WIPs Wednesday

I've made some good progress this week, but it doesn't show much in the pictures because it's mostly been just putting inches into sleeves and such.

Knitting

Indifference Shrug
I've put maybe 4 inches on the sleeves. I like two at a time knitting, but man it makes it feel like it goes so much slower. I finished decreasing (I think, I'll try it on again in a few inches), so maybe the end is in sight.

It's quite difficult to get a good picture of it right now since it's just curling all over the place

East Village
Again I put  few inches on the front but the progress is barely noticeable unless you're measuring it every 30 minutes like I am.

Yep looks pretty much the same but with worse lighting. 

Spiralucous Cowl
Finally, some visible progress. I finished the main neck portion and I'm working on the applied hem/edging. It was on time out for a few days as I tried to figure out how exactly the applied edge worked. I didn't do the provision cast on for extra stitches it called for because I don't like provisional cast ons, so I brought these difficulties on myself but I think I've got it figured out finally. I'm excited for this one to be done, it looks great and it'll be so cool to show off my hand spun yarn! (project bag by the lovely Maria from Stitched in Sweden)

Planning
I saw that some cascade heritage was on sale so I thought I'd get myself some for a sweater (less than $30 for a sweater's worth, yes please). So I was perusing ravelry but instead of finding a finering weight sweater I fell in love with Willow Creek sweater by Justyna Lorkowska. It just looks so cozy with that cowl neck, I need it in my life (with long sleeves because I'm always cold). So I added some cascade 220 to my cart but since the Heritage is on sale I think I'm just going to buy it and stash it for later. So I might be accidentally buying two sweaters worth of yarn. Oops haha. I have a few patterns in mind for it but I haven't decided yet, Familiar looks good, also by Justyna. I like empire ave but I was kind of wanting something with a v-neck (preferably a shawl collar) and I'm not quite sure I could make those modifications myself. Anne's cardigan looks nice but sort of similar to the last cardigan I made for myself. It's so tough to choose. I might just have to buy the yarn and wait until a pattern really speaks to me.

I'm also making my sister a cardigan for her birthday (which was yesterday). I almost never do my gift knitting ahead of time because I'm just that organized. We're still picking a pattern though. The one she liked initially I decided wouldn't be a great idea since all of the projects on ravelry seemed to indicate some issues with the pattern and I'd have had to do some modifications and it was just getting rather complicated. So we're still looking. And for those keeping track at home I'm about to be getting 3 sweaters worth of yarn. #notsorry.

Spinning
I did a few hours of spinning on the BFL my mom sent me from Maine. It's lovely to spin but I just haven't had a ton of spinning mojo. I've been all about the knits. I'm getting close to being 2/3rds done so maybe that'll motivate me to at least finish off filing this bobbin in the next few days. Then I just have to figure out what I want to knit with it. Maybe a shawl or something for my mom for when she visits in October. Being from Hawaii she is always freezing like me when she visits. And I know she'll love the fact that I spun it and that I knit it because duh she's my mom. 

Two at a time knitting

I mentioned in my previous post that I am knitting sleeves two at a time right now, my first time ever. I like this method a lot and I think it will become my go-to method for sleeves and I plan on trying it out for socks soon.

Luckily I already have most of my needles in 40in long circulars since I am a whole hearted magic loop fanatic. I hate dpns and once I learned magic loop I've never gone back. So I can fit two sleeves or two socks on my needles no problem.

How to not tangle the yarn

The tutorial I used to start my sleeves didn't have super helpful suggestions for how to keep the yarn from tangling, it just suggests turning the work one way at the end of the row and then the opposite way the next row. So I thought I'd share what I discovered to be the best and easiest way to keep the yarn from tangling.

I should mention I'm knitting from two separate balls.

First, start with yarn that is not tangled. The working yarn for each sleeve is on the right of its sleeve ready to be worked.

Knit across the first sleeve. And here is the trick keep the working yarn from the first sleeve between the sleeves. In this picture I've left the yarn just hanging down, make sure it stays in the right there while you knit across the second sleeve.

Once you've knit both sleeves, when you turn your work just make sure the second sleeve is up higher than the first sleeve and working yarn. This should keep the two yarns separate and tangle free.

Hopefully this has made sense and is helpful for anyone just learning TAAT like I am.

A work in progress

My life is a work in progress. I've recently graduated law school and taken the bar but I'm currently funemployed (unemployed but mostly enjoying it- and trying not to worry about it). I thought I'd try out blogging as something else to keep me entertained. I spend most of my time knitting and watching tv, with some spinning thrown in since I'm learning that still too.

That all sounds boring even if you're me who is living it, so why should I blog about it? My friend said she would read it if I started blogging and she living in Sweden so I don't get to talk to her that much. She podcasts so I feel like she is talking to me all the time but I guess it's a bit one sided. So I'm blogging for her, and for me to have another thing to do while I spend my time on (my hopefully short) summer vacation.

So let's get to it.

What I'm knitting/ crafting.
I'm KiraG on Ravelry

I've started a sweater for my nephew and the reason that this is exciting (other than the fact that baby things are adorable) is that it's my very first time knitting anything two at a time. I'm using this technique for the sleeves so that they come out identical. Because any time you make two of something you have to try and remember exactly what you did the first time so they come out looking the same, and trying to get them the same length etc. It was a little bit fiddly at first but now it's pretty easy and I haven't even gotten my yarns tangled. I used this tutorial. I might try two at a time socks next, if I can find a good toe up two at a time tutorial because casting on socks at the toes is very different than casting on other things like sleeves. But I'm sure people have done it, I just need to find it.

The cuffs of the sweater also have a turned hem. I love the way they look. Seriously, I should do this for all of my sleeves instead of ribbing it just looks so crisp and clean.

Also I'm super into these sorts of blues right now. Deep and with a little green in it. Yes please.

I'm also working on a shrug for myself out of my first big hand spun project. It's a hand dyed merino that my parents got me. I started spinning in June and I have a kromski symphony.

The yarn is busier than what I'd normally buy but since the pattern is simple so it'll be ok. And it's nice and soft since it's merino. I should get back to spinning my BFL, that's my current spinning project, sooooo soft. And easier to spring because of the longer steeple length of the fiber.

I downloaded a cool drawing app for my iPad last night called sketches. You can use just your fingers or a stylus (I have a cheap one from HTC my fiancé got from work). But you can choose between all sorts of styles like a pen, pencil, marker, water color, paint etc. and on different types of paper (lined, canvas, etc). If you pay for the upgrades you can have more types of implements and draw on different layers and other fun things like that. I did not buy any of the upgrades because as I remembered last night I'm terrible at drawing so playing around with the free app is enough for me. But if you're into drawing a little bit I would definitely recommend it.

The stay at home life.
Sweeping is one of those chores that I just put off and put off. In our whole apartment there are probably only like 10 square feet of non-carpeted surface (bathrooms and kitchen basically). I know it will only take a few minutes to sweep and ill be so happy to not see my hair all over the bathroom floor but for some reason I just keep not doing it. I have no problem keeping the kitchen clean (dishes done, counters cleaned etc) but sweeping nope. Just doesn't happen.

One of my friends on Facebook mentioned how cats are basically just fluffy land sharks. I never thought about that before, but now as our kittens are growing into full sized cats they look more and more like predators. Even at just 7lbs they mean business with their claws and teeth. Luckily they're still pretty silly and fall off of things or run into the door on accident. I bet once we start letting them outside they'll be good hunters.

This seems like a good place to end my first post, so good bye. I'll probably talk to you all later. We'll see how it goes.