VICTORY IS MINE!!!

I finished the test knit bonnet I was working on! All roads clear and I did pretty much the entire thing by the pattern. I only changed two things: the junction of the attached i-cord border was supposed to be tied together and I thought that was too froo-froo so I did a kitchner stitch to create what WOULD have been an invisible border if I hadn't made the border a hair too long but it's really just a bump now and nothing you'd notice if you weren't me. I also changed the ties and I don't feel guilty AT ALL. The ties were basically 14 inches of garter stitch. I replaced them with 14 inches of i-cord. Oh and I moved the location of the flower decoration, but that part was largely subjective anyway so SCREW YOU!

I'm sorry, I got away from myself there. I've been working on this thing for 3 days and it's full of fiddly bits and short rows and things I didn't know how to do when I got the pattern and I'm tired because I've been staying up late working on it (hence why I'm STILL awake at 9 am). It was a very nice little diversion from the ungodly amount of garter stitch I'm doing on the scarf (which, in hindsight, may be why I was so hot to change the ties on the bonnet).

But it's DONE and now I feel better about going back to the Doctor Who scarf soon and back to the mindlessness. This was a pleasant little interlude even if I don't know when I'll ever wear it. Maybe when I go home for the holidays I'll find an occasion. Or if I manage to make a trip to Portland. But it's done! Done done done! Woooo...*sleeeeep*

Confessions of a Mad Modifier

I'm officially a chronic pattern changer. There is no pattern that I've found that I've not felt would be a whole lot better if I completely redid at least one aspect of it. I once found a sweater at a store that I liked and decided I wanted to replicate. Except I wanted the yarn in a thinner weight, no sleeves, no hood, a different length, a completely different stitch pattern except for some detail work, a different border type, a different type of closure, and a different color. So basically all I really liked was a cable and hole pattern that was on the top of the chest and back and on the two hip pockets. And I'm not even sure I want the pattern on the back.

I'm having to cure this particular urge while doing my test knit. "Well, I like the bonnet but I think I'd rather have a different edging...no! Bad! Checking for errors means doing the pattern as written! Bad!"

This could prove interesting. On the upside, the main portion is done. I just have to knit the border, the straps, and a little flower. I do think I'll skip the little bow at the back though...

Learning

So here's the thing, since I was largely self-taught in the knitting department (beyond "this is how you knit and this is how you purl") anyway, I have very little experience following patterns or doing things that weren't made up by me. I basically spent 3 years making scarves. As a result of this, I'm not exactly the best pattern reader the world has ever seen. I understand the abbreviations and when I don't I know where to find help with the terms, but largely I'm not the person you want making you that extremely complicated cable cardigan (or really ANY cardigan or other variety of sweater). So where to go with this? I'm going to learn. And you're going to watch me!

Right now, I'm working on a test knit for someone. As soon as that is done I'm going to make socks! I found some nice toe-up patterns until I learn how much yarn I need for myself at which point I'll try some of the cuff down variety. After that, I'm going to try some lace. That's the big one. I've always wanted to make lace but never had the cajones to try. Well, that's about to change my friends! At some point, I really want to make a lace stole to wear when I get married. Sooner or later, I'll end up making myself a sweater too. But this entry is boring and needs more boobs, so I'll stop now.

Bad Dreams

So I had a nightmare last night that woke me up at 2 am and kept me awake until 10. The nightmare? Terminators were coming to kill me and I had to get to my car and escape but I kept going back in the house to get my yarn and I didn't make it out before he showed up to kill me.

That really says something about me as a person, but I'd much rather think about making socks than try to figure out when I became the kind of person who has dreams where they die because of all their knitting crap.

Friday Project Rundown

Alright, I think on Fridays I'm going to do a rundown of all the projects I currently have cast on and how well they're going. Mostly because I can't think of anything else to say right now and I feel like blogging. Yay path of least resistance!

The Doctor Who Scarf
It is currently running 5 feet and 1 inch long and is approximately 46% finished. That is the equivalent of this:
Click for clickage

The "Pauline" Test Knit
I'm test knitting a bonnet for a friend's contest entry. The gauge has been attempted and I'm close enough to it to go ahead.

The Vicious Gnauga Bag
I am so not looking forward to redoing the teeth on this sucker. It takes several hours and makes me want to kill things. I am tempted to just get wicked drunk and see if that makes it go faster, or else to take it to the yarn store on Saturday and try to socialize through the pain.

The Vicious Gnauga Bag-Hat
A hat I'm making for a friend to look like the vicious gnauga bag and using the left over yarn. Now that said-friend has finally given me his proper head measurements once I realized that 31 inches was probably a result of him messing up with a measuring tape. We are now much happier at 24 inches as it will no longer fit as a tube top.

So, what's all this about then?

I first learned to knit when I was in elementary school. My grandmother taught my cousin and I about the same time. I had the common beginners issue that I knit far too tight, I dropped stitches, and could never figure out how to do stockinette (on purpose). I knit about 3 rows before deciding enough was enough and calling it quits. In fact, I didn't pick up a pair of needles once between the ages of 11 and 17. The tell-tale sign, though, was that I still loved yarn. When we would go to Wal-Mart, I could spend aaaaaages in the craft section looking at all the pretty fabrics and beads and....yarn. Just feeling it and looking at the colors.

When I was in high school, there was a brief fad towards knitting and so I went out and bought myself a skein of tacky acrylic pastel rainbow colored sport weight and a set of circulars. First, I only half remembered how to cast on and the only method I could remember left a long tail of yarn after I knit a row. Second, I couldn't make my circulars make a circle. I can't really explain how or why this happened, but I ended up with basically a strip of fabric with a single strand of yarn connecting one end to the other and I couldn't make the two ends come together to save myself. I also couldn't remember how to cast off, so I just threaded the end of the yarn through my loops and called it quits.

Finally, my senior year, I fell in with some freshman goth girls during a clothing design class. One of them knit scarves constantly. Suddenly, it clicked. I went out and bought myself a skein of fuzzy black yarn, a pair of size 9s, and I made myself a fantastically long garter stitch scarf. I loved it. It had finally clicked. That year, I made a second scarf of a similar length out of a pink striped baby yarn. Next year, I went to college and made a drop stitch chenille scarf and joined the knitting club. That's when I finally learned to crochet. When I left that school, I found myself floundering a bit and I no longer had any classes to knit in so I stopped for awhile. At the time, all my yarn and needles fit into a large tote bag someone had gotten as a Free Gift with Purchase from Clinique.

Last summer, I was referred to Ravelry and suddenly I became the girl who has an organizer hanging in her closet to hold the yarns, complains about how most commercial knitting bags scream "Grandma Sylvia's Bingo Knit Night" and only buys knitting magazines. I carefully put all my yarn in ziploc baggies with their weight and fiber content written on the front. I started my first projects based on patterns I didn't make up.

I have finally arrived.