Spin Me Some Shetland

So I learned how to Navajo ply, without wanting to rip my hair out in the process. I’m so excited about this. Because 1) it was easy. it *is* easy. and 2) I adore how it ends up. It’s so.. squishy. And poofy. And.. just awesome.

I did this month of TheKnitGirllls’ “Expand your Horizons” which was Shetland. (“Expanding Your Horizons, being just where every other month, you spin the chosen fiber… that happens to be something that people don’t normally spin with. I think this is an uber cool idea)

(and actually. The tutorial I used on how to Navajo ply was by TheKnitGirllls, (which is the last video on the list, but all of the tutorials are uber helpful!) and it was really really awesome. It was extremely clear, and made it seem uber easy. Which it really is :-P Before I was scared to do it.. but now, it’s my #1 choice :-P)

So here is the result of my spinning and learning of ze Navajo ply. I got around 122 yards on each color of probably a worsted (which I believe is my first *true* worsted, haha)

It’s really hard to photograph the colors, haha. They’re just so extremely vibrant and beautiful… Plus, you can’t fully know how amazing it is, because you can’t touch it. Because, if you touched it.. or squished it… or smelled it… you would be like “OHMAHGOODNESS. I need to get me some of that stuff”

And you *can* get some of that stuff :-P Over at Friday Studios on Etsy. Frida is so nice, and the product is *AMAZING*. The blue colorway is called “Almost Blue Skies” and the rainbow one (which I adore. With my entire heart.) is called “Rainbow Softies”

So yeah, if you need some Shetland (which I *really* recommend, it’s such a beautiful and soft fiber to spin with!!) you should get some from Friday Studios. It. Is. epic.

Also, I’ve reached 68 wedges on my Spectra..

out of 85. So… I have 17 left. I CAN TASTE THE VICTORY OF FINISHING THIS. I’ve had this on the needles since we were in London.. which was last…Juneish. This thing is ready to be done. Though I do really enjoy knitting it, I love how it’s turning out. But it needs to be done, haha :-P

This yarn… it feels like sheep…?

I must say, I like this cardigan a whole lot more with the 3/4 length sleeves. Though the short sleeve look is cute… yeah, I’ve said this before :-P I think I’ll probably do only a couple more plain rows, then start the 2×2 ribbing and cast off :-P Thennnn start on the next one! Woot woot!

But I love the texture of the yarn… it feels like… sheep. Haha, which sounds weird. But it feels very natural, I guess, is the better word.

Yep, I’m pretty happy with it :-P

Leaflet – 90% complete

All thats left? The sleeves. Oh yeah.

While doing the edging, I was worried that it would end up like a lot of my previous edgings… all bunchy, pulling the bottom of the cardigan up, all that jazz… basically ruining the entire thing.

But noooo. I followed the pattern, did the stitch ratios for picking up purposes, and it turned out amazingly ^_^

The pattern is for short sleeves, which fall to about.. half way down your upper arm from your shoulder.

Which is totally cute, I love that. But I think… I’m going to change it and do 3/4 sleeves. Just because I’ll get more out of it that way, and I think it’ll be even cuter (if that’s even possible, haha)

I have the needles sitting in front of me, along with some tea and a school book, so I better go :-P

Real quick, today is the last day of NaKniMo! I completed both my goals (*accomplishment*) with flying colors. My Acer Cardigan got done, with more than enough time to spare. AND I totally owned my stitch count for this month.

My goal was 100,000 stitches. I ended up with 110,409. And It’s only 11:00 AM. We’ll see where I am by midnight tonight :-P

IT’S ALMOST FRIDAY. HOLY COW.

I’m only a little excited, can you tell? ^_^

Yummy yummy pies and knitting

Happy belated Thanksgiving, everyone :-P Sorry I’ve been kinda away for the past couple of days, we have a lot of family here, and we’ve been hanging out a lot :-P

But I hope you guys had a *great* Thanksgiving.. and that it was just delicious as mine was :-P

I have definitely be knitting.

On my Featherweight Cardigan, by Hannah Fettig… which I started forever ago… and shoved it aside because I got bored with it, haha. Really really bored. But we tried to see the Muppet Movie on… Wednesday (which that didn’t end up working, oh well. We saw it today, and it was awwwwesome) and I wanted something to work on during the movie.

Which was rather insane of me, really. I knew if I was going to work on that, I would have to boing 1×1 ribbing. With lace weight. In the dark. For 2 inches.

yeah, sounds crazy. But I did do it…. and I got a lot done!

So much so, that I got the ribbing done, I cast the body off, and I’m more than halfway done with the first sleeve. Yep.

Haha, things get done when you have a lot of time on your hands :-P

Also, we stopped by Sam Moon’s today… and my sister and I got some epicly sweet earrings…

here are mine…

and here are Katie’s

and yeah. Feather earrings… sooooo awesomeeee!

Now I’m off to go knit some more :-P

FO: Acer Cardigan!! ^_^

My friends…

I present the Acer Cardigan. Completed in a grand total of 19 days. This was my National Knit Month (NaKniMo) and National Knit a Sweater Month (NaKniSweMo) sweater.

The above picture, the sweater was just to marvelous that I had to close my eyes. Oooor I may have been blinking. But this sweater is definitely amazing, if I do say so myself.

It also looks adorable buttoned up. I found the most perfect buttons ever. They’re just amazing. Wooden. With a uberly cool flower motif on it, that’s not like really flowery… or girly-girl.

They go so well with the sweater, it’s just perfect.

I adore this sweater, and if I need to make another one, I would gladly do it in a heartbeat. The pattern was so simple, easy to follow. The cable pattern was easy to memorize and keep track of. My only mod was to change the length of the sleeves, and that was easy peasy.

I’ll be wearing it on Thanksgiving, and many many many times after that :-P

Almost done… ALMOST DONE!

So the button bands took me about 20 minutes each. About 10 minutes to measure out where the button placement should be. And yeah. That’s just 50 minutes for both button bands…

I took the above picture this morning. Since then I have finished the second button band, and started picking up for the neck band.

Noro scraps used as markers is just happiness. In the form of wonderfully colored yarn.

So… now I need to find buttons.

I was thinking either… black…? Or maybe wood.

I really like the idea of wood buttons… the cardigan looks kind of organic with the color of the yarn and all that jazz, so it might add to the… look, haha, of it, if the buttons were wooden. Maybe..? Opinions would be awesome :-P

Also, the fact that I’m using really really old stash yarn to make this is just really really awesome.

It counts as using something from my UFO bin… right? Kinda? *is trying to feel better about self and the current state of the UFO bin* *it’s kind of embarrassing* O.o

5 days till Thanksgiving. I so have this. BOOYAH. <24 days = one cabled cardigan.

ACCOMPLISHMENT.

My older brother, when I showed him this morning, said that it looked better than the stuff you could by at J Crew. And he knows.

I was extremely happy about this statement. ^_^

Day 9 of 14 Days of Thankfulness! – Bows

Today… I’m thankful for hair bows.

I got a new one today, it’s huge.

Bows are such fun things. I may have mentioned this before, but I’m beginning to really really miss my long hair. There’s not a whole lot of things that I can really do with my hair at the length it is right now… or that I can do anyways, haha.

Thanks to bows, and other fun and funky hair accessories, my hair isn’t the same every single day.

(credit: pinterest)

Bows are happy things. I don’t know why or how… but they just are :-P

Second sleeve done. BAM.

So, remember yesterday when I said something along the lines of “I hope the second sleeve doesn’t go slowly…” ….?

Well….

I got the *entire* sleeve done yesterday *AND* sewn in.

No joke. Like… yeah.

I mean, I can understand half of a sleeve in a day. But a WHOLE SLEEVE?!

True, these are elbow length sleeves. But it *is* knit on a size 5. I had to keep checking the other sleeve to make sure the increases were in the right places.

I’m still kinda surprised I got it all done… in ONE STINKING DAY.

I’m also really happy about this, hahaha :-P

Now all that’s left is… the button bands, and the neck band. Which should hopefully take a day and a half at the most.. depending on my requirements of the day, haha.

And I have 6 days left till Thanksgiving ^_^

*is extremely proud of self*

Ooooooh yeahhhhhh :-P

Day 8 of 14 Days of Thankfulness! – Teapots

People are always thankful for tea.. and tea cups. But, I dunno.. maybe I’m just unobservant about this, but I’ve never really seen anyone gushing over teapots… have you?

(Credit: Pinterest)

They really are cool things…

They’re so cool.. there are songs written about them. *Starts humming “I’m a Little Teapot”*

And, they can do other things than just hold tea…

(Credit: Pinterest)

I mean, seriously. How brilliant is that?! When I get my own place, annnnd if I have the time, haha. I’d love to do that.

How fun would it be to go hunting around old vintage, hole-in-the-wall stores looking for little old teapots?

That’d be epic fun, in my opinion :-P

Knit, little knitter, KNIT!

Even though it looks extremely stupid like that, only one sleeve attached, haha, I’m going to show it to you guys anyway… cause I’m so stinking excited about this sweater.

(and I also do realize that my nails are extremely weird. I definitely agree, and I have no idea what I was thinking when I did them, hahaha)

So, I finished the sleeve last night during the most recent episode of Once Upon a Time, which I’m absolutely loving. I don’t care if people think it’s cheesy, or whatever. I like it, so I’m going to watch it, haha.

Then I sewed it in after that, while watching the last episode that’s on Netflix of The IT Crowd. *is so sad there isn’t any more* *why do some tv shows have to be canceled* *weeps*

I was a bit worried about “easing the sleeve cap into the armhole”… so I quick quick looked it up on YouTube, and it was extremely helpful. I found Seaming a Set-In Sleeve by the BerrocoKnitBits

Which, it’s for a garment with seams down the sides of the front and back as well, and I didn’t have that. So I just had to wing that part, haha.

It wasn’t a huge deal though. I have set in sleeves before, and they turned out fine. Buuuut those had seams down the sides of the garment, haha.

And just so everyone knows, I just got a huge urge to just sit, knit, and watch about 10+ Doctor Who episodes. Why did I want you to know that? I have no clue. But now you know.

The sleeve itself, I love. It’s a little snug, but I prefer my sweater sleeves more on the snug side rather on the loose/flappy-aroundy side. But that’s just personal preference :-P

The pattern has full-length sleeves. But that doesn’t… really combine well with Houston weather, haha. Yaaayyy for easily shortened sleeves ^_^

I did update the stitch counter, woot woot! Moving along nicely. I’m surprised as to how much I’m actually getting done.

Haha, I remember this from last year… I never really think about how many individual stitches I’m knitting.. until I have to count them, haha. Or, do the math, haha.

Then it’s like “O.O… hooooly cow. That’s. a lot of stitches.”

So I started on the second sleeve this morning, during my physics lecture, haha. And I’ve got around… 10 rows of the 2×2 ribbing done so far. Only… 14 more rows left then I start on the…. non-ribbing part of the sleeve, haha.

So I have a week to finish it. Completely finish it. Button band, buttons…maybe… and the sleeve. Can I do it? YES I CAN!

Er… I hope I can, hahaha :-P