Knitting; Petal Dish Cloth

So I lied, but I'm working longer than planned. Thus, not as much time to stop & take pictures. I haven't been able to knit that much either & I feel like knitting isn't a big summer hobby. It's more so for the chillier months & trust me, these particular summer months have been extremely hot, hot, hot!

The other day I went to a bar & while shuffling through my purse pulled a string of yarn out. I was trying to put it back in, but it was unraveling from the ball so I pulled it out & rolled it back up. I thought I was being sneaky & quick, but some of the guys saw & the comments ensued. I hastily stuff my work back in my purse & blushed a bit. HAHA! I am NOT a closet knitter.

So although I haven't been knitting so much, I have been slowly progressing on my knitting glossary. Trying to figure out what to put in it aside from the typical k - knit, p - purl, & etc. Will put it in it's own separate post... later.

So here's what I've been working on; Petal Dishcloth w/ Sugar'n Creme in Barnboard Twists & size 5 needles. I initially used size 8, but I wanted a dishcloth, not a potholder so I downsized b/c I never gauge. (bad girl!) Like I said, just boring little dishcloths that are quick & simple. However, I don't like when I'm seaming up the end & it gets lumpy. I'm wondering if you can make it so that there's no discrepancy as to where the beginning & end is b/c it is a round dishcloth.

Sorry, the best I could do was a shoddy camera phone picture.

So of course I had to add my twosense to the pattern b/c I have the tendency to stop in the middle, lose count, & get frustrated & unravel a ton of work! So here I go...

So when you are about to turn your work to knit back on the WS, you will always have multiples of two.

NOTE: Rows 1-6 start on the RS then turn work to WS, but row 7 is just the WS. Additional note are in (parentheses) & italicized!

Instructions: Cast on 16 stitches

(16 st) Row 1: Slip 1 stitch, K 3, yarn over (YO), K 10 (2 st left), turn and Knit back (15 st).

(17 st) Row 2: Slip 1 stitch, K 3, YO, K 9 (4 st left), turn and Knit back (14 st).

(18 st) Row 3: Slip 1 stitch, K 3, YO, K 8 (6 st left), turn and Knit back (13 st).

(19 st) Row 4: Slip 1 stitch, K 3, YO, K 7 (8 st left), turn and Knit back (12 st).

(20 st) Row 5: Slip 1 stitch, K 3, YO, K 6 (10 st left), turn and Knit back (11 st).

(21 st) Row 6: Bind off 5 stitches, Knit (15 st) to end of row (16 st).

(16 st) Row 7: Knit across row.

Repeat these 7 rows until there are 12 points.

Bind off next row, leaving 12 inch end. Stitch around center, pull together and join 2 sides.

Also, you can make the "petals" in different colors by changing yarns every 7 rows.

I use "so" a lot. :|

623/356

Working

So I've been working. I guess a real job. I am still commuting via train, but my train ride is too short to pull out my knitting & go at it. especially b/c I get nervous about missing my stop. The SEPTA is too confusing for me & then they up & go change the schedule on me & my 15 min direct train ride turns into a 25-40 mins one-transfer train ride.

I've been knitting dish rags/clothes. They're quick & easy. You can use them at dish washing clothes or as pot holders (the larger ones).

Promise I will update before the end of August w/ a good post... w/ pictures!

Knitting; Cowl Scarf

I want to make a cowl scarf.

I feel like i need something tangible before I just go & start casting on stitches. But alas... the season for scarves is over & I haven't finished a scarf I started in February. I mean the garter stitch guys... booooooring! It proves to be a nice scarf tho. I have one of my own, the cream colored one that I knotted at both ends.

OH... tip of the day. When I start some projects and I want a nice tight looking yet stretchy start ("cast on") to my work, I cast on double the number of original stitches & then K2tog for the first row & then proceed w/ the pattern. I do this b/c i tend to cast on WAY too tightly & I almost always use the long tail cast on.

I think I'm going to create a glossary of terms. Why not, right... yeah. Eventually I will.

Knitting; Button Up Leg Warmers

Leg warmers [original post] for my sister are done! Oh, buttons are expensive, more so that I thought. 18 plain black buttons + shipping = $15.50. They had ones that I wanted at Jo-Ann Fabrics, but when I asked for 18 they said that their stock of buttons were limited (only 8 available in the whole store!) & suggested I look online for the brand. Anyways they're done; here are the pictures.

I have to say they look much better sans jeans, but what can ya do... we were short on time.

Knitting; Ribbed Lace Bolero

So I'm currently working on a ribbed lace bolero. This will be my third time making this. The first time I made it WAY too small for myself. So I made it again & it was still too small. So I gave it to my oldest sister, who is smaller than me; btw she's a mother of three children. [yeah...]

So I'm using the same color as pictured. I don't consider myself a large framed person & my measurements were similar to the sample. I eventually realized my gauge was WAYYYY smaller than the creator of this lovely pattern.

So i decided to go much bigger. Lesson learned:

test your gauge before proceeding to make the

whole garment b/c recasting is WAY better than

unraveling a whole garment upon completion. [and I did unravel the first one I made b/c there's no one that I know who is THAT small.

I suggest that your cast on about 22 [multiple of 4+2] & jump straight into the pattern:

row 1: k1 (k2together, yo, yo, ssk) repeat lace pattern until 1 stitch left, k1

row 2: p1 (p1, p1 into first yo, p1 into the back of the second yo, p1) repeat lace pattern until 1 stitch left, p1

for a few rows & measure. Did you waste some time? NO! You are knitting smart.

I am what I like to call a "conservative knitter" which is opposite of what it sounds like if you're thinking yarn. I knit tight. I end up using more yarn so I'm not conservative in that aspect, but yeah... I think you get it.

Anyways... here's video of how to do these confuzzling "yo, yo" & "p1 into first yo, p1 into the back of the second yo" that I had oh so much trouble figuring out. Here you go,

don't mind my stuffy nose!!!

Here is the cable knitting portion of the Ribbed Lace Bolero.

Here's the bind/cast off for this pattern; Elizabeth Zimmerman's sewn bind off.

...your welcome.

Wine

Black Box
Vintage: 2007
Product of California
Appellation: "Finest growing regions"
Grape Veriety: Merlot
Average price: $20 for 3 liters (4 bottles) wow!

Appearance:
Color : dark purple, similar to two buck chuck
Thickness : viscous

Nose:
Aromas : dark berries; cherries, raspberries, strawberries
Length : short finish

Taste:
far from dry, light bodied, not intense at all, very soft tannins, very light finish

Other Comments:

It's easy to drink. Apparently it's all the rage to drink wine out of a box in Europe, at least that's what the box tries to convince you of doing. Their catch phrase; "Think inside the box." Yeah, cute. I'm not saying the wine is bad, but I doubt that wine connoisseurs (myself being far from one) will ever get over the stigma of drinking wine out of a box. When i poured myself a glass, I way over poured. If it comes out of a box, you're usually drinking as much as you can. Okay... maybe only in college. Well, I'm getting buzzed b/c it's so easy to drink. I put some in my pasta bake... gotta go check on that!!

Comes with directions on how to open the box. Just incase kiddos! Located on the bottom on the box! I'm proud to say that I opened the box w/out the instructions & found them conveniently when I took pictures.

Haha, forgive me, I've had almost the whole glass now. OH, my pasta.

Commercials

This commercial was from last year & I'm pretty sure most people don't know what Tesco is b/c I sure don't. Well, okay now I do, thank you wikipedia. I <3 V. Becks... well now you know!

And to further prove it...

yeah, I got my hair cut like hers too.