A Bitter Knitter

Oy.  So my beach shawl is finally done and blocking.  It only took forever to get it that way.  See?  Here it is: (Pardon the crummy photo.  It's dark out and I had to use the flash.  The colours are WAY better in real life.) As I wrote in my post earlier this month , I started it in June 2010 and finished it in July of that year but I wasn't happy with it because it was too short.  So I frogged it and started again.  And it wasn't as exciting the second time around (the same phenomenon that causes second sock syndrome) so it went into deep hibernation.  When the new year started, I brought it out of the deep recesses of my knitting basket determined to continue with the progress I had made in lowering my number of WIPs.  I made good progress on it until some point last week.  I was almost done.  I had a row and a half to go before the bind off.  But... The second to last short row section is on the top cent...

Today's WIP (Work In Progress) Wednesday report features my longest standing WIP, my Beach Shawl .  Here's what it looks like today: Huh... some of you might say.  This looks kind of familiar. Yeah.  About that... I originally started this shawl in June of 2010.  And then I finished it less than a month later.  But I wasn't happy with it.  It was too short: And I had no clue what I was doing when it came to blocking: So sad. So I frogged it completely and started over on a larger needle.  And that's where it's been ever since.  I revived it after the new year started and am making good progress again.  I'm hoping to finish it soon, but the rows keep getting longer and longer (the curse of the bottom-up shawl).  Plus the yarn is really not toddler friendly, especially toddler-who-eats-yarn friendly.  (It's Mini Mochi, which is technically machine washable, but it's single ply and still feltable.)...

No, this post isn't about how long it's been since I last blogged (which actually wasn't that long ago...)  It's about how long a couple of my projects have been on the needles...  Since 2010, that's how long.  And when you consider that I only took up knitting in September of 2009, that's a long time!  Well, I finally finished two of those long standing UFOs (UnFinished Objects) this month! Confession: I started both of these projects with the intent of making them for my niece back when she was a toddler.  Uh huh... that was four years ago... I didn't finish them as quickly as I wanted to, and then she got too big for them, and then I had no one else to give them to.  Then I had a little girl of my own and finally got them finished! Project 1: Little Red Riding Hood Cape I started this in May of 2010.  I started the two-year-old size, because I was knitting it for my toddler niece.  Then I put it into hibernation mode because I heard of a ...

We're now over a week into the new year.  I've been mulling over the past year and what I want to "resolve" to do this year, so here's my 2011 knitting goal: Complete at least 24 knit projects. That's an average of two a month.  (Last year, my first complete year as a knitter, I finished 20 projects of various sizes, so I think this goal is extremely reasonable, as I was also in school for half the year.) Among those projects I want to: Knit a project with beads. Knit a pair of mittens. Knit a pair of gloves. Knit a pair of toe-up socks. Among my list of things to knit "someday" are the following: Knit an afghan Knit with 100% silk Knit with cashmere Knit a drop stitch pattern Knit a pullover sweater Knit a cardigan with buttons Knit something that has steeks Knit something with entrelac Knit something intarsia I also want to learn how to knit Continental and how to knit and purl backwards.  If any of these happen this year, great...

I first tried knitting in 2002 or 2003.  I'm not sure which--I was sixteen or seventeen at the time.  I learned how to do a long-tail cast on and how to knit and purl.  As a result, I knitted a piece about eighteen inches wide and four inches tall in 2x2 rib.  And then the royal blue yarn and the aluminum size 9 needles sat abandoned in my closet.  And then I moved, and they sat abandoned in my new closet. Eleven months ago today, 22 September, I walked into the yarn store near my university and bought yarn and knitting needles.  I had seen a pattern online for a Hogwarts scarf and wanted to make one for my little sister for Christmas, so I purchased yellow and black yarn (Hufflepuff colours) and a size 7 circular needle and, with the help of YouTube and half a dozen knitting sites, I cast on again, some seven or eight years after I first attempted knitting, and began knitting again. Just knitting.  Solid knitting.  Solid stockinette...

Been a bit, hasn't it?  Now that I'm not in school, the days just blend together...  It's actually getting to the point in the summer when I'm ready for school to start again, but I'm not going back to school in the Fall.  Hmm... time to actually start looking for a job perhaps? In the past month, I have finished one of my hibernating projects in time for Elder Sister's birthday and I am making good progress on a couple of my stealth projects.  I also finished another pair of socks made with yarn that I received for my graduation from the woman who taught me to knit: I'm also almost done with my first shawl!  Yay!  The pattern is Bermuda , and I'm knitting it with Mini Mochi's Beach Scene , which is wonderfully soft.  The short rows and colour changes work together to create an amazing effect.  I'll post pictures when I'm done.  This week?  Maybe next? I've also cast on for another pair of socks.  I'm addicted!  My p...