Election Day

Guess what I did yesterday: made a wristband to show off my Obama pride for the election!

Pictures:

Tribe Pennant

Felted William and Mary Pennant
Written By: Meghan Brown
This summer I decided I wanted to apply early-decision to the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA. The essay had been stressed as one of the most important parts of my application, and as an out-of-state applicant, I knew mine had to be the best it could be. So, I sat and thought what I could write about that would describe me outside of school. The stress of the decision made me reach for needles, and the idea for my essay was born. I wrote over four pages about one of my best friends and how knitting helped me cope with her unexpected death. That wasn’t enough, however. I needed an extra submission. I could send them anything smaller than a regular sheet of printer paper, so I decided to knit something for the school, and started drafting a chart for a W&M pennant. Several months later, after my essay was written, and my transcripts were finalized, I finally felted my creation. I put it in a padded envelope, and sent it off to Virginia.
Now I’m going there next year, and I’d like to share my design with all fellow Tribe members, and W&M lovers out there.
Please enjoy creating this one as much as I did.
Before You Start:
1 pair sz. 6 straight needles
Dark Green Wool
Gold or Yellow Wool
Tapestry Needle

Pattern:
With green CO 56 sts.
Rows 1-4: Work in garter st
Row 5: Start logo chart, and be sure to decrease at the beginning and end of this row
For the next 53 rows follow the chart, decreasing 2 stitches every 5 rows as you go.


Logo Chart




After the logo is complete just work stockinette in green. Remember to decrease every 5 rows until you get down to 4 sts.
Then K 1 row
P 1 row
K2tog. K2tog.
BO off remaining 2 sts.
Finishing:
Weave in ends
Felt in washing machine or by hand.
It will curl, so be sure to block it.
And that’s it! You’re all ready to show your Tribe pride (feathers and all)
=)

Prom?

I finished my clutch today, except for the lining, and I'm pretty happy with it. It's on my ravelry, but I need to take a good picture.

About those blankets, though. I'm at a standstill. i can't make myself pick up the first scarf in Megan's blanket, and I had myself slotted to finish it by last week sometime.
ughhh!

Success!! Well... Part way at least

I finished the first blanket! That means I only have..... five more to go...
Ah well, that's like making twenty scarves, and if I'm lucky I'll be able to commission out at least five to my grandmother. That means I have two months to make... fifteen scarves.
Crap. What am I doing on here again? Pink yarn, here I come.

The Stitches Fall Slowly

Molly's blanket will not finish. I just want to finish it so I can work with another color. .Two more cable repeats and I'm done. I keep saying that to myself over and over and over, and yet the blanket will not grow. *Sigh. And I need to make Square Cake for prom, 5 more blankets (Though I've enlisted my grandmother's help), and I'm dying to make the Mosey legwarmers in the new knitty.
Two more cable repeats and I'm done.
Yeah Right

I'm lost

Wherefore art thou spring Knitty? The beginning of March was 11 days ago, and I think I'm going through withdrawl. I need fun new patterns to distract me from my current WIPs.
...Maybe I should be grateful it's not up yet

The Blankets are Coming

My first dorm blanket is almost done. It's the one I'm making for my friend Molly, and I can't wait to finish it and do something more exciting than straight cables (yes, I know that's an oxy-moron). I finished the third strip on Monday night, and sewed it to the other two. I decided to make the last two together, because I'm a lazy bum. =) After I finish this first one I'll probably get the yarn to make the fun strip for the next blanket, and then work on something else for awhile. I have an eight how conference to go to this weekend, so it''l make for goood knitting.
In other news, I dyed my first skein of yarn ever tonight. It's a pretty pink-ish orange color that matches my prom dress. I'm going to use it for my wrap, which is going to be Jeannie from the fall issue of knitty. Mmmm, I can't wait to start making it out of my soft thin little wool.

I'm one-hundred days away

In exactly one-hundred days I will be graduating high school. What does that mean? I have to finish these blankets in the next two and a half months.
I've completed, blocked, and sewn together 3 strips of the 5 for Molly's blanket, and am about a quarter of the way through the last strip (which is actually the two strips I'm making together). After that I think I'll make my friend Megan's because I am absolutely positive of her color. It'll be hot pink. Then I'll do either Kaitlyn or Sam, which will be red and light blue respectively. The last two are still kind of works in progress, because I want to make my friend Emily's in purple, but don't know what yarn to use. Likewise, I know what color I want to use for my friend Brittany (Kelly green) but can't find a cheap suitable yarn.
I also want to embroider a little heart on the corner of each blanket just to remind them of the love I have for each of them.

What is this thing called "Graduation"

Oh yeah, I have to give out presents for that don't I? I have six close friends, don't I? That means six large presents, doesn't it? Oh dear.
I go big or go home, which means that I'm going to be knitting cabled scarves from now until the day that I graduate. Lovely. Simply lovely.
And my best friend in the world likes a different blanket than everyone else. Figures, doesn't it, that the one I'll be most careful with will also take me the longest to make.
Ughh
I should be finished the Caitlin pullover in the next week or so. In the meantime I'm going to start the blankets. I have straight needles that should do. I can take the "scarves" to school, since I'm not trying to cart a seamless sweater around with me.

Oklahoma!

I'm in my school's musical, which is Oklahoma! by the way, and I want to make a shawl for my character to wear on stage. It'll be nice for me backstage too, since my director enjoys leaving the door open, and I'm going to freeze my bum off. I'm basically in love with Jeanie from the winter Knitty, and I want to make it soooooo badly. Problem is thus: I'm in the middle of the Cailtin pullover, and I need to start on a birthday present.
The pullover first. I love this pattern, but the stockinette does get boring after awhile. The waist shaping is in groups of ten rows, and when your rows are 80sts long, thhe shaping takes forever. over 640sts in the shaping alone. I've made the front, and I started the back today. Then I've got two sleeves to make, and the yoke. I can't lie, I'm dreading the yoke and the 200-some sts in each round. Luckily that decreases after only a few rows. I'm very excited to wear the sweater when it's done, though. I'm hoping for next week sometime.
The birthday present is an earflap hat that my friend asked for. I'm making it with a pound ball of Bernat chunky, which means it's even less portable than Cherie Amour was when I was almost done it.
After those projects, though, I'm definitely making Jeanie for myself, because I lovvve it.

Ribbit

Uh Oh. That nast frog came leaping into my house this morning and gave me frog fever. I couldn't stand to have my size fives, and two cords from my interchangeable needles set used up on the sweater dress that I probably wouldn't finish, and wouldn't like if I ever did. So, this afternoon I pulled it off the needles, and pulled all the stitches out.
Frogging is such a therapeutic exercise most days. I really enjoy it when it's necessary.
The yarn was taunting me after I did this, however, and I couldn't let it just sit there all wrapped and lifeless, so I found quite a cute sweater pattern, and started work. I'm now about thirty rows into it, and hope to finish it within the week.
The best part about this sweater is that it's dark blue, so no one will protest to me wearing it at work.
=)

Cash Money

I just got my first commissioned hat the other day.
I was at musical on Saturday, and I didn't have anything to do because I wasn't in the scene they were blocking, so I was just sitting in the wings knitting Everlasting (Which is done, by the way), and one of the girls asked me to knit her a hat. She said she's pay me, and I was like, "Sweet, of course I'll knit you a hat." I'm going to make Unoriginal Hat by the Yarn Harlot. I cast on tonight, but there's a problem with her chart (or with my reading of it) so I have to add ten stitches and go down a needle size.
But Katherine (the girl who wants the hat) asked me if I would seriously make her a hat today, which basically confirms that she was pretty serious about wanting one. I'm supposed to look at her coat tomorrow, but I already made up a swatch based on what she told me. Her coat's red and brown, so I just did three repeats of a 3x3 cable with a two stitch purl, 1stitch garter border, in caron simply soft Autumn Red and Chocolate. I held them together, and the effect is really lovely. I just hope she likes it.

A Designer, Moi?

Yep. I finally got my pennant pattern into a pdf, and onto ravelry.

Here's the ravelry link:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/tribe-pennant

I can smell summer breezes

Okay, not really. However, the inside of my car was warm this afternoon after school, which means the sun is getting stronger, which means spring is coming. I'm so excited!
Even more exciting: I finished Lelah tonight. Well, I finished the body of the shirt. I need to put the elastic in, and find an appropriate ribbbon, but other than that it's done. I have it blocking now. More accurately, I have it damp and laying flat right now, because I really don't know how to block straight knitting, let alone anything knit in the round. (After 11 years I should know this)
I have a few projects I need to make now:
Tonight I cast on for Everlasting Bagstopper (1) I hope to finish it soon. I'm just making it with some extra orange and pink Sugar 'n Cream.
Then I need to make and earflap hat (2) for my friend Emily, because she asked for one for her birthday.
After that I'm probably making dishcloths (3) for another friend for college; in her school's colors, too.
Then I want to make part of a spring cardigan (4) I've seen, but I'm only going to make the bust area, and I'm going to shorten the sleeves to make it a cute little shrug.
For some quick knitting I'm going to make the Flying Spaghetti Monster (5) eventually for my philosophy class.

Quit a list. As always

Project Links:
(1) http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/everlasting-bagstopper
(2) http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/knitted-toque-with-earflaps
(3) http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/back-to-school-2
(4) http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/printed-silk-cardigan
(5) http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/flying-spaghetti-monster-2

I wish it were summer!

And as such, I'm only knitting with cotton yarn. I've given up on the sweater dress until I finish the Lelah top. I just did two pattern repeats tonight while watching a movie. It's probably about five inches long now. I can already see that I'm going to need to do more repeats than stated in teh pattern. I like my tops slightly longer. Who knows, maybe I'll just keep going and make it a tunic. That way I can wear it as a cover up at the beach, and a top for the clubs.
Actually, I don't think I have the patience or the yarn for that. I've done five repeats total, and I think I'm going to need to do atleast seven more, and that it just blowing my mind right now, because,as strange as it sounds, I don't want to knit right now.
I think it has to do with Christmas. All I did for months before Christmas was knit and knit and knit. I made presents I hated (which was my first mistake) and didn't work on anything for me. Then in that post-Christmas excitement of getting interchangeable needles I cast on more projects than I can deal with at once and I'm just overwhelmed. I'm hoping that by finishing Lelah I'll get some confidence back, and I'll be onto working on the sweater dress again in no time.

Bye Bye Darcy

I frogged it the other day in favor of Lelah, because who doesn't want a knitted, lacy, empire waisted, cotton top for summer?
The only problem? I can't start knitting in the round to save my poor little life. I twist my stitches everytime, no matter how hard I try not to.
So it's also been frogged three times.
I spent last night in recup. mode knitting a garter stitch scarf on sz 13 needles. The colorway is gorgeous. It's purple and brown, and green, and yellow. It's so earthy, and matches my peacoat perfectly. I have another skein of the yarn, and am currently trying to decide what to do with it.

Pacing=Key

I can't decide between the DROPS dress and Mrs. Darcy, sooo I've decided to do both. I'm going to work on Mrs. Darcy at school, and the dress at home. Problem solved? Not really. But it satiates me for now