The Christmas RUSH!

Oh my. SUCH a busy week. I'm actually getting really sick of Christmas presents. Mwrah. Let's recap. I finished Secia's scarf...

Then I went home for my craft shows on Friday. I finished a bunch of my frames Friday morning...

Went off to the first show in Fair Lawn, NJ. It was small and my hopes weren't overly high in the beginning... but I actually did really, really well! Made back that table, the table for the next day, and some on top. The craft show Saturday morning, however, in my own little Maywood, was awful. The horrible weather probably had something to do with it, but it was really annoying. I made some money, but only because some family friends dropped by and bought a bunch of things. Technically it was a successful show, but it doesn't feel that way...

Anyway, since Sunday, I've made a lot of stuff. Here's some pictures of it.

For my friend Adina--gave it to her on Monday, and she really loved it. Win!

For my friend April (of April Smith & the Great Picture Show, if you're interested in that kind of thing). She also got hers on Monday, because I probably won't see her again 'til after the holidays. I'd been worried that it was too small, and she wasn't able to try it on for me when I saw her at her show on Monday because she had a hat pinned to her head already, but she twittered at me that it was perfectly sized. We actually talked about maybe making some others of the same, having it be her "signature hat" and selling them at shows. Dude, how cool would that be?

This is for my friend Andy, the last of the Tally Hall boys. I was worried I might not get it done in time, because I really hate rib stitching (the whole thing is worked in rib) but it's done and wrapped in time for their show tomorrow, which will be the last time I see THEM before Christmas.

Part one of a set for my roomie, Mallory. It might look similar to April's because it's almost the same. Slightly different hat pattern, but her flower is made from Mal's red yarn and Mal's flower is the leftover from April's hat. Nifty, yes?

Mallory's scarf as it was yesterday morning...

...and this morning it's finished, twice as wide. I'm just putting a border on the edge.

The other thing I did yesterday which took way more time than I thought was to sew on my personalized tags to these gifts. A few years ago one of my friends bought me some of these cute little labels that say Handmade by Angela Cronin, and so I like to put them on the gifts I make for people. I went through and attached them to all the scarves I made thus far, and then wrapped everything up.

It took a REALLY long time, it was surprising. They aren't that big, you know?

I'm kind of really sick of Christmas presents. I want to start on another real project, or finish one of the ones I started, like my sweater. I want to make another stocking cap, this time with some adjustments, and enter it in the Lion Brand contest. I want to start another afghan, punch out a few more super cute hats for YMP. Something!! Ugh. At the same time, I've just got a few more to do, just need to power through. Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

The Real Christmas Grind Begins

With the completion of the hat, I've REALLY got to get on these Christmas presents. Oy. So much to do, so little time!! I started Secia's scarf late last night, here's that...

I'm actually doing something with this scarf you're really not supposed to do, so it's taking a lot longer than I thought it would. I'm using a giant skein of this yarn I bought a year ago. It's textured, and relatively thin compared to the stuff I usually use. It was making a thinner scarf than I'd have wanted, so I decided to do the stupid thing. Which is actually a smart thing... but not. I started pulling yarn from both ends of the skein. When you're pulling from a skein, you pull out the middle, and it just feeds nicely. It's not advisable to pull from the outside, because then it spins and the yarn gets twisted, which might or might not matter. But you're really not supposed to pull from both because it'll get tangled really easily. The only reason I'm actually doing that in this case is because if I wanted  to double the yarn (crochet with two strands at once to make it twice as thick) my only other option would be to pull apart the entire thing, find the middle, and cut it in half. Since this is a pound skein (read: really big) that would take FOREVER and then it would definitely get tangled. So I just have to be really careful. But the scarf is actually coming out really nicely, I'm very happy with it. It's textured and soft, but not stiff, and it should be really warm.

The other thing I did today was update my webpage. I added some new photos of new pieces, though most of the pieces I've actually finished recently are at home and still need to be shot. I also started a portfolio page, which is something I've been meaning to do for awhile. That way I can show off the pieces I've done in the past and things I've given away. But again, most of the old stuff I actually have is in Jersey. But it's a start. I'll get to do the rest of it when I get home this weekend. Have to go home for my two craft shows!!

So check out yarnmonkeyproductions.com and... hopefully I'll have photos from my shows later on in the week! Yay!

Thanksgiving Weekend = TRIUMPH

After an incredibly zany day-before-Thanksgiving (it was my birthday) and Thanksgiving day morning (I marched in the parade!!) and approximately four hours of sleep on Tuesday and Wednesday nights combined... I picked the hat back up during appetizers. It started to go really fast, it was exciting. I took a break on Friday morning to not only catch up big time on sleep but to work on some things for my two craft shows next weekend.

A veritable rainbow of collage picture frames...

Saturday...

Some yarn, some Lost... Sweet.

Hi Jack!!

I kept going and now it's Sunday and I'm back at school...

Watchin' Top Chef Season 2...

Gettin' tiny!!

Last row!!!!!

And so I tied off the hat with the pompom!! I didn't get to stop and take any pictures, because it's kind of a delicate process. Basically I cut off a longish end, and pulled that and the ends of the pompom through the stitches at the top. Wove everything in, tied off ends, trimmed... And voila!!

I actually had a lot of fun making this hat, I really thought I was going to hate it. At the same time, I'm really happy it's finished, because I REALLY need to work on Christmas presents... =) I'm going to take a break tonight from the yarn-ing, but tomorrow.... It's off to scarfville.

A Haitus

So I got some really bad news with regards to the hat within the past couple of days, which is why I've stopped compulsively updating. Apparently the show that Chad needed the hat for was unceremoniously cancelled. The rush on the hat no longer being a factor and the ultimate purpose for the hat dissipated, I got depressed. I took a few days to work on my Christmas gifts, several of which have more immediate deadlines (Chad just wants to wear the hat on Christmas morning, whereas I won't see some of the recipients after December 11). Let's review!

Zubin's Scarf

Secure in the odds that none of these people will ever see this blog (or at least won't before they get their present) I have no problem talking about these gifts. This is a scarf for my friend Zubin. It's mostly green with four shrinking stripes on either end. I used Lion Brand Wool Ease Chunky for it--it's one of my favorite yarns. It's really simple, but thick enough to make it go quickly and it's a nice wool blend that is warm but not itchy. I just straight crocheted it, nothing fancy other than the stripes.

Ross' Scarf: 10am

Ross' Scarf: 5pm

I pwned this one. Lion Brand came out with this new yarn that I used on this one, it's called Hometown I believe, and can currently only be bought at the Lion Brand Studio on 15th street. I'm a believer. It's super bulky, which can be a good or bad thing. They have one other yarn, Wool Ease Thick & Quick, which is about the same weight, but that yarn is really heavy and can be kind of scratchy. This yarn is 100% acrylic and therefore much lighter and softer. I totally love it. This one I crocheted simply back and forth vertically (hence the vertical stripes) and then I went around once with some of the leftover navy blue just to make sure the edges were all neat.

Elle's Scarf

This project is kind of epic. It was actually supposed to be a hat/scarf set but after starting the hat yesterday I realized I didn't have nearly enough yarn. This is one of my favorite yarns (it's a Bernat yarn, 86% bamboo, which sounds weird but it's seriously the softest yarn in the world) and it's kind of pricey. I bought it initially on sale, and was loath to buy more at full price. So I figured I'd take it out and make a scarf instead. I pulled it all out, and used that skein to start the scarf. It was once I got to the second skein that I realized my second problem--they were different dye-lots.

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Something you have to be careful of when buying yarn is the dye-lot. Yarn in the same dye-lot was all done in the same vat, or however it was colored, and therefore it's all guaranteed to be the exact same shade. Not always but sometimes you can tell the difference between dye-lots because one will be lighter or darker. This can be a problem, especially in large projects where you're using a single color, like a sweater or blanket, so when you're buying for a project like that it's strongly encouraged that you make sure all your skeins are the same dye-lot.

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I've never actually had a problem with dye-lots before, but you could really tell. You can even see it in the picture because I used a flash--one skein was much lighter than the other three. I was pretty screwed, so I just did what I read you should--I cut up that one skein and mixed it in with the others, so it doesn't all occur in one spot and looks like a normal variegation within the yarn. In person it doesn't look so bad anymore. And as it turns out I still need to buy another skein to finish it. I need to finish the last row of doubles and a row of singles. Urg. Whatever.

It was actually useful to find out about this dye-lot thing now. I'd bought four skeins of another color of the same yarn, and again one is different. Since I'm going home for the holiday tomorrow, I can get back to the store and exchange them for four all the same lot. That scarf is for an actress friend of mine who's sort of famous (she played Leo McGarry's secretary on the West Wing--NiCole Robinson) and since you never know what might happen I really, REALLY want that one to be flawless. So Elle's will get finished in a snap over the holiday.

Joe's Scarf

This is for my friend Joe. He's really into the whole organic thing, so I picked a 100% organic cotton yarn for him, a sage green with unevenly spaced dark brown stripes. The picture looks a little wonky to me since I have the real one next to me, but you get the general idea. I really liked this yarn, but the color selection kind of sucks--this was the darkest green they have in this one, and I just wish it had been a little darker. But all in all I like it. It's not completely done; I'm going around it with the leftover brown right now (you can kind of see where I started at the top left of the picture) with a round of single crochets just to neaten the edges.

So that's what I've done in the past few days. Nothing horribly exciting, just punching out stuff. I have SO MANY Christmas gifts left to go... Seeing as most of my really good friends don't get handmade gifts anymore since I've honestly run out of ideas for the majority of them, I still make an impressive amount of presents every year. Seriously, I have no idea how they pile up like this. Ugh. At least it keeps me busy. And gives me plenty of time to watch my TV (I finished Season 1 of Lost and started Season 2! Also caught up to Legend Of The Seeker, which is one of my guilty pleasure shows since I'm a huge fan of the books. Not that I have any idea what's going on in the show anymore since it's so far removed from the novels. Still fun.).

Once I finish my driblet of homework left for the weekend and the border on Joe's scarf I'm going to try and punch out another stripe or two on the hat, which is about half done.

The latest photo of the hat, as modeled by my roomie, Jenny

When I realized it was only about half done, I kind of panicked. I've decided to decrease the rows (make it narrower) faster, because otherwise it's going to be beyond "that's-awesome" long and into "now-that's-just-plain-stupid "long. But again, something I'll know for the next time I make one. Because I'm honestly enjoying this project, it's extremely satisfying.

So tah for now. Heading home for the holiday after work tomorrow, but make sure to look for me in the parade on Thanksgiving!! I'll be riding on/walking with a drum float/balloon. The intricacies of my job are still unclear to me, but it'll be awesome regardless. =D

An Epic Stocking Cap: Day 5

Today, I'm not really going to have time to work on the hat much. I don't think, anyway. But this morning my first order of business was to make a giant pompom for the end of the hat. I'd never made a pompom before, though I'd heard it takes a lot of yarn so I wanted to get it done before the end of the hat to make sure I had enough to do correctly.

What you do for a pom pom first is to cut two rings out of cardboard, about an inch bigger than you'd like the pompom itself to be. The hardest part of that is getting the middle out. If I'd had an exacto knife it'd have been better, I think, but I made do. You put the two discs together and then begin to wind your yarn. Since I was doing five colors, I cut five lengths of yarn, one of each color, and began to weave it around the ring.

You thread the yarn through a tapestry needle (basically a big needle that's mostly blunt) and thread it around and around the exterior of the cardboard rings.

When you've crammed all the yarn into the middle that you can, you go around the edge with scissors and cut all the yarn apart. Then, now that you can get in between the rings of cardboard, you take a length of yarn and wind it around the middle as tightly as you can, knot it, and cut away the cardboard. Then  you get...

Also, my fish, Monday, says hi. =)

Sweet. =)

An Epic Stocking Cap: Days 3&4

Day 3: I did, like, a stripe and a half. I didn't take any pictures. It was kind of an unimpressive day.


Day 4: Today was epic. I had an early class, some homework to do, and I was supposed to go out for dinner with a friend of mine from home. The in-between time was clearly designated for the hat. Let's follow the journey!

1:24 - A few more rows in and I can officially get the hat on my head without disturbing the needles. Hooray!

A closeup of the top.

Watching Dancing With The Stars! I was SHOCKED that Joanna Krupa got kicked off. Seriously. But Kelly Osbourne is still on, and I've come to love her so I'm glad she's staying. I guess I identify with her, though I couldn't tell you why.

A closeup of the "brim" vs. the rest of the hat. This is one of those knitting things I'm often asked to explain--the difference between knit & purl. Let's explain real fast, or at least try to.

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Knitting is basically a series of loops. When you knit, you're putting some loops on a stick (a needle) and using the second needle to pull another row of loops through the first. You basically pass them back and forth between the two straight needles. When you're utilizing regular needles, say for a scarf, passing these rows back and forth, you wind up depositing the rows of stitches on opposite sides of the piece, so you wind up with visible rows of these stitches and the pieces of yarn that go between the stitches.

Make sense so far? This regular back-and-forth stitch is referred to as "garter stitch". Now, the infamous purl... When you knit, you put the old loop over the back of the new. When you purl, you reverse and put the loop over the front. You can use a combination of the two to make many different kinds of patterns. One of the most common of these is the rib stitch, which is used for the brim of the hat in this case (the right side). You alternate the knits and purls to create columns of stitches. It's very stretchy and so often used for things like cuffs and necklines and the openings of hats. Now

There are several kinds of needles one can use when knitting. For a "tube project" such as a hat, the most common kind of needle to use is a dpn or double-pointed needle. Usually, they come in sets of five, and as you can see throughout  the photos, you keep four in at a time, and knit from needle to needle using the fifth in the set. When you do this, there is no alternating (the project is round, a tube, as it were) and when you just knit all the loops get pushed to the back or inside of the project. The stitch that results is what is known as stockinette, and it is the most commonly used stitch in the world. If you look at the shirt you're wearing, you can probably see the tiny, tiny stitches and you'll recognize the larger version of the stitches in the hat. 

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I took a break after awhile, did some homework, and talked to my friend who was supposed to take me to dinner. Long story short, he got stuck in New Jersey and had to cancel at the very last minute. As always, I took my stress out on my knitting.

5:08 pm - Here's where we're at!

I'm so freakin' excited about this. As far as TV goes, I'd nearly caught up to my shows!

I watched some Numb3rs...

...took a break from the drama to watch some old Top Chef episodes (Ahh Marcel! What a ninny)...

...and after Glee I watched some old episodes of Lost. I'm trying to catch up so I can start watching season 6 with everyone else.

11pm - I made so much progress, it was really unbelievable. This whole thing is going a lot faster than I thought it would. I guess it's mostly because it's decreasing and getting smaller as I go, but it's not decreasing quickly. I tend to use a lot of chunkier yarns because they go faster and when I lose interest in a project it loses the fun and isn't worth doing anymore. But this is a surprising amount of fun. YAY. I might actually finish it this weekend, which is AWESOME. I was worried this would take up a lot of my time because it's the holiday season for a crafter, and the crunch is coming. But if I can get this done this weekend... Rawk.