First KO in 2009

We had our first KO this year and poor Lois couldn't make it - thanks to a terrible virus. :(

So anyways we took a picture but unfortunately I didn't check it well enough and it turned out a tad blurry.



But all that aside, we had a good time and there were a couple of new faces. It was a whole lot of fun and laughter, knits and tips. Well, I also went around doing what Phoebe started with... :) So take your guesses everyone!

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I'm not in any of those by the way :P

Oh we had an FO during the KO. It's a preemie hat Susan made.



It's cute, isn't it? :)

Ok now, some updates on my wips.... I have another obsession to report about tomorrow you see.

So, my knitting tales lately have been bland. I'm sad to say that my widdershins didn't work, and neither did the Twinkleberry socks that came after that. During the KO, Cindy and I realized I was knitting a Christmas-sized stocking ready for some pressies. (Well ok it's not THAT huge but it will fit diamonds, or about one and a half of my foot.) I still like both the patterns though but I think since my last cursed yarn has been used up, the yarn I'm using for these projects has decided to take the place of the Cursed. I probably will work on these patterns another time with a more fortunate yarn...

The good news is, I have started a new pair of socks. I'm using Green Mountain Madness from CTH and am doing the Oolong socks by Mona Schmidt from TC Fall 08. I will make further reports if all goes well... It looks good so far though, and I enjoy the pattern a lot.

Cast off!

I just casted off Queen Anne's Lace!!

Ok I actually had to take a LOT of breaks in between because my back was hurting a bit.

I haven't blocked it but I'm happy !~~ :D

And now, I only have monkeys as a wip!

Oh C'mon. It's just 5.

I'm talking about WIPs.

Many would know that I have startitis. I just like to start projects and live with the idea of having anything and everything available, whenever and wherever I want it. I mean, sometimes, I feel like doing lace. Sometimes, socks. Sometimes something brainless. Sometimes a difficult sock. Sometimes boring lace. Sometimes cabling.

So ok, when I heard of the Ravelympics, I was thinking ... Shall I start a sock? A scarf? A shawl? What shall I do? Which Event should I take part in? Well, what could be more apt than to join the WIP Wrestling event. It's time to finish up those socks and the cardi I started.

What cardi?

Here, have a look at all the WIPs I have on hand and are going for Ravlympics.


Ester: I'm at the sleeve/collar thing part and reaching the last ribbings soon. But I think ribbing is boring.


Trystero: One more to go (less the cuff cos I've already done that)


Cotton: I think there's only 70% of the second sock to go.

Here are the two WIPs that I have and aren't going for Ravelympics because I decided not to be too ambitious.


Hanami: I'm going to finish the Basketweave section today so if that happens I'm going to be at the 50% mark.


Muguet de Mai: It's the 9th repeat of 10.... but I still have the border to go! bleah.

I think I'm in a lace phase at the moment. I feel like casting on 1000000 lace projects. I might cast on Queen Anne IF I finish all my Ravelympics stuff Plus I finish 75% of Hanami and all the repeats less the border of Muguet de Mai.

Now: Watch me break my own promise.

Updates~~

Well I have two wips to introduce here. The first is the sock I've started for the Summer of Socks 2008. I've started this over the weekend with very little time to work on it. I decided to choose a really simple pattern so that I can really take this around with me. So presenting Cotton, my sock with eyelet bar ribbing made with Regia Surf Color.



Yes can you see the needles?

They are the Ebony Sox Stix I received since WWKIP day! These needles kinda feel a little flexible. I guess it helps to know they aren't brittle especially when they are this thin. But I was intially not very used to how it feels. I like it very much now, the surface is a little matte, and the length is just nice~! I'm really looking forward to try the other woods.

The other wip I have is what I call the 'TV Project'. This project succeeded the Honeymoon Cami about a fortnight after it was completed. But I took my own sweet time with it since I had a severe lack of TV time lately.

Anyways, here's the Frock Camisole...



Well that's all I have to report for now. :)

on the needles...

Oh wait, look what came in my mail last friday.



:) I bought it from StuckinIllinois at etsy and it's just so cute! She's got lots of other cute bags there and look at the lining of the bag!



It's really spurring me on to finish my sock and start another project (yes ANOTHER! - but at least i'm trying to wait until I finish my current sock)

Right, anyways, finally I'm going to talk about some knitting and I'm still turning the heel on Broadripple. Susan has taught me a way to manage the two balls of yarn and not get the project tangled after every row. I've finished my Bunny but then I've started another project. Anouk is on my 'tv project' needles.



To be honest, I made this with Mang in mind. My mum has this strange perception that she'd (my cat not my mum) look cute in a little pink dress or a baby pink halter, and it's sorta filtered down to me. Ok this is not pink, but it's cute little dress all the same. The adjustable waist is a plus point but I realized yesterday that my cat comes in a bigger size. I have no idea how big a 3mth old baby is, and can't imagine a 6mth old. So, I just did the smallest size ever. The two pieces in the pattern are now joined and the collar is worked.

Another plus point about this dress is the pockets. I wanted to try som colorwork and the little bit on the pockets could get me started. I'm considering changing the pattern though. But I have no idea as to what it will be yet, so I'll be working on that next. If you have a suggestion for the design, please do leave me a comment. :)

In the meantime I might make the waist tabs first.

Tats-it weekend~

I bought a Japanese Tatting book the other day, and went tatting over the weekend. (of course, a few stitches were made on the neverending wips. but i'll come to that later.)



Who knew I'd have new wips! Luckily they aren't knitting projects and are much smaller. And of course these wips are better than the 'incomplete project' pictured, because they are worked in sections, so I can just finish as section as and when I can without having to worry about remembering where i stopped. I think I'm getting the hang of tatting and it seems much easier the more I practice. I'm still not confident enough to use the pretty threads I bought but I think soon I will. This also makes me not give up on spinning as well. Practice Practice Practice.

Meanwhile yes, here are some pictures of all those in progress.

Wisp

Seems like the least progress here (actually it's not, broadripple is. Then again I also haven't don't anything on my Lily of the Valley) but the pattern is really easy, and nice. I love the yarn as always. It doesn't take long to do a single repeat either.

Broadripple

I have about 12 rows on the second sock left and then I will be moving on to the heels of both socks.

My So-Called Scarf

I'm so in love with this yarn, I'm already planning to make a similar scarf for a friend. The yardage is better than I thought too.

Antrelac Part II

I love the color whooo~~~~ I can't wait to finish this so that at least I have my vday gift all done and in time.

Well tat's about all for now. Will be working on my thesis today so I don't think there'll be more crafts until late in the night perhaps.

Latest Updates on War on Startitis

Aloha!

Welcome to this morning's edition of Knews@ennairdaknits.

First up, Ayu's War on Startitis. In the early hours, Ayu seemed to have been blessed by the Goddess of Cast Off. She was able to finish up on the first entrelac of the pair she's been working on. Although victory on the shawl was much later than expected (since there were two occasions of mistake correction and frogging), she was able to heave a huge sigh of relief by mid-day.




Antrelac Part I in Rowan Tapestry's Leadmine with Clover 4.5mm.

Before Antrelac I is blocked, Ayu needs to cast on and finish up Antrelac II. "So that they are a pair, and I'll get the same length," she mused. "As some of you might have know, I've been fighting Startitis. So, I thought this would've been a good counter-attack."

Unfortunately, her casting-on of one project triggered the vengence of Startitis. And the results.


From Left: My So-Called Scarf in Hamanaka, Antrelac Part II in Rowan Tapestry (Rainbow) and Wisp in Sublime Kid Mohair Blend.

"What is there to do?" says Ayu. "It's the domino-effect."

Ayu is not available this morning for further comments. It's been reported that she's gone quite crazily addicted over the stitches in all the projects, and is hoping she would be granted an additional three pairs of hands by the Goddess of Cast Off before things go haywire. In our speculation, she's already there.

as promised

the wips and progress of spinning.

As some of you have been asking, how goes my spinning? It isn't as smooth as I expected. So the very nice lady who sold me the spindles, Annie May offered some troubleshooting advice via email. And I also appreciate very much Kessa's tips in my post on spinning, thanks Kessa! I've been visiting and reading all the forums related in Ravelry, and watching all available videos online. So here, a photo.



The thick and thin pink was my very first attempt. That means that was way before the troubleshooting and forum-visiting. It was thicker than a pencil at some points and precariously thin (until it broke - that's why it's in two bundles) at others. And the blue is the second attempt a day or so later. The second time was much better because I practiced drafting a little and got them into pencil roving, but it was still difficult to draft. It's like super bulky yarn, but I am glad it didn't break. I was also slowly getting used to the rhythm of the drafting triangle. The white yarn is Annie May's work, which is far far far far better than mine as you can see. I do have a question though, is spun yarn supposed to twist and turn like this once you've released it from the shaft of the spindle?

Anyways, I guess what's left to do now is practice practice and more practice. I think I'll try to fluff up the roving abit as Kessa suggested; I didn't do this when I practice drafting the blue roving. I love the pink roving though. Surprisingly since I'm not a pink person. But the muted, dusty shade is very beautiful, and I can't bear to waste my lousy skills on what's left of the roving. It's tencel and wool blend I think and I must get more from Annie May!

Unfortunately, I had a bad bad bad paper cut a couple of days ago, and my very dry skin didn't help. It's taking a little longer to heal than usual and I can't practice spinning now. Bah :( I guess that will have to wait...

On to my wips. My entrelac scarf apparently triggered the cast-on bug in mlc haha... Well I'm making a pair, hopefully by Valentine's Day (again I'm being hopeful). I'm calling my scarf set Antrelac for obvious reasons. I've just used up the second ball of yarn today for the first scarf so it's a lot longer than it is in this picture (which was taken when I was going to finish the first ball).



This is going a lot slower than usual because I have to knit it in secret. AS also likes to question my knitting (like 'who is this for?' or 'what is this?' etc etc) so I have a feeling I have to knit the second of the pair (which is for me) in secret as well.

What about knitting NOT in secret? I have the lily of the valley and this sock.



:D I started this to get my sock mojo back. And it is! yayy! Actually I'm also focusing on the needles in the picture... it's the Harmony needles I got for Christmas~! It's light and the tips are sharp. These are size 3.25mm and still, the tips are good! Ah I'm enjoying them a lot~~ :)

argh...

Because there's a hash today I had the opportunity to stay home in the morning and do whatever I wanted (after Mang's bath of course). So I decided to knit the Reading in Bed shrug and got up to seven repeats. That's a good sign because it's past the 50% mark.

And then I decided I better cast on the toe for the second Elfine Socks. I have already done the first one up to the heel and just wanted to do the socks simultaneously. So I decided to put the first sock unto some waste yarn and started to cast on the second. However, I had a problem.

I suddenly decided not to lie to myself and admit that the pattern REALLY gets lost in the yarn. Consider this toe:



At first I thought that little piece isn't a good gauge, and lied to myself that it will look better on my foot, when it's a bigger piece. But now that it's done up to the heel, it's not looking much better. Just imagine the above photo times two. It doesn't help when the second ball of yarn refuses to be casted on as well, and it kept slipping off the needles when I wasn't looking. After that, I had ugly m1s.

Although I must admit I'm a bit sleepy, I really don't know what's wrong and then I just gave up trying. I think the yarn just doesn't want to be a sock. Or this particular sock for that matter.

Now I must confess that this is the first sock I am knitting from toe up. AND it's also the second sock (casted on) and knitted with the magic loop method. I have no qualms with the method but incidentally, I didn't finish the other magic loop sock as well. Before I casted this on, I thought this pattern was suitable because I wanted to try the toe-up with the magic loop. Now what's so difficult about that? I have no idea.

I actually don't know what I should do now. Should I

(a) Try again?
(b) Look for another sock pattern that uses the above methods? (any recommendations at that?)
(c) Look for another sock pattern regardless of whether it's toe-up or cuff down?
(d) Use the yarn for a non-sock project?

Sigh!

And now in Progress...

I've started two projects over the Christmas and New Year holidays. The first is a lace project started because I thought the Kimono was so beautiful and I wanted to make another lace shawl NOW. I looked around and while there were a number of beautiful shawls I love out there, I just couldn't find the right color from my stash. In the process, I also added a load of new projects onto my Ravelry queue. At this rate I'll take about 10 years to finish everything on that queue.

So when I saw the Lily of the Valley Shawl from Lace Style, I casted on almost immediately. (At the Starbucks where we were having coffee actually)



(oh the blue thing there is a folder AS bought for me. Now I put my project patterns in there. :D it's a great size and I love it!)

And then I started another project because Mum says my Coquette is nice. Well. If you know my mum, she's not usually the kind who's interested in crafting and all. She doesn't stop me from doing it, but she was just never really interested in the process, the effort or the finished product. But she actually was impressed with the Coquette (and subsequently Kimono) and I thought I'd make her the Reading-in-Bed Shrug.



I'm posting this actually because she doesn't use the Internet and no one in my family visits this blog. If my brother does, then he'll be quiet about it I'm sure. I chose a smaller project (than a shawl) for now because I have only 3 months to her birthday. The shawl will have to come later.

Speaking of gifts, MLC's scarf project has got me wondering if I should make some his&her scarves for us on Vday but that means I have 1 month to finish things. And then if I were to make two that would mean 2 weeks per scarf. Sounds possible but remember, you're talking about me here.

It also made me regret not planning my knitting time better because... I thought I should have made something for a friend on our birthday. That would leave me... about 20 hours to finish the project?

In the occasion of frenzy, turn to other capabilities.

And I beaded her earrings. I made two of the same pair (I want one myself) and I'll blog about them when I've gifted them so stay tuned~

PS: It's MangMang's birthday today so go ahead and wish her a happy birthday here or here.

defeat

Again defeated by the Goddess of Cast On.

After finishing up Kimono, Bib O' Love and Seduction, I was left with one project... Elfine socks. That's surprising, for me at least! Because I felt like I had to be doing more work, I forbed off casting on for a few days. That's not too bad I guess, considering that I cast on two new projects when I complete one, hehehe.

But ok I guess I'm blessed by the above-mentioned Goddess and this one-project status didn't last long. So on Friday, after contemplating for a bit, I casted on the Coquette Lace tube top from Fitted Knits. This is what it is as of this morning.



I'm using Olympus' Cotton Novia yarn; It's really nice~~ :) Started off with Addi Turbos and then switched to Clover's Takumi when the pattern called for the switch. So far so good I guess... Working in rounds is always better. :) I plan to use a black ribbon for the top ribbing, ala Amy Lee (I mean the color scheme).



Hopefully I can finish it by Christmas and wear it. If not there's always New Year's Day. Or my birthday.

Kimono updates

No I'm not done yet.
In fact, I haven't been knitting since Sunday. I attempted like two rows on monday though, and that was about it.

Anyways, I still think I should give a little updated here.

Here it is on the new sofa.







Hmm.. Let's just say I'm past the three-quarter mark if I were to make 20 repeats of the pattern. heh.

k that's all for today... work awaits. :(

yayy!

Ok no pictures today but for some of you who know me, you know this sweater project has been hanging around for far too long.

Well. I've finished knitting:
The Back
The Front
The Left Sleeve
The Right Sleeve

Therefore.
All i need is to weave in the ends and seam the whole thing! yayy!!

AS called me all of a sudden. Talk about good timing. He's gone over the JKT for the last weekend there. Maybe if I can figure out how to seam these things properly by next week, he might have a chance to see the whole piece on Friday! Whee~~

Sleeved~!

I haven't been diligent in blogging about the progress of the Leo at all... But yesterday I finally reached the beginning of the sleeve cap and I thought it's about time~!

Here are the sleeves in progress!



I can't wait to get the sleeve caps done... Although I have a lot to read and write, I am keeping my fingers crossed. I think I should be able to finish the pieces before AS comes back. But whether I can seam them together and THEN do the neck edging too remains a question. I'd need more hours (like about 48 per day?).

w00t!

Leo's front and back!

See!



Ok I will weave in the ends but not now :P

AND

I can start the sleeves tmr! Woo hooo!!!!!!!

Leo Pro

Some progress on Leo... the Row counter now reads '20'

That means another 4 rows to 12"

Here, have a look. :)



no measuring tape because i can't find it.

I haven't been working much on this yesterday and today. I was really tired after a movie yesterday (as usual) and then I was preoccupied half the time today. I'll definitely get to 12" tonight though. and then that means 4 more inches to Armholes!

Meanwhile I'm still very amused by the movie, my new bag, and all sorts of other stuff. Check them out here.

A little Update, A little Change

I realize not many realized I was making the Leo. I guess the promise of that never-ending sweater had its effects; I just think that yarn is destined to be never ending, so I never announced what I was doing to it.

I guess it's about time to show what little progress I've made though.

So thursday was our National Day and with it comes a lot of memories for me. I've attended three of these parades in my life and of course once was with AS; Our registration anniversary is on the same day; this year, I like really love one of the songs because I relate to it so much and also, I've decided to move my blog on that day.

AS usually has to work on National Day - for rather obvious reasons if you know where he works. (*hint: armed forces*) This year, he's not working technically, but he's not around.

So what better things to do than to try and make some progress on his Leo?



I figured (when it was 2" long) that if i did an inch everyday, I'd be shaping armholes in 2 weeks. But of course I never did an inch a day. Maybe 1/2 an inch. But I'm making progress. The last time I checked (which was late thursday night), it was 6" on both the front and back.

Really!

See.



I hope the photo doesn't curse it to be 6" forever. (because that was what happened awhile back at 41cm...) But hey, if it's 6" on front and back, that means I'm knitting a bit faster than before. And that is good news. HAHA.

Oh yes, I went to Barb's site yesterday and saw this link. Maybe (just maybe) I'll be a little more motivated to be KnitWar-ring now~ It sure looks like a typical RPG game hehe (thanks for the link, Barb~!)

Meanwhile, I'm going to do up the sidebar of the new main blog today and maybe turn the 6" to 7". hehe

2 Socks

One of each

hehe

i finished one Seduction! See!



I actually didn't enjoy this pattern very much. I mean the sock is nice and all but the pattern was written weird. Then again I haven't made much socks so I really shouldn't be complaining. Still, I find the instructions a bit weird. Nvm... I'll make the other sock soon. I promise.

This one is lonely...



I think I'll have to cast on both Seduction sock 2 and Breeze sock 2.

They are both lonely...



Meanwhile, on the FurFront,
Mollie says: Why can't I have a sock too, Mummy?