A Slew of Completed Knitting Projects

As I said nearly two months ago, my passion for knitting has been reignited. I've also developed an "I can learn anything" attitude when approaching possible projects.

In the past couple months I have:
-Taught myself how to knit projects using double pointed needles, which I have found to be pretty easy. It also relieves the boredom I sometimes experience with regular flat knitting as well as opens up a lot of other possibilities for projects besides scarves.
-Learned how to knit a thumb gusset for a glove. It is surprisingly easy despite the fact that the directions usually look fairly complicated.
-Finally tackled socks. A project I once found to be daunting and way out of my league I have now conquered. I'm finding myself becoming a little obsessed now.
-Figured out how to knit a beanie. I made one for Jeff.
-Discovered the ability to just shrug knitting failures off and try again. I've always been afraid to start something only to discover that it might not fit or look right in the end, so I have avoided lots of things like beanies and socks. The first pair of socks I made are a little big, but I don't really care. The first beanie I made for Jeff is a little small, but I shrugged it off and started a new one.
-Found out that I can learn from my mistakes and that messing up in a project is not the worst thing in the world.

As you can see, I have made a lot of progress on the knitting front that I am really proud of. Since I've been slacking on blogging (which apparently is a pretty frequent occurrence for me) I figured I could just share all my projects in one post.
These charcoal colored beauties were my very first DPN project. One of the gloves is shorter than the other and one of them has an added row in the cable repeat, but I don't think anyone but me will notice. I don't really care because I love them. I did learn that making pattern charts in Excel is a good idea for somewhat complicated patterns that require a bit of precision.
The next project I decided to tackle featured a very cool pattern and a very fun pink colored yarn. Again, these were fingerless gloves. Not the most practical, but fun and easy enough to make with plenty of challenge still involved.
Third we come to a deep teal colored cowl. This fits extremely close to the neck and is very warm. I reversed one of the cables on one side, but since it sits pretty scrunched up around your neck, it doesn't really seem noticeable. This yarn is the same brand as the pink gloves. It has a fiber content of 30% wool and I was beginning to get curious about working with 100% wool.
These are the latest fingerless gloves. They featured a complicated cable pattern that required pretty much all of my attention. No mindless tv knitting for me. This was also my first foray into using all wool yarn, and I am a convert! I love it! So warm and cuddly and it just feels natural on my skin. Much better than the typical acrylic crap I've been using. It also does not pill on the surface which is nice. Unfortunately it's around 3-4 times more expensive, sometimes more than that for artisan types! This yarn is even locally made!
Finally we have my proudest accomplishment to date. SOCKS! When I first started knitting I never dreamed I would be able to knit socks. It required pattern reading, decreases, selvages, turning, shaping, and use of DPNS. Yet here we are with my completed pair of socks! I absolutely adore them even though they are a little baggy and the yarn worked up in weird patterns. I can't wait to start another pair, I've already purchased more yarn to make more socks.

I mentioned earlier that I made a hat for Jeff, but I didn't bother to photograph it since the first hat wasn't entirely successful. I am working on the second, hopefully more appropriately sized beanie now. It will probably be finished tomorrow, but we will see.

The main thing I have learned from all of this? I can knit pretty much anything as long as I just start it!

Just Because

Today is an absolutely gorgeous winter day. The sun is shining while the air is cool and crisp. The dogs decided to make the most of it and enjoyed the sun together on the porch. Too cute!

Learning Something New

The colder weather around here has reignited my excitement for knitting. A few extra goodies from Christmas didn't hurt either. I have always enjoyed working with yarn and I fondly remember the days when I sat with my Grandma as she taught me, with the patience of a saint, how to crochet. I cherish those memories made while we created something. I always watched her so closely as she crocheted. She moved the hook and yarn with such speed and ease that it amazed me. Maybe one day I would get that skilled, but that day hasn't come yet. I still suck at reading patterns and counting stitches, but I still enjoy it and always think of her when I crochet. But I've always had the itch to try knitting.

I envied the pretty stitch patterns that simply could not be replicated through crochet. Cables were something I dreamed of being able to do someday but I always imagined that they were impossibly difficult to pull off. Thanks to the modern conveniences of YouTube and the internet and the infinite books on knitting, I was able to teach myself. I never progressed past flat knitting, which basically means scarves and only scarves. Then sometime in the last year or so I challenged myself to buck up and try out cables once and for all. The worst thing that could happen was that I messed up and tried again. Lucky for me, it turns out cables are ridiculously easy. I had a hard time understanding why I held off for so long when something with such an amazing end result requires very little skill other than basic knitting knowledge. I made a pillow covered in cables with my newly discovered skill.

Fast forward to Christmas where I find myself opening presents that include double pointed knitting needles and a book on how to knit socks. Those are two things I knew absolutely nothing about. I figured that if I received them as gifts then certainly I would figure something out.

Over the past weekend I decided to give it a go. I found a cute pattern on Ravelry that included one of my beloved cables and even a thumb gusset. Not only was I completely clueless as to how to knit in the round (something you do on double pointed needles) but I was even more clueless about how to make a hole for a finger and knitting to go around it. A handful of YouTube videos and an hour or so of scouring message boards looking for helpful hints and tricks I set out to make my first real project on DPNs.

Amazingly, they are working up very quickly and I am in LOVE with the results. I finished the first mitt tonight and have been tickled with the results. I've been pretty goofy all night being completely full of myself and proud for learning a handful of new skills. In fact, I finished 5 hours ago and I am still wearing the single mitt. Obviously, I am proud. I won't share a picture until I have the other one finished, but I expect that to be within the week. I just needed an outlet to share my excitement. After all, Glenn and Jeff can only get so excited over a knitted fingerless glove.

Love to all!

A Snow Day!

First I would like to apologize for the extreme tardiness of my last post. Life gets in the way sometimes and I get easily distracted. I started writing that post back in the beginning of November! Sheesh. But we can just glaze over that and pretend it never happened.

As I am sure many of you have seen that the state of Washington, particularly the region around the Sound has been a pretty popular news topic. Mother Nature decided to have a snow party in our area and has been dumping snow on us this week. And when I say dumping, I really mean it! We have had 8 inches or so fall in just one day!
Needless to say this has all been quite the adventure. I had my first experience driving in ice early Monday morning and then my first experience driving in snow later in the same day! It was so weird and a little bit scary. Thankfully I don't have too many places to go and I feel like I am a pretty safe and observant driver.

Since Jeff and his friend Jason had been staying with us since last Wednesday (Jeff is now a permanent resident) I decided I would take them out to breakfast on the last full day here. We made the trek out to Denny's in what seemed like a blizzard of snow to me.
It was crazy and fun all at the same time. I still can't get over how weird everything looks all covered in snow!

On Tuesday Glenn ended up taking a snow day because the streets looked pretty gross and not safe to drive on and he worked from home. It was nice getting to have him home all day, even if he did have to work!
Wednesday morning we awoke to an amazing amount of snow outside. It was piled everywhere! Glenn took another snow day, but this time he just took the day off. I called in to work and I was told not to come in today and to enjoy the snow. How fun! I've never had a snow day before!
Jeff and I decided to brave the snow and get donuts. It was pretty funny crunching around in the snow. We saw some people go by with cross country skis and some with snow shoes! You can see how deep the snow if you look at where Jeff's feet are supposed to be! Later in the day though, we were getting a bit stir crazy. Normally we are perfectly fine not going anywhere, but just knowing that we actually could not leave the house gave us a little cabin fever.
Today (Thursday) was supposed to be a little bit better but the streets still looked pretty bad. Despite the worst of the snow having passed the next stage was here in full force. Ice everywhere. All the piles of snow were solidifying and icicles were forming everywhere.
Even the plants were covered in ice, some shrubs even being frozen solid! My work called me around noon and told me that my shift for the evening was canceled and to stay home. I'm not complaining.
Glenn ended up working at home again today as well. Around lunch time we just HAD to get out of the house so we all suited up and made our way over to Southern Kitchen for a delicious and filling lunch of catfish and fried chicken. YUM!
I should also mention that before we walked to Southern Kitchen we attempted to drive so we could get lunch and take Jeff to a credit union. Once our car made it off of our driveway and partially into the street we came to a definite halt. The tires whirred around to no avail. Jeff got out of the car while Glenn accelerated and steered us back into the garage. Guess we weren't going anywhere by car for awhile.
We've definitely been having a lot of fun experiencing all the crazy snow and learning how to deal with it now that we have a big ol' house to take care of. Things have certainly been interesting around here. And if you are wondering if I still like the weather around here, I have to answer with a resounding YES! This stuff doesn't happen everyday after all.