long time no see...

So. I've completely ignored my blog. After coming back from a wedding in New Brunswick at the end of august, the grave task of University began again, and I left knitting behind for a while. Although I finished knitting the socks mentioned earlier and restarting the scarf because of some major mistakes, I left the needles for the books. It is now the day after boxing day, and over the last couple of weeks, I've been back at work.

In New Brunswick, my girlfriend who got married has a friend who is having a baby. Becky, who I have met before, is the first acquintance I have that is having a baby. So, I decided to make these baby boots for her baby boy who is due any day now, and almost ready to be shipped:

They are SO cute and SUPER easy! Ill post the pattern can be found here. The pattern is for a preemie, but to make the bigger ones (on the right), I simply casted on 10 extra sts, added two more rows to the first section, cast of 10 sts instead of 7 and added three extra rows to the top. SIMPLE!! I knit the first ones, realizing that they would probably be too small for a normal baby. I wasn't discouraged by my first attempt for two reasons: they are REALLY easy and quick to make, and two: i am only 22, I am bound to have a friend who will have a preemie!!

I also finished my mittens. At the moment, I am in Florida with my family, and there is NO need for mittens! BUT, it is cooler in Ontario, and have been dreaming of finishing these all semester! They are now finished, and Ill add my pattern later, as the originall was too big for my hands. YEAAAAA!!!! I am so proud of myself, they are knit really tight, and are pretty perfect if you ask me! I made a couple of mistakes: with the first mitten, I miscalculated the stistches and didnt make a smooth end, and on both of the mittens, I SUCK AT kitchener stitch. My mom is finishing a scarf to match, that has the same pattern as the cuff: k3, p2. I cant WAIT to get back and wear them!!!

Hot Water, Please!

I just finished my first ever 'hot water bottle cozy'. Here is a picture of my mother holding the work, assessing how well I did... 'passed, A+!' she said! And I give myself the same grade... This is a 'BAWK hot water bottle cozy', and the link to the pattern is here. I love looking online for neat little projects that provide 'instant gratification', as my mother likes to say, and which offer a challenge or two. This was my first time knitting with circular needles, which I have decided that I really like doing, as well as the first time I have even done the 'cable stitch'. The cable stitch was not nearly as challenging as I thought it would be, and it is very nice way to do a decorative stitch. The yarn I used was Bernat 'Softee Chuncky', no. 39114. I used thicker needles than recommended, US #10. Here is a picture I took today while outside, with the gold fish in the pond. I like the nature and the knitting together, it brings out the natural element to knitting your own home-made things. The next project I am undertaking is a sock. Yes, I am going to try the challenge of the four double pointed needle work, but I bought some cute pink needles that are smaller in length than the ones my mother has, which makes it much easier to work with. After putting on a few rows of ribbing, I started the stockinette sticht, which with obvious repitition allows for one to find their own 'groove', for lack of a better word. So, here is a picture of the beginning of my sock, and my pretty new pink needles. :)

The Green Scarf

Alright. So I've started a new project. This one is going to be a scarf, made from dark green satin acrylic by Bernat. As stated in my previous blog, I am a beginner and was trying out some four needle mitten knitting, but after a few attempts at concentrating at ribbing (which I am horrible at...) I decided to put that down for a later attempt. Just like any obessession, it is impossible to put one down without trying somehting else. Instead of making mittens, I'd make this scarf to bide my time, get more experience and build up more confidence for my four needle mittens.

It is a really neat stictch sequence that I found on the internet, simply by browsing. When I first saw the sample scarf online, I thought... oh dear, that looks tough! But no, I discovered, it's not that difficult, it just needs a little concentration. The pattern is quite simple. With 5 mm needles, cast on 36 stitches. Then Slip one, yarn over, and knit two together [Sl1, yo, k2tog], repeating until the end of the row... It's that simple! Believe me!

This is the second attempt at this, as my mother likes to say, "that was a test piece" whenever stitches slip and they are un-fixable. The first one I did with size four needles, and found that it was too tight, and pattern was not as nice. One word of advice... stitch loosely!!

This project, I've decided is going to be an 'in-between' project, that is to say, that I am going to knit some when I'm slightly bored of whatever else I'm doing. As i've stated before, I find knitting scarves tedious, so this way I will enjoy the finished product. To add to this post, I'm going to show off some of my photography talent! I took this picture this morning to show how far i've come.

A New Blog

Well this is it. A way to vent my new obsession: knitting. An obsession it is, for it has completely taken over my life! I’m new to the bandwagon, and very enthusiastic about the opportunities and my abilities! My mother tried to teach me as a child, but I was uninterested…story of my life. I am only 22, yet the re-discovery of knitting has taken over my life! Here’s how.
I was on exchange in the Netherlands and went to visit a friend of mine, Britt, who was also on exchange in Scotland. She introduced me to her new pair of mittens which she made herself… I was impressed. At my age, there are not many people who are enthusiastic about knitting, or any needle work for that matter, and it gave me faith that this art-form had a chance in my generation. I will admit I saw a segment on the news a year or two ago that described how popular knitting was becoming in North America, yet I didn’t think much of it… besides, I thought it was too hard and complicated!…. After I came back to Ontario from my exchange, with only six weeks until school started again and not enough time to find a substantial summer job, I was ultimately bored. There are only so many pages of a novel you can read a day before you go blind. I was wandering around the house one morning and discovered an old peice of work I had done when I was ten or so, and thought to myself with sincere determination: “if Britt can do this, so can I!” And so it was. I looked up my mothers collection of knitting accessories, and went online. WOW! There are so many blogs and sites to help a beginner along, it’s quite amazing! I credit my first few projects to Knittinghelp.com, the instruction videos are great! From beginner to advanced techniques, they are very helpful! Anyway, enough for now, I’ll bring on pictures and details when get a chance to upload!! …back to my work….