OK, so I'm trying Xbox LIVE for a month and after just a few hours I am hooked. More specifically, I'm hooked on the "Instant Movie" feature.
This weekend I popped the entire first 5 seasons of MI-5 into the "instant" queue and started watching. Picked up the Juliet pattern and my 3 giant balls of bulky English yarn and started it up.
This yarn is soft and squishy and totally YUMMY-licious...I want to put hundreds of balls of this stuff in a room and just dive in...THAT's how yummy it is... The description is so spot on when it says: It’s a conversation piece in itself, and it sure gives you lots of great colour to feast your eyes on. No one can walk past this yarn without looking twice.
I'll post photos of my balls soon, I'm just too busy squishing and fondling and totally enjoying the experience of knitting with this yarn too much right now to share it. And the pattern is knitting up quite easily. Thanks to AmpuT for knitting up such a gorgeous Juliet. I saw it while she was knitting it and then the finished sweater in person. omg. As soon as I saw it, I just knew this English yarn was perfect for it. And now after so long (over a year) I am finally picking up the needles and knitting one for myself.
Oh, and I really want to know what the deal is with these English balls. I knit and knit and knit and they don't look any smaller than when I started. Are they magical? Are they like Mary Poppins' Carpet Bag? Do they just have that much more in them than US yarn balls? I don't know, but I'm loving those English balls. I don't remember how much I paid for them, but they were worth every pence.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Actual Knitting!!!!! With Photos!!!!!!
Been knitting a lot since I decided my wrist was recovered enough to start trying again - I think I started the double-knit beanie about a month ago.
So far: one double-knit beanie for Spencer,
one regular knit beanie for Spencer,
one set of wrist warmers and matching sort of cowl for myself.
Not nearly enough yarn left for the cowl, so it's a sort of neck warming thingy that can also be used as a headband/ear warmer sort of thing.
Two multi-colored (brown and several shades of green) balls of Lana Grossa something or other picked up during a browse thru the clearance wall at ImagiKnit after One-Sock-A-Month Club way back a long time ago.
Silly poses yes, but had to get the wrist warmers and the neck thingy all in one...much better than the "Oh my! What's a knitter to do?!?" pose..
Doesn't seem like much for those of you knitters who have 10 projects in progress and crank out tons of knitted items a year, but it is so very very much for me who has not be able to knit for so long.
I'm a new knitter all over again.
Oh, and I've been doing all this "freestyle". No patterns, just grab the needles and yarn and go! I love it. Can't tell you how liberating it is...creativity-wise.
Love it love it LOVE IT!!!!
And all of this just in time for the warm weather.
Oh, and did I mention the double-knit beanie is too big? Hoping a run thru the washer and dryer will set the stitches a bit and it'll come out a bit smaller. It's not wool, so there will be no shrinkage cos of that...maybe I should use COLD water? ha ha ha
It's some acrylic yarn I bought while Spence and I visited Honey, summer of 2008. Spencer picked it out. It's driving me crazy. Love the colors and all, but it's 3 magic balls of yarn. I knit and knit and knit and I still seem to have the same amount I started with...seems like I'll be knitting up a few more single knit beanies out of it. I can crank those out in a few nights knitting. By the time the balls are finished tho, I know I'll be tired of green, grey, and rust. Good thing there are no more colors like that around here.
Next project is a baby something for my friend Cherry - her little one (girl!! Yay!!!) is due in May I believe. I won't say what it is here as she reads this... I did ask colors and what kind of yarn and all and I think I may have found just the right stuff. I'm going to try and use worsted weight yarn as knitting with larger sized needles feels the best right now.
Still have to be careful with the "new" wrist, so that's why I'm sticking to the larger sized needles. A few more months and I should be able to start knitting on some socks. Surprisingly, I have quite the collection of sock yarn...don't know how all those skanks came into my possession, but there they are...and my size 0 (or are they 1's?!?) square circular needles are waiting for me to grab them by the shafts and caress them with fingers and yarn. Can't wait! Those things are like buttah in my hands. I bought those at Stitches West 2009. I wonder, do they come in dpns too?!?!?
Off to try out my one month trial of Xbox 360 LIVE. Saved off some "instant" movies to watch and might just try my hand at Call of Duty - World at War. Watch out Spence, Mama's got a brand new gun (controller). While I watch a movie, I guess I can whip out an English ball or two and get started on yet another beanie. He doesn't want a scarf and scarves take too long for my current instant knitting gratification mood.
No-blog-Rachel...I'm BACK!!!!
So far: one double-knit beanie for Spencer,
one regular knit beanie for Spencer,
one set of wrist warmers and matching sort of cowl for myself.
Not nearly enough yarn left for the cowl, so it's a sort of neck warming thingy that can also be used as a headband/ear warmer sort of thing.
Two multi-colored (brown and several shades of green) balls of Lana Grossa something or other picked up during a browse thru the clearance wall at ImagiKnit after One-Sock-A-Month Club way back a long time ago.
Silly poses yes, but had to get the wrist warmers and the neck thingy all in one...much better than the "Oh my! What's a knitter to do?!?" pose..
Doesn't seem like much for those of you knitters who have 10 projects in progress and crank out tons of knitted items a year, but it is so very very much for me who has not be able to knit for so long.
I'm a new knitter all over again.
Oh, and I've been doing all this "freestyle". No patterns, just grab the needles and yarn and go! I love it. Can't tell you how liberating it is...creativity-wise.
Love it love it LOVE IT!!!!
And all of this just in time for the warm weather.
Oh, and did I mention the double-knit beanie is too big? Hoping a run thru the washer and dryer will set the stitches a bit and it'll come out a bit smaller. It's not wool, so there will be no shrinkage cos of that...maybe I should use COLD water? ha ha ha
It's some acrylic yarn I bought while Spence and I visited Honey, summer of 2008. Spencer picked it out. It's driving me crazy. Love the colors and all, but it's 3 magic balls of yarn. I knit and knit and knit and I still seem to have the same amount I started with...seems like I'll be knitting up a few more single knit beanies out of it. I can crank those out in a few nights knitting. By the time the balls are finished tho, I know I'll be tired of green, grey, and rust. Good thing there are no more colors like that around here.
Next project is a baby something for my friend Cherry - her little one (girl!! Yay!!!) is due in May I believe. I won't say what it is here as she reads this... I did ask colors and what kind of yarn and all and I think I may have found just the right stuff. I'm going to try and use worsted weight yarn as knitting with larger sized needles feels the best right now.
Still have to be careful with the "new" wrist, so that's why I'm sticking to the larger sized needles. A few more months and I should be able to start knitting on some socks. Surprisingly, I have quite the collection of sock yarn...don't know how all those skanks came into my possession, but there they are...and my size 0 (or are they 1's?!?) square circular needles are waiting for me to grab them by the shafts and caress them with fingers and yarn. Can't wait! Those things are like buttah in my hands. I bought those at Stitches West 2009. I wonder, do they come in dpns too?!?!?
Off to try out my one month trial of Xbox 360 LIVE. Saved off some "instant" movies to watch and might just try my hand at Call of Duty - World at War. Watch out Spence, Mama's got a brand new gun (controller). While I watch a movie, I guess I can whip out an English ball or two and get started on yet another beanie. He doesn't want a scarf and scarves take too long for my current instant knitting gratification mood.
No-blog-Rachel...I'm BACK!!!!
Thursday, March 04, 2010
Monday, March 01, 2010
Actually got some knitting time in...
Well now that the Olympics are over, I've started up knitting on Spencer's beanie.
I actually picked it up on Saturday. I pulled my back on Friday, so couldn't do much at all. Knitting and reading were about the only things I could manage on Saturday, so there you go.
I knit a good 2 inches or so on it during the afternoon and evening in between getting up and walking and stretching and reading bouts.
Would have much rather been out doing something else. Like going to a good friends' 50th b-day party. Yeah, I missed a big one. Sigh.
Still feeling sore and smelling of Tiger Balm - I'm using the patch version on my back - it's done wonders, but the smell...oi... It wouldn't be too bad, but I'm sensitive nose-allergy-wise to some of the ingredients. Luckily, they are in small quantities and I've been able to deal. Small price to pay for the back to feel better.
Life back to "normal" round here I guess. As normal as it gets here in the Chaos.
I actually picked it up on Saturday. I pulled my back on Friday, so couldn't do much at all. Knitting and reading were about the only things I could manage on Saturday, so there you go.
I knit a good 2 inches or so on it during the afternoon and evening in between getting up and walking and stretching and reading bouts.
Would have much rather been out doing something else. Like going to a good friends' 50th b-day party. Yeah, I missed a big one. Sigh.
Still feeling sore and smelling of Tiger Balm - I'm using the patch version on my back - it's done wonders, but the smell...oi... It wouldn't be too bad, but I'm sensitive nose-allergy-wise to some of the ingredients. Luckily, they are in small quantities and I've been able to deal. Small price to pay for the back to feel better.
Life back to "normal" round here I guess. As normal as it gets here in the Chaos.
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