Megan in Her Hat!

Megan in the hat I made her. She is so gorgeous, isn't she? Megan, not the hat! Though the hat is pretty great if I do say so myself. ;)

Nothing feels better than to know that the person you knit for genuinely loves what you made them. It's the best feeling ever. I'm really happy! Also, I wish more people would send me pictures of things I knitted them!

Megan's Hat

I just finished making Megan's hat! It was a challenge, but it came out FANTASTIC! Well, at least I think so. I'll be sending out to Little Miss Moe on Monday. I had never knitted a brimmed hat before. It's very similar to knitting a regular beanie, except longer and then you have to cut a brim out of plastic and sew it in there. Anyway, this is my last commissioned piece I will be working on until after the Holidays, or until my Christmas gift Guppy Sweater is done.

I've been knitting while listening to a lot of my last.fm. I'm xtinesuicide on there, btw. Right now, Killing Joke! Awesome.

White Scarf Sent and Delivered!

Finished and folded white scarf!


Scarf all tied and ready for delivery!

Sorry it's been a bit since an update. I'm sure those wondering if I started your project are a bit worried, but I assure you, I have started work on every knit I said I would do. I just finished the cable skinny scarf and sent it out to Peter, who said he got it and will send me pictures of it in use very soon! Yay! I'm sure I've mentioned this, and will do so again: If you have something I knitted you, I would really appreciate some good quality photos of it for my portfolio. Granted, I do have some already taken from when I worked on it, but I really like the idea of seeing what became of it, where it went.

I'm currently knitting a brimmed hat for my good friend, Megan. A little nervous as I've never made one with a brim before, but so far so good! I expect it to be done in about a week or a week and a half.

Soft White

I am currently working on two knitting projects at once! Hence the lack of numerous updates. The picture above is of a scarf I'm knitting which is part of that special fall deal I have going on in a nice off-white. The yarn is ridiculously soft and I look forward to working with more of it. I also learned a trick (it's pretty old school, but when you teach yourself, it sometimes takes longer to learn nifty tricks) that helps keep the messy edges of scarfs in line! Apparently if you slip the first stitch of every row, it keeps it all nice and tight! Woot!

I've also decided to make an actual portfolio of my work, so if I've made you something, please send me pictures of you in it! I want an online gallery or album and an actual hard copy book.

Winding Balls

Knitting nicely along the Guppy Sweater, as you can see. The back piece is entirely finished, and this is the start of the front. I posted the pictures of the balls of yarn because I had to hand wind those myself, and that is tiring and obnoxious work. I really should get a yarn winder one of these days. I've been saying that for years. I tried to spin a center pull ball, which is when you pull a string that starts at the middle of the ball and well, when I pulled it, it was stuck. So I pulled it hard enough to break the yarn. So apparently, I didn't spin it right, and will try again next time. Maybe. I don't think it's really necessary either way, as long as the yarn isn't knotted.

I'm still taking orders for the scarfs I'll be knitting this fall season, which I talked about in my last blog. Email me if you're interested! (drxgirlfriend@gmail.com)

Xtine's Commission Deal

This one if for the ladies, or a guy who wouldn't mind wearing a skinny scarf. Hell, if boys can wear girl jeans, I'm sure they'd be into skinny scarfs. So, for the Fall/Winter I will be making scarfs approximately 4"x60", made of cotton and silk blended yarn in assorted colors for $45 each. This includes the cost for supplies, shipping and making it. I will only be making them as commissioned work, meaning you need to email me (drxgirlfriend@gmail.com) with the color you would like and I'll provide the email address for payment to my paypal address. I won't start working on the scarf until payment has been processed and I will give you an ETA for it to be done. These will be hand knitted, obviously, so please understand that takes time. I'm also knitting more than one project at a time, hence the early start on this deal.

It will look like Heather's gothy scarf, which I wish wasn't black for the sake of this blog. It's hard to see the cables (the twists that make a pretty design).

A special thanks goes out to J'aime for showing interest in my talent, picking out this scarf for her choice, and overall inspiring me to do this.

Pissed Off Knitting

I'm just starting to finish off the back piece of this sweater, and I wish I could blog with more excitement, but unfortunately today has not been too kind. I have moronically dented my car (right above the left front tire) on a pillar in the parking garage at my work. Totally stupid. I feel like an idiot. So I have to use the money I JUST saved up to fix it. I need to fix it so I can sell it when I finally move back east and can freely rely on public transportation. I'm really pissed. I JUST saved that money only to spend it on shit I don't want to spend it on. I'm trying to remain calm by finishing this piece of the Guppy Sweater puzzle and watching True Blood. Sigh. Wish me luck.

The Beginning of the Guppy Sweater

One up on etsy!

I finished the hat! It's kinda small. I'll have to make two inches for a rim next time, instead of one. I like how it turned out though. Maybe just wish I had made it longer, like I just said. Anyway, if you'd like to buy it, I put it on my etsy!

I also just bought DPN and I lost one. Within an HOUR. Wow. So I'm going to go look around for it.

Hooray! My yarn arrived!

I Just got my first order from Alpaca Direct in the mail today! Really fast service and packaged all nicely! I was so excited that I even stashed it on my Ravelry. WOOT! Now I'm just torn between finishing that time wasting hat, or starting the sweater that I bought all this yarn for!

What's been knitted... sort of.

Yeah I never finished that teddy bear. Just lost interest in it, and it was only to learn how to knit on DPN. And I learned and so it wasn't a wasted effort. I took a break off of knitting for a while. Then I finally got around to finishing a commissioned scarf. It took three times to finally get it right, as cashmere is ridiculously hard to knit with. I had to use wool to make it an actual scarf. The cashmere was too thin and flimsy.



Now I'm waiting for some Cascade 220 yarn (wool) to arrive from Alpaca Direct so I can start knitting my second sweater. This one will also be derived from a simple sweater pattern, yet definitely an Xtine original. I'm excited, and hopefully it won't take me over a year to complete.



Currently I'm making a simple hat (beanie) with yarn from my stash until my newly ordered yarn gets here. Much like the scarf, it's wool with cashmere, this time in two colors. I like it, but I'm not sure who I'll end up giving it to. Maybe put it on Etsy? We'll see. I have a feeling I'll list a lot of projects on there and just pull them off and gift them as birthdays appear. As you can see, nothing is posted at the moment.

The Tube Sock Scarf (First Draft)

I lost my original scarf in a trip to San Francisco earlier this year, and who truly knows when I'll get it back. It was dated anyway, being almost three years old. My original concept for a scarf was a garter stitched striped scarf in bright pink and black with tassels. I now have created a scarf that resembles a tube sock. This is the first "draft" of it. I have since modified it. I'm knitting myself one now in the official selected format. Unfortunately, I started in acrylic and ran out, and switched to wool. The gage is pretty much the same and you can't really tell, but I can. I don't think it'll bother me much since it's mine and not a gift. Mine will be black with white stripes.

I have no arms!

I have no arms!
Originally uploaded by drxgirlfriend

Progress on my first time double needle knitted project, a teddy bear! At first I had no idea what I was going to end up doing with this guy, but then I remembered my friends Matt and Heather are having a baby! So I'm going to send it their way when he's done for little baby Liam. Shhhh! Don't tell them!

Bear Body

bear body
Originally uploaded by drxgirlfriend

Progress on the bear front! Look at his cute little body! I'm not sure if I admitted this earlier, but I did, in fact, start knitting the body inside out at first. Not that you could tell! Because I started over from the legs.

DPN Knitting Inside Out. OOPS.

I knew I'd have some difficulty with a new type of knit, but this just sucks. I finished two perfectly cute bear legs, and started knitting his body inside out. Unfortunately, all the pieces are connected, so basically, I have to start over from the legs, which COULD'VE been worse. So, I'm going to restart the body. Wish me luck.

Bear leg in progress

Bear leg in progress
Originally uploaded by drxgirlfriend

My first attempt at knitting on DPN (double pointed needles) is going surprisingly well! Only had to start over three times, within the first row! I'm knitting a bear. I'm thinking I will knit a sweater for this bear after he's complete. I have plans for him, but most of it will be a surprise until the sweater is complete. Wish me luck!

Etsy! Finally.

I finally started an Etsy store! xtine knits. My friend Arik is designing me a better banner for it, as I fail at computer design crap. Wish I didn't, but alas, it is the truth. So far I only have one item listed. The Sweetheart Scarf:



My newest project is a scarf that resembles a tube sock! So excited to finish that one up. Post more when I get more done.

Knitting soundtrack for this evening: Brett Anderson's Wilderness