Oops. I Haven't Posted in Two Years...

Hello, faithful followers!

You may have noticed that my last post was from August 2011. I assure you, I have been knitting (and crocheting) despite my lack of Internet presence. I mean, lack of presence here anyway. You should see my Instagram!

Anyhoo, I'm currently working on a fitted sweater! You can check out all the project details and the original pattern here. Also, a bunch of my friends are making babies so I'm trying to crochet some blankies using variations of granny squares! I'll keep you posted. No really, I mean it!!

Despite working on projects already, I'm still open to doing commission pieces, so if that sort of thing itnerests you, inquire here.

So far on this goth sweater, I've only frogged once! I'm the worst at getting circular needles turned around, I admit it. I used smaller needles and thicker yarn (because it's all I had) but it doesn't appear to be an issue... yet. It may end up a size too small for me, and the pattern calls for 19" before even starting the sleeves which makes me nervous.

Off to knit until the piece reaches 19"!!

This One is For Me!

Still working on the Britcom Throw, but it's more of a yarn waster than anything. Not that it's not looking amazing, it's just something to use all the pastel yarn I've been gifted, and will no doubt gift the finished throw. It's a really good project to work on a bus, or during a car ride, but it's not something I'm super excited about.

That being said, I've started to plan out my next project details! This is one I'm going to keep, which hardly ever happens, and hopefully I will actually finish before the end of the season! It's going to be a Union Jack sweater, made of wool! The pattern ("London Calling" from Stitch N' Bitch Nation) calls for mohair which is super fine and super expensive, and I'm not really feeling like spending $12.50 plus tax for a skein and needing over ten skeins. My favorite yarn to knit sweaters with, Cascade 220, will do just fine and it's on sale online, PLUS I'll be using larger needles, and the skein has more yards of yarn than the suggested mohair, which means less yarn required! Hooray! Now I'm excited!

The Startings of the Britcom Throw

Finally getting around to using up the stashed yarn I got for Christmas years ago. Caron Soft in pastel colors. Not really my cup of tea. I'm more of a black/purple/pink/blue type of girl, but it seems silly not to use this stuff up. I've got two skeins of each color! They yarn is an absolute dream to work with. Very soft and simple, I just wish the colors were more my style. Regardless, this throw is coming along very well. I'm about 1/3 done so far! Very simple pattern, three panels of 3 squares 20" long in alternating sequences. Finished the first panel.

I've called this the Britcom Throw for the obvious reason that I've knitted most of it while watching Britcoms. I started with Coupling and am currently on the fourth series of Peep Show (though I did watch a few episodes of Spaced in between).

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.

The Beginning of the Guppy Sweater

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.

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.

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!

Up all night!

I had NO idea how late it was because I was so into my Sackboy project. I have his head (with adorable face) and body stuffed and sewn together. Tomorrow I will attach his limbs and possibly complete him, which would be fantastic since I had tomorrow put aside for gift wrapping. Hooray!

Sackboy now has a head!

Well, it's been knitted. It still needs eyes and a little yarn smile and you know, a body. Maybe some stuffing. Whatever, he's making progress! My fingers are so sore from working on tiny needles (those tips hurt!) and my elbows are not used to such strain. However I am happy with how it's coming along, and I really hope that didn't just jinx me.

Tiny Sackboy Body.

Tiny body.
Originally uploaded by drxgirlfriend

This little guy is going to be tiny, it's so cute! Anyway, the pattern that I had to track down from a british knitting magazine reader, is actually flawed. The cast on stitches (12) and the first increase row instructions do not add up. I had to adjust it according, increasing six stitches per increase row the way I saw fit: and the beginning of the row and at the end. I just ate half a medium pizza by myself so my stomach is stuffed to the brim, but that is neither here nor there.

Making Saucy Fast

IMG_3389
Originally uploaded by drxgirlfriend

I've been doing really well with this tote! I was on FIRE, knitting it like crazy, and then my morale slowed to a hault, and I haven't worked on it in two days, and it's SO close to being finished! Just need to mattress stitch the pieces together.

I'm really happy with the fabric I chose for the inside. I'm really happy with the piece in general, though I feel like I should've made the knit bigger, to fit the plastic canvas better. Whatever. It looks fantastic.

I'm On A Roll!

IMG_3387
Originally uploaded by drxgirlfriend

I just moved from the Desert to Mission Viejo, and I have no social life. Not that I had much of one back there, but now, really, there is only three or four people around here I can hang out with. It's sad. Which gives me more time to knit! Which is actually great, because I love it. LOVE it! So much, that after dinner, I whisked myself over to Michael's (the local yarn shops I looked up closed at 5) and found a big skein of this dark green yarn on clearance for $2. I actually found the yarn after I had found the cameo which called out to me from a rack as I was leaving the store empty-handed. I had brought one of my new knitting books (Stitch N Bitch Nation) and thumbed through it, looking for a pattern where I could use this amazing piece of charm as a button. I found hope in the Saucy Tote pattern, which is original pink and green. Eff that! I hope to line to bag with a really nice creme and gold patterned fabric, if I can find such a thing. I'm really excited! So far, it seems pretty easy!

The hardest part so far was making sure I didn't twist the needle. Circular needles are such a bitch for the first few rows!

So, I knit in the round until it measures 8.5 inches, so I'm going to get on that now.

Coming Along Nicely...

The worst part about knitting an image into a pattern is that it takes a lot out of me. I'm concentrating much harder than a basic knit requires and I find myself tugging too hard and the image gets a bit fuzzy on the sides. I just hate how human knitting can be. How flawed. But at the same time, I love to knit. It's one of my favorite things to do.

So that's why it took me so long with Soulbot. He was coming along nicely, but taking a lot of effort and I was getting to the point where I almost dreaded picking up my needles. He wasn't hard, he was just tedious and time consuming. It took a lot longer than I had hoped, but the front of the sweater is finished! I'm currently working on one of the sleeves, and after one more and a collar, he will be complete. Then he will be rushed to his owner and hopefully he will be as loved and cherished as he is in my hands. Possibly more.

Someone suggested to me that I sell or release my image patterns for Fair Isle/Intarsia knitting. I would be so disgusted if someone wanted to knit this piece. Not because it's a terrible one, or that I'd be jealous of someone stealing my thunder, but because the love and time I put into this is worth much more to me than being recognized for it. I'm half regretting posting pictures of it, but I am so proud. And I want to remember just how long it took and how funny all the pieces were before they were sewn together. It won't be mine for much longer.