Reasons for My Absence

1. School. February and March involved a lot of midterms and assignments. Oh the fun. 

2. Finding a job. I had a lovely time of resume rewriting and cover letter writing in February. It was all worth it when I scored an interview with my top choice law firm in early March. As of Friday, I've been offered the job and as of Monday, I'll be accepting. (Hurray!)

3. The now ex-boyfriend. Peter and I broke up. About year and a half and everything ended pretty badly. This was as of Thurs. and I'm feeling better. I was very sad, as I really did love him, but now I'm angry after everything he did to me. In really thinking about it, it's a good thing. I'm getting my post-grad life together and I can't have someone like him in it. I like to think I'm upgrading.

4. Not knitting. I've got no real excuse here. I just haven't even been knitting very much lately. I've got a hat for Alicia that's being worked on during the metro rides to work, and sometimes even then I'd rather just sit for that 15 minutes and do nothing. I don't know why. Maybe it's everything that been happening. I haven't even stepped inside of a yarn store in about a month...(until yesterday, when I went to buy my secret pal some items for the Longing for Spring swap). I need to get my "itchy" fingers back, where I'm just dying to knit.

Maybe soon.

Jenn

Longing for Spring Swap

I've joined a new swap! Perhaps, it's the somewhat warmer weather that's getting to me, but the Longing for Spring swap seemed perfect for this time of year. Sign ups are open until the 14th!

Swap Questionnare:

Do you knit or crochet? How long have you been at your craft?

I've been knitting for less than one year.

What are your favorite yarns/fibers? What are your least favorite yarns/fibers?

I've only knit with wool, yak and alpaca. Love them all. I don't have a least favorite, I just hate scratchy, splitty yarn.

What are your favorite colors? What are your least favorite colors?

Purple, teal, green, yellow. Dislike neon colors, orange, mustard yellow, etc.

What ‘warm weather’ project are you looking forward to making this year?

I've got a whole list in my queue on Ravelry for spring. Currently, I'm obsessed with making the Coquette lace tube top, or a tank top in general. There's only so much you can knit in the humidity down here.

What are you favorite scents? Least favorite?

Apples, cherry blossoms, anything that smells like dessert (think brown sugar or caramel).

Least favorite is vanilla or anything too strong/harsh.

What is your favorite flower?

Orchids and lillies.

What are you favorite spring time hobbies/activities?

I really enjoy just going out and walking around in DC in the spring. The cherry blossoms are the best part. I'm into photography and the warm weather allows for going out to shoot as well. 

Do you have a garden? If you do, tell us a little about it. Do you like to plant flowers or vegetables?

I wish I did. But its hard to maintain anything green or flowery in a dorm.

What are your favorite sweets?

Chocolate, for sure. Green apple is also one of my favorite flavors.

Do you collect anything?

Yarn. That's it. Haha.

Do you have any allergies?

Nope!

Do you have any pets?

Sadly, we can't have pets in the dorms.

Mad scientist.

That's not some weird experiment from a mad scientist right there. It's how I swatch. I've been swatching like mad these days. Swatches are foreplay for knitters.

This is how I swatch: I look at the yarn label's suggested needle size. I start swatching with needles two sizes bigger than those suggested. (I am apparently a very tight knitter and always require larger needles to get the recommended gauge.) Then I cast on. I knit with those needles for awhile and take preliminary measurements. If the gauge is WAY off, I frog the swatch and try new needles. If it's close, I switch to the next size up or down. If it's spot on, I go up in needle size. Continue the swatch in those needles and repeat the process. Bind off but put a stitch holder through the last stitch to keep from unraveling, but still attached to the ball of yarn.

Then the strange bath you see up there. A little Soak in a cup, some cold water. Then the usual steps of blotting and waiting for it to dry. Then measure the gauge again.

I love this method. Sure, it looks weird in my room, all the balls of yarn hanging around the drinking glasses. It looks like I've gone mad. But overall, it's quicker for checking gauge and allows me to see how the yarn looks at different gauges, all in one swatch.

My roommate is pretty freaked out by it though.

Jenn

Still Alive

I haven't blogged in awhile. Mostly because I haven't taken pictures of my current WIPs and FOs. But here's one:



Pattern: Basic Cable Hat (from Stitch n' Bitch Nation)
Yarn: Mission Falls 1824 Wool (1.5 balls)
Needles: 9
Mods: CO 120 sts. Changed gauge to 5.5 sts per inch. Added one extra pattern repeat.

This hat was for my roommate Alyssa. I knit it for her birthday (which is today). She's got a big ol' head. So I modified it to fit a 23" head. I accidently cast on too many stitches at first and accidentally didn't change needles after the ribbing. Which turned out to be a happy mistake. The gauge from the smaller needles ended up make the cast on amount perfect. Strange how things happen. This was one quick knit too. A handful of hours at the most. I knit it in three days though, on the metro and as a break between writing for class.

All in all, I adore this hat. The Mission Falls 1824 Wool is amazingly soft too!

I'll be making myself one too.

Jenn

Gleeful

Okay, so I promised these awhile ago and didn't deliver. The holidays were a whirlwind. That's my excuse. But here you go, the finished (finally) Glee!








Pattern: Glee by Zephyr Style
Yarn: Knit Picks Andean Treasure in Embers (6.5 balls)
Mods: Added waist shaping (still a little baggy), increased bust by an inch, knit extra inch of length, didn't change needles sizes for ribbing


Overall, my first sweater was a smashing success, don't you think? I'm very pleased with it. I started this in July and it took forever and a day to finish. Mostly, that was due to the sudden sock obsession and school.

On to the next sweater! I think I might start on Wicked, perhaps.

Jenn

After-Christmas Knitting

Many, many knitters are knitting away like elves in the North Pole right now. Me? Oh, I've got finals and papers. Christmas knitting just wasn't in the cards for me this year. I will, however, be working on some After-Christmas "Christmas" knitting during winter break.

Here's the list:

Child's Placket-Neck Pullover for my baby nephew
Hat for Alicia
Le Slouch for Alyssa (and one for me too!)
Convertible Mittens for Zach
Hermione Hat and Mittens for Carrie
Socks for Jenna

Most of these will be completed in January. Not a bad way to start the new year, eh? It'll be much more relaxing than Christmas knitting. (Or finals for that matter.)

Jenn

PS. Glee is officially finished. Will post pictures tomorrow!

Much better.

New photo of the hat, courtesy of the boyfriend. Now you can see just how adorable it is!

Jenn

PS. I'm almost done with Glee so expect some new FO photos soon!

Better than it looks.

On my birthday, I purchased a lovely purple winter coat. The only problem with this coat is the lack of hats/scarves that would match with it. So, I made this:



Pattern: Robin's Egg Blue Hat by Rachel Iufer
Yarn: Laines du Nord Korall (1.5 skeins used)
Needles: Size 10

I knit the hat very quickly. It fit perfectly and I was quite in love with it. That is, until I realized I needed to block it. And somewhere in my mind, I thought "I think this might expand during block and become unwearable." Well, I took my chances and it happened. My inner voice is super smart.

The hat got ripped back to the seed stitch, more stitches were bound off, and the hat reknit. And voila! It a was back to its perfect fit and adorableness.

Of course, I wanted to take a nice picture of it. But somehow, I just couldn't get a good picture. Maybe I'll make the boyfriend take pictures for me? Well, in the mean time this will do. Just remember: It's a lot better than it looks.

Jenn