Running

On a different note, I wanted to talk a little about my running. I originally created this blog as a way to share my knitting projects AND my running, so it may seem strange that I have nothing on here about my running. I went to the doctor this Friday, and I found out I have a stress fracture. I guess that was not really a surprise to me, but it still was really hard to hear. I have been waiting and waiting to finally have a good season, and I really thought this cross country season was going to be it. I thought I would be able to have the freshman pull me to the place I know I can be at. It was really hard to see everyone do so well this season, and to not be a part of it. This upcoming track season I am going into behind already, because I am not going to be able to run for quite awhile. All my life I have been given obstacles to overcome; I guess this one will be no different. I know I have to fight through it and do what I know I can, but it is hard when I have not been able to run what I would like. It is really hard to stay positive and believe in myself when season after season I am not accomplishing my goals. Normally I am able to push through the feelings of self-doubt, but it is getting harder and harder to now. I know there are things I can still do to train, and actually those things may be of more service to me than actually running. I just hope I am able to push past this funk I am in to be able to effectively train. 

A few updates: Thanksgiving and new projects

Hello everyone!
I know it has been a long time since I have written, but there has just been so much going on with my life. Last week was Thanksgiving, and it was great to be able to be home and see the family! I also got a lot of knitting done, despite the fact I really should have been focusing on finishing all my classwork before the end of this semester. Eventually I did get all my work done, but doing that has kept me from posting an update on here for quite awhile.
I am going to go in semi-chronological order, as best as I can remember. Miley and I tried our hand at dying yarn again, with some mixed results. We are still not sure how we will be able to do this for a large group, so that is something we have to think about. Here are our newest colors, hers is the bright one, and mine is the one that looks like a snake. :)

Our next task was to roll this into balls, which was very difficult for us to do at first. But we eventually got a system down, where I would use the machine and Miley would hold the yarn. We caused some fights doing this, apparently many of our friends cannot give up on a task once they start. Sorry Ashley and Baxter! Here is how we ended up rolling the yarn with something I call the rolley machine.(not its real name) We found it in the Brit Knits closet, which is something I love to organize and re-organize when I am stressed. Sometime I will show you pictures of what we have there, because I am a very proud member!




When I was home for Thanksgiving, I was showing off my yarn collection to Chris's mom, and she saw my pile of completed projects, which are mostly scarves. She asked for some to donate to the people she visits in the hospital, so of course I said yes. I then realized that because I have spent so much time on Chris's blanket and making things for other people, my donation pile was sorely lacking, I got right to work on that, and here are some of my results. I love the look of K2, P2, it creates something that looks so much nicer that plain knitting, but it is still not difficult. I have been able to add a few scarves to my stash, because I use 2 yarns on size 15 needles they go quite quickly. The red scarf is the only scarf I have made for myself, it is Homespun by Lion. I love using it, the final product is so soft and cuddly. I made it into circle scarf by connecting the finished edges. I do not like the dangling edges, so this works perfectly for me! The pink and tan scarf I am working on right now is one of my favorites, My friends and I have decided to call it "Classy Tea Party". All you need are pearls, and you will  be all set for a New England style party :)

















My small balls of scrap yarn are packed in a bag and ready to go with me on my very long car ride this weekend, so I am excited to be able to make more booties. I need to find a pattern for an easy baby hat as well, so that is added to my list of things to do. So many projects, so little time.

Dying Yarn

Miley and I finally did it, we dyed our own yarn! I was a great experience, with a few successes and a few mistakes. We have wanted to do this for quite some time now, but no one was willing to show us. I started doing some research online, and I found this tutorial online. It looked very simple and easy, so we figured we could give it a shot. Here are some pictures of our fun time. 

 We painted on the color, and it actually ended up working quite well. We did not have a spray bottle, so we painted on the vinegar as well. It was a smelly process, during with Miley complained. I found the whole thing to be well worth it, but perhaps that was because I was sick and unable to smell out my nose. :)

 Here are the finalized skeins. You will notice the large knot in the pink one, it took me 45 minutes to roll it into a ball.To allow the skeins to dry, I created a hanging system in one of my closets, it is wonderful to be an RA and have 2 closets. The bucket underneath was to catch the water that dripped out, I actually thought more would come out so we dropped the yarn down so no water would be able to jump out. 

It was a great experience overall, despite the few mishaps we had. Miley had a color problem; the purple she used was very dark and it ended up bleeding all over her entire project. We also had a lot of color leak out of the saran wrap, but next time we are going to lay that down in a circle instead of a square. We were also really worried about the color, because we were using a different kind of dye than the tutorial. But in the end we were very happy with the result! We used knit picks yarn, with country classics dye. 

I am going home for Thanksgiving break soon, so hopefully I will be able to get some of my projects done! I want to be able to spin my own yarn out of old newspapers. If I can do it this week, I will let you know how it turns out! 

Baby Booties

So I was supposed to work on my homework for classes, since I have been pretending that I am NOT a senior, and that I did NOT have to graduate in the near future. But then my cousin jut had a baby. Babies are adorable, and because I let my sister make her a baby blanket with the yarn I bought I have not  made baby Natalie anything yet. So i started to look up baby booties and hat patterns, and became hooked. It took me forever to find a pattern that was simple and did not involve sock toe turns, and other complicated things I did not understand. But I finally found one! It was confusing at first, but then I just jumped in and found I needed to stop being scared and just do it. I was following this pattern, and where it says to combine the cast on row with the current row was just not making sense to me. But I tried a couple things, and finally I made it work.  I have made 2 pairs so far, and have found they go so quickly!



This is what I am doing to combine where I casted on and where I currently as knitting together. You lay the cast on side directly above where you are currently knitting  Then you grab one of the casted on stitches, then knit a regular stitch. Take the stitch that you casted on that is current on the needle, and slip it over the new stitch. It sounds complicated, and it kind of is. But once you get the hang of it, it all works well. The picture above right is what it looks like once you have joined the edges together.

To the left  is the completed booty before you sew it together. To the right is the booty sewn together, I found it easier to turn it inside out to sew.




  Here is a finished booty! The pink ones i made with 2 different yarns, one size 10 needles with 6 stitches. It was 39 stitches before the join, and 17 to create the bottom. For the green ones, I used size 8 needles with 6 stitches as well. Those ones have 31 stitches before the join, and 13 after.

I plan on making a large amount of booties in varying sizes, and donating them to a local women's shelter. When I get a couple made, I will take a picture of their adorable cuteness so you all can see too :)

Chris's Blanket

So lately I have been working on a blanket mostly, trying to use up some of the yarn that I have been given over the years. It mostly worked, although for some of the colors it just means I have a smaller amount of it. I decided to make squares, 40 of them to be exact. Each square uses 2 different yarns, and looks something like this:







<--Front side
                             Backside -->




The pattern I used is something I called Becca stich, because my friend Becca showed it to me. I am not sure what it is really called, but here is how it is done.

MC-main color

CC-contrasting color

With MC, cast on any number of stitches, as long as they are a multiple of 5. ( I am not sure if they actually have to be a multiple of 5, I am sure if you do more math you can get a more complicated pattern)

Row 1: Knit with MC

Row 2: Knit with MC

Row 3: Knit one with CC, Slip one  

Row 4: Knit one with CC, pull yarn to front (as if you were going to purl) slip one

Repeat!

This pattern looks complicated, but is so easy. You can do it without having to fully concentrate on it, which I fully appreciate as a student. I knit as a stress reliever; I do not want to have to focus incredibly hard on something.  For my blanket, I used size 8 needles with 45 stitches. I used a variety of yarn, and since it was all given to me I am not sure what kind it all was. I know some of it was red heart super saver yarn, and some was Caron Simply Soft. Others were gifts from my grandmother’s connection from 20 years ago.

I finally finished all the squares, and now I am sewing them together. Before when I would attach 2 sides of yarn, I would just go at them. It would not be pretty, but it would get the job done. Plus, because it was the same color it was hard to see that I did not know what I was doing.



For the blanket, I decided to attach them together with white, because I had a lot of it. However, it was very clear that I had no idea. So after a little searching, I found a mattress stitch, and now that is how I am attaching them. Here is a picture of the one that are attached so far:





As you can see, the white peeks through sometimes but not as much as before! I hope to have this done soon, and then I will be able to move on to another project! When the blanket is finalized, I will post a picture on here. :)




This weekend Miley and I are going to try to dye yarn, hopefully it works out! Keep your fingers crossed for us, we will let you know soon.