I cannot believe it’s already the second week of July! It feels like time is flying by fast. I’ve been up to nothing much, but at the same time a lot. Do you ever get the feeling you’re accomplishing nothing, but are constantly busy? I’ve been feeling like that lately even though I’m moving in the right direction.

But, I’ve got some big news! I am going back to school full-time in September. I will be doing a bachelor’s degree in Communications at Simon Fraser University. I am very excited because the degree sounds perfect for my career goals. I will miss working on awesome events full time, but I think this is the right step for me. I registered for classes this morning!

Other than that, I’ve just got some summer plans and camping trips in the works. I don’t know if I’ll get to do any travelling (I had wanted to drive around BC and Alberta) due to saving money for university.

I’ve been knitting:

The pattern is Gaenor and the yarn is Unwind Yarns: Throwing Sheep into Rainbows which I bought at Gibsons last summer. This photo was taken at wenchlette’s Wedding Send-off party and I was just beginning the decrease rows. Therefore: it is halfway done!

I have some other secret things on the needles and I’ve been test knitting for my friend Carmen, so personal knitting is on the back burner. Speaking of Carmen, I went to go visit her studio (she is MelonHead KnitWear) a couple weeks ago and brought cookies:

Yarn Cookies!!

I’ve got several books I haven’t reviewed—including Up Up Up by Julie Booker—so stay tuned for those. I’m already on book 3 in A Song of Ice & Fire series (Game of Thrones) and recently received an ARC for Marina Endicott’s new book, The Little Shadows.

Also speaking about books, I’ve been using GoodReads more and LibraryThing less. I am finding more people on GoodReads that I know and hence gravitating towards it so that I can see what they’re reading. Find me on GoodReads if you’d like.

Anyway, I must be off to bed. My car is in the shop (because it failed AirCare) and I need to make sure I’m up if the mechanic calls. P.S. Sorry for the downtime on the website. My blog was migrated to a new server so I could upgrade to WP 3.2.

P.P.S. Circle me if you’re on Google+, or let me know if you want an invite.

I bought this yarn from a local designer-friend, Melonhead Knitwear, at Circle Craft Christmas Market in November 2010. She was selling her handknits as well as hand-dyed and handspun yarn by the skein. When I tried on the hats she had for sale, they actually looked good on me! Hats so rarely look good on my head.

Since she knew I was a knitter, she gave me the pattern she wrote when I bought 2 skeins of the yarn. However, because it was just her personal notes and not a published pattern, I had some issues and I ended up with waaaay too many stitches. Oops! Read the rest of this entry »

So last time I blogged about knitting, I had not finished Gnome for Festivus, I was planning to frog Argante, start Gaenor, and cast on for some fingerless gloves.

I still haven’t finished Gnome. Here is how much I’ve knit of Gaenor:

… yea, not much.

However, I am making good progress on my fingerless gloves:

I should be further along but I decided to frog the first one at about the same point as this picture. With the previous one, I didn’t think the wrist part was long enough. The pattern called for 16 rows before the thumb gusset. I wasn’t happy with it, so I ripped back and what you see here is 30 rows before the thumb gusset.

The pattern is Basic Fingerless Gloves by Sue Brady [rav link] but I just did basic stockinette instead of the a k4, p2 pattern (due to the yarn being already patterned enough).

I also finished a Christmas present for my friend Ben:

The pattern is Instant Gratification Scarf by Cyn [rav link] which uses a twisted drop stitch. I used two skeins of Blue Sky Alpacas Bulky Natural (50% merino, 50% alpaca) because Ben was petting and admiring the softness of my Malabrigo Rasta scarf.

Question for the knitters out there: Are you often indecisive when it comes to a project? Even when you’re over the halfway point? That is what happened to me with my Argante shawl (yarn: Socks that Rock).

I was loving the colours in the skein… look at this gorgeousness! And I was doing fine deciphering the lacy shawl bits.

Then recently I looked at it and wasn’t crazy about how the yarn was working up. Besides being a variegated yarn, there were two things that were bothering me.

(1) This odd pooling section. I liked the green and yellow pooling, but the dark burgundy with the hot pink looked too similar. (2) This shawl is composed in 6 sections and between section 2 and 3 there is this odd line created by knitting short rows. If the yarn wasn’t so variegated I don’t think it would be as noticeable.

So, now the shawl is hibernating. Also, I think the Socks that Rock would be so gorgeous as one of Gladys’ pooling stoles!

I decided to cast on for Gaenor (Argante’s sister) with my skein of Unwind Yarns that I got at Gibson’s this summer. I also have been meaning to make fingerless gloves, and with the window draft at the office, I need to make them fast! I’m using a skein of Mirasol Hacho and just using a basic fingerless glove pattern (since the yarn is so busy). [Ravelry project page]

On Sunday I went to a different fabric store to look at the selection of blue-patterned fabric. Last time I went to Dressew because it’s right by my work, and I liked the fabric I selected but I didn’t love it. So I went to Fabricland on Sunday morning and found a gorgeous blue fabric with flowerpots and swirls. I did want a more ‘damask‘ look… the first fabric was more paisley-ish… and this is more floral. The damask prints I did find would be too big for a 16″ square pillow. I liked both patterns I chose, but this second fabric is darker and richer, which I like more.

Tonight I spent some time measuring, cutting, ironing, pinning, and sewing. Take a look at the finished product!

The pillow cases are an “envelope” style so no zippers (which I totally fail at)! The pattern/instructions are from Sew Subversive: Down & Dirty DIY for the Fabulous Fashionista by The Stitch Lounge (Melissa Rannels, Melissa Alvarado, and Hope Meng).

I’ve been in an online sewing class and I picked up some of the recommended tools. My favourite so far is the corner-pokey tool to make sharp, pointy corners.

This weekend I glumly showed my tangled yarn ball to CW (since I’d explained the situation to him). And guess what! He offered to untangle it! Yaay! It’s all happily balled up now and ready to ponder what pattern it should be knit into. I’m definitely thinking shawl… maybe Simple Things or Bakersfield. Wishful thinking is the Traveling Woman Shawl. I think it’s beyond my skill level at this point.

Also, I plunged back into my shawl at Knitting Night yesterday. I’d guestimate I’m about one third done the pattern (Argante).

I think I’ve gotten over the apparent ‘loss’ of my crafty mojo. In fact, it may never have been lost in the first place… I think I just felt discouraged by the yarn tangle and the fabric miscalculation. Anyway, I’ve even started to look at sewing projects and tutorials online as well as sewing books from the library… so I’m feeling very inspired.