A Much Better Day

Yesterday, when I walked outside a but tired and ready to do last round of barn chores there was a rainbow. So I just kind of knew things would be okay.

I didn't make it through yesterday without crying. I cried. A lot. So I was pretty insistent that I shouldn't get new yarn today. But The Husbando said that I was still brave and a good knitter and deserved yarn and needed to stop beating myself up so much, that everyone was bad days. Bad days happen. So I did order yarn! He even paid for the fast shipping! It'll be here Friday or Saturday! 

And then The Husbando, my sister, and I went grocery shopping today. It was actually a lot of fun to be out and about with them. They crack me up. They're my sunshine in bad days. 

My sister and I

The Husbando and I

I even got some car knitting on the Honey Cowl done, I love car knitting so much. It's so therapeutic and has such a nice rythme too it. I have still cried today but it's been much better. 

And today's square was loved. Even though I'm not feeling so good, my sister and Husbando have been keeping me feeling happy and laughing. Stockinette stick, and I'm learning to weave in ends so that's cool! 

P.S sorry this is late I fell asleep on the couch 

Can I Make It Through Today Without Crying?

It's true. I've had a rough couple of days. A rough couple of days where I've felt like just quitting knitting altogether. So I made a deal with myself today. I've been eyeballing some new yarn and if I could make it through today without crying, I'd allow myself to buy that new yarn tomorrow. I might even allow for express shipping.

So I took a deep breath and cast on the Honey Cowl again. And this time.....

WE HAVE HONEY COWL LIFT OFF! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! IT'S NOT TWISTED! WOOHOO! 

Phew. I mean, I checked twice and I'm pretty sure it's not twisted. Seems okay. And if it is, whatever. I'll have a twisty honey cowl. I'm over it at this point. I'm too tired too deal with it.

And then I tried to knit  This Dishcloth for this week's Dishcloth Knit a Long full well knowing I'm terrible with ssp, but thinking that I need to challenge myself even if I'm having a shitty week.

And the yarn was splitty and I had a miserable time and seven rows in I asked myself why I was making myself so miserable over this damn dishcloth when I could just pick a new pattern and wait for new dishcloth yarn. So I frogged it and said forget it.

It's so frustrating that I have almost nothing to show for three days worth of knitting. I'm seriously so disheartened and ready to give up at this point. I'm not a quitter, but this has got me really down.

I made a blue square today because everything has got me down. I even tried to make plain garter stitch and managed to mess up my cast on AND bind off.

The good things that happened are my sister has been wonderful and making me laugh so much. My wonderful friend is sending me yarn and another friend might be sending me something too. The yarn community is so lovely and supportive and sweet.

So far no tears. I still have to make dinner, do a last round of barn chores with mom, shower, finish laundry, so I guess there is still time. But I'm determined.

Casting on the Honey Cowl, So Many WIPs!

I didn't give up after yesterday's hat disaster. In fact I think I know what I did wrong. I didn't do the ribbed brim, and I was doing garter instead of stockinette so the body was shorter than the pattern called for when I started shaping the crown.

But I totally need a hat break. I'm going to work on some things for me I think. It's less stressful that way because I don't feel as compelled to have them be perfect. When I gift them, I feel like they HAVE TO BE THE BEST KNIT PRESENT IN THE WHOLE WORLD EVER. So for now I'm going to work on my Nell's Sea Silk Scarf, and a cowl for myself, and maybe passively some slippers for my mom and using the dishcloth weekly knit a long some dishcloths for Christmas presents.

The cowl I decided to make myself is the Honey Cowl using the wool from my mother in law and the indigo dyed yarn The Husbando bought me from a woman in town. I think it'll be really pretty.

So yes, lots of wips. The honey cowl, Nell's Scarf, mom's slippers, and the weekly dishcloth.

The yarn I'm using for my mom's snow day slippers. 

I had great plans to knit today. Seize the day and all that. But instead all I did was get one round on the honey cowl done. And I think I twisted the stitches.

My mom started here new job today and I'm very excited for her, but it means a new routine for us around the house which is jarring and is throwing me off.

Blargh. I feel like my brain is moving too fast. I WANT to knit but I'm just having trouble getting TOO it and enjoying it. It's like some weird form of knitters block.
(And let's be honest, after casting on and knitting a round of 110 stitches only to have to rip it out because it was twisted I'm feeling a little scorned too).


Today's blanket square is manic, and I made it in a mini honey cowl pattern.


I just wonder if my knitting mojo is gone. It's been a rough couple of days.

Kindness, The Hat, and Stress

I woke up this morning a bit irritated with some people being-in my opinion- quite rude online. This happens of course. Being on the Internet gives us all the ability to say whatever we want whenever we want with the ability to not see who we are saying it about.


But I was always taught the best way to say something was with positive reinforment.

For example: in karate if I was pivoting wrong during a sidekick my instructor might say "Your sidekick gets nice power behind it, and has a nice height, you just need to make sure when you throw your kick you also pivot your base foot to complete the sidekick in proper form" these two positive things to a negative thing leave me feeling good, and determined to be better, not discouraged away from karate.

It's the same with knitting. If someone is doing something people deem "wrong" or "sloppy" or whatever, instead of just saying those negative things and leaving it in the cold world of the Internet, they should say some positive things with it. These things help to leave the knitter from feeling discouraged from wanting to knit again. This is especially important on the Internet where tone is impossible to hear, people can't hear how helpful your tone was intended to be.

It's important in this world, to be kind. Especially with so much negativity in the world. The last thing anyone would want is to discourage someone from the joy of knitting, right?


And now onto today's disaster.

Today's hat disaster.

Today's bad news.

I shaped the crown. I sweat bullets and put all my time and love into those double pointed needles. I was filled with anxiety about using five needles at once.

And we ended up with this:

It's unwearable. It's bad. I'm a terrible knitter. I'm cranky. I should never knit anything but dishcloths.

So instead my dad is getting a very nice tassel bookmark for Christmas. He reads a lot and gave me my love for reading so I think he will like it.

I'm exhausted now. But one Christmas present is down. I'm stressed. And tired. And I've lost a tiny bit of faith in people and knitting in general.

I'm stressed. I'm stressed about these Christmas presents. I want them to be loved by my family. I want them to be loved. I'm stressed my dad won't like his bookmark. I'm stressed about a lot of things. Like my knitting ability and all the other things in life.

Blah. Plain garter stitch square today. If I don't just out my needles down for good in a fit of rage I might start my mom's Christmas slippers The Snow Day Slippers for her Christmas present. Which thankfully has NO ROUND KNITTING HURRAY!

Which reminds me I need to buy Christmas wrapping paper and another tote box.

So much to do. So little me.

A Relaxed Hot and Rainy Saturday

I spent a good bit of last night having a heart to heart with my sister and laughing and having a good time. It cheered me up quite a bit from my cranky mood.

And I slept in with the Husbando this morning so it's been a good start to the day.

It's still super hot here in Kentucky. And my head still hurts. I got a few more rounds done on my dad's Christmas hat and measured it, I'm about 2 inches away from slipping it onto double pointed needles and starting the crown shaping. Which is a bit scary. And the hat seems quite large but I suppose I'll just have to see when it's done.

I'm pretty excited to see where it will go. And I've been reading the seaside knitters mystery series again, it's been very good so far! I'm excited to see where it will go.

And I did a few more rows on Nell's Sea Silk Scarf. The pattern is starting to show up, and I'm starting to get the hang of knitting it. It's really pretty but I'm still sweating bullets over lace knitting. I'm worried it's too thin, too impractical, that no one but me likes it.

And it did rain today, I was hoping the rain would cool it down some but no, still hot. Other than that it's been a relaxed and nice day. 

I tried the Nell's Scarf pattern for my blanket today. I wasn't sure if I would like a lace pattern for my blanket-even in worsted weight yarn, so I did two garter stitch rows as a reinforced border. I seems decently sturdy. I probably won't do a lace pattern again for the blanket but it's okay for one square I think. 

Migraines and Hot Days

It's at least four billion degrees here in Kentucky.

On top of that I've had a headache for a week on and off that's morphed into a two day migraine. It's making me cranky. I was really hoping my prevention migraine medication would stop me from getting migraines like this. I feel like my head is going to explode. I don't want to check ravelry, comment back to anything, play nice with anyone, or anything. I want my HEAD to stop HURTING.

I'm cranky.

But I did finish the dishcloth for The Husbando, he wanted it to be a bit shorter than the pattern called for. He wanted it as long as his hand but not much longer than I already knit. So that worked out for me. I chose this yarn because each fall we watch scary movies, the x files and other creepy crawlies and alien like things. It seemed a perfect fall fit for him. I think the yarn was a bit too busy for this pattern though.

The pattern is Campfire by Knit Picks and I knit it as part of the dishcloth weekly knit along group on ravelry.

I also worked a bit on my Seaside Knitters Nell's Sea Silk Scarf. I had to frog it twice last night. But now I'm six rows in and I think you can see the wave pattern showing up. This one's a tricky lace pattern.

And today's mood blanket square is moody because headache and hot weather.

The Finished Teddy Bear Sweater and Sold Dishcloths.

Today has been a day for knitting. Quite a day indeed. Last night I finished both sleeves of the Furrowed Teddy Bear Sweater.

See, I have been knitting this for The Husbando's childhood bear. The bear's name is Rose. She has been with him his whole life. She has gone on many camping tripa, comforted him when he was sad, and still sleeps in our bed. She is well loved over these last two decades. Because of this, she is missing some fur on her stomach and some stuffing in her arm joints as you can see in the picture below. 

I decided to make her a sweater to protect her a bit from further damage. I chose the furrowed rib as it was the most like the texture of her fur, and a k1p1 ribbing on the arms to give it more structure and hold them up a bit more. 

It was knit flat, in pieces, bottom up. Using a fingering weight alpaca yarn I hand dyed. I used size 9 US needles the front and back are cast on 25 and knit in (k2, p1) repeat to last st k1 for row one, then for row two you p1, (k2, p1) across and repeat these two rows for 5 inches. On the next 2 rows Bind of 3 stitches at the beginning leaving you with 18 stitches(place stitch markers at bo points). Work a K1P1 ribbing for the collar until you reach 7 inches or desired collar length.

For the sleeves cast on 19 and work in K1P1 ribbing ending with a k1. Knit until they are 5inches. Bind of.

Seem the front and back together up to your first stitch marker for the arm holes. Then take your sleeves and seem them in along the arm holes. Flip work inside out to hide any seems and tada! Furrowed teddy bear sweater.

I can't believe I finished it today! 

It turned out really well for my first sweater. And I only panicked a little. I know the ribbing on one sleeve goes in a different direction then the other because of my seeming, but I've never been very good at seeming. I think it offers good support for her arms and will give her bare spots some protection. Which hopefully gives her a longer life, bringing The Husbando more comfort for a longer period of time.

The Husbando loved it. He thought she looked lovely in it and so soft and it was so sweet.

Anndddd, on his way home from his work meeting he dropped off the dishcloths I made for the woman at the artists guild! He said she loved them, and I got paid for my knitting! Five dollars. He brought me home a celebration milkshake. 

And I made more progress on the dishcloth knit along dishcloth. If I do four more repetitions of each 4 rows everyday until Sunday, including the cast off row, I should be done that evening.

And because I got a WIP done, I started another. That way I still have 3 WIPS too go between.  I started my Nell's Sea-Silk Scarf based on The Seaside Knitters Mystery Novels by Sally Goldenbaum. The pattern was in the back of the first book and calls for 1 skein of a 70% silk 30% sea cell yarn but it's expensive and I don't feel confident using it so instead I'm using my special yarn from The Husbando called Halloween Town's Finest Trick or Treaters from MsMonstersCreations. I hope to have this done by my birthday so I can wear it out to a yarn shop an hour away from here!

So today's blanket square is a happy stable neutral one! Even if I do have a terrible migraine! 

Also check out my sweater on Ravelry!

What To Make the Husband & Wool.

Last night my husband asked if I could make him a hooded cowl. This excited me and I spent hours and hours looking at yarn and patterns only to decided I didn't think Amy of them were in my skill level just yet. So I spent most of my morning looking at things with the help of ravelry that I could make him as a present. I think I've finally decided on These Fingerless Mitts. The thumb shaping looks hard, and they are in the round, but I'm ready for a challenge and I picked a yarn out The Husbando will look stellar in.

And today in the mail my mother in law sent me yarn! A homespun wool yarn! My first wool yarn! It's so soft and squishy!

It's so soft I love it. I've been so excited and talking to so many people on Ravelry about wool and patterns today my head might explode! I'm so excited about all things yarn related. 

I think you can even start to see the pattern on the campfire dishcloth for the weekly knit a long! 

And today's blanket square is a pattern I sort of made up on my own. It's knit, purls, a slipped stitch, a psso, and I'm a bit manic. It's safe to say I'm a bit rapid cycle-y with these weather changes and what not. 

I actually really like the way the pattern turned out. I'll never remember what it is I did, which is too bad because it's a nice texture. 

I Think I Fell In Love Again .....

...or maybe just took to much cough medicine. I've been listening to Fall Out Boy today, that clever lyric is from American Beauty/American Pyscho.

I spent my morning researching cotton yarns as my mom has requested that I make her some dishcloths for the kitchen in maroon or black. I think I've decided on Knit picks Dishie or Lily Sugar n Cream as most forums seem to agree those are the best. What do you readers think? What holds up the best over time for you? What's the best machine washable cotton yarn you've used?

I've also been playing yarn chicken this morning with the sleeve of the teddy bear sweater. Sort of? I mean, I'm pretty certain there is more than enough here for an inch more of knitting, but I'm so bad at judging these kinds of things there may not be. I really don't know! I should be casting off this sleeve by this evening, though. That will leave me with just one sleeve left and the seeming it all together to go. 

Don't know why the pictures sideways, but I won't bind off until this evening when I see how the sleeve fits on the bear. 

I've been doing laundry and knitting the campfire dishcloth for the Dishcloth Weekly Knit A Long. Did some knitting on the porch with mom. I'm not seeing the pattern and km worried that I picked a yarn that is too "busy" for it to show up, but I'm only two repeats of the sixteen needed in so I guess we will see.

I've had a headache all day, and my mood is just kind of bleh. I'm not sure why. I think maybe it's just the seasons changing. I love fall but season changes are hard on my mood. It feels like everything is changing and it makes me kind of nostalgic and slow feeling. It's kind of hard to describe, I just feel like I'm stuck in syrup. Like I crashed into a maple syrup bottle and everything is slow and sticky and too sweet. I don't know.

Anyway, I made the the broken rib stitch for my blanket square today.

And I'm cheered up quite a bit because my sister is talking to me about what she wants me to knit her and The Husbando brought me home frozen custard.

Mom's Day Off

I got to sleep in today, until 10am actually, so I woke up feeling extremely well rested.

On top of that I had had a horrible night where I argued with someone I am related to by marriage and felt shitty overall at the end of the day.

But today I woke up rested, and Tory got her package! She loved it! Which makes me SO HAPPY!

And it's my mom's day off, which means she makes lunch for the family, which I look forward too. It's one of those little things that brightens my day. She makes grilled cheese and cuts the crust off mine, and I bought asparagus for us to share since we are the only two in the family who like it. It's been a nice relaxed day.

And today marks a new Dishcloth Weekly Knit A Long and it's FALL THEMED! I LOVE FALL! And I've been promising The Husbando a washcloth since I joined this group, so this one is perfect for him!

Before I could start it though, I went out to help with barn chores and play with the animals on this beautiful day.

Isn't Jay Jay the cutest? 

Momma and Princess! 

Then I could start the Dishcloth once in! I did 3 rows of the garter stitch border and a few more rounds on the hat.

There is method to my madness for using that yarn for the Campfire dishcloth, I swear! 

Today I did a homey comfortable blanket square in an attempted mini version of the dishcloth, you can't see the pattern much, it doesn't mini well apparently. And I'm on my second row of the blanket.

and the husbando helped me darn in my edges 

It's been a good day, a relaxed, homey day. A much needed day after a wave of blue yesterday. I am happy.

IT'S DONE!!!!!!!!!!

THAT'S RIGHT THE DISHCLOTH SET FOR THE WOMAN AT THE ARTIST GUILD IS DONE!!!!!

I'm so proud of myself for sticking with it and getting it done 3 days before the deadline. Someone should send me yarn as a reward. I had to bribe myself towards the last 5 rows by saying I would give myself ice cream and a cigarette when I was done.

Now I can go back to my other knitting projects!!! Like using this YouTube tutorial to learn to m1 for the Beginner's Seemless Hat I am knitting for my dad as a hunting hat for Christmas. It's my first fairly successful in the round knitting attempt and it's going well so far!

And I'm on chapter 6 of Patterns in the Sand, the second Seaside Knitters Mystery Novel. 

Overall, today I'm feeling kind of bleh and little down. Probably crashing from being so up and manic and from finishing projects so zealously and this is the last square of a whole row on my mood blanket. I tried the Crest of the Wave Lace ThingAMaWhazit for the blanket square today and I don't like how it came out. It's not very square either, but I will make it work. Meh. Tomorrow is the start of a new week. I hope this week is a good one.