Ravelry

Blogging and registering to Ravelry looked like , at least for me, come hand in hand. This pair means you want to be "active" in knitting/crocheting world.
Anyway, I got my invitation to Ravelry.
My username there is chicain. I thought I would register under the same name as I use here, but I was a little too excited when I got the invitation that I totally forgot that. Uh-oh. I thought of re-registering with "O'chica", but that means I have to wait another month to use it to organize my knitting stuff. I am not that patient. So, I got kinda double identity in knitting world already. I managed to remember to use same picture in profile for here and Rivelry. That would help someone to recognize me enough.

42 days to..

I live in a rental house. The landlord is very nice, beautiful couple who live one mile from us and we have a very good relationship, to say at least. This year, I planned to knit a pair of socks for each of them, Mr. and Mrs. landlord. He loves fishing and she often stays up late to study (she is in a graduate school to be a school psychiatrist), what else fits them better than wool socks?
She looks to fit in any size M garment for women, but he is a tall guy. I didn't want take a risk of guessing his size and ending up too small. So, I asked their shoe size when he came to fix (well, replace) my garbage disposal in the kitchen. Thank goodness I asked! It was about one inch larger than my first guess. Problem is, now I made it official by asking their size to knit socks for them, I have to FINISH them. BEFORE we go back to Japan on holidays.
So, I chose this yarn. Nice, SPORT WEIGHT, machine washable & dryable yarn. Gems sport( 100% Merino) from louet. 100g/225 yards.

My sock pattern is pretty simple. One cable on each side (to keep track on row counting), K2P2 rib on instep and all along leg for better fit. I like to make it toe up because that's the way I made my first pair for adult, not a bootie, but after I made a few cuff down pairs, I am pretty confortable with both ways. I prefer short-row toe&heel. This time, though, I use round toe for HIS pair. (I haven't made my mind how HER pair is going to be in detail.) Usually, I use circular needles, either 2 circs or magic-loop method, to make my socks. This time, because I want to work cables in the middle of a needle, I want to start the round from somewhere between side-center and back-(or front-)center, which means starting short-row toe with provisional CO is incovenient for me. Well, I can manage but I don't like moving the beginning of a round more than a few stitches. I am not afraid of DPNs, so, using DPNs and trying round toe looks confortable.

I started HIS pair 2 weeks ago, one sock done in about 10 days. It required some trial and errors, so, second one can be done quicker. HER pair should be a breeze after HIS pair. So I hope.

Saved

After adding handle, the "overfelt" bag looks pretty good. At least, for me and for my husband. I think I can say that he is an ideal spouse for a knitter. He...
1. doesn't complain about my buying yarns / knitting books / tools. ( He has a pretty good collection of piano scores.)
2. doesn't want more socks than I can manage to knit for him.
3. enjoys bulky sweaters which has a bit too "relaxed" after washing. (I knit them before I learn to measure my swatches before and after washing)
4. can laugh with me when something goes funny. I mean, like overfelting or too-much dropping the drop spindle while learning to spin. Or, overgrown sock knit without swatching.

Of course he is picky about designs and colors of his garments, but, after all, he is just a man. I am OK to accept his tastes (I mean, narrowness of it) as long as I can knit happily.

I did it!

I am a knitter, not a sewer. (I am imagining myself as Lighting McQueen, saying " I am a racecar, not a bulldozer.") But sometimes, out of need, I sew. These are my newest ones. Yes, wizard (witch) robes.
First one is for my 3-yr old daughter. She is a bit like Hermione, bushy hairs, running around holding multiple books in her arms. We chose an angel costume for her first trick-or-treating this year, but to go with the witch hat I bought at Wal-mart ($2.49 or so) last year (and still keep), I thought she needs a robe anyway, if not for Halloween. Maybe she could wear for the Texas Renaissance Festival this weekend, or just for dress-ups.
Second one is for myself. The witch hat from Wal-mart is adult size, I bought it for me. I need a robe, too!

Anyway, as always, they look OK only in this picture. In closer look, ..... no, don't give them a closer look.
And, as always, I love them and am proud of myself making them.

First Post

Recently, I knitted golf club covers for my husband. I had quite a lot of leftover yarn and wanted to use them up, made a bag to fit a store-bought canvas bag (as a lining) when felted. And..... overfelted it.
I love it. I love its texture (firm), I love its color, all curves and lines as it turned up. But, nevertheless, after all, it is overfelted, much much more than I had planned.

That's when I decided to begin blogging about my knitting.

I am pretty confindent about my knitting. I make a swatch, get a gauge (more to modify the pattern to fit MY GAUGE than to fit my gauge to the PATTERN). And, sometimes, like this time, the product turns out .... well, not as I planned. Still, I love all my products as it turned out. I want to take a picture of them, keep the pictures so I can recall after they are worn out.

So, this is my place to keep pictures and thoughts about my knitting projects.