Totoro, Totoro

I finished my second mitten! It's just as awesome and warm as the first.

I almost can't wait for it to get cold so I can wear them. Almost. :) Since I finished these, I'm going to give my Phantom Bag another try.

Until next time, happy knitting! :)

Totoro

I finished one Totoro mitten! It's really thick and warm and soft. And Totoro is so cute!

Stranded knitting is really cool (and not as complicated as I thought it would be), and I'm really excited to start the other mitten!

Happy knitting!

Startitis

Startitis is a knitting affliction where the knitter has a powerful urge to start a new project (or six) even though they already have several projects going. Most people are struck with startitis in the spring, when the snow melts and the world becomes bright and green again. Apparently, I'm not one of those people. I have startits now. I've had it since school got out six weeks ago. The bag I'm knitting with Phantom of the Opera on it? There is nothing wrong with that bag; it's soft and very pretty and I designed the chart for the mask myself, and yet I don't want to knit it anymore. I'm not saying that I never want to finish it- I just don't want to finish it now. I'd rather be knitting something else, and I feel bad. However, I have come to a conclusion: There is no knitting police that will come and get me because I didn't finish the bag (and I still haven't re-started the vampire socks- but the knitting police still aren't coming). Knitting is supposed to be fun, and if doing yet another round of 264 stitches of double-knitting makes me want to tear my hair out unhappy, then I shouldn't do it, right? At least not now.
Here's what I've been obsessed with for the past few weeks: Norwegian Totoro Mittens. In case you're asking, "What's a Totoro?" the mittens are based on a Japanese animated movie called "My Neighbor Totoro" that was written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Totoros are shy forest spirits. It's a very cute movie, so if you haven't seen it, I recommend that you do.
Since the knitting police still aren't knocking at the door, I'm going to go start those mittens.

Happy knitting!

Procrastination and Red

For my AP English class that starts in September, I have to read three books over the summer: Night by Elie Wiesel, Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey. I also have to do a "Major Works Data Sheet" on each of them (things about tone and style and foreshadowing and irony and all that- things that require lots of Post-Its sticking out of my books), and I have to write a literary analysis about one of them. At this point, I have read Night and Ethan Frome and have started the Data Sheet on both of them. Since I've been at it for a few hours now, I decided to take a break. (I'm procrastinating, but I still have plenty of time left.) During my break, I naturally turned to my knitting, and I discovered something interesting: All of the projects I'm working on right now contain red. As proof, I present my shawl, my socks (which I plan on restarting sometime soon), and the new bag I've started:

The bag is the Pirate Queen Booty Bag, but I'm not really fond of skulls and crossbones, so I'm using Kody May's Single Rose Chart around the bottom and a chart of the Phantom of the Opera's mask that I designed myself. The yarn is I Love This Wool in Terra Cotta and Black from my local Hobby Lobby.

All red. They're all red. I'm not entirely sure why I'm drawn to red right now, but it certainly is interesting. I think I'll go ponder this some more- while working on my red bag, of course.

Happy knitting!

Gauge (Or, It's My Own Fault)

Seen on every knitting pattern ever written: "TAKE TIME TO CHECK GAUGE." But did I listen?

About two days ago, I was working on the foot of my vampire socks, and I went to try it on (or, as much as you can try on a sock that's only half done). It was a little tight, but I thought, "Maybe that's just because of the cables. It'll be fine when it's done." However, a little voice in the back of my head nagged me that they were too small. So I checked my gauge. You should know that I didn't check gauge before I started. I thought, "Okay, the pattern calls for size 1 needles, so I'll use my size 2s because I knit tightly," and I began knitting. When measuring my gauge a few days ago, I discovered that instead of the 7 1/2 stitches per inch that I was supposed to get, I had about 8 1/4 stitches per inch. This is my sock now:

My mom was absolutely appalled when I showed her, and my younger brother had some protests of his own. But I would rather be sure that the socks fit beforehand (by checking my gauge like I should have!) than find out when I'm done that they don't fit. But, because I'm irritated with myself, I'll be working on my shawl (with isn't as picky about gauge) for a little while.
I'll say it again: It's my own fault.

Until next time, happy knitting!