The Land of the KnitaSaur

And only one WIP on WIP wednesday.
Actually, that isn’t too bad, as at the moment, I only have two. And my little sister’s, which I also have a crappy pic for. I can’t seem to stop my hands from shaking today for some reason.
Anywho, here’s the teddy bear scarf being made my a 6 year old. Just today turning 6. So, Happy Birthday Molly-Moon-Bang-Crack-Shade!

I’m really quite impressed–she’s done most of that without me around!
And for the one WIP pic that I have, here is the sleeve of Give the People What They Want. Looks much the same as before, doesn’t it? Well, the increases are done, I just need to finish off the length and the cap and start on the next, then seam . . . . So, it’ll be done sometime in the next few years or so.

No pic of Vamp, as no progress has been made? Why is that? Because of these, FO’s, yep.

Shade is getting a mini-hat and mini-gloves to match the ones I made for Mama! They didn’t even get a WIP post. Not one. I’ll get some action shots (sounds so exciting!) once I give them to her, and a proper FO post also.

I like making stitch markers. So, today, I made some Christmas-y ones! And then, because I feel there is a void in the stitch marker tutorial section of the internet, I made one myself! (That and I have a photography addiction. Just a heads up–I’m probably not going to be posting many pictures between now and the end of the month. Having finally worked my way through the bandwidth of my 5th Flickr account, I’m banning myself from another . . . then again, I’ve still got my Photobucket . . . ) Anyways, here they be:

Supplies:
- Big-ish beads

- Smaller beads (with a really small center hole)

(Size comparison pic)

- Head Pins (Thanks for the proper name, chemgrrl!)

- The circle part of necklace toggle closures (There is a bit of a deprivation of them in my city, I could only find ones that will fit up to US 15 needles. You can get them a lot smaller, though, which would be less bulky)

- Needle-nosed pliers
- Sharp scissors (not your favorite ones, though. You’re going to use them to cut metal.)

I could get all of these things at a dollar store, but I got the beads at a bead shop. They were prettier than the ones available at my local dollar store.

How To Make Them:

Step one: Bead the Pin
Just as easy as it sounds. One thing though: Start with a small-holed bead. The pin head is not large enough to stop most beads from falling off. The small-holed bead will, and keeps the stitch holder all in on piece! Use whatever pattern you want after that, but just remember that these are going to be sitting on your needles. You don’t want them to be too heavy.

Step 2: Bend the pin and attach to the ring
Using needle nosed pliers, bend the pin a few millimeters above the last bead. You want to end up with a hair-pin-like bend.

Slip the small ring over and into this bend.

Step 3: Secure the Pin
Wind the pin around itself, using the pliers to pull it tight. Trim the excess off carefully, keeping in mind that the pin-end may fly off when snipped.

Use the pliers to fold the rest of the pin into itself, squishing it down nice and tight.

Voila! Completed Christmas-y stitch markers!

I like pictures, btw, so if you make some, please let me know! I’d love to see them!

So, here it is (Please excuse the grumpy-teen look and crappy bathroom mirror lighting. It is very hard for me to take a picture of my own head! And I’m really not as ornery as I look. Usually.)

And, yes, it is getting blocked. So all those weird bumps will disappear. And it is not actually for me, though I am now very tempted to make my own. I really like it.

So, the details:

Pattern: Coronet from Knitty

Yarn: Patons Classic Wool Merino, in Lindt 70% Cocoa, excuse me, Taupe.

Amount: About 75-80% of a skein, so about 180 yards

Needles:US 8, 5.0mm DPNs

Time: 12 days

Knit mostly: Hiding in the basement, on buses, in class

Knit for: Annie-G

Notes: I had the wrong gauge, but discovered that my gauge made with the large pattern would make a hat to fit. My first ever cable!

Changes I would make next time: None

What I learned during the making of these:
- Cabling
- Provisional CO
- Kitchener Stitch
- Proper way to pick up stitches on a band

And here’s the most recent on Vamp:

Crocheting takes so long! I am not very good at it, especially when using mohair. But, goodness, that is some pretty stuff!

So, they call this “Taupe.” They are so wrong. Obviously, the hat is the same colour as Lindt 70% chocolate. The top left picture is closer to the real color; the second picture is just meant to show more of a similarity. It’s quite a yummy colour, and I love the stitch definition. It is quite nice.

Coronet is actually done, except for weaving in ends. There are just pictures from yesterday. Vamp was also bound off yesterday, also. It is getting it’s crochet edge. I’m not very good at crochet edges. So these are all old pictures now. Only a day, technically, but they are out of date, knitting-wise.

I’m really quite impressed with her. My little sister, knitting away to make a scarf for her teddy bear. She’s caught on so quickly and has said both “I can do it by myself now-You work on your scarf!” and the infamous “Just one more row!” The picture of her scarf is also out-of-knitting-date. She’s up to 6 inches, in one evening!

And that is all done with the horrible yarn choice of mine – Bernat Max. She loves it, but it moves from thin to really puffy. It is so frustrating to work with. But, she is enjoying herself, and already talking about teaching her friends to knit at her birthday party.

I had an All Shook Up practice. It was actually fairly traumatizing – it was a run-through of the second act with the cast. It was also the first time I played more than half of the songs.

That is a couple of skeins of Wollybear Yarns, got from Cbear’s destash a while back.
It is 70% Angora, 305 Wool. Each skein is 20 grams. Unfortunately, I cannot give more information than that. It’s very soft, and a lot brighter than the pictures suggest. I think I may use it to make wristwarmers of some sort.

Oh, and here’s my project 365 picture(s) from yesterday:


Yep, a candle. I saw it and it was pretty, so I photographed it. Not very well, but hey. It was while hanging out at CHOP (Cool Hang Out Place :P) at my old youth group. Man, that is a strange bunch of lovable people. I was “ninja-d” repeatedly, my logo jacket was much admired, along with my Fetchings and totally awesome duct tape purse. My logo got me dubbed the “sound ninja” Don’t know what is up with that place and their ninjas.

Kudos to anyone who recognizes the type of card that also got photographed.

Layout is done for SUP and it has been sent off to printing. However, in my sidebar, the PDF is available now. The layout guy and I decided to stick it to the man (what man?) and put an entire article in drop-shadow, along with putting a picture of a mushroom as the cover. We rock.
Oh, and speaking of the sidebar, my WIP graph section now houses the latest pictures of the WIP. Or the latest picture that I like. I love Flickr resizing.

Let’s start off the days post with some knitting, shall we?
I’ve discovered that my Fetchings match the flowers on my coat. Oh, so pretty. I’m coordinating.

And, I finished the super cool knitting bag:

Pattern: Peripatetic Knitter’s Bag (Ravelry link, sorry to those who aren’t on!) Courtesy of FireFairy
Yarn: Bernat Black Lites
Amount: Slightly less than 1 skein, 60 yards per skein
Needles:US 10.5/6.5mm, US 9/5.5mm
Time: 2 days?
Knit mostly: While watching The Swan Princess
Knit for: Moi
Notes: I was a test knitter
Changes I would make next time:
None, really. Might adjust it for different sized yarn skeins.
What I learned during the making of these: How to do a K2Tog bind off!

Okay, so I’ve decided I’m not starting anything else until I get all of my WIPs done. Three to go. I am making one exception and one only – I need to make mittens for my little sister this week. But, after that, no starting anything new. No matter how cool it looks. At all.

Oh, and I’m onto my 5th Flickr account.
Here’s the most recent list:
alariddathreman
adathreman
a.dathreman
alarid.dathreman
knitasaur

And, now for some non-knitting news.

The SUP layout is still not done. Sigh. I take so much longer than I should for that. We really just need to put one more article in and make it pretty, though. That is planned to be done by tonight, then sent off to printing.
One cool thing, though, is that I’ve found a place that will host PDF’s for me! So, thanks to box.net, I now have previous SUP issues on my sidebar. I’m pretty excited, even though I’m sure no one will actually use it. I like that it is available. Just like our cafepress.

I had my first All Shook Up practice last night. There are only three left until opening night! I’m going on stage for the first time in two years after only 4 practices! I’m not too scared, though. The music isn’t too difficult, and every once in a while last night, I would just play and it would be right and sound SO good. Just like it used to. It’s like riding a bike, I guess. But, if I thought about what I was doing at all, I would mess up. Without thinking, I could play. If I thought, I couldn’t remember notes. Music is like knitting in that sense, wouldn’t you say? Over think what you are doing in either, and it won’t work. I think my fingers are smarter than I am.

I’ve got the discs for JCS, and they are going to be monopolizing my MP3 player for the next little while. The music for that one is a lot more complicated, but it is one the instrument that I am comfortable with, and it is music I know from childhood. That, and I have a lot more than 3 practices to learn it!

So, most of the WIP’s have had no progress since their last photo. So, here is where they were sitting this morning, patiently waiting their turn for attention:

Give the People What they Want:

Vamp:

Coronet:

And the new one, the knitting bag that I’m a test knitter for:

And here is why Fetching is not on the WIP list:

It’s dun dun DONE!!!

Pattern: Fetching from Knitty

Yarn:Bergère de France Jaspée in Red.

Amount: Slightly less than 1 skein, 104 yards

Needles:US 8 / 5.0 mm

Time: 4 days.

Knit mostly: In class, on buses.

Knit for: Moi

Notes:
- CO 40, not 45 sts
- 5 cables at wrist instead of 3
- Between the 4th and 5th cables, increase 1 st per round
- After last wrist cable, only 18 rounds, not 24
- Normal BO, not Picot
- 3 rounds for thumb, not 4

Changes I would make next time:
- Decrease back to 40 sts after the thumb round
- 2 cables at knuckles, then Picot
- Maybe 5 rounds for thumb?
- Adjust where increases are so they are symmetrical

What I learned during the making of these:
- Don’t do cables while watching TV. Not yet, anyway.
- How to fix mis crossed cables
- How to properly pick up dropped stitches (and how to hide them if you don’t notice till after they are cast off . . .)
- How to hide those holes that appear around thumb holes.

In life news, I saw my mom yesterday! And my sisters and my niece and nephew!

Very cute kids there.

I promise that my pictures are actually better than they seem here. If you click on them, they suddenly aren’t pixelated anymore. If anyone knows the solution, please let me know!

Anyways, in the top right, there is my niece Vitauni and I. She actually is quite cute, no matter what that pictures says . . .

In the top left, it goes me, in the same pose with the same smile . . . to my mom, to my sister Lillian and then Kita below being silly.

Then, the double stroller with Tawny and Yummy. Yummy is such a ham! He loves cameras and attention! If I so much as looked at him, he would burst into this HUGE grin, or start biting his fingers or giggling or whatever else cute he could think of.

I took my drivers test this morning. Apparently, I am a very good driver, but failed. Explain that. Actually, I will. I can drive. I know I can drive, I have been for two years now. I’ve driven enough that, despite everyone’s tips, I ditch on the shoulder checks. But, I’ve only ever driven with family. Having someone there who wasn’t my dad saying “Do this. Do that.” totally messed me up. It made me nervous, so I forgot the stuff that I do know. And, because I wanted to do stuff “right” I did things like leaving too much space in front when stopping at intersections. That, and I broke road laws . . . changed lanes over a solid white line. Which I know not to do.

But, now I know what I need to work on. It would have been nice to pass, though!

to post about how totally in adequate this makes me feel:

I doubt I could do that even with a flute.

I always forget how nice Rupert is when it is sunny. That may have to do with the fact that yesterday was the first full day of sun I’ve seen since I got back home from Hawai’i. Okay, okay, I’m exaggerating. But only a bit. Seriously, I think we might have had 5 or so. Sure, it was sunny in the mornings sometimes, but it always clouds over. But, yesterday, or so pretty. Oh, and the random Tsunami Hazard Zone picture? I just like it. It’s fun to imagine what on earth the little person running up the hill is thinking. That, and I would be so surprised if a tsunami ever actually came near here. See, we have this protection, that we call the Queen Charlotte Islands . . .

Anywho, here’s the latest update on the knitting: I’ve got about an inch more done on Coronet and am still totally loving it, and three cables done on the second Fetching. The cable rounds take two or three times longer than the normal rounds! But they are so satisfying. I’ve gotten addicted, I think. Fetching has been proclaimed “kewl” by my niece. That comment may have earned her a pair for Christmas!

And, I went to my first Jesus Christ Superstar practice last night, without an instrument. The conductor had brought me a flute, but sent it home with his wife when I didn’t show up. But I did show up, just late because I had a class right up until the practice started. So, I hung around without a flute watching the music. I’m so glad I got that chance, because I haven’t played in two years and two of my old band teachers were in that room . . .

But, the kindness of people amazes me! The other flute player apparently inherited a flute with the instructions to find someone who would use it. So, she is GIVING that flute to the girl I lent mine to so I can have mine back, and the budding musician has one to keep for her very own! So, blogstalkers, that is what I am thankful for. The kindness and generosity that normal people can give!

And, while I was there, my high school teacher looped me into joining ANOTHER musical. I’m now the alto sax player for All Shook Up, done by the high school. I’m really scared about that–I don’t know Elvis songs, and haven’t played sax in longer than I haven’t played flute . . . and the production is Dec 5,6,7. Not much time for me!

What kind of yarn are you?

You are Shetland Wool. You are a traditional sort who can sometimes be a little on the harsh side. Though you look delicate you are tough as nails and prone to intricacies. Despite your acerbic ways you are widely respected and even revered. Take this quiz! Quizilla | Join | Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

(Sidenote: Either I did something wrong, or whoever wrote that code didn’t do it very well.)

Ahem. So, I really, really, really should finish the paper. I have like 3 articles and a couple of pictures left, not counting the ones I still need from Brian. I hope no one else has any hiding away . . . But I’m hungry and I found a quiz and have a cute picture of a cat!

She was thirsty. (yep, those are tongue marks on the window circling her head . . . )

I’m part of the pit band for Jesus Christ Superstar! I am SOOO amazingly excited!!!
First practice for me is tonight. I’m one of the flutists. Yay! Except . . . I have no flute. It was lent to a family friend when her daughter entered band in grade 6. I’ve been told that there will be one there for me though. Exciting exciting. I love musicals, and I love this one in particular.