I thought it was a bird but it was just a paper bag...

Well I decided on a pattern for the Sweater Sprint. I am going to be knitting Tubey for the Ravelmpics. :). Now if i could make up my mind on colors. any ideas?

I'm really excited to be knitting this sweater. I've wanted to attempt it for a while, just had the hardest time finding the motivation. this was the perfect reason.

I still need to decide on a project for the Bag-and-Tote Backstroke. And colors for it. ha. I need to make a choice because i'm going to run out of time.

In other news, I'm housesitting this weekend. that shall be fun.

I'm also working on a 3rd pair of knucks and a baby blanket. the goal is to have those done before the ravelmpics so that i don't work on them during the ravelmpics. ha. i can't stick to one project to save my life.

yep. gonna go pack for the weekend.

love ya all
Bethany

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Now playing: Fiona Apple - Paper Bag
via FoxyTunes

Ravelympics 2008

As I said in my last post I've signed up for the 2008 Ravelympics.

I'm excited!

I still need to decide on a pattern if i'm going to use one so that I have time to "train" (swatch to check the gauge). I think I might make my own pattern tho. I personally hate following a pattern most of the time.

This is going to be fun. I love a good challenge. I'll try to keep this blog more updated too.

ttfn!

Bethany

Oh how I suck at updating this thing.

Well I'm taking part in the Ravelrympics. I'm signed up for the "Sweater Sprint" and the "Bag-n-tote Backstroke".

i've not decided yet if i'm brave or insane :P

Knitting Scout

You may have noticed the new image at the side of my blog. My knitting badges. These are just to funny not to post.

The “Proselytize Knitting” Badge - A requirement for all Knitting Scouts, the recipient must do his or her bit to present knitting in a positive light, whilst at the same time avoiding all references to “hipness”, grandmothers, and yoga.

I think I do my part with this. I knit. I don't do it to be cool. I don't do it because its whats popular or "hip" I do it because I love it. and I try to help others to find this love.

The “MacGyver” Badge (Level One) - The recipient must demonstrate clever use of a non-knitting tool in a knitting-related scenario. For instance, recipient has used paper clips as stitch markers, or successfully whittled and then utilized bamboo skewers as dpns.

Paper clips make wonderful stitch markers. really they do.

The “MacGyver” Badge (Level Two) - The recipient must demonstrate clever use of a knitting tool in a non-knitting-related scenario. For instance, recipient has used a strand of Regia Bamboo to slice cheese, or repaired a small appliance with a metal knitting needle.

Oh man... I thought I was the only one. I've used my size US 1 metal needles to pick the lock on my door once. hahaha... and I've used then to push the "reset" button on things. they work well.

The “I’ve Been Rejected by a Knitting Magazine” Badge - The recipient has had a design or article rejected by a print or online knitting magazine.

Knitty rejected my Stinky-Cheese-Man pattern.

A Few FO's, WIPs, and random stuff about my life as of lately. ha.

So I basicaly suck at updating this. I'll admit that. But hey.... I have some FO's to post!! Yay for FOs!

I think I'll post about my WIP too :). something interesting to read? Well.... I'll try to make it of interest. ha. I'm bad at that.

I've been saying for a while now that I wished someone I knew was having a baby. Be careful what you wish for? yeah. FOUR of my friends are all having babies (and possibly a 5th?). All by March. haha. So I've been busy with blankets. Luckly I can knit fast when I'm in a crunch. So I've got 2 our of the 4 (5?) done. I'm on my 3rd (For John and Holly :) ). Don't get my wrong tho, I love knitting baby items. the yarn is so soft and fun to work with. I've yet to venture into baby clothes yet tho. if I have time I might try a sweater. We'll see. I can always knit something after they are born too. sooo.... on to the FO's and WIPs

FO: Blanket one. For Randee and Phil. knit in the bias, with a crotched edge. I'm quite proud of my edging on this one :)













FO: Blanket two. For Katie and Dan. Also knit in the bias. With a self striping baby yarn. I LOVE how this one turned out. the stripes are just to cool :).







WIP: Blanket three. For John and Holly. This one is quickly becoming one of my favorites... if not my favorite I've done. It's %100 cotton. super soft. In a basket weave pattern and seed stitch border. I love working with this yarn so much. I'm about 6 inches from being done with this one. I'll be sure to post photos of this one when it is completely done.







WIP: lace. It's true... as much as I've knitted I've been kinda scared to try knitting lace. But then I thought... It's just knitting. there isn't anything to be afraid of. So I have been messing around with this. this is my first attempt at any knit lace.



And finally.... Drum roll please.... I've been wanting to post this one for a while... I just was waiting to hear back from Knitty.

FO: The Stinky-Cheese-Man.









When I'm done with the current baby blanket I'm going to start working on one for Adam and Emily. the goal was go have most of them done before I start school because I'm not sure how much time I'll have to knit once classes start. so I'm doing well.

School starts... next week. Its hard for me to believe. I'm so excited about it. I really haven't even thought about what to pack... I should do that soon.

This is my last week at my current job. That is kinda bittersweet. But it has be a good summer job. Hey, who else gets to sit at work and knit? haha.

I think that's all for right now :).

Bethany

So I have the day of work today and its... lovely. Absolutely lovely. Except dad took my book to work with him today so I can't set around and read like wanted to. I'm reading Saint by Ted Dekker. Its a good book. And Ted Dekker is one of my favorite authors. But dad took the book with him to work.

I got a new phone Friday. :). So I've knitted a case for it. I just needed something really fast. so I whipped up a phone case. nothing to hard. I just needed something to keep my screen from getting scratched.

I've been helping out with the knitting class at the library now for a while. Its so much fun for me. Our last project we did as a group was me made caps for cancer patients. that was so much fun to do. As a group we made almost 30 caps. :).

I think I want to get some red, white, and gray yarn and make a hoodie for school. I should do that soon

Yeah, I have nothing to say today.

Bethany

Ha! I'm soooo bad at keeping this thing up to date. So sorry about that. I'm not sure anyone reads this thing anyways.

hmmm....

So I've started a new job and life has been kinda busy. So I haven't had time to write much. Or knit much for that matter. I'm working at a small bookstore in town. its not a hard job. but its a dangerous job for me. Me? work at a bookstore? There are so many books I want to buy now. But I'll just read them when I'm bored at work :). Haha.... I should be glad I'm not working at a yarn store... I'd spend all my paycheck on the yarn.

I'm working on a baby blanket for my cousin Katie (who is due in October). Its a really easy progect. I need to start something a bit more challenging. I've just not had the time to get to the yarn store.

I hate that I don't have much time to knit lately. But it makes the time I do find to knit that much better. It feels so good to have yarn running through my fingers and needles in my hands. I love that feeling. The soothing "click-click" of the needles. The joy of finishing a project. *sigh* there is nothing better than a night by the fire, with a good chai latte, a good movie, and a knitting project. That's what i need right now. Life has been so stressful lately.

I just submitted my first pattern to knitty *crosses fingers*. I highly doubt it will be published... but hey... why not try. Its by far my best work. :). And it was a fun pattern to write.

I think I'm gonna get some yarn in Grey, red, and white and knit myself a hoodie for school. Those are IWU's colors. So I think I might do that before I start class in the fall :).

yeah... don't have a lot to say today.

Bethany

Sock Knitting

Its true, I'm lazy at updating this.

Its also true that I've become addicted to sock knitting.

My reasons to knit socks

1. Its FAST! Its such a quick, and easy project. and the possibilities are endless! stripes, thin stripes, fat stripes, color work, cabled, lace. I have free creative reign. Weee!

2. Its cheep. Depending on the sock, you don't need that much yarn to knit a pair of socks. And sock yarn is generally not to badly priced. Right now I'm using this lovely microfiber yarn that I got for $3 a ball. Its so soft and makes a lovely pair of socks. Yarn for say the hoodies I made, cost me $30 a hoodie, and that was with cheep yarn.

3. Its on DPNs. And I'm also in love with knitting-in-the-round, because that means... guess what.... NO SEAMING! yay! can it get any better than that? (yes its true, I hate finishing.) DPNs have become my new love, its funny to think back on the time I was afraid of them. They aren't scary at all. they are fun :).

4. Hand-knitted socks are sooo much fun to wear, or give as gifts. They are so much nicer than store bought. Yes, I know I could go to the store and buy a pack of socks for so much cheaper than my yarn. But those aren't near as comfy and fun as handmade ones. those of you who have never worn hand-knitted socks are deprived. And I know I could start a war by saying this so... yeah.

I was warned of the dangers of socks before I started knitting them. I was told they are addicting. But for some reason I thought I could be stronger than that. But its true, I'm addicted. Socks are dangerously addicting to knit.

I'm working on a pair of pink and blue striped ones. 16 rounds of pink, 2 rounds of blue, 1 round of pink, 3 rounds a blue, repeat. Thats the color change pattern I've come up with. The issue I'm going to have now is I'm going to need to get more pink yarn if I'm going to want them to match. Or I could reverse the pattern for the other sock and just have semi-matching socks. Hmmm... decisions, decisions. hehe.

I finished and blocked the pair I made for April. I mailed them yesterday. I can't wait for her to get them.

I've found an ingenuous way of blocking them too. Metal hangers. Just take a metal hanger and bend it into the shape, and size of the sock you want. put the sock on the hanger, spritz, let hang to dry. :). easy.

In other Knitting news, my order from Kpixie arrived last week. I now own a pair of Needle lites. OMG these needles are sooooo cool!! I also got some plymouth tweed yarn in gray and pink and knitted the twiggy tweed purse from knitty.com. pictures coming soon when I finish sewing it all together.

Bethany

Sweet Action!

I finished the Knucks!! *dance* I'm so freaking proud of myself. I can't wait to wrap them up and give them to my friend. *bounce*

Picture here.

*spoiler* if you're Angela DON'T look until after tomorrow. :-P

So I'm attempting to make a pair of Knucks for a friend.

I'm not sure if undertaking this was brave or just stupid

This is the hardest thing I have knitted

I'll post pictures when I finish them.

short update

I guess I should update this blog. I'm so bad at keeping up with it.

I've mastered knitting in the round. Its so much fun know that I understand it. I've completed one sock, and I'm almost done with the second, I'll post pictures when I finish it :).

I've completed two out of 3 hoodies. that's exciting. So I've got one more to do before Christmas.

I'll try to post pictures soon.

Knitting-in-the-round

*bounces* I figured it out!! YES!!

I feel rather accomplished now.

I'm making the socks of doom in bright lime green. hehe.

Knitting-in-the-round

I bought my first set of double point needles today. I'm attempting to learn to knit-in-the-round.

this is impossibly hard. I'm about to cry from frustration. How the heck am I supposed to hold 4 needles at once without dropping any stitches?

anyone have any tips?

I've been thinking about what I want to make for April for Christmas. hehe. I'm knitting everyone presents this year. hehe.

I think I want to knit this. hehe that wouldn't take me too long.

hehe I'm having to much fun. I think I've got my Christmas list done :)

I finished the front side of my current hoodie. That's exciting. So i started on the first sleeve. I realized today though that I'm going to need more yarn. I have one 3 ounce skein left and 2 sleeves to do. I knew that I didn't buy enough.

*waves*

Hello everyone!

I'm Bethany. I'm 17, and I love to knit.

I taught myself to knit 2 years ago and it has become my addiction. I can't hardly stand not having a pair of knitting needles in my hands. I taught my friends and family to knit too. If I get the time I might post a tutorial later :).

So this is my knitting blog. Where I will post about all things knitting. The stitches I'm learning, the projects I'm working on, yarns I'm in love with, ideas... anything knitting.

I would love to hear from you if you have any thoughts or ideas. Feel free to email me at knittery@gmail.com.

Right now I'm working on a hoodie for a Christmas present. I have to get 4 of them done by Christmas. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I agreed to take on this much work. Thankfully they are getting done somewhat quickly. It helps that I'm using super bulky yarn and size 13 needles. The last hoodie I made took me 3 weeks. I would have been done sooner but I messed up the sizing on the sleeves. so I had to rip them out and completely redo them. that was depressing. So I'm being careful this time about getting the sizing right. I'm getting bored tho because its all in stockinette stitch. I want to do something more challenging. But then again getting 4 of them done by Christmas is a challenge in itself. hehe.

I think I want to try to make the "twiggy tweed" purse off Knitty.com. I think that's going to be my next challenge. I should be able to do it easily.

I'm in love with these knitting needles. I'm going to try to get a pair for Christmas. How cool are those? I could knit in the dark! yay! hehe.

Bethany