Ruler? I don't need no freakin' ruler!

Except that I clearly do. As you can see in this very askew quilted (or is it patchwork?) tote below.

In a spur of late night inspiration I finally figured out what to do with this Sublime Stitching embroidery I stitched ages ago.

Getting a ruler out and measuring everything seemed like too much work, so I decided to eyeball everything. Big mistake.

Turns out you really do need a ruler for quilting. Or at least a good eye.

Castiel

I have really stupid reasons when it comes to choosing patterns that I want to knit.
Sometimes it's the color of the modeled garment. Other times it's the photo of the designer's finished object (like it looks so pretty in the snow, let's knit it, even tough my version probably won't ever see any snow). This time it was the name.

Let me embarrass myself completely by telling you that I decided to knit the Castiel hat just because Castiel is the name of a character on the TV show Supernatural. About two brothers that hunt demons and monsters. Castiel is an angel that helps them. Yes, I watch that. And it's really not so stupid as my description makes it sound. Right, moving on. Here's the hat on my head:


I bought the pattern and spent two nights trying to figure out the tubular cast on it calls for. Finally gave up when I realized it looks horrible. I went with the long tail cast on I always use.


Finished it in about a week, and then took some pictures at night and in the morning. Too dark during the night, too bright this morning, hence the lousy quality. It has nothing to do with my photographic skills. Or lack thereof.

During the past week I also somehow managed to add this to my already big stash of yarn:

Clearly I have a problem. Or more potential hats in my future.

Basic Blue and a lonely sleeve

Guess what's new! I finally finished the Basic Black cardigan I moaned about in previous posts. Guess what else is new? I don't like it. Well, to be honest, that's not exactly new, I always find flaws in my knitting and I'm super self-critical.
But this cardi seems to confirm my inability to knit anything with set-in sleeves. They're a little tight in the armpits and pull a little too much to the back.

But the main screw-up is the button-band. The button-band from hell. I ripped and re-knit that sucker three times. Still not good. It puckers and looks weird. While I was knitting it, I kept wondering where I went wrong. I finally figured it out THREE SECONDS AGO!!

(please ignore the fridge in the background. And the ironing board. And the 80's mustache on the guy on TV. And the general mess.)

The pattern says to pick up four in every 5 stitches. That wasn't enough, so I picked up every single stitch. Along the stockinette edge where I slipped a stitch on every row to make it look neat. Which means I have half as much stitches on the button-band than I do on the rest of the cardigan front. And that's the reason it pulls up.

Oh, epiphany why has thou come too late?

I don't want to rip and knit that thing again. Do.Not. Want. I'm actually wearing it right now. Paired with old sweatpants, a washed out cotton t-shirt and slippers it makes for a nice house sweater.

Meanwhile, this is what I'm knitting next. Caitlin pullover. One sleeve done. No setting them in. And no button band. Hopefully that means I won't mess it up.

Look at all those ends that need to be weaved in. :-(

Happy New Year!

Let me introduce you to my new friend. He's a small dude, only about 11 cm tall. He's not all that talkative, but if he was, he'd probably say something along the lines of: Do you smell carrots?

His, um, genetic code came from Lion Brand, as did his wardrobe. His accessorizes color choices were greatly inspired by this:

(he's a bit of a copy cat ;)

My amigurumi friend and I have a message for you all, dear readers.

We wish you all the best in 2011! Happy New Year!

It's raining and I can't think of a catchy title

The latest thing to come off my needles are super warm socks, made for my aunt. She's the person who really made my knitting possible.

I learned the knit stitch from my grandma, learned the purl stitch from a book, but it was my aunt who taught me that you alternate the two in order to get stockinette. Before that, I was just doing the knit, purl and then more purls, and was freaking out why it's not coming out like in the pictures. So my aunt deserves all the thanks in the world for clearing that out for stupid me. A pair of socks is the least thing I can do for her.

She also knits, but not so much anymore. She used to make slippers for my mom, my brother and me. This is her work:

As for my work, I'm still knitting the Basic Black.

Or 'The never-ending cardigan of never-ending neverendingness'.

I've been at it since September. I have no idea why I'm so slow with it, it's a simple stockinette cardigan. I still have the sleeves to finish, and then block and seam the whole thing, and pick up stitches for the button band. Like I said, never-ending.