I am not wearing anything that I made

That’s right… in the snow state-of-emergency that we’re experiencing today, I grabbed the closest things to me while heading out to de-snowify my car: my Victoria’s Secret free garterstitch scarf, my Vera Wang hat (with the squirrel tail poof) and my Isotoner mittens.

I feel kind of bad… but then I wrap my scarf around me one more time (that bad boy can fit about 4 times around my neck!) and slip my mittens on and get all cozy in this office- which is freezing!- and look out the window at the poor saps out there in the ice/snow mixture that’s currently falling from the sky.

It’s actually kind of pretty.

sure... there's snow out there! Really!

Winter is finally here!

I woke up after a long night of sleeplessness and looked out the window. The entire backyard is covered in white fluffiness! It’s a beautiful morning in Hartland and I was ready to get out into the cold with the prettiness that is the first REAL snow of the season.

I’m walking around campus this morning and I see flurries start coming down again. I walk the path from one building to another with my face pointed toward the sky and a smile on my face.

My friend calls me in incredulity on the fact that he saw a couple flurries last night and now the ground is covered in white. He’s not happy but I get all giddy whenever I think about the snow coming down!

Winter, it seems, is upon us

And I couldn’t be more excited.

Everywhere around me I see people all bundled up in hats, mittens scarves… cozy sweaters (or sweater vests on you guys(LOVE!)) and everything that could be needed to keep away the chill of an already cold winter.

I love this time of year… not only does it look gorgeous outside but it gives me reason to pull out all my scarves and newly made hats and try them out- a different one every day. I love the superbly long scarves that I can wrap around my neck about 5 times, the mittens with the fuzzies on the inside (Sadly, my Isotoner mittens are the only non-handmade items I wear!), and the hats with the flaps that may make you look like an idiot but they’re too cute to pass up!

Knitting caters to this time of year so I love being able to make something beautiful that I can wear constantly. I love the feeling of my newly made wool scarf around my neck, keeping me warm. I love the cold wind through my hair and the after-smell of the cold that’s left behind.

Dougherty draped over Spoilt

Here’s my dilemma with winter… I live in this state that sees a lot of snow every winter yet people still act like this change in season is the biggest surprise they’ve ever experienced! Why can’t you drive properly??

Anthony pt. 2

I said I’d promise to post pictures of Anthony’s scarf. Other than pictures though, I thought I’d give a little bit more.

I learned a very important lesson while knitting this scarf: The yarn has a mind of its own.

Regardless of how much I try to make everything perfectly and at the length I’d like, the items I create never usually make something in the way I’d intend.

With Anthony’s scarf, I wanted to make it 6 feet long. When I finally finished casting off, it wound up being about 9 feet long. I was worried this would be too long but the look on Anthony’s face was completely worth it and he didn’t hate it.

Anthony... wearing his scarf

The yarn itself is really soft even though it’s acrylic. When it was knit up, in the vertical fashion it was really soft and plush. I knew that it would have the appearance of a rib stitch but I feel like it has a better aesthetic feeling… that and it was super easy to make. Garterstitch only is the best thing to make up a scarf because it’s so easy…

The only problem with this scarf was that it was so heavy that my fingers started to go numb after a while. I guess it was totally worth it though. The scarf wound up being super warm and you could wrap it around yourself about 4 times to keep you incredibly warm.

Scarf all wrapped up, ready to be sent to its new owner!

It had been a long trial with this scarf and I’m working on two other scarves for friends but I have to make it shorter for my two other friends who are not more than 6 feet tall.

In the mean time I’m working on a great scarf out of Dougherty and, as soon as I get to Joann Fabrics, I’ll be able to pick up Alicia’s yarn for her hat!

Anthony

You can probably hear me sighing from my perch in the Library as I post this.

It’s been a trial and error- mostly error- time with Anthony’s scarf.

I love Caron’s products. I always make items super cheap with their stuff and I found all the yarn for my friends’ Christmas presents through Caron.
I went with the tried and true: Caron Simply Soft. Then I looked to the left and saw “Simply Soft: Eco” and thought it was worth a try. It was the same price as the Simply Soft but was just a little bit softer.

I first tried a simple garter stitch but I didn’t like how it looked so I decided to try a rib stitch but I hated how that looked and finally settled on the vertical scarf via garterstitch. Mom said it was a beautiful effect when turning the stitches so they appear as vertical stripes on the yarn.

THEN (yes the mistakes continue) I started knitting but found that it was too short. When I went to graft another piece to it, the seam was so ridiculously clear that I couldn’t keep it like that and respectfully give it to him.

So I frogged it… all of it…

Then I made the swatch and figured out how many stitches I’d need for it to be 6 feet with the needles I was using.

After casting on 300 sts, I found that the sts were completely crammed on the circulars I was using. I dealt with it until my mom’s metal circulars BROKE.

Yup. They broke. The nylon just separated from the metal part of the needle in a clean break. It was saddening but I dealt with it and went out and bought a new pair of bamboo needles to repay mom for her loss and I got me a pair too.

I lost one stitch in the process of trying to get the yarn back on needles. Luckily I picked it up the following row so, while there’s a tiny hole where the stitch was lost, I didn’t lose all that much ego boosting quality.

Having 300 sts on the needles is a bit daunting and I’m finding myself wishing I hadn’t put so many on, but I just keep plowing through and finish every row one at a time. I don’t think about how many rows I have left… and if I’m tired I remember that Anthony is going to be so happy with this scarf (he already is and he’s not seen it yet!).

I’m so far around 16 rows. I’ve got about 10 more depending on how wide I want it. I’ll probably stop when it reaches about 6 inches wide since I feel like a scarf doesn’t have any quality unless it’s thick and wide- better to cover you up in the cold weather!

It’s perfect timing too. The semester is over in just a couple weeks and then Anthony is going abroad- hopefully to some cold countries!- and will be taking the scarf with him. We’ve recently been getting some seriously cold weather and we’re expecting our first snow in Milwaukee so I’m hoping to have it done for him tomorrow so he can start wearing it and hopefully keep warm and comfy while braving the many wind tunnels that populate UW-Milwaukee.

I promise I’ll post pictures as soon as this sucker is done. It’s taking a lot longer than I thought it would. I’m glad to be making it though. I love the feeling of seeing their faces light up when I give people one of my presents. There’s such a gratifying look on their faces that just lights up my life regardless of my stress level.

Yup… pictures will go right here!

Anthony’s basic black scarf
Size 10.5 needles
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft Eco. Colorway Black
Bought at Joann Fabrics and Crafts- Brookfield WI.

I’m feeling a deep sense of ennui

What is ennui? A deep, metaphysical, angst.

I’ve been so wrapped up in everything that’s going on with school, having the last day of my second-to-last semester only 14 days away, having my planner bleed blue ink because there’s no space left to write, and having to get applications and internship papers in before the end of the semester so I can actually get an internship…and everything that just makes me want to curl up under my blankets, cry for a while, and not come out for a week…

So I knit to make myself feel better. Even if just for a moment.

Graham

Yet another Neckwarmer

I’ve been very busy at homework and whatnot so I haven’t had a chance to talk about this lovely neckwarmer!

I mentioned it a while back but I finally got a chance to finish it/wear it out.

I went out shopping during the summer and stopped at this little yarn boutique in my hometown. I don’t usually shop there but I was looking for something to do and I wasn’t looking to drive to either Oconomowoc or Milwaukee. So I stayed right where I was and I found this great wool.

It took me about an hour to make it through all the hiding places for yarn in this place. It also took me this long to find a yarn that was cheaper than what I’d find anywhere else (the prices are astronomical!) so when I found this yarn at 10 dollars a skein, I thought it was pretty decent and I picked out two colors that I thought went well- Turquoise and burnt orange.

At first I went with the intention of finding my Ravenclaw colors of Bronze and navy blue, but struck out yet again. I was still pretty happy with my choice and started working on it after it had been in the yarn-bucket for a while.

I started making a neckwarmer, because with my busy schedule, neckwarmers are super easy to put into my purse or backpack and carry around with me. I only needed one skein at a time because I knew I’d never have enough time to futz around with two skeins or make enough progress that I’d need two skeins…

Anyway-

So I cast on about 95 or 100 sts and started working. I debated for a while about making it the two solid colors, just switching to the other color when I was finished with one but then the thought of ‘what if one color is longer than the other?’ blah blah blah. I figured stripes would be a good compromise. And it was

This neckwarmer is so ridiculously warm and comfortable that I don’t even know I’m wearing it half the time. The colors work really well together and I enjoy the bunchy look it gives. Also, when I was cold while walking to the bus one day (and my hair was pulled back), it turned out to be a great tam.

I enjoyed the heck out of this design. It was my first striped item (with even stripes that is…) and I love the stark contrast it gives between it and my black jacket and mittens. The blue even helps bring out my eyes.

Needless to say, I gave myself a pat on the back for that one.

It’s SWATCHIE TIME

It’s time I talked about Swatches

Swatches are little samples of the knitting you plan to do and they’re super easy and ridiculously helpful when it comes to making an item when you don’t really know how long it needs to be

So…

I’m making Anthony a scarf and I’ve made this thing 6 different ways before taking it all apart and then putting it back together and then taking it apart again.

So I gave up temporarily but then realized that I had not yet made a swatch of this yarn. This is technically the first swatch I’ve made but it seemed like a necessary evil.

So I cast on 20 sts and knit for 20 rows.

His name is swatchie and he shall be mine!

Since I’m making this scarf vertically, I needed to figure out how many sts were in one inch, then multiply that amount by 72 inches.

I wanted the scarf to be about 6 feet long, because Anthony is slightly taller than 6 feet and I wanted it to be a comfortable length. At 4 sts per inch I figured about 288 sts. I cast on 300 sts to add a few more inches.

Here’s hoping!

Who wants a hat?

I’m going on a spree of getting rid of my scrap yarn. I have giant amounts of yarns that I’ll never think of what to make out of them so I think a hat spree will be a good idea. I’m planning on working on them after I’m done with a friend’s Christmas present, and Anthony’s scarf (Thanksgiving weekend I’ll be done, my friend!)

So… 15 dollars for a crocheted hat sound reasonable? I think I’ll start working now and sell them as I make them.

oy…

It’s been a very hectic couple of weeks what with school and having a social life and dealing with everything that’s on my plate right now. From all of this, I’ve had barely any time to do any knitting.

I took a sick day on Friday because of a lack of sleep and a looming sore throat that may have turned into something else had I not started taking care of myself more. So I stayed home, watched movies with a mug of hot apple cider and my knitting. Wrapped in a cozy sweater and under my comforters, I didn’t leave my bed except to eat and use the restroom. It was a very successful day.

I got quite a bit of work done on Gryffindor. It’s hard getting back into the groove of things- especially when the groove includes size 17 needes and double-stranded yarn. While it might seem like needles of this size would allow the knitting to go faster, using this buggers is more like a cramp waiting to happen.

So I became the tortoise: Slow and steady wins the race

This scarf is super plush and I can’t wait for it to be done so I can show it off.

Etsy is easy… but worth it?

After hearing about Etsy.com from a couple fellow bloggers in class, I decided to check it out.

Etsy is a Web site dedicated to people for selling their hand-made or vintage items. It’s free to sign up and there are thousands of items to peruse and purchase.

So I looked up hand-knit scarves and was completely astonished at what I found: There were tons of scarves ranging in price of $15 to almost $200.

Who in their right mind would pay $200 for a scarf?! Hell, who in their right mind would pay more than $50 for a scarf?

I usually cap my purchase of yarn at $15 per skein and that’s only if it has nearing 200 yards on the hank. 200 yards makes a beautiful scarf and you don’t need to charge $75 for labor.

Knitting should be something you love to do that just so happens to give you a business… not something you do to make a profit.

Many of these scarves, while very pretty, are made of a generic Garter Stitch or Stockinette Stitch* but the yarn doesn’t seem to be the thing people are paying for. Many of these yarns can be bought for at most 15 or 20 dollars for a MASS amount of yarn. Then using a large needle, they create the simple scarf and charge an extreme amount of money for it. (see this item, for example. I don’t think I’d want to get rid of this honey. It’s beautiful and so simple- why is it so expensive then?!)

While it might take me a while to make a scarf of this type, why would you want to sell it? Even if you’re *attempting* to sell it for $80 when someone could easily sell it more successfully for $30. That’s more than half the price for a one-of-a-kind item.

If the goal is to sell your items, I’m sure there are plenty of people out there whom you know that will be willing to purchase a hand-made scarf, hat, pair of mittens-whatever off you. That way you don’t have to charge up to 10 dollars for shipping (Really? Is this item 5 lbs?) and you’ll be able to see your items in the real world and get the satisfaction of having it out there!

I don’t think I’ll be setting up an account with Etsy any time soon… Instead I think I’ll set up a PayPal account so that people (even internationally) can request scarves or hats and I’ll gladly create a one-of-a-kind item for them and they can go out with the satisfaction that NOTHING created by me will be anything like it.

Silver lining? I have a ton of ideas on Scarf designs to attempt!

*Stokinette stitch: Knit one row, purl the next. I don’t prefer to use this stitch on flat items because this stitch curls… a lot. It’s usually used for mittens or sweaters- even hats.

**DISCLAIMER** I do not mean to insult the person who is selling the scarf on Etsy. If it were cheaper, I might consider buying it.