the Saga of the Booties

Remember those easy, quick knit booties? Well, they turned into a monster of nylon. It's my fault, really. I read the chart wrong and then refused to accept the work needed to be frog...and so my first bootie became a lopsided mess.

I can honestly say the whole thing depressed me. My first finished objects was a complete and utter disaster. And so I wept. Okay, I didn't cry. But I thought about giving up.

Then, after much thought, I decided the booties deserved a second chance, that I could not let my failure stay a failure. So, shaking my knitting needles wildly in the air, I proclaimed to the booties "I will not let you shake me! I will not let you beat me!"

And started the process once more. I cast on at 9:15am.

By 12:00, I have my first bootie "square."

By 3:30 (mind you, I went to eat lunch during this process), I had two booties "squares."

By 4:00, they had been through preliminary seaming.
By 5:30, I had my first finished bootie!

There isn't much left on the other one. Just need to do the ribbing and finish seaming. If I had the stamina, I'd finish it before I have dinner plans at 8pm. But, I think I've done good work for today. I'm pretty proud of myself.

They are rather adorable. The yarn, however, was an issue. It turned out that the reasons I bought the yarn, soft and fuzzy, became the big issues, slides off needles too easily and can't see the seams correctly. The finishing job is pretty sucky. But the fuzziness makes it difficult to see just how bad it is. And now, I'm back to loving the booties because of their soft and fuzzy ways.

Hurray!

Jenn

Happiness comes in boxes

Today was like my birthday only way, way better. (Well, we'll see if this stays true after my 21st.)

Why? Because today I received three packages with the following items:
A Namaste Executive knitting bag in turquoise
A few new bundles of yarn, including all I need for the Harry Potter scarf
A Boye Needlemaster to fulfill my circular needle needs
A Boye Crochet master to fulfill..well, you get it

Everything is lovely. Just lovely. I bought the bag on Ebay for about $10 cheaper than in store (that includes with shipping). And the Boye sets were only $40 for both. The yarn was all on sale, of course, from WEBS. Though I am a tad afraid I didn't purchase enough RYC Soft Lux (in clover) for a certain project... I don't know whether to wait to see if I did...or buy another ball.

I've taken a break from the BBBB blanket to knit the Baby Booties from Holiday Knits. I'll post pictures later, but they are coming along VERY well. I've learned how to bind off knitwise and was surprised to discover I know three ways to cast on. I should be done with them by the weekend. They are such a fast knit!

Well, that's all.

Jenn

In the S'th

Well, I just returned from a visit to my hometown in High Point, NC. My boyfriend and I drove down on Friday and returned this evening. I dragged him to some local yarn stores and the Hobby Lobby for knitting supplies. It's much cheaper than here! And more yarn... He even bought me a ball of yarn for my 3AM Cable Hat! It's Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK in a lovely green color. A boy that buys me yarn? Ah, he's a keeper. :)

Also, got more needles, including a 12" circular cable for smaller projects and some much needed notions. Knitting supplies at Hobby Lobby were 50% off. It was lovely. And some yummy blue Plymouth Oh My! yarn for the baby booties/hat.

I found a used copy of Knitting Rules! by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee too. She's very funny and she gives great advice. The only problem is that she makes certain projects seem impossible, such as sweaters. She basically says knitting a sweater correctly is all about luck and most of the ones you make are going to be crap. Plus, the chapter on gauge can be summed up in "Gauge is important, but honestly, you'll never get it right. Good luck!" Other than making me afraid of sweaters, it's a good, humorous book.

I alternated reading the book with Stitch N' Bitch, which makes all tough projects seem easy. So the fear diminished as I alternated reading material.

And lastly, I'm trying to start a knitting group in DC. There are already some, but I'd just rather try to start a new one of preferably girls my age. I've posted of Craiglist and gotten some responses. Let's hope this works out well.

Now 'scuse me while I fall asleep. Zzzz.

Jenn

Mmm...more yarn.

I've spent a lot of money on yarn recently. I guess I'm piling up my stash. I'll see a project I'd like to do and search for a yarn for it. If I find something on sale, it becomes mine. Like the Berocco Air yarn for the Georgiana scarf, on sale for $4.

And today, I walked to Georgetown to Stitch DC. I was super-excited to go, but discovered they have a really small selection of yarn, especially compared to Knit Happens in Alexandria (which truly is "the happy place"). I didn't get anything, but I spied a lovely mohair blend for when I'm advanced enough to attempt the Candy cardigan from Knitty.com.

Then I came home and bought more yarn online. I got the Plymouth yarn for my next project, a Harry Potter scarf, and some sale yarn for other various projects.

Speaking of projects, here are the ones I will attempt this year:
Big Bad Baby Blanket
Harry Potter scarf
Georgiana scarf
Persephone scarf
3AM Hat
Baby booties and matching hat
Capelet
Shrug
and three sweaters, two from knitty.com, and one from Stitch n' Bitch.

I guess I'll update on where I am on this list in the next month. We'll see how far I can get...

Jenn

the Unfinished BBBB

Okay, here are the pictures of my unfinished BBBB in Caron Simply Soft. I've been knitting it since the second week of June. Not bad for such little time, yes? I don't get to knit too often. It'll probably take me until August to finish by I'm hoping for mid-July. I've got two nice 6 hours car trips this weekend, so I think I can get a lot finished.

Mmmk. That's all.

Jenn :)

Okay, Let's Begin

So, I'm a new knitter.

And like many new knitters, I feel a bit overwhelmed by "advanced" knitters. The ones who make patterns as much as they breathe, and with the same amount of difficulty at breathing. I haven't come upon anyone like me in these blogs, someone who got into the game late and is just finding their footing. So, I thought a blog from a new knitter might be burst of fresh air. At least, you can mock me as I learn everything.

I learned to knit in late May through the Stitch N' Bitch book, which is a good book, but I have a hard time learning without being shown. Then I signed up for an intro knitting course for June and it's been very helpful to work on a project with someone to guide me. I've been knitting the Big Bad Baby Blanket for my pregnant sister-in-law, Katie. It's in this very pretty light, creamy yellow yarn. I've made some mistakes already but it's going well.

But I'm impatient. So I've already been searching for projects for after the blanket (or a quick knit during the blanket for a little break). I've structured it so each new project teaches me a new skills, such a knitting in the round or cables. Yes, I'm a geek who enjoys planning ahead like this.

Well, that's the lowdown for now. I'll start working on this blog at the beginning of next week and maybe post some pictures of the BBBB in progress!

Toodles,
Jenn