Weaving Experiment: Part II

It's been awhile but I have finished my Gryffindor scarf. Once I finished it and got it off the loom, it looked a lot better than it did on the loom because the warp threads were all stretched out. Something I realized as I was weaving this scarf was the yarn I was using was Cascade 220 Superwash and I didn't think about what that would mean. It won't full like a non-superwash wool will. I still don't have the blue or silver superwash 220. I asked Jackie about it and she said WEBs isn't sure when it will come back in stock. Instead of canceling the order, I'm going to let it come when it does get back in stock. But I'm not sure I'm going to use superwash for the scarves again (the 220 Fingering isn't so I still wouldn't want to wash it in the machine.)

In the mean time I got some of the colors I need for the scarves in regular Cascade 220 (Ravenclaw blue, silver, Slytherin green, Hufflepuff yellow and Gryffindor red.) The only color missing is the black and the bronze for the second color set of Ravenclaw. I got more of the red fingering so I can make another Gryffindor when I want to. The next one I make will be Ravenclaw. My plan is to make one of each of the two styles (large stripes or the uneven stripes you see on Gryffindor) of each of the houses. And then list them on Etsy. If you have a request for me to make you one, please let me know. 

I feel like the scarf came out really well. It measures 74" long before the fringe and used about 430 yards. 

Weaving Experiment: Part I

Friday I finished my purple houndstooth scarf which meant it was time to start my experiment. I haven't actually measured an area out for a specific length of scarf in the new house yet. Instead I've been warping the scarves the length of my room. Now that the purple is done, I need to see just what that length comes out to be. I picked Gryffindor to start with. I'm still waiting on the yarn for Ravenclaw (including the silver for Slytherin). The first thing I learned was that a 50g ball of Cascade 220 Fingering will get me an 8" warp the length of my room. 

I'm really glad that it gave me what it did. When the skein started getting low, I was worried about just how wide it would come out. My goal had been 9" but I'm perfectly happy with 8". Typically House Scarves are wider, closer to 10-12" but unless someone specifically wants that width, I think I'm going to stick to the 8". This was the first time I did a fingering weight warp. It took awhile but I'm glad it came out as well as it did.

The beginning of the weft. Its interesting to weave the weft through a fingering weight warp. The colors are a little off. The warp is more of a burgundy and the weft is more of that classic Gryffindor red. I only see the warp when I'm looking close enough and should see even less after I block the scarf at the end.

As of yesterday, I have completed 2 full sections and gotten to the gold stripe section for a third. Each repeat is 40 rows of weft and then 4 each of gold, red, gold. The trick to all of this is how well the gold shows with the red weft. So far so good.

WIP Wednesday: Castle of Dreams III

I've made this blanket twice before now. The more I make it, the farther in the design process I get. I got almost all of the design written up last time but forgot to take measurements as I worked or to check what gauge I got. This time I'm measuring as I go.

I don't have anyone in mind to receive the blanket. I have so much acrylic at this point that I can make blankets to sit around. They'll take up less space than a bin of acrylic will. I might even sell them on etsy, I'm not sure yet.

I hope everyone is having a good Wednesday!

Fall Knitting!

It's finally feeling like autumn and I love it!! This is my favorite time of the year, when I get to bring out all the hand knits. I wear some of them all year, even when it is really too hot for them. But its this time of year where I've always got a shawl and hat on. Most of my gloves are fingerless to allow for typing and knitting. I've been known to, when its too cold for fingerless, put on a small pair of cheap gloves and put the hand knit mitts over them. I still get warmth for my fingers but get to wear the comfy hand knit.

We've been moved into the house about a month now. We're still settling in. My bed has been set up for a few weeks now. This past weekend with help from a friend we were able to move my dresser and desk up to my room. Solid wood furniture is heavy and we've already decided that we're hiring movers when we move out of this house, whenever that may be. The living room is pretty close to being set up too. The one thing left that I need in my room is a bookcase. The boxes left in my closet are boxes of books and yarn. I know where the important books are so I can get to them easily enough: the knitting books and what I have of Brandon Sanderson's work. I've been listening to the Hobbit on audiobook lately. Once I finish, I'm going to pick up listening to Way of Kings again.

My crafting lately seems to be focused on purple and orange. It suits, considering that Halloween is this month. I've finished my shawl from my last post. It's about the only thing I finished in September. I absolutely love it and have worn it a bunch lately. But it is a smaller shawl (perfect for wearing in the office) and I'm used to larger shawls like my Seraphim.

After the shawl was finished, I picked up knitting on a pair of socks I started last month but haven't finished yet. I'm using an orange variegated yarn for them. I have enough of it so that when the socks are done, I can cast on a Hitchhiker and use the rest of the yarn up for that shawl. I've decided that my hand knits need to come in sets: shawl/scarf, hat, mitts/gloves and socks. I need that item bonus for wearing the full set, you know. :P

For the purple set I now have the shawl and a pair of fingerless mitts that I made last year. I have the hat in mind already. It's the socks that make me pause. The yarn I used for the shawl is Knit Pick's Stroll Tonal in their discontinued colorway called Royalty. When I use it all up, I can't get more. I have 3 skeins left. There is a shawl I plan to use a skein to make for a friend. That leaves me with two. The question then becomes do I want to use it for just shawls or use a skein for a pair of socks too? If yes on socks, I have a pair of knee high socks in mind. For my orange set, I'm still working on the shawl and socks. I know the pattern for the fingerless mitts I'm going to use. I actually have a very limited amount of orange fingering in my stash and it makes me sad. I love orange. I'm not sure about the hat yet. The one in the purple set is a beret but it doesn't have to be. I'll have to do some thinking on other hat patterns I want.

I'm still weaving, of course. I'm always weaving. My focus right now has been to get scarves done so I can get them listed on etsy. Especially with winter coming and everyone thinking about new things to wear to stay warm. I have four done already. 2 houndstooth, 1 checkerboard and 1 plaid. I've warped my loom for a second checkerboard. this time in a light and dark purple. I really love how they look together. Speaking of weaving, I have an experiment I'm going to try when the yarn and the reed for my loom get here. The experiment is to see how well I can weave horizontal stripes. The trick is to use a fingering weight yarn for the warp and a worsted weight yarn for the weft. I've ordered the yarns for all of the houses. Once they get here, I'll get started. I'm really excited about trying it. Because if it works, then I can weave Doctor Who scarves as well.

I hope you have a wonderful crafty week!

Knitting, Weaving and Moving! Oh My!

I don't remember being this busy in quite some time. We will be getting the keys to our new house this weekend. On Tuesday I will need to go over there and get as much painting as I can done. I want to help my brother paint our new house for more than just one day by my work week of 10+ hours a day doesn't allow for it. On the days I work, I barely manage to knit for an hour or two after I get home from work. But I'll help him the best I can. In the meantime, we need to keep packing. My room is still only about half packed. Thankfully the yarn is mostly pre-packed because it lives in bins and such. There is some yarn that is sitting our but that can be put into a box as long as I don't need it. Then on next Friday, we will drive to mom's, pack the uhaul we're renting there, drive back the next day and put the rest of our stuff in the uhaul and unload it. I'm really glad I took a few days off from work with my PTO because I'm going to need it.

As far as crafting goes, I've been weaving a lot lately. The next scarf that is going on the loom today will be my first plaid scarf. I want to expand past scarves but I know right now they are good practice. I already know that I'm going to want a new loom when I look to expand past scarves. I'm dying to make myself a plaid shawl in fall colors but I don't think it will end up happening this year. There is just so much else to do and I don't have the money right now to afford the yarn I want to use.

September is the start of a new HPKCHC term. It took a couple days but my OWL has been approved and I've started working on that. It is a multi-project OWL and two of them have been started. For classes I have started a shawl that I'm absolutely in love with and was nearly sitting on my hands to keep from casting on. I don't think it is quite half done but I'm into the repeats of chart 3 of 4. I have also cast on a pair of simple socks. They have a little more pattern than plain vanilla socks so it will keep me interested but not keep me from knitting while I watch Netflix. 

Most of the time I start a term off with casting on my OWL and at least 2-3 classes. I always end up focusing on the classes and failing my OWL. I'm determined to do a healthy mix of both this time. The shawl is my main focus for September but I have other projects that are easier to grab on the go. Several hours of my weekly knitting time is spent knitting during my break at work. It takes away from my knitting to be looking at a chart. So the projects I can memorize are the ones I take with me. Right now I have my Ravenclaw scarf from my OWL in my bag I take to work. I will switch the projects around as I can so I don't get too bored. My days off are nice. I try to spend them knitting as much as I can because I know I don't get a lot done during the rest of the week.

I have put my etsy on vacation until I am done moving. This will help my knitting some too. I used to be smart about it and have a stock of the Harry Potter hats that sell the most. And then I kept selling them without making the stock inbetween orders. So now when I get an order for a hat, I have to stop what I'm doing and make it. And it is just hard on me to do that, especially when I am working on a project I really like. So the vacation is not only for the move but to also catch up on some stock again. I'll have new listings to post when I bring it back and that will be exciting.

I hope you have a wonderful day!

Birthday Post

The last time I posted anything, it was my birthday. (June 24th) I wanted to wait until after my birthday party that was the weekend after before I posted anything. Leading up to my birthday I had been very meh about it because I felt like the only things I would get for my birthday that I hadn't already gotten were what I was going to buy myself. It turned out to be mostly true, unfortunately. Its not that I think everyone has to give me something. But the friends I have I met through my brother. And most of them do give him something for his birthday and/or Christmas but almost never me. Maybe I shouldn't think that way but living in this house has me depressed more then I'd realized.

None of my best friends live here. They're all friends I made through Ravelry. And one of them made my birthday so much better by sending me this:

The only thing I knew of was West Book 3. And I didn't know she had gotten it signed. The yarn is all Valley Yarn that I haven't tried yet. It's a Valley Yarn Sampler that she built herself. :)

And then there's the box of yarn and tools that I ordered myself from WEBs. Most important of them is the brand new loom. I got it because Jackie is an enabler and has given me a new craft to play with. I waited until we went to visit Mom for her birthday and July 4th this past weekend to open it. I didn't know where to even start with weaving and my stepdad would be able to show me.

This scarf is the end result of just one day's amount of work. Its still crazy to think that I can have a scarf that is 7 feet long in under a day. It would have taken me days to knit the scarf, a week minimum.

Current WIPs: 17

It makes me sad how many WIPs I really have. I keep telling myself one day I'll only have 5 or so but it still hasn't happened. I think because I have an "oooh shiny" problem. Like when I get super excited about a project, I just can't not cast it on.

Current:

Tardis Socks (over 70%)

Dalek Mitts 

Ravenclaw Shawl

Ashfield Cardigan (over 50%)

Vivid Blanket

Year-long Blanket KAL - a new square is released every two weeks for what will be a total of 25 squares. I plan on using up all my cheap acrylic in this blanket and am so behind in making squares.

Loki amis (over 75%) - very very late Christmas presents and one for me. 4 Lokis total.

Kam Chu Socks - stage 2 of Tour de Sock

Roll the Bones - stage 3 of Tour de Sock

Diagonal Lace Socks

Hibernating:

Glaceon Plushie

Foxxy Shawl

Celestarium Shawl

Percy Shawl

Company of Dwarves amis

Fellowship of the Ring amis

Cabled Scarf

August STUFFF - Part 2

And the second half of my STUFFF accomplishments. Blogger wouldn't let me upload all of the images into the same one so I split it 3 and 3. :)

When I completed my Porifera socks (better known as Axel Socks), I noticed something. Where the heel joined the leg, it had left small holes, despite me picking up a stitch or two and knitting them together with an already established stitch. This normally gets rid of said holes. So... I took scrap yarn of the same color and closed the holes.

Finish. This is going to be the one tile I get a lot of (I hope!) because of my stack of WIPs. Rachel is going off to London soon and although she herself is a knitter, I know she's been having trouble making a hat that fits her just right. I'd been wanting to do something for her and knew she needed a hat. So, I made her one!

And frog. I'm pretty much done with this tile but I've already acheived two of them. The pile of WIPs into yarn was my first frog tile, the socks into yarn was the second. None of the WIPs (this time) were complete failures. It was mostly I was either waiting to do the project later or the yarn didn't want to be that specific project.

And with all of that work, I am down to 5 WIPs, 3 for me and 2 presents for family. Both of which are already half done. Once all 5 WIPs are completed, I will probably jump into working on presents. I have 6 more before all are done. And next year I'll only make presents at birthday time so it's a little more spread out.

August STUFFF - Part 1

In HPKCHC-land, it is the time of cleaning and WIPs! On every break month, we have an activity that helps everyone get ready for the coming 3 month term. Last time (April) was Wizard's Chess. This time it's Scrabble, also known as STUFFF.

Swatch

Tidy

Update

Fix

Finish

Frog

Today I was awarded my golden tile set, the set of letter tiles awarded to those who have completed all six! This was what I was waiting for before I blogged about it. And now, pictures of what I've completed.

STUFFF also has swatch-along weeks. First was dyeing but I had an epic fail with the yarn so nothing got dyed. The next week, this week, was crochet. I haven't done anything beyond basics in months so I decided that I would do a swatch of fpdc and bpdc on the idea that instead of knitting my niece's presents, I would crochet them.

Tidying. My desk is my work space for everything. Knitting, school, writing... You name it. At first it was covered with yarn and other things. After I found homes for all the yarn there was much more room for when I needed space to do things. Although, when both laptops are open most of my space disappears.

And the drawer. My desk has a drawer that is just right for keeping my needles/hooks and active WIPs. It was piled high, in part because I hadn't put needles away after I'd completed or frogged a project. So it just needed a little bit of tidying.

Lastly, update. I have no pictures for this but I reorganized and cleared out my queue. Now there is less "I will make this someday" patterns queued and more of "I have plans to make this before the end of the year" patterns queued. But I did keep all my video game character KALs or I'd forget what Rachel and I'd planned.

FO: Haruni

It done, oh god it's done. After months of not working on it, I spent the last week working hard on Haruni. I was a bit unsure I'd get it done before the end of July, but I did. This is good too, because my cousin's bridal shower is on the 6th of August, I think. Before now, the biggest project I've made for someone else was a scarf or a hat. Nothing as big as a shawl. But I'm glad that I could make something that Ashley would like.

Pattern: Haruni

Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in Royalty

Needles: 3.75mm

Notes: I love this shawl, so much. The next one I make will be for me, in green.

Now I'm down to... 10 WIPs. It's slowly going down.

WIP Wednesday: Iris & Haruni

It's WIP Wednesday again! Haruni still isn't done but it's closer. I've also decided to use 30-minute intervals to work on a present for someone else and then something for me. Today's projects are both shawls; Haruni for my cousin and Iris for me. Haruni still looks like a purple blob and will until its blocked so I'm not taking a new picture.

The picture I have of Iris is a bit dark. The yarn is a mixture of green, purple and some blue. It reminds me a bit of Red Heart's Gemstone colorway they discontinued. The shawl is a mystery shawl I had to put down in light of July getting busy/other things to work on. This picture of clue 1.

WIP Wednesday: Haruni

Today is WIP Wednesday! After I got home from spending a wonderful week at my brother's, I realized something. My ideal goal for WIP count is between 3-5. I have twelve. It was worse, actually. I was up to 16 before I finished two things and frogged a few others. This also made me look at all of my WIPs and I was reminded, yet again, that Ashley's shawl isn't done. August will be here before I know it and it won't be done if I don't work on it now.

This yarn is one of my all time favorite yarns from KP. I love tonals and purple is one of my favorite colors. I'm still sad they discontinued this colorway. I haven't yet decided if I'll make myself a shawl exactly like Ashley's but I know one day I'll make myself this same shawl in a green tonal.

Yes, I know the shawl looks like a purple blob. Shawls are nearly impossible to picture as anything but blobs while they are still on the needles.

FO: Moogle!

A long time ago, I found a pattern for a crocheted moogle from Final Fantasy. I didn't know how to crochet at the time so it went into my favorites on Rav and I forgot about it. Sometime during last winter moogles were mentioned and the pattern was brought up. I decided to make a moogle. When I told one my good friend QS about it, she wanted one. I knew I had to make her one since she, in her awesomeness, reintroduced me to KH after years of having it but not playing it.

Pattern: Moogle Doll

Yarn: Red Heart Super Savior in white, dark red, and lavender

Hook: 4mm

Notes: I used the game case for Final Fantasy IX for scale. Also because it's the one QS and I are both playing right now. The moogle's eyes I'm not happy with and I think the nose is a bit fat...

FO: Netbook Sleeve

One thing I've wanted for years has been a netbook. For my 21st birthday, my wonderful father gave me enough money to get one. I knew instantly that I wanted something to protect it when I would put it in a backpack with other stuff. Instead of paying $10-20 for a commercially made protective sleeve from HP, I decided to design my own. The way I designed it makes it easy for it to be a sleeve or a bag.

The prototype is finished and my netbook is in my hands and has been for about a week now. I have thus named it Marly. The only thing I need now is a small cordless computer mouse.

Here's an image of the netbook, fully inside of the sleeve:

Project: Netbook Bag

Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in Shaded Dusk

Hook: 5mm

Notes: My first crocheted pattern design. It came out well I think.

FO: Porifera & Twilight Socks

Two pairs of socks are complete! I just finished one pair and the other was done about a month ago. I waited to post a picture of them anywhere besides Rav because they were Mom's birthday present. I wanted her to see them first.

Porifera was one of the guiding patterns in my purchase of a booklet titled Twist & Knit. Rachel kept talking about them and other patterns from it until I eventually folded. Porifera will probably be the only ribbed pair of socks I do.

Pattern: Porifera Socks

Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Kettle Dyed in Wine

Needles: 2.25mm

The pattern for mom's socks was originally written for cuff down but because I like doing my socks toe up better, I converted it. And even learned a way to do the slip stitch heel (most common heel I've seen on cuff down socks) on a pair of toe up socks.

Pattern: Twilight

Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll in Paisley Multi

Needles: 2.5mm

WIP Wednesday: Netbook Bag

Today is WIP Wednesday! You know what also happened today? My netbook arrived! I had it sent to my brother's house because mail for my house is weird. I live on a private road so USPS doesn't deliver mail so we can only have a PO box. (Although they sent it FedEx which does come...)

What this means is I need to work on the bag I've started to crochet for carrying and protecting the netbook. I know the exact size to make it because I measured my brother's netbook and got the same model as his.

The entire body of the bag will be a varigated blue. Then the flap at the top and straps will be black. I'd really like dark blue buttons but unfortunately unless I paint them, all my buttons are white. I'll figure out something.

WIP Wednesday: Make Up & Porifera Socks

Today is WIP Wednesday!

I've hardly done any work on my socks in the last week. I had a busy weekend in celebrating my birthday. I was busy having fun and visiting with my brother and friends that I ended up not knitting much. But I did make some progress. Make Up Socks (purple) are through the heel now and Porifera Socks (red) are at the heel. You can see the first one being worked on here:

I have a deadline of finishing both of these pairs of socks by the end of tomorrow. It's not the end of the world if I don't, but I'd be really happy to reach that goal.

Adventures in Dyeing

I've been wanting to try dyeing for the longest time. It only seemed natural to know how to dye my own yarn, especially after I knew how to spin. A few months ago I received a swap package and in it was a skein of bare wool from Knit Picks. At that point, I hadn't gotten around to taking the first step to learning how to dye with Kool Aid. I was always thinking of knitting projects I wanted to do when I had money to spend on Knit Picks. Anyway, my swap person sent me a 100g skein of undyed fingering yarn from Knit Picks.

It wasn't until a couple days ago where I decided I'd go ahead and do it. Truth is, I was scared of completely messing it up. My really good friend Rachel helped walk me through it and so did a tutorial on Knitty. The first step was to soak the yarn:

While it soaked, I got out my pot and added the water and Tropical Punch Kool Aid. I'm not sure where my brain was but I actually wanted to dye the yarn blue. Somehow I got it in my head that the tropical punch was blue. It was when I poured the packets into the pot that I realized I was wrong. But... I didn't want to waste it and I love the color red too. So I decided to go ahead with the red and to do blue next time (and soon). After the packets were added to the water, I stirred it until they were dissolved, adding no sugar. Then I added yarn.

I heated the yarn to an almost boil and then let it cool until I could manage to touch it. I think that took about 4 hours at the maximum. I'd poured out the original water I soaked the yarn in before adding it to the water/Kool Aid mixture so I could use the same thing it'd soaked in before to wash it gently. When that was done, I got out as much water as I could before hanging it to dry over my shower curtain. This morning it was all dry.

And that's it. That's all it took to dye my first yarn. I can't dye acrylic or I'd try. I have plenty of white sitting around not being used for much because I don't knit with white often. The yarn needs to be made from animal fibers (ie. wool, mohair, alpaca, etc.) It still smells fruity but eventually the smell will go away and its not a bad smell. I haven't decided what to use the yarn for yet, I'm thinking maybe I'll make another Damson so I'll have a red one in addition to my blue one.

WIP Wednesday: Make Up Socks

Today is WIP Wednesday! Over at my home in Ravenclaw Tower on Raverly, we've started posting what we're currently working on every Wednesday. I really like the idea and decided to also post to my blog about what I'm working on every Wednesday.

The project for today is a pair socks for me. They're a beautiful shade of purple and turning out to be a decently quick knit. The pattern is Make-Up Socks from one of my sock books (Joy of Sox).

Of the 5 pairs of socks I've planned to have done by the end of July, I'm nearing halfway there. I have one pair done, another at 50% and this pair is 25%ish.

First Yarn

I'm super excited about this. I finally finished, after a long time (months - probably 4) my first handspun yarn. My friend Del in Canada sent me the roving when she send me some acrylic she was trying to get rid of. About a month ago, maybe more, I finished the actual spinning part of it but had never gotten around to plying until tonight. Now when I have time, probably August I can spin the deep red roving I bought when I bought my spindle.

I have no idea what weight the yarn is, my guess would be sport-dk but it is 120 yards. One wrap around my computer chair is 3 yards even and I have 40 wraps in the skein. The lighter is placed there for scale.