Almost.
Missed it by about 14 minutes. I had it all planned, and then time just got away. I seriously need a pause button.
Anywho…I have a number of things on the hook right now, and I actually have one thing actively on the needles. That’s right, folks, I’m attempting my very first non-scarf knitting project:
It's a sock, can't you tell?
So far I have 4 rows done. I don’t honestly know if my end result will be anything that will be usable, but ever since my mom made me a pair, I’ve wanted to make my own. Hand-knit socks are awesome, and you can make them so interesting. I also seemed to have developed an addiction to sock yarn and many of the colorways’ self-striping goodness. Anything is better than the boring old white Hanes crew socks I currently wear. Ever since I stopped working outside of the house, my sock collection became less and less imaginative. Of course, it had started doing so while I still was working outside the house (knee-high beige stockings, anyone? Blah), but I blame that largely on my tree-trunkesque calves and the desire to not cut all circulation off to my feet. If I can knit my own socks, I can make myself cool socks that actually fit.
Next up is proof that I am enthralled by self-striping sock yarn:
For the one with ice cubes for hands...me
Yes, I’m crocheting hand warmers in the spring. Just ask The Boy…my hands are almost always freezing. While it’s quite amusing to watch him jump as I lay my icy-cold digits on his heat-radiating skin, it’s not like I can haul him with me to school. I have several pairs of various hand warmers, but none that I’ve made myself. And I didn’t want to wait to use this yarn…it’s soft and squishy and I just keep wanting to pet the skein. While the majority of my yarn stash is acrylic (it’s come a long way, baby…and thanks, Mom, for the massive box that just about doubled my stash), acrylic is generally not the best, um, “fiber” for socks (can you honestly call something that is petroleum based “fiber”?) So, the sock yarn is generally some mixture of super wash merino wool and nylon. A couple of skeins I have might also have bamboo or cashmere mixed in. For the girl who generally doesn’t spend more than $5 a skein (usually somewhere in the $2.50-$3.50 range), that’s super luxury right there.
Next up…a hat, for a friend going through chemo:
Yes, I know it doesn't look like a hat.
It’s not crocheted in the round, so it looks a bit odd, but once I’m done, it will definitely be a hat. When I started crocheting again this past winter, I decided I was going to figure out how to do all the stuff I never bothered to figure out before. This is my first attempt at cabling in crochet. Heck, before this past winter, I didn’t even know you COULD cable with crochet. But, I have sitting in front of me proof positive that you can.
I’m also still working on the afghan I’ve mentioned previously. I don’t have any recent pictures, and it was put on hiatus once school started, but I think as long as I work on it a bit each week, it will get done. I think I have project ADD, because I’ll start on something, and then find something else I want to do, and I have to start it right away. I have a ton of different projects that I want to do, but sometimes I get so overwhelmed that I don’t start anything. Granted, there are some serious skills I need to hone before I can do some of them, but man, sometimes I get to overload.
By the way…if anyone reads this who can help me figure out a good tension hold for my knitting, I’d appreciate it. Through trial and error I’ve discovered that I need to be a thrower. Continental causes me to hold the needles and yarn way too tightly and then my hands hurt. If my hands hurt, it’s not fun, and if it’s not fun, well…you can figure out the rest. I want knitting to be FUN, and sometimes right now it’s just frustrating. I can’t figure out how to wrap or hold the yarn with my right hand so it will continue to move without a) cutting the circulation off to my fingers, b)having to let go of the needle in my right hand so I can throw the yarn. This bothers me to no end because I have a great tension hold for my crochet using my left hand. I just can’t hold the yarn with my left hand while knitting. It makes me hurt too much. Any tip, pictures, etc, would be most appreciated.
I want to keep going about life stuff, but I think I’ll save that for another post. Ooo! 2 in less than a week! Don’t die of shock before then, ‘k?
