dustbunny105 | Entries tagged with knitting

No migraine this morning but I did have an eye-searing, nauseous headache and kept gagging on drainage. I thought I really had caught something off one of the kids at first but I felt better by the early afternoon and feel almost completely better now. I think it was the combination of pain and winter morning sinus trouble that had me thinking I was actually sick. Part of me feels stupid for staying home over what turned out to be nothing but I guess the thing to try to remember is a) how I feel now after sleeping or relaxing most of the day should not be understood as how I would feel now if I'd gone to work and b) better safe than sorry, especially working in a fairly small office suite.

Once I woke up again and realized I was feeling better, I did some more work on the second sweater. I mentioned before that I was knitting it in strips but I think I forgot to mention I was then sewing those strips into stripes. I got white and navy blue yarn and was planning to do horizontal stripes. After finishing the first white stripe, however, I realized that the white yarn is, for some reason, not as fluffy as the blue and so the fabric it creates isn't as plush. It still feels nice but it also feels distinctly different, not to mention it's clearly not the same weight. In light of that, I decided to do the whole sweater in blue and use just a little white as a trim. Feels a bit silly to be sewing a bunch of blue "stripes" together, tbh, but that's just where I am.

As for the white yarn, I'll probably make that into a third sweater-- so much for crocheting the next one, lol. Might do a scarf and hat instead, though that would leave me with this white stripe for nothing. I'm hoping I'll have enough blue yarn left over to use that as a trim color for whatever I make.

You guys remember that sweater I was making for my nephew that I was so sure I was on the cusp of finishing? Yeah, it's still not finished, lol. These sleeves are kicking my butt. I think I'm going to have to just give up on the idea of knitting them directly from the sweater itself and instead make them as separate pieces to be attached. Honestly, I'm not sure why I've been clinging so desperately to the idea of doing them like this. It's just that it's the idea that I went in with, I guess.

I've also started another sweater, this one for my littlest niece (nephew's sister). I got some fluffy yarn from Hobbii that I was originally intending to crochet, on account of I forgot how annoying it is to crochet with fluffy yarn. I gave it a few tries but it was just too much for too little. So, more knitting! I'm using straight needles this time, though, since the other sweater is still on my circulars. I got some nice bamboo needles cheap at a flea market forever ago and never did anything with them and it's honestly a dream to use them with this yarn-- and the fabric is so nice to touch! Since the needles are a little short for what I want to do, I've been knitting in strips and then sewing the strips together as I go. That description makes it sound really tedious but the strips work up so well-- and the fluff hides the seams so well-- that I've been finding it almost as meditative as the circulars. I might even finish this one before the other one, lol.

Next time I decide to make a sweater, though, I'm going back to crochet. I like how this is all coming out despite my setbacks and I don't hate the process but it just doesn't have that spark.

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I keep meaning to post and then I just... don't. Or else I get too caught up in the idea that I have to recap eeeverything since my last appearance and, uh. Yeah, that's not gonna happen, lol.

But, hey, might as well talk about something! Been seeing and lot of my sister and her kiddo, as per usual, and we're now becoming regulars at a little tea café that's opened up near my house. Or, well, I guess I'm officially a regular, having gone three Saturdays in a row. I've taken my sister and nephew the last times-- and my mom the last time, which makes me want to just keep bringing progressively larger groups like in a picture book or something, haha. Honestly, though, the place is so cute and has such a great menu that I kinda wanna bring everyone I know at least once. If my laptop battery weren't so dodgy, I'd take it with me and see about getting some writing done while I'm there.

Oh, that's another thing-- I'm doing NaNoWriMo again! Well, kinda. More like I'm using it as a word count goal and participating in sprints to work on WIPs and other languishing ideas, rather than tackling the challenge proper. I haven't consistently hit the daily goal but I've done well enough that I'm juuust about on time and I am looking to hit the 50k. Whether or not I'll actually get anything finished within that 50k is another matter, of course, but I am hopeful. I would especially like to make time to work on a couple originals-- including another potential submission for Mermaids Monthly-- but for now, I'm basking in the satisfaction of getting some solid work done on a few fanfics. I've been struggling to do much that I'm really interested in and I think it's largely because the ideas I'm most interested in right now are longfics and not that's never been my specialty. I very much want to improve my skills in that regard, though, so please do wish me luck!

In a similar vein, in that it involves creating things, I've been trying to get back onto a roll as far as crafting. I had to unravel two blankets-- fairly early into the process for one of them, thankfully-- but I'm much happier with the direction they're both taking now. I really want to start working on Christmas gifts as well but I haven't quite decided what to make for who. I'll probably just do a bunch of winter sets, plus maybe some toys for the little bits. Need to get a move on if I wanna get them done in time, though. Of course, it would help if the older niblings would quit changing their favorite colors!! They make it so hard to plan color schemes, haha. I'm also procrastinating on my dress again due to reconsidering the construction a bit and because I'm worried about whether it will fit by the time it's done. I've slimmed down a lot since I started already, due to more diligent workouts and improved eating habits, and I'm looking to finally work toward building some muscle mass. The dress isn't super formfitting but it will still hang really weird if it doesn't fit my upper torso.

And now to segue from the Transformers dress to the Transformers convention I was meant to have gone to last month... in short, I didn't go. Again. (*uglysob*) If it had been just me and my mom, I probably would've, but I had my older two niblings to think of. I was already not feeling great about it because, at the time, they were a little too young to be vaccinated and also I was worried about them bringing something back to my baby niece, who already gets sick a lot. The final nail, though, was poor planning. I'm used to getting my con tickets at the door because a) no online processing fee and b) online ticket purchases are non-refundable except in the case of con cancellation and crap can happen. I'm so used to this that I completely failed to consider capacity limitations. By the time it occurred to me, kid tickets for the Saturday were sold out and so were the all-day adult tickets. What was left was a ticket to, essentially, get in at some point on Saturday probably. Not the experience I was looking forward to sharing, to say the least. So, we cancelled and now we're aiming for next year's fall con. I'm still looking to attend TFcon LA in March, though, so I really do need to get a move on with that dress orz

Lastly, on account of it's the last thing I can think of off the top of my head, I finally took the time to beat Pokémon Moon! I'm running around now completely ignoring the post-game plot in favor of finishing my Pokédex. I've got a long way to go on it, since catching some 'mon was an unholy pain in the neck, but I'm having fun. Once I get all the way through with this, I think I might have a go at Plants vs Zombies.

Now, to try to catch up on what everyone else has been up to!

ETA: WAIT, HOW DID I FORGET. So, you may remember me talking about the stray kitty I found and took in. What I never got around to reporting is that her name is now Peppercorn ♥

My latest red yarn arrived and, folks, we have a winner :,D

I did up a quick swatch of the new red and the white I'm using and, as I hoped, the thicknesses of the yarns are an almost perfect match. The red is a lovely deep shade, resting comfortably within my acceptable range. I am a little disappointed because it looked brighter-- and thus more in keeping with how the Autobot symbol has appeared across media-- in the seller's photos but I think the boldness of the shade is well-suited to the faction. And, honestly, is closer to what I think of when I picture of the symbol off the top of my head, lol. It'll do nicely.

So! Gonna be re-starting my dress properly this weekend. I should probably make sure I have any necessary notes written down first before I forget about it, just in case I need to step away for another length of time. Might be a good idea, too, to work out some goals for its completion. Y'know, something a little more specific than "get done by TFcon." I've got a couple other things I want to get done this weekend-- more marshmallows, a short story to submit to Mermaids Monthly, maybe a little fic for Medic May-- so we'll see how it goes!

The second red yarn I ordered arrived and I was excited when I laid eyes on it-- it was red! Immediately identifiably red! But the longer I looked at it, the more I realized that was the only reason I was excited about it. It's not the red that I want for the project. I guess I'll be making another top, lol.

I tried looking again for those other red yarns I mentioned but I never did find them available for the US. I even checked eBay and no dice. While I was checking eBay, though, I found another yarn that miiight just work, My concern isn't the color in this case but the size-- it's listed as being one weight class below the yarn I'm using. But the size given on the label can be fiddly and the recommended needle size is the same... Plus I was offered a deal and had reward points I could redeem on the purchase, so. Y'know.

A couple of yarns on Amazon also looked like good possibilities but were more expensive. I'm still keeping them bookmarked just in case this latest one also fails to pan out. Wish me luck!

I went ahead and ordered another red yarn but I don't have high hopes for it. The product pic looks like it could be right buuut the color name is "rose" and that tends to imply pink. I guess we'll see. I actually found a couple other reds that I had more faith in but the only site I could find them on doesn't ship to the US because of of course, lol. If this next one doesn't work out, I might just consider dying my own yarn again. Honestly, I'm boggling that it's this hard to get red. It's a primary color, for crying out loud! XD

Oh, I forgot to mention. I gave that crimson yarn a fair shot and, uh. Yeah, no, it's not gonna work. The white does nothing at all to make it look more red, lol. I considered going ahead with it since orange is also an Autobot-associated color but even aside from the fact that I'm just making excuses at that point, it's simply not what I want. Gonna have to find a different yarn-- and, depending on how long it'll take to get what I need, perhaps rethink the design for my dress again.

I will be keeping the yarn, though, and making a top out of it. It's a good yarn for this time of year-- a blend of cotton and bamboo-- and apparently orange is my color, lol.

Well, my red yarn arrive and it, uh. It is not as red as it looked in the product photo, lol. I'm not sure yet whether I'll have to try something else-- gonna swatch it and see if looks better beside the white-- buuut it's a distinct possibility.

I may have to rethink my dress again. When I ordered the red yarn, I decided to wait for it to arrive because I wanted to add a red stripe at the collar. I somehow overlooked that the yarn is being sent from the UK, lol. I thought they had a warehouse in the US. And now I'm not sure I want to wait that long. Not that I know quite how long I'll be waiting, as my shipping notice did not include any tracking information or even an estimated delivery date. I emailed about it, though, so maybe I'll change my mind when I know what's what. I just don't want my enthusiasm to cool before I get started.

The third attempt on my dress had a few false starts-- I stand by my decisions re: the circular needles I'm using but casting on and joining is such a paaain-- but it's smooth sailing now! I've made my choice of red yarn, just have to order it now. I'm making sure to take proper notes as I rework my plans for pattern alterations, too, so even if I set the project down for longer than is advisable, I won't be lost when picking it up again, haha.

Speaking of picking things up again and also Transformers-related projects, I have been truant in my crochet replica. In my defense, I misplaced my thread while reorganizing. That's not much of a defense when I only misplaced one color, admittedly, but it was the color I needed to follow my preferred path to constructing the pieces. Now that I have found it-- in one of the most obvious possible places, natch-- I'm excited to get into it again... again. I've decided to try to have it done in time to enter the art contest at the convention. I don't know how well my brain will take to a repetition of that deadline when it didn't work out the first time but I'm trying to be positive :D

Well, I unraveled my dress. I wasn't actually going to, at least not yet, but I put it down wonky after not properly securing the needles and kinda had to. Then I messed up what was supposed to be a controlled, minor unravel. Several times. Eventually, I just said screw it. So, yeah, I'm starting again. This'll be my third time trying to make this dress, so here's hoping it'll be the charm.

I'm gonna probably order the red yarn I need when I get paid this week. I kept putting it off due to waffling over what dupe to try (the yarn I'm using isn't available in red) and not having it on hand was a big contributor to my procrastination. I feel like I'm more likely to stick to a routine if I don't have that excuse anymore.

Despite unraveling being an overall bummer, I'm feeling pretty positive about this go around! The last attempt had a few errors I noticed too late to easily back up and while I tried to reassure myself about them, it feels good to be working with a clean slate. I think that's going to help me want to work on this more consistently too.

I pulled out my Autobot dress to work on again and realized that a) I can't remember how exactly I modified the pattern I was using, b) I don't know what happened to the notes I made about it and c) I probably wouldn't understand them if I found them because I suck at taking notes that still make sense once The Moment has passed. I'm gonna do a round to count how many stitches I'm on and see if I can figure it out over again. If not... I mean, I don't like the idea of unravelling a couple hundred rounds of work but at least I have until October to finish?

It's another new comic book day and another promise broken by the IDW Transformers release schedule. The seventeenth issue of the flagship series has been pushed to next week. The Valentine's Day special was released on time today... but my local shop didn't order it and so my hands are empty ;;

And another update on my dress: I did decide to pull my stitches and redo the increases, even after realizing that the first increase round was further back than I remembered (hidden by the curl of the stockinette stitch). I pulled a little too hard and couldn't pick up the stitches, thus had to pull back another row. Then another. Then one or two more. Long story short, guess who had to start from scratch for the seventh time? :D

So. The Autobot dress I'm making. I decided to just keep trucking rather than pull all my stitches and start over yet again. My reasoning was twofold: One, I'm using a different stitch than the pattern calls for and the resulting fabric is less elastic; jumping up an extra size is likely to be to my advantage. Two, I'm just plain tired of having to backtrack.

I've been on a roll the last few days, despite some confusion and frustration over the adjustments I'm making. Also despite my disappointment that the increase the pattern calls for creates a decorative hole in the fabric. It isn't what I wanted but it won't impede what I want to do. I decided I could live with it since that's just what the increase looks like.

Only, guess what? That's not what the increase looks like. This is supposed to be an invisible increase. No cute little hole in the fabric. I've been knitting it wrong. Not only have I been knitting it wrong, I've been so obviously wrong that I'm honestly baffled that I didn't notice it.

The question now is whether I don't want those holes in the fabric more or less than I don't want to undo over six hours of work to remove them...

I'm dealing with a little bit of a thing right now and I may blather about it a bit when it's less raw. Fair warning. Right now, I just wanna focus on unimportant things.

For example, Transformers comics. I mentioned before I'm watching for the breakneck scheduling to crash and burn. The issue last week arrive on time and nothing was scheduled this week. I'm on the edge of my seat to see what goes down with the expected uninterrupted weekly releases.

On another note-- we're getting a Transformers/MLP crossover miniseries! On the one hand, this is ridiculous and I love it and I'll be snatching it up as soon as it comes to trade. On the other... listen. We've had a lot of fun Transformers crossover comics over the last few years. They crossed over with Star Trek recently and Ghostbusters not long after that. The shared Hasbro universe that IDW tossed together in the last continuity saw some neat match-ups with characters from G.I. Joe (a familiar crossover, that) and ROM, as well as Action Man and Visionaries. Idr when the Mars Attacks! crossover was but I remember it. We're getting a crossover with Terminator soon. IDW doesn't even have that license, they're cooperating with Dark Horse. With all this going on and set to go, I ask you: Where, for the love of glamour and glitter, is the Transformers/Jem crossover shenaniganfest we all deserve??

Speaking of Transformers, they've just announced Masterpiece Tigatron and I'm so excited! I figured he couldn't be too far off but I figured that a few years ago, so, y'know. He looks friggin amazing and I intend to enjoy every picture of and piece of information about him I can before the price announcement ultimately devastates me. Fingers crossed for Airazor coming along soon so I can have them both and make them kiss.

A Masterpiece Arcee was also announced and I want to be excited about it-- I don't collect G1 MPs but she does deserve the honor-- but her root mode looks like a mess up top. I know it's just renders and prototypes right now but yeesh. Here's hoping they shape her up in good time. The best-looking 3P MP Arcee right now is still the one that comes with an enhanced chest piece accessory and swappable O-face and was marketed with promotional shots of her in compromising positions with another toy...

Finally, I'm trying to knit myself a dress to wear to TFcon in March. I've only ever knit scarves before and I've never worked in the round, so it's both exciting and concerning. I've had to restart several times now for various reasons. I couldn't find a pattern that quite suited what I wanted, so I'm using a pattern I liked as a guideline. I just realized earlier that the alteration I made to said pattern is not what I meant it to be. Going by the measurements used in the size variations for the pattern, I should have added six stitches to my cast-on. I did that previously but got myself confused this last time and added twelve. I'm four rounds in and I'm torn. I could just keep going and hope it won't make too big of a difference, risking having to pull everything when I get far enough to discover that it is indeed a big difference... or I could pull my stitches now and start again without having to take the time and effort to go that far... Decisions, decisions.

Man, I picked the wrong month to drop the Practice Knitting square from my bingo card. I did it because I've taken more to crochet and I felt like I was pushing myself unnecessarily into another craft which I have less immediate interest in. I figured, y'know, may as well stick to crochet projects and maybe dip into knitting for the Do a Craft square, if I found something that caught my interest.

That was before I decided I wanted to do a Gen 1 Pokémon throw pillow and blanket set. No, actually-- that was before I decided I wanted to do a reversible Gen 1 Pokémon throw pillow and blanket set. If not for the desire to do it as reversible-- that is, in this case, to portray the usual colors on one side and the shiny colors on the other-- I would still be going ahead with doing it in crochet. But while it's possible to do something like that in crochet, it is both a royal pain and doesn't create quite near enough to a flipped image. Double knitting, on the other hand, is tedious and time-consuming but turns out a much cleaner and more aligned final product.

While I'm not going to be beginning this specific project anytime terribly soon-- it's gonna take a bunch of different colors I haven't got, to begin with-- I have pulled out a pair of my needles to work on my skills. I was just about to cheerfully mark the square on my card when I remembered that the square in question wasn't there. Ah, well.