Red (Day 305 KEDfaY)

I've gotten a lot done on my shawl. I have the lace pattern figured out, it's looking like I want it to look. I'm not having too many issues keeping count and everything but I was having problems. When I really got into knitting, my grandmother got me the Boye interchangeable circular knitting needle set for Christmas. It's one of my favorite presents ever and I absolutely love it. I've used those needles to hell and back and abused them in any way possible along the way. But they aren't known for being the best quality. The joins are clunky. The cables are stiff and bumpy and when you're working on small needles, like the smallest size, US sz 2s, it's a bit difficult to push your stitches from the cable over the bump, over the join and onto the needle. I had looked at needles and thought about getting a new pair just for this project but then told myself I didn't need them.

And then I got a payment for doing a study about finances or something. I don't know, I just know I got $12. $12 is more than enough for a pair of Chiaogoo Red Lace needles.

Mine should get here Thursday.

I am very excited about this and I know that my gauge may change but because it's lace, and not a complex lace pattern, I think it'll be fine. I am excited to try these new needles out. I've heard good things and of course I will report back with my opinions on them.

So my knitting today was a bit on my OpArt blanket. It might become my "Oh shit. I need to knit something today," project. It's easy and easy to drop and pick up randomly.

Work today was a bit better than it has been. I was given the task of rearranging shelves and while I hate fake flowers, it was still a wonderful half of my shift. I love organizing and would be completely happy just doing that for the rest of my time at Big Box Craft Store. Now to only convince the managers of this.

Not enough on my plate (Day 293 KEDfaY)

I started a new project today because I obviously don't have enough going on right now.

I was asked by a newbie knitter if I could meet with her and help her with her problem and so I decided to start the same blanket she's working on so I would be familiar with it. I also finally figured out how to use that rainbow scrap yarn I made! Two birds, one stone and all that. She figured out how to fix the problem she was having and I showed her how to change colors which is more intimidating than it should be for new knitters. Every time I show someone how to change colors they think I'm tricking them. Nope. It's really that simple!

I also worked on Hush Hush for a bit. I'm about halfway done with it which makes me happy. I figure I can probably get a lot done on it this weekend. Tomorrow is my second day of work and Friday night knit group and then Saturday some of my knittas and I are going to a sheep and wool fest that is a bit of a drive away so I'll have lots of car knitting time. I plan on taking lots of pictures of the various animals that they'll have so I'll probably share at least one or two. I hope to get my Hush Hush done by next weekend but I'll have to wait and see if I can. At this pace, I don't think it'll be a problem at all.

Employment (Day 290 KEDfaY)

The Boyfriend's dad left this morning as the Boyfriend left for work. 

Since I was up, I decided to cash in on cheap Easter candy. And boy did I.

But since it was such an excursion that involved a lot of walking, added on to the draining weekend, I decided I deserved a nap.

Right as I was laying down for my nap, the phone rings.

I got a job.

Now it isn't ideal, it isn't glamorous or at all in my field, but it's a job and it does allow me to play with yarn regularly. I have gotten a job at a Big Box Craft Store that shall remain nameless. It's one that doesn't discriminate against people for who they are or try to dictate why they can't have birth control. I've already worked for that company and it was the worst 6 months of my life.

Nope, this is a different company. I'll be part time so plenty of time to knit and write and look for more appealing employment if it should happen to come along. I'll also have the opportunity to teach knitting and get paid for it. If you've been around a while, you'll know that I do want to teach and teaching knitting would be awesome. And getting paid would be even better. If anything else, I can start chipping away at my mountain of student loan debt. Whoo. 

In knitting, today all I've done is work on my mystery washcloth. I crocheted a couple of my squares for my blanket. I'm a few days behind on that right now after the Boyfriend got sick and then I got sick, I just fell behind. Nothing too terribly bad, just a few days of doing two squares instead of one. 

I've gotten a revamped pattern for the pattern I was test knitting so I'll continue working on that soon. And of course my Hush Hush that I'm also working on. I got a lot of progress done on it this past weekend and it's coming along nicely. Hopefully I'll get it done when I need to. I might be volunteering for a speakeasy themed party and need to dress appropriately. But I haven't heard confirmation yet so we'll see. 

Unprepared (Days 287 and 288 KEDfaY)

I'm not usually this bad about updating but a houseguest plus getting home much later than planned and not planning ahead made it so an update last night wasn't possible. Already have gotten my knitting in for the day though. I am on it!

100 (Day 265 KEDfaY)

Wow, I only have 100 days left of my own little challenge. I honestly never thought that I'd get this far. I expected to give up or get bored. I didn't think that I'd actually get half way let alone this far. This is exciting for me!

In the world of knitting today, I didn't really do much. I finished the picture portion of my mystery washcloth and it's a lion. I think. That's what they are saying it is though but I don't see it. I might need to block the washcloth though. This yarn is a bit spaghetti-like.

I have been crocheting a lot today. I'm trying to get as much done on this baby blanket for the family friend as possible so I can hopefully get more points for HPKCHC. I now have 70/100 squares done. I haven't decided if I'm going to a border for it or not. I think I am because I am using slightly different weighted yarn so the border would help keep it all one shape. Right now, I'm really happy with how it's turning out. I mean, it is all pastel colors and yuck, pastels, but I do think it will make mamma and baby happy and that's really what this whole thing is about.

I keep seeing people donating their various knitted or crocheted items to different charities and I always think that I want to do that. And then I remember that my funds are limited and while I do have a substantial yarn stash, I try to keep my yarn buying to an absolute minimum. In the past three years, I've spent less than $20 on yarn for projects for myself. Every other yarn purchase has been for projects for other people, as gifts.

That's one reason why I agreed to make this blanket for our family friend. A year ago, I probably would've come up with a reason not to but now I just want to do things that make others happy. And I have a lot of free time so why not use my free time to create something for someone who will appreciate it?

True Detective (Day 263 KEDfaY)

True Detective.

It's a show that has taken the internet by storm. I didn't watch it while it was airing because I decided to be difficult. I knew it was a show that I was going to watch eventually though so I stayed away from spoilers as much as possible. A friend of mine just started watching True Detective and accidentally watched the last episode first, which I would think kinda ruins the whole experience but he says he's still hooked on it.

I watch a lot of TV shows, something that if you have read my blog at all, probably already know. I was told by everyone I know that I need to watch True Detective and that it was new and different and exciting. So I did.

Because I watch a lot of TV, I think about TV a lot. I think about plots and characters and scenarios and how some are played out in every sitcom in every iteration imaginable or how some characters are just like others. Very rarely is there something new and exciting, especially in the world of sitcoms and police dramas, two types of shows that I am weirdly attracted to.

I was hesitant to watch True Detective. Something about a crime drama starring Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey, who might have the most difficult name to spell ever and why aren't more people complaining about it, really put me off. "I'm sure they're great actors," I thought, "But...really?"

And then I watched the first episode. Now I mentioned that I think about TV a lot. It's what I do. I dissect TV. Generally though, I don't stay on one show for too long. I think about it fleetingly as I'm changing loads of laundry or cleaning litter boxes. TV sits on the back of my mind when I have nothing else to ponder, so I'll ponder the latest episode of How I Met Your Mother and debate it with myself. But True Detective was different.

The characters are so complex and unique that I actually woke up in the middle of the night two nights after finishing the series because I was thinking about the characters so much. And the plot. And the uniqueness of it all. To say I was impressed with Harrelson and McConaughey's performances would be putting it mildly. I once accidentally watched the last 20 minutes or so of Failure to Launch or some other movie with a similar plot starring the previously typecast actor. I think I was wasting time until something more exciting came on the same channel. All I know is that I was largely unimpressed with the simple role and the simple actor. I now will watch anything that Mr. McConaughey wants to do. He is now in the category of, "Will watch this actor read the phonebook."

I tried to find news about the show without being spoiled before I had finished the series. I don't know why, I think to find out if there was going to be a second season or not. One of the many articles that popped up when I googled the show was about True Detective and feminism. It's an article that I didn't read and I'm sure it made a few good points but I wanted to remain unspoiled by outside opinions about the complexity of the characters and just wanted to experience the show by myself. I knew nothing really, outside of the starring actors and the mysterious Yellow King that kept popping up on Twitter. So I stayed spoiler free. (I'm sure the whole feminism angle for the show is one that can and probably should be explored but I think for the most part it is a show about the two main characters and their issues, not necessarily about the women in their lives. I'm sure someone is out there yelling at me about how wrong I am but this post isn't about that, it's about how much I enjoyed the show.)

My friend Austin keeps recommending shows for me to watch. The Americans, The Wire, Spartacus, Hannibal, etc. Most of the time, I'll watch an episode or two and be done with it. Not because it's a bad show but because the shows are so intense that I can't handle it. I'm the type of person who gets embarrassed for characters (the episode of The Office where Michael Scott has to tell the high schoolers that he doesn't have scholarships for them is one of the most painful episodes in history so declared by me) so watching True Detective was not something I was looking forward to. I was told it was an amazing show but the possible emotional impact is what scared me off.

And while there were definitely some intense moments in True Detective, especially in the season finale where I actually yelled out loud, it never felt intrusively intense like some shows can feel. I've only seen two seasons of Dexter and one episode of The Americans because they get so intense with their suspense that I start noticing that I'm holding my breath for fictional characters. True Detective didn't feel that way.

True Detective definitely has some issues like the sometimes clunky dialogue that I think was trying to be purposefully repetitive but just felt forced, and of course the aforementioned feminist angle that I'm still not going to discuss, but overall it has done something that I don't think any TV show has ever done for me. It has made me lay awake in the middle of the night contemplating the reality of the show, the characters, the plot. I've thought about numerous aspects of this show and I know I haven't even come close to being able to creating an accurate map of it.

I recommend True Detective. It's intense without being suffocating, it's unique and doesn't feel like a rehashed Law and Order episode like many other crime dramas can feel. And most of all, for me, the characters are interesting. They're flawed beyond belief but they still have a realism to them.

I watched the latest season of American Horror Story. The plot and concept had interested me so I decided to try it without watching any of the other seasons. The idea of witchcraft was appealing to my inner goth 14 year old self. After the season finale aired and I spent my afternoon watching it, I was disappointed. I wasn't shocked. I wasn't ever scared. It didn't appeal to me and it didn't seem that creative. (The fact that it used Stevie Nicks as the White Witch, which was an amazing cameo, was very unoriginal.) The lore and legend that went into True Detective is what I wanted from American Horror Story. It accomplished the feeling of suspense, of mystique and horror that American Horror Story failed to even come close to.

If you have 8 hours to spare, I suggest that you spend it watching True Detective. At the end of it, you at least won't think that you've wasted your time.

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And now to make this even more of a niche post, I'm going to talk about my crafting for the day.

Here, have a cat picture!

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Knitting has been the mystery washcloth as usual and my sock. I just did the row for the afterthought heel so now I'm working on the leg bit. It's going much quicker than I expected. I'm really glad I tried this pattern. I might even be able to make my goal of finishing it by Sunday.

I also got a good bit worked on the baby blanket for the friend of the family. It needs to be in Indiana by April somethingth so I have a little bit of time to work on it before I need to mail it so it'll get there in time for the baby shower. I can't find if I've actually talked about this before, I know I have on Ravelry. There's a friend of the family that is expecting her second child soon and my mom asked me to make her a blanket for her impending baby and I was actually in a good mood when my mom asked so I said I would. There's actually a deadline for it now so I've felt motivated to work on it instead of it just sitting, partially finished, in my pile of crap next to my desk.

Periods, amirite? (Day 262 KEDfaY)

It seems like every month, I lose more and more of my motivation and when my motivation is low to begin with, it isn't helpful in getting anything done.

On the knitting front, I have gotten a good portion of sock numba two done. Depending on how much yarn I use, I might even be able to get a third sock from this yarn, which would make me super happy. For this one though, I am using the ever popular Baudelaire sock pattern from Knitty. It's surprisingly easy. It has been in my queue for years and for the longest time I was intimidated by it, being toe up and everything. But now that I actually know what I'm doing, the intimidation has disappeared. It's much easier than I anticipated and it's even working out relatively well in this yarn. It's even going surprisingly quick now that I've figured out the lace pattern, something that isn't difficult but uses some non-traditional stitches.

I also need to work on the baby blanket to mail it off. It's halfway done now and I've just started watching a new TV series so I figure it should get done soon. I started Veronica Mars because everyone has said that I should watch it. And Everyone was correct about True Detective so maybe they'll be right about Veronica Mars too.

Don't be a... (Day 259 KEDfaY)

Knitting: Mystery washcloth. Mostly crocheting today on the baby blanket. Officially halfway done.

Mischief (Day 248 KEDfaY)

The Boyfriend was getting ready for work this morning as I was laying, half awake, in bed, scrolling through Twitter for any important tweets or funny jokes. The Boyfriend turned around after leaving the bedroom and peeked his head in and said, "I'll just leave your knitting where I found it."

[We've been keeping the cats separate at night during the week because, sometimes, not all of the time, they will decide, usually around 5:30 am, that they hate each other and need to fight over territory, much like West Side Story but with less dance numbers and more screaming. So we keep Buddy, the more relaxed cat, out in the rest of the apartment while Pebble stays in the bedroom with us.]

At some point in the middle of the night, Buddy took not one, but two of the scrap blankets I'm working on, and dragged them into the next room. I don't really know why he did this. It didn't seem like he was trying to hurt them or get payback for us kicking him out of the bed room. I like to think that he did it because he was trying to make a comfy bed even though the two strips that I call blankets that really aren't yet weren't too close to each other. 

Or, and this theory is break-your-heart sad and endearing, he was trying to bring them to me so that I would open the door and pay attention to him. I know. It breaks my heart too. 

But seeing as he is currently sleeping on the bed in the bedroom across the apartment and hasn't wanted to deal with me at all really, in the nonchalant way that cats are, not in the purposefully ignoring me way, I'm assuming he was just being mischievous and rotten. 

No damage was done to either blanket, both of which are crochet and not knitting. The Boyfriend cannot tell the difference though. 

Squares 68 and 69 because teeheehee

On the knitting front, I did the usual two rows for my mystery washcloth, which is tons of fun. I quite enjoy working on it and having no idea what it'll be. I also finished one sock and started fixing the other one. I need to start another washcloth for HPKCHC but that one is just going to be a plain, boring one. 

I also have been spinning. I am working on some yarn for my aunt and it's going well although one of the cats decided the fiber needed to be played with. It was rolled into a nice neat little ball and then in the five seconds I had my back turned, one of the cats had taken that neat little ball and made it a fluffy, disorganized mess. I told the Boyfriend about this fluffy mystery and he tried to pawn it off on Buddy because he's more of a kitten and libel to do things like that butI didn't know which one until I went back to my spinning and caught the culprit right in the act, as I was pulling from the fibery mess. I should've known it was Pebble. She's done this once before, just not when I was actually using the fiber. The fiber is now sitting in a bag and hopefully she'll leave it alone. I hope to have all of the singles done by Wednesday and plying done by this weekend. I hope. 

That's the plan at least.

Don't be a square (Day 245 KEDfaY)

Knitting: Mystery washcloth

Redo (Day 242 KEDfaY)

Knitting: Mystery washcloth even though I should be working on my vest even though I really don't want to.

I don't want to talk about it (Day 233 KEDfaY)

I don't want to talk about it....

Knitting: Mystery washcloth.

Always double check (Day 225 KEDfaY)

Always remember to double check what size hook or needle you're using when going long periods between working on a project. Just had to rip out about 80 squares on my blanket here because I used the wrong hook. I am a genius.

Knitting today was the mystery washcloth. Nothing too exciting. 

Because I can (Day 223 KEDfaY)

Have I mentioned this blanket? I don't feel like I have.

So I started crocheting a square a day for a future blanket. I did this for multiple reasons, because I like long term projects, because I like blankets, because I feel like it. I have fallen in love with the blanket after I found a thread of lovely French women talking about making a square-a-day blanket. I pieced what little I could together and decided to join in the fun. 44 days in a row and I'm still in love with it!

On the knitting front, I have officially not knit on anything that I need to and only worked on my hat that I'm trying to finish. The finishing is proving to be more difficult than I had hoped. 

Crochet (Day 201 KEDfaY)

I know this is a knitting blog. I set it up specifically to talk about knitting and to show my progress and show the world what I'm working on. I started my "Knit Every Day for a Year" challenge to try to challenge myself to knit every day for a year so that I can hopefully be more productive and have more to show.

But here I am. Crocheting.

A lot.

Something about the cold weather that has finally found Florida is making me want to crochet all of the blankets. In the past week, I have worked on four different crochet blankets. Four. You know what I've knit on this past week? I finished a blanket and I've done a handful of rows on a washcloth. And I haven't even wanted to do those, I've just been doing them to fulfill my own self-imposed challenge.

I don't understand it and I don't know why but right now, lately, the past week, I've just wanted to crochet. What's gotten into me?

Rut rut rut (Day 198 KEDfaY)

Still rutting around. Rut rut rut.

My posts have been short lately mostly because I want to get something done and up quickly before I go to bed since the posts recently have been put up about 5 minutes before I hop under the sheets and off to Sleepy Time Fun Land.

Friday I finished a blanket that I've been working on for quite some time! I've been knitting on it for over a year. It's actually one of the first things I blogged about! That's how old that blanket is! And surprisingly, it's not the oldest scrap blanket I have in my WIP pile. I have some that are older than my relationship with the Boyfriend.

Yesterday was a lazy day filled with dicking around, doing nothing and lounging on the couch watching TV with the Boyfriend. He's been gone for business for the past two weeks so it was nice just to do normal couple-y things like watch Mythbusters and cleaning off the DVR. I picked up the washcloth yesterday long enough to do two rows and move it off of the couch so lounging could reach maximum capacity.

Today though. Today was a deadline day for HPKCHC. One of the quidditch events required us to knit or crochet something really fast so I busted out that hat and even though it's too big and I needed to make that lovely/tacky flower for it, I still got it done. The hat will go to the Boyfriend when he goes out of town on business again in the future since winter in other parts of the country are actually cold. I have to reknit it but it's something he actually requested so I figured I should oblige. So I actually have something I need to get done on a somewhat deadline which is kinda nice. I have other projects I should probably work on as well, but scrap blankets are just much more entertaining. (Don't ask me how many scrap projects I have started or how many bags of scraps for future projects I have. Let's just say "A LOT.")

Rut (Day 194 KEDfaY)

I feel like I'm in a rut.

I really enjoy routine. I have routines on top of routines and thrive when I have every minute of my day planned.

But a routine isn't a rut. A rut is worse than a routine.

A routine has purpose, structure, meaning. A rut is something that you have fallen into and repeated so often that you can't get out of it.

So how do I get out of it.

I don't know. I don't know yet but I'm hoping some things will change in the near future to get me out of said rut.

I'm at a place where I feel stunted and like I'm missing part of me, like my creative part decided to get up one night and take a walk and got lost on its way back to me. Maybe it'll find its way home soon.

Maybe.

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Continued working on the grey monotone blanket today. I can't decide if I'm done with it yet. I feel like I might be since it's garter stitch and will stretch a lot after it's washed. I don't know. I feel like I can't decide anything right now. You know?

What am I thinking? (Day 188 KEDfaY)

So I started a new scrap blanket today. And it's not even knitting. It's all crochet. I know. What am I thinking?

I was thinking that there were a couple of really pretty blankets that people are doing and I wanted to join the fun. A square every day. That's the plan. One square, every day for a year will give me a queen/king sized blanket which will be perfect for the Boyfriend and I.

As for knitting today, I just knit for the first time today about five minutes ago. I casted on and knit the first row of my second commission stocking. I probably would've knit more but I have a lot of graphing and sketching I need to do first and I just haven't felt like it. I definitely need to get a move on it though because I promised it for the end of January but the customer said she didn't care when it got done. I need to stick to my own deadlines though.

I didn't run today. I should've but I just didn't feel like it so I went to the gym and lifted some weights. My goal is to not get gross granny arm flab even though I'm starting to. I'm too young to have grandma arms so I did lots of dumbbell exercises in my attempt to stop that process. I almost didn't work out at all but I made myself because I need to not be a lazy bum, dammit. At least that's what I keep telling myself.

But for now, I'm going to be a lazy bum. At least until tomorrow morning when I go and run again.

Poor Planning (Day 186 KEDfaY)

I don't have a picture for today, not because I didn't knit, because I definitely did. No, because my phone is dead and that's how I get pictures to this cosy little blog.

Knitting accomplishments today:
Finished the ribbing on my vest! WHOO!
Figured out the lace pattern for that blanket I was working on! Also WHOO!

I also finished spinning the singles for that little bump of fiber I was spinning. I hope to ply it tomorrow although it might wait until Thursday.

Tonight my only goal is to actually get some sleep.

The past few nights, one or both of the cats has woken me up in the middle of the night. Interrupted sleep isn't good, especially not for numerous nights in a row. I also hope that one day, these two cats will get along. Hey, a girl can dream, right?

Revisions (Day 183 KEDfaY)

This is a blanket that I've been working on for a while. Probably about a year.

"But Leigh, why is it so small if you've been working on it for so long?" you might ask.

Well that's because I restarted it today. It also wasn't very big anyway because it is one of my numerous scrap blankets. It's actually the last blanket on my Ladder of Scraps, a term I just came up with.

So I love scraps. A lot. Probably as much as I love knitting. Each length of scrap has a different project it's attached to. This one is where all of my very shortest scraps go. Nothing longer than two or three yards and some as short as a few inches. And it's going to be awesome.

I'm making up my own pattern as I go. So far I'm enjoying but that could change as I go along. I could change my mind and change the project yet again but so far it's enjoyable!