in waste yarn. It turns out to be too big.

Pattern: Fetching
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft in Black
Needles: US 6/4.0 mm
Mods: 5 waste yarn sts instead of 7.

I can proudly say that this is now one of my favorite fingerless glove patterns.

HPKCHC's Fall term

On ravelry, there's a group called HPKCHC (Harry Potter Knitting & Crochet House Cup). Its a lot like actually going to Hogwarts along with the characters of the series. You're sorted into houses of your choice or if you choose so, it can be random. Then you have 6 classes plus an O.W.L., all of which you can choose to do or not. I think you have to at least do one assignment from a class. But you get to choose the pattern, materials, etc. for the assignments and which ones you do. You can also do an O.W.L., even first years like myself. There's even Quidditch. I don't know too much about that because I've got assignments for all six classes and as soon as I figure out yarnage, I'll be attempting to do O.W.L.

Its all very exciting and I'm glad I found it! Sign ups for the fall term are over, but we have a common room titled NQFYs - Not Quite First Years. I do believe you can still do all the assignments and such but you just can't help earn points for houses. Myself, I'm in Ravenclaw. If anyone wants to join this group, do so! You'll make loads of friends. There are a bunch of people I like already and its only been a couple days. I tend to hang out in the Ravenclaw common room so that's where you'll find me.

Finished!

I've finished! I have finally completed the hat I promised my brother so long ago. XD I think he'll like it. He wanted a hat that had a rolled brim and here it is with the brim rolled:


And here it is without it rolled:

Now I can start working on presents while doing a bunch of stuff for me. I feel like I haven't been knitting a lot lately and I really wanna get back into it.

I.. have to do it.

Okay, so I've always been a big fan of the K-Pop group TVXQ. They're called a couple other names too. DBSK and Tohoshinki come to mind but I think there are more. XD Anyway.. there are five members: Hero, Micky, Max, Xiah, and U-Know. My favorite is Hero. His real name is Kim Jaejoong. (They put last names first.) Today I had a random thought: what if I could find something Jae wears that I'm able to knit and make myself some?

Well... my friend Alana reminded me Jae wears beanies! So.. I went through all my loads of pictures of Jae and found a few beanies, such as the picture below. I've figured out, pretty much, the patterns for two beanies. There's also a picture of Jae with a scarf (or a shirt that has a scarf looking thing. I can't tell.) which I've figured out the pattern for.


Eventually I'll put the patterns up, but I want to try them out myself before giving them away for anyone else to try. I'd hate to say something on the pattern and since I'm still a beginner knitter, especially when it comes to my own patterns, have it not work. But this is so exciting! I was hoping there was something, anything, relating to TVXQ on Raverly. But nope. Nada. Nothing. Oh well.. I can be excited about this all by myself. XD

Christmas WIPS!

Sometimes it can take me forever to knit stuff for other people. With Christmas only a couple months away and me having a lot of people I want to give gifts to, I'm already starting to think about what I'm going to give who. Here's the list I have compiled so far:

Mom - gemstone hat (pattern link)
Dad - matching hat and scarf
Justin - black and sage green scarves (pattern link)
Kim - blue scarf (pattern link)
Dan - Jayne hat (pattern link)
Nova - Slytherin gloves (pattern link)
Leslie - blue fetching gloves (pattern link)

I've asked a couple people what they want and this is what they've said. As of right now, I have four scarves, three hats, and two gloves to make. It shouldn't be too hard if I start soon. I've already added most to my wips on ravelry. A couple of the pattern links haven't been filled in for a couple reasons. Dad's I haven't figured out, Dan's hat I'm thinking of making my own pattern for. The same thing for Nova's gloves. Remember the Gryffindor gloves I made? I'm going to perfect that pattern and make Nova's gloves from that. Oh! I'm also making our puppy at least one doggy sweater. My very first sweater. XD

One hat down, one to go!

I've finished! I have certainly had enough of the red and gold combo. I can do the same pattern a bunch of times as long as I'm not using the same colors. If I'm using the same colors, its hard to even do different patterns. I'm kind of hoping that for awhile, no one asks me to use red and gold together.


Pattern: Ellen's Basic Hat
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft
Needles: US 8/5.00 mm

New on my needles: the hat I promised my brother ages ago.

Hat progress

For his 61st birthday, I asked Dad if I could knit him a hat. He said sure, but requested that it be in Marine colors. Unfortunately for me, thats the same colors as the Gryffindor house colors. So I've been using red and gold a lot lately. After this is done, no more red and gold for awhile. I'll need a break.


I haven't quite finished it, but I've almost reached the beginning of the decreases. I should be able to finish it tomorrow on my way to the family reunion. I'll probably take my laptop too but still get a lot of knitting done since I shouldn't be able to get internet there.

Alli's present is all done!

I finally finished! For the last couple weeks I've been knitting my best friend Alli a pair of fingerless gloves. I have to say they came out pretty good! The gloves I did for the premiere were okay, but I did them pretty fast and didn't put much thought into them. For these, I followed a pattern. And they were two firsts as well. My first cable project and my first project where I did an actual thumb. I'm really happy with them.

Pattern: Fetching
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft Eco
Needles: US 6/4.00 mm
Mods: None!

I also made Alli a couple dishcloths, just like I made her mother some for Mother's day. There's a pink theme going on here because Alli LOVES pink. Its not my favorite, but I will knit with it. The pinks I used are actually very pretty.

New yarn!

Yesterday, I got more yarn to add to my small stash of new yarn I'd ordered from Knit Picks. I think my new yarn total comes to around $60. That's the most yarn I've ever bought in a short amount of time. Good news is that it should last me for awhile. And no more new yarn until I get a job. I really do need to jump back into looking for a job..


A lot of it is actually Lily cotton yarn. Mostly for dishcloths a couple other random projects.

We got a puppy!

On Saturday, Mom and Jim went to the pet store and there was a cute little poodle that they fell in love with. They haven't stopped talking about her since. Mom needed to go to Richmond today and she decided to take me with her. They'd agreed to get her if she was still there and asked us to take her home. When we got there, she was there. And in no time, I fell in love with her.

Isn't she just adorable? She's like a little ball of fur. The cats aren't really sure what to think of her yet and Selena hasn't even met her yet.

I learned how to cable!

I finally taught myself cabling~ I feel proud of myself. XD My first cabling project is a pair of Fetching gloves for my friend Alli's birthday. I only watched a video on cabling once, weeks ago, and I still remembered how to do it.

What do you think? Not bad for my first cables, eh?

'Nother pair of HP gloves

Yesterday I went to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. It was fucking amazing. The day that I ordered the tickets online for the movie, my friend asked me if I could get a pair of gloves like the ones I made me finished in time. I wasn't sure I could but I told her I'd try. And somehow I managed to get a pair of gloves done in 3 days. I think the only thing I've done about that quick before has been dishcloths. xD

I forgot to take a picture of them with my digital, so she texted me a picture of them:


The pattern I used for both gloves is one I came up with myself. Once I make enough of them to have the gauge where they fit me just right, I'll put the pattern up here.

A supply of dishcloths

I think I've figured out what I'm going to do with all the dishcloths I knit. Instead of filling up my projects page on ravelry, I've decided to keep them in one project and simply add the yarn and picture of the FO when I finish it. Afterall, it only takes me a couple hours, if that, to finish one. I'm still going to put up pictures of the ones I do here because this is my knitting blog. xD

I made this one at Mom's request for my step-aunt. She'd liked one I made for Mom so much that Mom wanted to give her one. So I did it this morning before she got here. I'm thinking of making myself a bunch of dishcloths to use up the yarn I only have a little of but I haven't decided yet.

New on my needles: A hat for Dad's 61st birthday in Marine colors (aka, red and gold) and redoing my brother's hat in light sage.

2 days!

I'm really excited! Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince comes out in theaters on Wednesday! Only 2 days to go! It would have been cool had I gotten both the gloves and the scarf done, but at least the gloves are done.

My friend who lives in Richmond, which is 2 hours away, wants to go see it with me. That wouldn't be as much of a problem if I had my own car and license. Everytime I run across a friend wanting to see me or wanting to go somewhere, it frustrates me that I don't at least have my license. But getting a license when you aren't used to driving takes time. Its even harder when no one really has much, if any, time to teach you.

I know I don't really talk about myself or whats going on in my life here - thats what my livejournal is for. But if anyone ever wants to get to know me better, you can either check out my livejournal, or email me at karitymitchell90@gmail.com.

My next projects are going to be finishing my wips. I've only got 2, maybe 3. There's the Slytherin scarf that needs finishing, my brother's beanie I promised him months ago, and then figuring out how I want to use up the Red Heart yarn because its not my favorite to work with. Once those are done, I'll probably go through a craze of making fingerless gloves because they're so much fun! :3

HP Premiere Gloves finished!

I feel very proud of myself today. I've completed my very first pair of fingerless gloves. I didn't use a pattern for them, so the gauge is a little tight. The next time I make them, I'll make them a little bigger so they fit better. The first glove is perfect except for the bind off. I was trying to do a new kind of bind off that ended up being real tight and I didn't manage to loosen the bind off when I switched to the usual bind off. On the second one, the bind off is a much better. The thumb hole is a little tight on both I think.

I can definitely see why people love knitting these so much. I do think I have found my newest obsession. Now to finish up some projects I've had sitting around. Once I do, I can really jump into knitting lots of fingerless gloves. And now, for a picture of my gloves:

Back to knitting!

I didn't knit a lot in June but I'm already halfway finished a pair of gloves and its only the 5th of July! They aren't the best but its to be expected, they're just practice. Once I finish up my Harry Potter knitting, I'll think about what I want to work on next.

I was having problem with tension upon trying to start these gloves and then I decided to try a different cast on method. I went with the twisted German cast on and I love it. I'm not having any tension problems at all! My binding off is a little tight, but I'll work on it. And now for pictures!

My very first finished glove.

Almost 50% of my Slytherin scarf!

Tension

Sometimes when I'm knitting the first row (especially when its via magic loop), the tension gets really tight. Not just tight but impossible to move across the needle. I've always been a tight knitter but when you can't even finish the first row because of tension, you know something's gotta change.

I want to take a couple days off of my Slytherin scarf to make myself a pair of fingerless gloves in Gryffindor colors (scarlet and gold). I tried to start them a few minutes but after getting the first part of the magic loop done, I couldn't get the second half done because the tension was impossibly hard.

Anyone have any suggestions as to how to loosen the tension?

I haven't done much knitting lately seeing as I'm only on stripe 6 of the 19 striped house scarf. But I think if I can make the fingerless gloves, I'll be happier to speed through the rest of the scarf. In awhile I'll post a new picture. I've only managed to double what I had since I posted the first picture of it. That really isn't a lot of progress.

Free Pattern: Crocheted Dishcloth

I've got my knitted dishcloth linked to my ravelry profile, so now I can easily add any more patterns I come up with! Here's the crocheted version of the dishcloth Mom taught me.


Materials:
Worsted weight cotton yarn
Size F (3.75 mm) or G (4.0 mm) hook

Skill level: Easy

Pattern:
chain 35. dc in each chain until you reach the end of the row. ch 2. turn.
dc in every dc, chaining 2 at the end of each row before turning.
continue this for 10 rows.

If you want to make the dishcloth bigger, simply add more rows.



If you make this pattern, let me know! I'd love to see what you come up with.

HP Knitting!

The 6th Harry Potter movie - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, is coming out July 15th. I've been meaning to get back into working on my Slytherin house scarf so that I can wear it to the premiere. This past weekend ABC family played the 3rd and 4th movies a lot so it got me back into the Harry Potter fandom. Thus, I've been working on my scarf. I'm going to see if I can knit about a stripe, maybe two, per day. There are 19 stripes total so each stripe is 5% and the final 5% of the scarf will be the fringe.

I'm not going to make it as big as the pattern calls for (because the HP scarves are BIG) because I'm not wearing a really thick and warm scarf in the middle of July!


After the scarf, I'm going to try to make a pair of handwarmers to wear in the cold theater. I have never known a theater to be anything other than cold. Whenever I go see a movie in the theater, I take a jacket so I don't freeze to death. The pattern for the gloves is one I'm making up. It'll be interesting because I've never done any kind of gusset before. Or anything besides hats and scarves. XD

Whats currently on my needles

This past week has been really busy with company coming and going almost all week. So I haven't really been knitting much. There have been a couple things I kept meaning to blog about but I never seemed to get around to it. I've really been slacking off in my blogging lately. My livejournal has updates for the last three days but none of them are finished yet.

Remember how I said I wanted to use up my Red Heart yarn? I think I figured out the best way. Instead of doing small knitting projects like scarves and hats, I decided to crochet myself an afghan. It will also teach me how to do granny squares, something Mom tried to teach me a long time ago and I just wasn't ready. xD She already gave me a quick run through, plus I have a link to two pretty good videos showing the same thing. Speaking of videos, I found one that taught me how to do cabling. <3 Now I can make myself a pair of nice fingerless gloves with cables on them. I have yet to make myself fingerless gloves because I've been scared of cables. Not anymore!

I don't have pictures of anything yet but I'm working on a pair of easy cabled fingerless gloves found on Knitty and an afghan that I'd like to get done before the 21st of June (Litha). It'll probably end up being just a throw for anyone when they get chilly or need something to sleep under. When I get better yarn, I'll make seasonal alter cloths for my alter. I also need to figure out how I'm going to knit a few snake bags for Dad for his birthday. We're going to line them otherwise the snakes would probably get out of small holes but thats something he can really use. I'll make a couple for me too so we don't have to keep using pillowcases for my snake.

I'm also going to try to at least get a Slytherin scarf made before the sixth Harry Potter movie comes out in July. I'm making it smaller so I can stand to wear it in July. Plus I'm not one for huge scarves. I'm not 100% sure I'll use up all the skeins with the scarf, but even most of them would be great, since I got the scarf colors in Red Heart yarn. xD Now that I know where my local LYS is, I can go there for any more of my yarn needs, especially once I get my license and have my own car.

How...?

I'm confused on how to get my designs to show up on my profile on ravelry. I've put the pattern on ravelry but I just can't seem to figure out how to link it to my profile. Do I need more than just one? I don't think I do. And how do I get my picture of the dishcloth to show up for the project? Other than gettiting it on ravelry, I'm confused on what to do.

Someone plz help me.

Free Pattern: Knitted Dishcloth

This is a pattern my mom taught me how to do that is really easy. You can get a dishcloth done in only a couple hours!


Supplies:
Worsted weight cotton
Size US 7 - 9 needles, depending on preference

Skill level: Easy

Pattern:
Cast on 4 stitches
Knit a row
Knit 1, yo, knit until there is 1 st left on the needle, yo, knit 1
Continue in this pattern until you have 40 stitches on the needle, more if you want a bigger dishcloth.
Knit 1, k2tog, knit until there are 3 sts left on the needle, k2tog, knit 1
Continue in this pattern until there are only 4 stitches left on the needle.
Bind off and weave in ends



If you make this pattern, let me know! I'd love to see what you come up with.

Using up yarn stash

I've decided to work on projects that aren't really for any one in particular at the moment so I can use up part of my yarn stash. My yarn stash is mostly made up of two different kinds of yarn - Red Heart and Caron Simply Soft. I like the Caron yarn a lot better than the Red Heart so I've decided to use it up in projects that aren't that important to me. I think I gave about half of it back to Mom (since she was the one who gave it to me anyway) and kept most of the blues and blacks for myself. After all, they are the colors I prefer working with.

Does anyone have any pattern suggestions on things I could do to use up the yarn? Right now I'm working on a 2x2 ribbed scarf and I have a couple other scarf ideas. I don't only want to do scarves though. They just go pretty quick and can use up a lot of yarn. But I know I'll get bored of scarves after awhile so any suggestions would be wonderful.

I might get a picture up of the scarf I'm currently working later today but we'll have to see.

Happy Mother's Day!

I know its late, but happy mother's day to all the Mom's out there! I finished my presents for Mama just in time for mother's day. I actually finished them right before midnight so it was still actually Mother's Day when I handed the second one to her. Like Alli's Mom, I made Mama two dishcloths (Alli's Mom actually got three) and since I was upstairs to give it to her, I went ahead and took a picture. I think this is the quickest I've ever posted pictures of something I've finished. Haha.


Everyone who's seen this picture love them. The dishcloths are so easy to do! Once I make some for me, I'll post the pattern up. Plus I'm too tired to do anything worth anything tonight.

New on my needles: My very first cabling project. We'll get to see how this goes soon.

Dishcloths = done!

Now that I finished the dishcloths for Alli's Mom (which didn't make it out today but will be going out soon), I have a picture of them! I decided on waiting to do Mom's hat so I'm making her a couple of these too. Dishcloths are kinda an on going thing for me because they're so easy and I can do them while deciding on what else to knit for me.

After I do the ones for Mom, I'll be putting up both versions of the dishcloth to Ravelry. One day I'll figure out my fingerless glove pattern.

Dishcloths = almost done!

I'm almost finished making the dishcloths for Alli's mom that I planned on making. Instead of four, I'm stopping at three cause I wanna knit something else for awhile. I'll probably knit something for me before I make Mom's hat but I know she won't mind it being late. She's not much of a hat person and its not cotton so it won't soak up sweat which means she'll probably wear it in the fall and winter but thats it. XD

I've been lazy when it comes to pictures lately so I have a bunch of pictures to put up and shall do tomorrow since I'm sending Alli's mom's dishcloths out tomorrow, or will try to. Once I do, I'll have pictures of other stuff too.

Twilight Knitwear

My like and dislike of Twilight has been back and forth but what I realized awhile ago is that what I really like about Twilight is the story behind it. The story of a vampire falling in love with his prey. And I love Alice. Alice is amazing. But that's not what I'm going to talk about. I'm going to talk about the knitwear from the movie, cause its just that amazing.

One of the really popular items from Twilight is Bella's mittens. There's a whole list of stuff from the movie and then again from stuff people have been inspired to come up with. As for me, there are only two items I really want to make. I bet you've guessed it - they're worn by Alice. I want to make her scarf and shrug. She also wears a cardigan but I'm not much for wearing white. Although I could make it in another color. I'll decide later about that. The shrug doesn't have a pattern out yet and I'm not awesome enough yet to figure it out. So I'm waiting on Natsuki on Ravelry to post the pattern that she used the Erica Shrug and came up with Alice's. All the links are on ravelry but if you want pictures and aren't on ravelry, let me know and I'll get links so you can see them too.

With so much stuff in Twilight, I'm kind of excited to see what they come up with for New Moon. I'll probably end up getting all the movies (and suffer through watching Breaking Dawn) just for the awesome knitwear they are sure to have. xD

Mother's Day Projects

Mom absolutely loves my hat! So, I'm making her one for mother's day with her favorite yarn that's a mixture of purples and greens. It's called Gemstone so thus, her hat is called a Gemstone Lace Hat. That also lightens the load of dishcloths I have to make. They aren't my favorite thing to make, but very easy and can be done in a couple hours time. Once all my Mother's Day knitting is done, I get to decide what to make for myself next!

Lace Hat & Sachets pt. II

I got my hat finished!


Free Pattern: Windy City Hat by Jodi Haraldson
Needles: US 8/4.0 mm 16" circulars
Yarn: Red Heart Classic Olympic Blue
Mods: None~

Also: The sachets are being set aside for awhile. I started working on the pattern and it wasn't looking like the picture at all. >.<;; So I'll probably figure out my own pattern for them later. But for now, I'll just wait to make myself some sachets, or make them in a different way.

May Projects

You know how I put up a list of projects I was doing for each month? Well those were sorta focused on what I was giving away. (Its real sad I never really stuck to the list too. Good thing it was only family! Haha.) I'm still going to make them but more as an idea of what I'd like to get done that month.

Strawberry Sachets: Size US 6 needles. Lily Sugar 'n Cream Red and Lily Sugar 'n Cream Dark Sage. My Beltane Project. Ravelry link. DEADLINE: May 1st.

Mother's Day Dishcloths: Size US 9 needles. Various colors of Lily Sugar 'n Cream. I'm making a total of 6 to give to my mother and to my friend Alli's mother. Ravelry link. DEADLINE: May 10th.

I can't really think/decide on what I'd like to knit for me this month. I don't know, maybe keeping a list of what to knit during the month won't be so easy when I'm not knitting for other people. Haha. Perhaps I should keep a list of Christmas presents to start on and work through them the rest of the year?

Lace Hat & Sachets

I'm 50% done with my very first hat for me! Its actually my first hat that I didn't make for an infant and my second hat I've ever made. XD Justin's is still sitting at 25% because I got tired of it and Mom doesn't do much knitting even though she's going to try to finish it for him. Here's a picture of my lace hat currently. The lace pattern is finished and now I just knit in stockinette until I start decreasing.

I'm also showing off the picture of the supplies for my strawberry sachets I'm starting May 1st which is also Beltane. I'll be putting Rosemary and Lavender (shown in pic also) in them for protection. ♥

Injured Foot

Last night my foot got hurt pretty badly because a really heavy rock got away from my step-dad and landed on my foot. Today I realized that my thoughts were right - it didn't land on my toe, but instead the area just below my toes. Its currently dark blue and the part of my toe that the rock hit is purple. As long as I stay off it, I should be okay. If it gets any worse, Mom'll take me to the doctor. But as long as I have to stay off my foot, I can get lots of knitting done! Not that I have any place to be since I'm jobless...

Bedford LYS

After some online searching a few days ago, I found that there is a LYS in Bedford, VA which is not even a full hour from me. So Mom took me to it yesterday and if I had called, I would have known they were closed. >_<;; But I didn't. Still, we're going to go sometime next week and I'm really excited. I've only ever been in one LYS and that was before I knew about all the different kinds of yarn and stuff. Now that I'm learning more about it, I'm quite excited!

Why is it so impossible?

Why is it so literally impossible to knit with bamboo needles? The tension is hard as hell, even when I casted on over both needles and pulled the second out to have a loose cast on. The cable is thicker than what I'm used to by 2x or more. I tried every way I can think of to get them to work and they just won't. If I was doing something that needed all 29" they might work. But doing magic loop on these needles is impossible. And they're the only circulars I don't have with something except my two US size 6 16"s.And I was hoping to use magic loop instead of having to use 2 circulars.

Oh how I need to get a bigger needle supply...

Gauge

*grumbles* Why is figuring out the gauge for my newest project so hard? I want to make a pair of fingerless gloves using my DPNs but all I have are size US 3 and the pattern calls for a size US 7. I know you can adjust the gauge to what you're using needle and yarn wise from what the patterns, but I don't know how to do it. Maybe my problem is that I'm trying to teach myself because I'm the only one in the house who really knows how to knit? So I don't have anyone to go to but myself. Well, there's the internet but I can't be calm about anything when I'm this frustrated. It feels like I'll never find a use for my DPNs, except maybe socks.

When it comes down to it, I guess I just really want someone who I can go to and ask "How do you do this?" because I really don't have anyone that I can. I'm more advanced in knitting than Mom is. After all, I just taught her how to circular needles tonight.

Knitting for me now.

Its taken me a couple months to figure this out but I'm glad I did. At least for now, I'll only be knitting presents for people for Christmas. For two reasons: One, most of the things I can knit currently are useable in the winter months and most wouldn't wear them during the summer. And two, if I only knit for other people, it takes the fun out of knitting and I have to fight to get any progress done. Perhaps as I get more experience, this will change. But for now, its how I feel.

I'm kind of excited to be working on different patterns because now I'll have a lot more stuff I can knit. I don't really like only knowing how to knit scarves, hats, and dishclothes.

Interchangeable Needles

As I was looking at what kind of hat I could make myself that was pretty easy, I found a pattern that needed size 13s. And I use circulars for most things. When I went to knitpicks to see how much a pair would be, I found the only way to get a pair of size 13 16” circulars was to use interchangeable needles. I’ve actually thought about the idea of getting interchangeable needles for awhile now. I just don’t have the money to do it and while the ones I have are what I need, don’t see too much of a need for them. Once I have the money, I’ll probably get the kit of them found here.

Until then, the next time Mom says she wants to get me some supplies, I’ll probably pick out a cord and needle size. I told her that when she wants to get me something relating to knitting, to just give me a price limit because its so much easier going on knitpicks and finding exactly what I want than going into a store in the hopes they’ll have what I want. Plus, I love knitpicks needles way more.

Kitty Playtime!

Last night Mom bought my kitty Selena a new toy. It's a squeaky bird that sounds like a bird and instantly became her favorite toy. She was having so much fun that I just had to catch her on video.

Mother's Day Knitting

Its taken me awhile, but I've finally decided what to make Mom for Mother's Day. Not only am I making them for my mom, but also for Alli's too. Alli's like my twin so her Mom is like mine too. I asked her what she thought her Mom would like for Mother's Day and luckily she said dishcloths so it means I only have to do double the dishcloths of the same pattern.

Mom told me that the pattern is one she learned from her grandmother or aunt and she wasn't sure where they learned it from. So I suppose you could call it a pattern thats been passed down through the family. They make really good dishcloths too, especially if you make them big enough. xD When I first started making them, I made them a little too small but I think I've figured out a good size for them.

I'd kind of like to do another swap for Mother's Day because I really liked it, but I don't really have any money and at the moment I'm jobless. And I'm not going to ask Mom to pay for something that I should pay for.

My swap package came today!

I'm really happy! My package from the Easter swap I did came today! I didn't realize at first that it was coming from Canada which always takes awhile. I got new needles, awesome wool yarn, three dishclothes, three kinds of candy, and a sweet card. It came from schiophreza on ravelry.

Before I sent my own package off to my person, I took pictures. I took one of each dishcloth for my projects pics but also an overview of the entire package I sent. I kinda feel like I was a little cheap but around here there isn't much to choose from. (This was also before I discovered AC Moore which has wool yarn, but not the really nice wool yarn Ben Franklin does.)