Monday, July 28, 2014

I'm on vacation!

...kinda... My mother is dragging myself and my aunt to Oslo, the capitol of Norway for a few days, so I won't be able to get much updated in the upcomming week. We're only staying there until thursday, but I'm not bringing my laptop, only my phone and tablet, which aren't the best mediums to blog on. So instead of me going quiet again, you'll now have a little warning. Ain't that neat?

But to keep things yarn related, I'll give you guys a little update on the Granny Bacon scrap blanket. It's slowly growing. It's pretty much the only thing I'm working on right now, it's easy to work on and easy to put down if I need to do something. It's pretty much mindless, even though I need my eyes, so I've started listening to podcasts again!

I can't use my smallest scraps, that's for certain, so it'll be heartbreaking having to throw them all out when I finally get to them. I've also managed to save four more huge scraps. For the record, I'm only saving scraps of a certain weight and fiber. There's several scraps in the picture above here that's way too long for my tasting, but they're odds and ends of different fibers and thickness (I work the thinner ones double if you were wondering) so I don't have much use for them.

On a different note. While I was roaming through the bedroom, looking for my bag and also my summer dress, I found the missing watermelon colored skein for my mindless shawl! I thought this was lost forever or atleast still at Oppdal somewhere, but all along, it was hiding behind my gigantic trunk.

 While I was winding this up, my yarn winder broke while winding it up though...which sucked! Took me forever to get to the problem. You see, there's a bolt keeping the cogs in place inside the machine. But there's so many things in the way so it's pretty much impossible to get to where it's supposed to be. Took me forever to get it taken appart, but putting it back together was a quick fix. It even stopped wobbling!

GREAT SUCCESS!!!

Saturday, July 26, 2014

Granny square scrap blanket?

Hello everybody! Thought I'd do a little update on the scrap blanket after my kinda grumpy and frustrating blogentry from yesterday.

As I did mention, I was tempted to just say "fuck it" and do the scrap blanket in granny square so that I could get it more or less evenly no matter what I did. The normal back and forth one did not go so well...at all. Actually, I haven't told you guys that I did try out two other stitches before going back to single crochet again. I did half double and slip stitch and also a combination of the two, but I did eventually decide against that because the edges looked too jagged for my taste.
Please, don't pay tpp much attention to my keyboard. It's not dirty, it's actually yarn dust from when I frogged the blanket in the first place.

So yeah, I scrapped that idea and went back to single crochet, which didn't go that well if you've read my previous blogentry. I don't know what caused it, might be just my horrible crochet "talent". I did pay a lot of attention to my tention and the stitches that time around though...

I ended up having to give granny square a try. More precisely, rectangular solid granny square. I found this one guy on Youtube that had a little tutorial up about it, and I decided to give it a try to see how it went. And after a few tries and one frogging, I think I've got a result that I'm pretty happy with.

I've yet to frog the previous attempt, so I ended up just winding up a new yarn cake and start with that one istead of going back to the very start. Lucky for me, there's longer scraps here, so I've got a good beginning. These are also long enough for russian joining, so I'm trying my best to keep knots and ends at bay. I did have to work with one scrap that I couldn't do the russian join with though, but since I'm doing solid granny square, it's easier to hide the ends than with normal granny square by just crocheting over them. I'm still not 100% sure, but I will most likely work up this whole yarn cake and see how it progresses and then make a decision.

Also, I decided to give it a nickname. It'll still be called eternity scrap blanket, cause that's what it is in reality, but I just can't decide on what to call this thing otherwise. Rectangular solid granny square scrap blanket is too much of a mouthfull, so just to cram another reference into everybody's faces, it's now called Granny Bacon! Cookie if you get the reference.

We'll see how it goes from here! I might have to toss out a bunch of the smallest scraps if they can't be worked into this one...which I'll be pretty sad about, and will set me back a little. But I'm already cutting out some of the biggest scraps that I added at the very beginning of this blanket, scraps that I can work into ugly scrap socks instead. Here's two examples of what I've taken out already, expecially the blue one. These are way too big for this blanket in my opinion and could easily work several rounds on a pair of socks instead.

Friday, July 25, 2014

Eternity scrap blanket: starting over again?

*sigh* I'm trying to not freak out and give up on everything at the moment.

The eternity scrap blanket feels like a total waste of time and yarn right now. After now have worked up three whole yarn cakes of the gigantic ball of scraps, I'm already noticing signs of the blanket curling inwards. I was just now placing the blanket on the floor to get some WIP pictures taken when I noticed that the ends had the same curving as it had before I started frogging it this last weekend.

At this point, I'm tempted to just frog it all again and just work it in granny square...which I said I woul not do because of the small scraps and ends would stick out everywhere (as I've mentioned at some earlier point, my smallest scraps measures 7-10cm (3-4 inches) and that makes them really too small but in my head too big to just being tossed out).

I've been thinking about working it as a solid granny square instead, which would hopefully make covering up ends more easily. So right now, I'm doing some Youtube research on how to do solid rectanular granny squares. Hopefully this will work and I'll come back with either good or bad news when/if I've worked this out.

Again, if you've got some tips for me on this stuff, please let me know. Right now, I'm starting to become really desperate.

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Bowling ball of yarn!

Took me forever, but I've finally finished up frogging the scrap blanket! I'm left with what I can only describe as a bowling ball out of yarn!

It measures 71cm (28") in the round and weights in about 1,3kg (2,86 pounds). That equals to 26 50gr skeins or "normal" skeins.

Now I just need to decide on a stitch and start all over again!

Monday, July 21, 2014

Frogging the eternity scrap blanket!

I've talked about my eternity scrap blanket several times already, so lets talk about it some more, shall we?

For some time now, I've noticed that the scrap blanked started to curve in on itself a little bit. I first didn't pay much attention to this as I was (and still am) a big crochet n00b and figured it would work itself out. Turns out, it just gets worse! Either my tention has changed somewhere, or I've messed up some stitches somewhere about a year ago.

One thing is sure though...it takes FOREVER to frog down! Expecially since the yarn has gotten tangeled here and there and the hook might have gone a bit wrong... I feel like I'm ripping every inch, tearing it appart rather than gently unravel the whole thing...

And the skein is MASSIVE! This is only about half way through! The ball measures a little over 50cm around now (19,5"). Can't wait to see it all done, but I'm starting to feel the weight and sice in my elbows.

The plan is to wind it up into smaller yarn cakes when I'm done and work from there. I've wanted a lazy kind of mindless project while I wait for some new inspiration to strike, and here it is! Just need to work out how I'm about to do it this time. I'm kinda over single crochet and want to try something new, but since I'm using small scraps (down to 10cm/4") there's not much I can do. It would look horrible if the stitch was kinda lacy or made a lot of holes. Currently, people have been suggesting half double crochet and slip stitch...the latter I've never thought about working as a stitch like this.

If you as my reader know of a good and compact stitch for a scrap blanket, let me know in the comments!

Two finished pullovers and a cowl!

Well...finished and finished... Two of these have been finished for a few days, but again, I've been lazy and haven't gotten around to photograph them until now. The third are still left with a bunch of ends that needs to be weaved in. ALL THE LAZY!!!

But lets take one project at the time now. First lets do the cowl. I started this, thinking I could get ridd of some scraps and at the same time make something a bit different from my usual preferences and also kind of mindless. I'm currently stuck in a yarn block (the yarnsters version of art block...totally made both those therms up myself) and need something that don't demand much brain useage.
So yeah, I started this cowl from one scrap skein of Drops <3 You #3, thinking I would use up a bunch, but ended up just using just the one. Casted on 100 stitches on a 7mm needle and alternated between doing parts in garter stitch and parts with drop stitch, simple, easy, done!

A few days ago, I finally recieved the baked bean buttons that I needed for my blue hoodie, and after sewing on 42 of them (36 of which on the hood alone). Had a lot of fun just placing them around randomly. This pullover has been nothing but fun and games and references! So refreshing! I used two strands to make it fluffy and textured, one was Bernat Mohairlaine in the colourway 7566 and the other was Drops Alpaca in the colourway 2919. Got the Mohairlaine from Brooke ages ago and the Alpaca I got on a crazy sale. Again, 7mm needles, no pattern.


The last thing is another pullover! This thing I finished up back in june but didn't give a rats ass about weaving in the ends and actually finish it up. It's still not finished really, I just wanted to photograph it and get it over with, it's been a month overdue already. Weaving in bamboo (and cotton for that matter) ends are pure nightmare fuel. The best (and kinda only) way to do it is to split the ends in half and weave in each of those ends. Example: look at a dishcloth with one end in each side. You'd think you got only two ends to weave in, right? Wrong... You actually got four if you want then to be fastened good and have durability and quality on it. Since cotton and bamboo is so slick and hard, it doesn't attach itself to...itself in the same way wool does. Hopefully I'll get enough courage to weave in these ends...some day...

Friday, July 18, 2014

Two pairs of fingerless mittens!

...now I'm just being lazy...and unmotivated...

The title says it all pretty much! In my last blogentry, I talked about these fingerless mittens that I started just because of the one skein I found in the back of my yarn storage. I finished them pretty fast but I was a lazy bugger and didn't blog about them.

The pattern I used are called Susie Rogers' Reading Mitts. I've used it once before and I really like the looks of them. The beige skein are of the brand James C. Brett - Pure Merino which is really soft and pretty. Colourway PM8. It looks and feels exactly like Drops Design's Merino Extra Fine, which is the yellow yarn I used along with it, colourway 30. It's the same yarn I used for the Retro Marius sweater a while back. Needles 3,5mm.


They're pretty spiffy! Even though it's summer and pretty warm, I can't help but wearing them from time to time.

After I finished up these though, I figured I'd make another pair with this skein I dyed with Kool-Aid some time ago. It's very colourful and I have no idea what I would make with it other than fingerless mittens, there's not much to work with really. If I remember right, it's Safirgarn wool yarn.
A few weeks ago, I found this pretty pattern from Sharryknits. Since they weren't too big and the right size/gauge, I decided to give it a try with the yarn. To make sure I would have enough yarn, I dug out some green wool scraps in the same weight to do the ribbing. 3,5mm needles once again.

I must say, they turned out a bit too springy and flowery for my taste, but I really like the pattern so I might end up making more of them.

And as a little end note, I am currently working on a few new dishcloth patterns as well as scrap projects inbetween my waves of unmotivations. I feel like I either need something totally mindless to work on, or something completely new and fresh.

Friday, July 11, 2014

New projects!

No idea how I managed it, but my yarn storage has actually shrinked since the start of this year! Just did another round up of my used yarn (I keep a list on my laptop of each new skein I break open, and when this list is long enough, I add it up and update the yarn count widget on my blog here and on dA), and I am currently at 16900 grams of yarn. That's 16,9kg (37,2 pounds) and translates to 338 skeins! Of course, there's a huge amount of scrap yarn and some skeins that's both smaller and bigger, so my yarn storage has a lot more yarn in reality, but it still feels good! For your information, I'm only counting whole 50gram skeins which is pretty much the standar size over here.

But what I was originally going to blog about is my two newest projects! I finished up Sips and Sjin the other day and washed the blue hoodie yesterday...which I now realise I haven't shown off yet (I've become lazy with this blogging, yo)... I'm still waiting for the buttons for it, so I'll talk more about it on a later time, but here's a sneak peak on my baked bean sweater! 10 points if you get the reference!

Yes! Two new projects! That's what I was supposed to blog about! Since I finished up Sips and Sjin, and the hoodie is on hiatus until the buttons arrive, I've been at a loss for what to do next. I eventually got started on the little matching jacket for the baby rompers I finished not too long ago. I'm using this pattern from Drops for it. It's pretty simple, but it matches the rompers better than the jacket that's supposed to go with. Using the same colours of course. Hopefully I'll have enough green to go around, but I might just have to do the sleeves solid yellow. The yoke will be solid blue and it will have buttons going all the way up in the front. So much fun working with thin needles again! 7mm is a hassle while 2,5mm feels so tidier!


But that's not the only new project I've got! I've also started a pair of fingerless mittens! Crazy you'd say, it's the middle of summer and the sun are blazing hot, burning my skin as if it were crispy bacon! Calm down, I'm not planning on using these during summer. It was a rather impulse project and I started it based off the colours only!

For a while now, I've been looking for the perfect pattern and colours for a pair of fingerless mittens for myself, but I'm a picky bastard and nothing's good enough! I do however enjoy this pretty pattern called Susie's Reading Mitts on Ravelry. I've made these once before for the Jane Austen contest on dA last year. They're simple, yet decorative and I've been wanting to make another pair of these that fits more my style. I'm not saying that the ones I'm making now will be more my style, but I am serriously making these based of the colours ONLY!
As you've probably already figured out, I've turned into a crazy Yognau(gh)t with Lewis as my favorite. It has gone so far that I am currently using his skin in Minecraft and I've drawn up a similar one in Animal Crossing New Leaf (sorry Nostalgia Critic, but I'm replacing you). I just love his burgundy coat with gold details.
While roaming though my yarn storage earlier today, searching for yarn for the amigurumi Lewis, I rediscovered this beautiful burgundy merino skein I got ages ago, from England none the less! It was too thick to use for the amigurumi doll, but perfect for the fingerless mittens pattern! It also hit me that I had some scraps leftover from the retro Marius sweater I made earlier this year, so BAM! I had a new project and I had to start it right away!

Merino also regulates heat more easily than normal wool, so it wouldn't kill me if I started using them as soon as they're finished. MUCH FUN! SO GREAT!

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Sips and Sjin!

They are finally finished! Sips and Sjin! My little cuties! Only two more and my Yogscast will be done!

Sjin's hair and spacesuit has lighter colors IRL, but of course my camera had to ruin that beyond the point of my editing skillz.

I just got to show off some pictures I took while I was making their hair. I had too much fun playing hairdresser.

Too much fun, but it took forever! Next up will be Lewis, no idea when I'll start him though. Currently taking some time off from crocheting. But I can't wait to have them all done so I can complete this picture:

A little technical information.
They're both made with different yarn brands, Senjagarn, Silja, Trysilgarn. 80% wool, 20% nylon fiber mix. Crochet hook 2,5mm and the squares on their chests was a long crochet chain that I needle felted on.

Sunday, July 6, 2014

WIP - Blue pullover

It's getting there! I feel like I'm taking my sweet ass time on this pullover, but it still grows really quickly! The wonders of using huge needles. I must admit that it is kinda fund seeing a project growing so fast, but it takes a lot more effort to work with these.

I finished up the sleeves really fast and moved on to the raglan. I was a bit scared that I might have to frog it down and do more increases on the sleeves to make the raglan more loose, but in the end, I think it'll work out just fine.

At the end, I decided to work a hood on it. I haven't really done a hood without a pattern before, so hopefully I'm not making it too weird. It's turning out huge though! Just like I want it!

I'm also planning on knitting a kind of tube on the front so that I can put a string through it, just for decoration.

Speaking of decoration. I've ordered a lot of orange coloured buttons off eBay. While I was still working on the body, it hit me that the color was the same as the Heinz baked beans can...which again translates to Yogscast...of course! When you're obsessed with something, you see references in just about everything. And in this case, Simon, Lewis and Duncan built a gigantic can of Heinz baked beans in their MoonQuest series and launched a rocket to the moon on top of it. So this pullover has become my baked bean pullover, and I'm gonna sew buttons on it to represent the beans. I'm too nerdy!

Friday, July 4, 2014

Pullovers and amigurumis!

So, after knitting on the blue, fluffy pullover straight for a few days, I started to worry about the amount of yarn that went into it. After some measuring, I found out that it was 50cm (aboout 20") too wide! I could easily fit two of myself inside of it! After some rethinking, I ended up frogging it all and started over, this time with 64 stitches less in the round. Now it grew really fast and seemed to be the perfect size. Took me two days to finish up the body alone at snail speed. I also started the first sleeve last night, so it's currently looking good!

It's impossible to get the colors right on picture though. It has a green hue to it, and it's still very bright. I'm using Alpaca from Drops in the color 2919l, called "light petrol", but even the website can't get the color right on it. It's beautiful though! I'm not usually a blue person, but I am really digging this shade.

Also, my little Yogscast amigurumis are slowly getting there. I am now currently working on Sips and Sjin. They both wears these Portal inspired space suits, so I had to work them both side by side to make sure they turned out equal. They're joined by the hip in real life, so making them both at the same time makes sense.
Just sewed on their little heads a few moments ago. Yes, Sips (the blue one) has white skin. Next will be their arms.