A young woman's journey to knit and crochet things other than squares and rectangles.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Moved the Blog
If you would like to keep reading my posts you may do so here: http://rectangularnomore.wordpress.com/
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Quick Update
No pictures today. Sorry folks! I have been working hard on a couple of projects but as they’re the second sock of two different pairs the ‘in progress’ photo’s don’t look all that much different than what’s already up here, and what’s the fun in repeating myself?
Anyways, I’m still working on the Ninja pattern (as a gift) and the Chouwa pattern (for myself), but a little thing called ‘Finals’ got in the way of completing them anytime soon. But, I’ve had a couple of weeks now and things appear to be looking up. Except for the fact that I’m sick as a dog right now and feel like an elephant sat on me (Trust me, it’s not nice).
So no in progress photo’s of anything unfortunately, however I can tell you what I have planned next. And it’s not socks! It’s a shawl! All I need to do is get a set off really long circular needles and a hell of a lot of yarn (preferable something colorful!) and have at it.
I’ll let ya’ll know when there’s more progress to be had!
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Socks and more socks
So I’ve finally gotten off my butt and written this post.
What I’ve been up to:
Finished a pair of the “Inro Hiking” socks from “Knitted Socks: East and West” for a friend of a friend. The wrapped stitches were hard at first but then after the first few times you can kinda get a knack for them and they went rather quickly.
Here’s the in progress (I didn’t take a lot of photo’s cause the leg part of the sock knitted up really fast once I got going).
(You can see the actual design for the sock on the book page in the background there, this is right after cast on.)
(And then this is later that same day, you can see just how fast this went, I took the pic right after I finished turning the heel of the sock.)
(And here’s one finished sock. Smokey was asleep on my bed so I used him as a display area, I think it worked rather well, he’s good at being very cute.)
And so the next project! I started the Chouwa pattern from the same book back on April 29, but I set it aside to do the above pair. I still haven’t finished the first one yet. It uses a really thin yarn so it knits up a lot slower, though I’m almost done the foot of the first one (as you’ll be able to see in the photo’s). As for when these will be done done, that’s up in the air. I have another gift pair to make before I finish these ones.
So in progress photo’s ahoy!
(Right after cast on.)
(About to change pattern in the leg of the sock.)
(First round of pattern completed, I had to ask for help in reading it because I got confused! Ah the tribulations of being a semi-novice knitter.)
(And here’s where I left it to start the purple pair. Smokey makes a good display rack).
(And after working a bit yesterday and today on it. You can’t see the knitted pattern of stitches in the leg of the sock when it isn’t work. It really has to be stretched out to be seen properly.)
That’s it for now! I haven’t updated because finals were crazy, but I’m hoping to get lots of knitting done over the summer so look for a lot more posts in the future!
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Not Dead
Just letting ya’ll know that I’m not dead. Finals are this week and the last few weeks of the semester have been crazy. Will have massive update on new socks knitted over the weekend or early next week. Sorry for the wait!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Konnichiwa Socks (Finished!)
I meant to get this blog post out over the weekend, but with a Physics II exam to study for this kind of got forgotten for a few days.
I finished them Saturday.
I don’t have many in progress photo’s of the second sock, but you can see how they go in the previous post.
I love how they came out, though they’re a bit heavy for summer wear (after all, they’re knitted from worsted weight yarn).
As for what I’m doing next…. I would like to do the next sock in the book, however, I need to get the correct yarn weight (I don’t have any of the correct weight that I already own) and I need knitting needles of the correct size as well. I’ll probably start over the weekend when I can get the supplies.
I can’t wait!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Konnichiwa Socks (In Progress)
(Picture not mine and used without permission)
So I picked up a book called Knitted Socks East and West at Border’s when they were going out of business here in town. I grabbed it on a whim cause it was $5 on sale and I have an interest in knitting socks.
After the socks I just made (my very first ones ever) I decided to take the plunge and start the socks in this book. The first sock is, appropriately, called “Konnichiwa” and eases the reader/knitter/whatever into the use of odd stitches found in Japanese knitting.
Socks overall don’t seem to be nearly as complicated as I thought they would be.
The in progress photo’s are still in progress because I’m still working on the second sock, but here’s what I got so far:
(Starting the heel.)
(First sock complete.)
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Finished Socks!
And there’s the finished product! My first ever pair of socks.
As you can see (and I mentioned in my previous post) the heel on the right hand sock is inside out. I got the directions mixed up when I nit it, but I did much better with the second sock. The stitches were tighter and neater and the whole thing just went a lot better.
For my next project, I picked up a book of sock patterns that is based on Japanese stitch patterns and I think I’ll start working on those. Though I’ll need to get some supplies first. (The only reason I actually got the book is that the Borders in town was going out of business and it was 70% off.)
And just to finish things off, here’s a picture of my cat Smokey chilling on my bookshelf:
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Socks
So I started this sock pattern, and as you can see I’ve finished the first one and am well on my way to finishing the second. (And yes that’s Smokey’s paw on the bottom left.)
I found the pattern via Ravelry, which is how I found the last pattern (the green hat) that I did too.
On another note, socks aren’t nearly as difficult to make as I thought they would be, but I made the heel of the first one inside out by accident.
So here’s some in progress photo’s:
(Yes that’s my foot, I tried it on half-done to make sure it was fitting properly even though I screwed up the heel.)
As for the skirt I mentioned in my last post, I still want to make it but I don’t know when that will be. I’ll probably try a more complicated sock pattern after this.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
What to do next?
I’ve been wondering, since last weekend exactly what I want to knit next. It’s been a hectic week at school so I haven’t really put too much thought into it.
But last night I was looking around on Ravelry and I found a lot of interesting patterns. There was especially one for a sort of wrap skirt that I’m thinking of making. It would be a useful item of clothing and it would be good practice, and I can make it longer than what it says.
So what do you folks think? The pattern and the description can be found here.
(picture used without permission)
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Slouchy Hat
Well, I’ve made another hat:
Yes, that’s my cat Smokey with the hat on him, he’s curled up on my bed right now, I’m not sure whether he’s asleep or not but he sure looks comfortable.
The making of the hat itself went well, I used double pointed needles instead of the circular needle’s the pattern called for, and while they worked fine, I think in the future I’ll be using actual circular needles because I have these lines of stitches that are looser than others from where the needles met.
So here’s some of the “in progress” photo’s I took while working on it.
And then when I switched to the larger needle size required:
(yes that’s two laptops you’re seeing in the picture, as me about my computer problems sometime, you’ll get a novel in reply)
Partway done knitting the larger part:
And then finally, the completed item:
So? What does everyone think? It reminds me (kind of) of the hats Guinan wears in Star Trek: The Next Generation. I always liked Guinana for some reason.
Anyways, I need a couple of bobby pins to help hold the hat in place but I don’t mind. It’s large enough actually that I could tuck all my hair in it if I wanted too, which is quite nice, not that it was intended for that, it wasn’t.
I go the pattern from here and it’s very simple and easy to do. If you knit you should check it out. I’m debating making a striped one.
My nerd-dom is going to show here but I think these would look awesome in various Hogwarts house colors (yes you read that right). This one is almost Slytherin green anyways, so why not?
Friday, April 1, 2011
Snow In April
If April showers bring May Flowers, what do April Snowstorms bring?
Why am I not surprised we got snow?
There was a whole lot of snow this morning. I was kind of wishing that it was all a big April Fools joke by the meteorologists, but unfortunately it was real. I took the above pic on my way to school today while at a stoplight. The trees were coated. It was pretty bad out there this morning.
It’s raining now, unfortunately, which means that going home after my Calculus class is going to be a pain as well.
As for knitting, I started yet another hat, but this time with a completely different pattern than before. I decided to try something knitted in the round. I’m using double pointed needles instead of the recommended circular’s though because then I didn’t have to go out and buy circulars of the correct size
That’s from a few days ago (if you couldn’t tell by the date on the pic). I’ve done a lot more since then and I’m just about ready to switch to the larger needles.
I have been distracted for a couple of days though because I got my computer back from Geek squad and I’m getting back the way I like it. I’ll probably finish the hat over the weekend. Hopefully it’ll come out alright, I’ve never done something in the round before.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Cabled Wristlets
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
I Made A Hat!
Yup! I made it!
You would not believe how proud I am of this thing. It’s the first non-scarf/rectangle/square that I’ve ever made! The pattern can be found here.
I’m just so proud of this. I haven’t decided what I’m going to do next, I might make another one for a friend or two as practice since I did make quite a few mistakes and I think it would come out a lot better with a bit more practice.
Maybe another hat, like a different pattern? I’ll have to look and see what’s around.
And so some in progress photo’s:
(Smokey’s ass got in the way of this pic, but what can ya do? He’s a cat.)
After I’ve switched to the larger needles (size 11US) that the pattern requires.
Before sewing the seam to make it a hat instead of a contorted piece of knitted fabric. As you can see, Smokey decided to play with the tail of yarn used to sew said seam. And as you can also see, he’s apparently made himself comfortable in the warm air blowing from my laptop. Gotta give it to a cat to find the warmest spot.
And the completed article is able to be seen in the top of this post.
So, suggestions for my next piece? I definitely need something simple as I still don’t know what I’m doing half the time. I am leaning towards making a hat using a different pattern though. I like hats, maybe something to hold all that hair I have?
Feel free to let me know what you think I should make! Or if you have any suggestions for keeping track of a pattern or anything really.
(Oh and one more thing, yes I am wearing a Gryffindor shirt in that pic.)
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Finished Scarf!
So about the scarf, it was only one skein of yarn, so it’s only about four feet long, which, granted, is plenty long enough to wrap around your neck etc., but it isn’t super long either.
And there it is. I put it on and took a picture with my camera. It’s not the best photo, but I’m no professional photographer, and you can see it’s wrapped around my neck with a little bit of slack the tails aren’t too long.
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Next Project:
I’ve already cast on for another project. I found a really easy hat pattern so I’m going to learn how to knit hats. I found it via Ravelry which is a knitting/crochet site where members can share projects. I was looking at the various free patterns and I found a pattern for a slouchy beret.
(picture used without permission)
It comes from here: http://whitegirlknits.blogspot.com/2011/01/simple-yet-adorable-slouchy-beret.html and I give her all the credit for creating the pattern and having a really good idea. I’m making mine in red instead of grey to start, but if it works out I might make a few extra for friends as small gifts.
I’ll post a couple of progress pictures once I have more than two rows knitted!
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Hamantashen!
Hamantashen: Triangular cookies with various fillings made for the holiday of Purim (which is tomorrow).
My mom and I made a whole bunch of these little cookies today, in a variety of flavors (I took the pictures sneakily with my phone while my mom was rolling out the dough).
We started with some Pumpkin (we’re baking the extra and I get to eat it!):
Then Some cinnamon sugar with spices:
Then Apricot:
And Poppy seed:
And finally Chocolate and Cherry:
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On a knitting note (since I didn’t get much done today) the scarf is coming along. I may or may not finish it tonight since I have to go to bed early, but it should be finished tomorrow at the latest. I can knit fast when just doing knit and purl.
Oh! And if anyone is interested, the scarf is a simple ribbed pattern. I cast on 50 stitches and then K2, P2, all the way across. If you end on a pearl, start the next row on a knit, if you end on a knit, start the next role with pearl. This can be done with any even number of stitches, or if you’d like to do a 3 or 4 or even 5 stitch wide rib, just do a multiple of how long you want the rib to be. And the nice thing is the scarfs reversible!
The above is about my extent of pattern knowledge, but feel free to make the scarf if you want. It’s not really a patter, just a modification of an existing stitch (and it happens to make a nice scarf!).
ALSO: Check out the full moon tonight! It’s going to be the largest full moon in 19 years!
Friday, March 18, 2011
The Beginning
When I was in high school I began looking at knitting and crochet again. I’d always had an interest in them (along with sewing and other crafty type things), and wanted to learn how to make things for myself. That’s when I found the book Stitch ‘N Bitch. It had the right attitude to grab my attention at 16 (c’mon, it’d would grab your attention too at that age), and I began to practice the knit stitch again (this time right handed) and finally learned to purl along with increasing and decreasing but I never really got the hang of it.
Then my grandmother gave me her old knitting kit. She was in her early 80’s by this time and her arthritis meant she couldn’t really knit anymore (she’d always been more of a sewing person anyways) and thus I got her case with all her accesseries:
As you can see, there’s actually quite a bit of stuff in it, and though I don’t know what all of it is yet, there is quite a variety of needle sizes to work with for a beginner like myself.
So after putting a massive effort into cleaning my room this past week (convientely my spring break from college), I found all my yarn and supplies again. Figuring it would be something good to do to help relax from studies and de-stress after school days or whatever, I decided to pick things up again.
To get myself back into the knitting groove I’m making a basic scarf.
As you can see, it’s a simple ribbed scarf. I have the really bad habit of balling up skeins of yarn and then not keeping the labels, so I can’t tell you the kind of yarn beyond soft, black, and acrylic. I’m using size 8 needles cause, to be honest? Those were the ones on hand when I picked up the ball of yarn from my mess otherwise known as my room.
I’m probably not going to block the scarf or anything simply because I have no idea how to even do something like that, but it should be fine as is.
I’ve also downloaded a bunch of free patterns and I’m going to try to make a hat once I finish the scarf.
Anyways, I’ll keep this updated with daily progress on the scarf (of course if I finish it tomorrow I’ll mention that as well).