It's like an owl without a graduation cap: heartbreaking!

Fuck.

On a similar note: I went to the post office (the one 5 blocks away, NOT the one I can see from my window) to pick up a package, in the rain, carrying a very bulky canvas.  In the mailbox when I got home: another delivery slip for a package that was at the same post office.  Arg.

Nifty hats

I made a hat!

Now, I make a lot of hats, so this isn't really a huge thing, but this is a pretty neat hat so I want to talk about it.

This was made from some yarn I dyed a while ago.  Using intentional pooling, I made the colours line up (because I'm awesome like that) and then I gave it pseudo-ears because they are adorable.  I'd write up a pattern for this, but since it really depends on the way the yarn was dyed to work, and since I dyed it myself, it probably wouldn't be all that useful.

But yeah!  Hat!  I guess i didn't actually want to say all that much about it, but I really like it, and so now I am posting about it hooray.  Here it is flat:

I also made a similar hat, using the same yarn but a different number of stitches:

It's interesting how just changing the number of stitches has such a big effect.  Neat!

I knitted SO MANY THINGS

Including Octopus Mittens! One of them is significantly larger than the other...my plan is to attach an i-cord like kindergarten kids have, so they won't fall off. Hopefully. If that fails I'll try adding elastic, but I'm worried it will wrinkle the design.

Here's some more stuff I've made: (apologies for the dubious photos)

I only made the blue section of the last mitten - I took fingerless gloves to a festival, and it was much colder than expected, so I had to do some impromptu mitten surgery.

This shirt was made with dumpster yarn:

These two were made with my handspun/dyed:

(The one on the left is a Kobo cover.)

This cowl:

is made with the only non-blue-y yarn I got at the Knitter's Fair, and it's sooooooo nice - delightful colours, and it's wonderfully soft and squishy. It's Wink Wink Worsted, by Studioloo, who are super awesome and should definitely be investigated if you're into yarn. They make awesome crazy art yarn too!

(This is the yarn I got at the Knitter's Fair, by the way:)

That's all for now. 

Free Yarn!

I got free yarn! Is there anything better than free yarn? (The only correct answer is "more free yarn.")

Anyway, this gorgeous skein is courtesy of Storied Yarns.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/storiedyarns?page=3"Storied

The colourway is called "Green Lantern Goes Skinny Dipping" - I love the awesome names she gives her colourways!  I am super excited to use this yarn - I asked for a surprise colorway, and she picked so perfectly, squeeee!

Very excited.  

Go to Storied Yarns!

Socked

Ah, knitted socks. There's just something about knitting socks....I don't know what it is, or any useful way to describe it, but it's definitely A Thing. Initially, I was quite against knitting socks. I made a couple pairs to try it, and the experience was quite unsatisfying. All those teeny tiny knit stitches, and those awful, awful double-pointed needles. They're just so annoying. Neither of these pairs really worked out. The first set had one foot bigger than the other and mismatched dyelots (I lost the yarn label), the second set were just waaaay too large. They can be used for winter, when your feet are freezing and you want to layer six million socks - but that's about it. Unless you are a giant with giant feet.

(Please ignore how dirty my floor is.)

Recently, I tried again. Knitted socks, even badly made ones, feel amazing on your feet. I'd never thought store-bought socks were particularly uncomfortable, but apparently that was just because I'd never had knitted socks. I really wanted some socks that actually fit - maybe then they'd be worth it? I'd educated myself a bit more by this time, so I a) used two circular needles and b) found a sock pattern that was actually interesting.

Much better, right? Plus, no dirty floor!

These socks were actually fun! I really like patterns with creative construction (the heel was really cleverly put together!), and the increases/decreases that made the stripes diagonal made it much more interesting than just stockinette. When I want stockinette, I'll make yarn bombs. These were still a bit big, but only a little bit. Maybe socks weren't so bad...

So next, I made some diagonally ribbed socks that were worked inside out. Neat, right? So neat! I finished them on a car trip (which was good, because otherwise I would have run out of socks). They turned out a little small at the ankle, so they're a bit challenging to get on, but once they're on they fit nicely! I like interesting stitch patterns - this one was interesting, but easy to memorize, which is always nice. I also love how this yarn knitted up, I didn't expect it to be so marvelously rainbow!

So yeah, I'm pretty happy with these ones. And now I...really like knitting socks. I honestly didn't see that coming, I thought I'd enjoy it well enough, and the satisfaction of handknitted socks would be enough to keep me going. But, it turns out, the people who rant out making socks actually know what they're talking about! The last sock I made turned out HORRIBLY, but it's not going to stop me from making more socks, so I guess I'm devoted to the cause now. (I have a picture of it, but I'm not going to show you - it's just too ugly. It's frogged now, thank goodness.) I'm still not going to use $20+ sock yarn on socks (it just seems like such a waste, for at least three reasons) - but who knows what I'll think a week from now?

Dryad Armwarmers Pattern

It is on the internet! Click the picture to go to the Ravelry page!


(It's also on etsy here)

Whenever I get patterns tested, 3/4 of the testers finish within a week, and the others wait until RIGHT before the deadline. Perhaps I should have a shorter test period, especially since I've only made small things so far.

Various things:

I have plans for a super exciting pattern that I'm not going to tell you about yet. It will involve tiny buttons!

In what I can only describe as an incredibly rewarding experience, I got paid to go to a yarn store. Teaching people to knit is awesome.

I'm knitting socks for myself. Using two circulars instead of DPNs make me hate it so much less.

Two exams next week, then I'm free for a month! Apart from all the non-school things I need to do! I'm 90% done another pocket belt (for selling this time), and I reeeeally need to clean.

Sleep time now.

Srs Bsns

A friend told me to join LibraryThing. It was a poor decision on my part to do this last night - I have two midterms tomorrow. My profile is here if you want to look at my books. I added all the books I have here, plus some of the ones that are back at my parents' house, which wasn't reallly allll that many? But then I went on the forums and ended up placing 27 holds at the library, about 15 of which I picked up today. It was neat, I went in and 3/4 of the books on one self in the holds section had my name on them. I felt special. But now I have some Serious Reading to do. (Squee!)

In knitting-related news, I've written a new pattern!

They are leafy armwarmers (I call them Dryad Armwarmers because I'm awesome like that). The pattern page on ravelry is here, but the pattern won't be live until my testers have finished. If you just can't wait till then, I made two pairs, in green and red-y colours, which are available on etsy.

Also on etsy is some handspun (click the picture):

It's respun acrylic, about 124 yards (113m).

Arts Squared + Rings

I've signed up for an art/craft fair on June 25th. It's called Arts Squared, and it's in the square in uptown Waterloo, and you should come if you're around! It's from 12 - 5pm. I'm bringing a whole bunch of different crafts I have lying around my room, including some rings I made:

I also just finished knitting myself a shirt. It's a slightly modified version of this pattern, and it's cotton yarn, so it's great for summer. The yarn annoys me for a couple reasons: it's cotton and I hate knitting with cotton, and there are no dye lots, so each skein is the same colours but in different proportions (as you can see, the top half is significantly pinker where I switched skeins). Bah. I'm pleased with how it turned out though, even though I was kind of lazy when I was knitting it, and didn't fix any mistakes - luckily they're not super obvious.

Happy Yarn Bombing Day!

.....yesterday. I'm a bit late - but! I have exciting yarn-bombing related news! I've been published in a book of yarn-bombing photos. The book isn't released yet, but I have an advance copy, and it's a great little book with pictures of yarn bombing from all over the world. Plus it has a squishy cover! If you want a collection of inspiring yarn bombing photos it's an awesome choice. This is what it looks like:

In celebration of yarn bombing day, I went out with some friends and two bags full of yarn bombing bits. We didn't get through everything (we had to get to a play in the evening), but we put up quite a lot. Observe: