WatchME: Epi 3- Bandwagon Lite

WatchME: Epi1- CraftyME Welcomes You

CraftyME: Watch it now....

Hey YOUs,
 Just popping in real quick to show off my current project. I finally did it...Cast on for my first sweater!! Yay. Go ME go ME.

It's the $5 in Paris sweater. But my version is Phree in Philly. So I'm not staying here long cause I gotta get back to knitting. More details to come. Catchya later.

CraftyME: Prepping for Stitches East....

CraftyME decided to prep for Stitches by actually using some of the fiber-y goodness I acquired on my visit to Maryland Sheep & Wool Fest back in May. I mean I did kinda splurge a bit, so I should at least know if those were good purchases or not, right? They all pass the pretty test, but how are they to work with and will they make a pretty FO as well.

 Let's start with the biggest splurge, shall we?

Tess Designer Yarns MicroFiber Ribbon

Had I not purchased this yarn, I would have probably stayed pretty close to my MDS&W budget. It was a bit pricey. But I had I not purchased this yarn, I would not have been able to make the awesome-ness known as my RockStar Coachella. I loved working with this yarn. If $ were no object, I would def add this to the SE list.

Tess Designer Yarns Superwash Merino Lace

Um yeah, no. I can't say that I care for this yarn. But it has nothing to do with the quality of the yarn. I just came to a realization after trying to make the famed Citron. Me and lace weight yarn do not equal a match. It is entirely to light for my tastes. I felt like I was gonna break it the whole time. I considered adding beads to try to weigh it down a bit. But yeah, I tossed this project in the "Sure I'll finish this....one day..." basket with the quickness.

Miss Babs Yummy Superwash Sock & Baby Yarn

I like this yarn. I like the way it feels to work with it. I like the color. I don't love the color. That's the only thing. I'm not a fan of variegated yarn. I wasn't sure how this was gonna knit up, but it was so pretty in the skein. Luckily, it's not uber-pool-y like some variegates. So it gets a like. Maybe in another color-way it could get a love. Now as for this project, it's in time out. You know how I posted about life lines? Yeah, well some how one of my life lines didn't stay put like it was supposed. And it just happened to be discovered as I was finishing up the last row in a chart.  The row that as soon as I finished it, I would have been adding a lifeline into the next one. Yeah that one.  So instead of a FO we've got a TO until I feel like frogging back to the previous lifeline.

Miss Babs Windsor Handpainted Sock Yarn

I LOVE this yarn!! The color is beautiful and working with it is a dream. It's slightly heavier than the other sock yarns that I have used to knit sox. And that makes the sox just fly off my needles. Had I not taken the time to work on some other projects, I would have been finished with my Iris Ivys. I'm definitely buying some more of this stuff.

Tess Designer Yarns Super Socks & Baby

The color of this yarn is so pretty. And I have 2 skeins. I just don't know what to make with it. But in the efforts to sample, I did go ahead and wind it up. I'm torn between making the Revontuli wrap or just casting on some sox. I don't really know if this yarn is gonna be stripey, variegated, or some where in between. Hmm what to do, what to do? We'll come back to this one.

Creatively Dyed Yarn Beaches

Ugh this yarn is the bain of my existence right now!! I love the colorway. Such a pretty green. So much yardage. And I even have the project picked out for it. Well 2 projects that I can't decide between, Fizzi or Multnomah . But IDK what happened. After I wound up the Tess SuperSocks, I put this one on my swift. Very quickly it became apparent that something was amiss within the skein.

 And now I'm left with this. I spent a whole night trying to detangle and wind by hand. Dude if I didn't spend damn near $30 on this yarn, I would so be throwing it in the trash right about now. So it too is on TO until I feel like diving back into the detangling process.

As it stands right now, I will be adding Miss Babs Windsor to my must purchase list. And Tess MicroFiber ribbon will go on the splurge list. Next up we'll see what vendor list stalking will turn up. Stay tuned.

WannaME: Gearing up for Stitches East.....

Good Morning YOUs,
 What a beautiful, crisp, sunny October Saturday. I say this as I lounge in bed, with absolutely no plans to venture out there. Today will be filled with laundry, knitting, blogging, and prepping for Stitiches East 2010. I think WannaME and TouristyME may be just a tad bit over-excited about Stitches. This will be my first time attending and I can't wait. It will also be the first time in years that I will be traveling all by myself. No MOH. No MiniME. Just ME. Calgon has finally responded to my pleas and will be here in 2 weeks to take me away on a mini-vacation to be filled with yarny, fibery, goodness. Ahhhhhhhh.

 Luckily, Stitches is taking place in Hartford,CT. Have I mentioned that I am FROM CT?!?  And that all of my family is in various parts of CT?!? So yeah I get to go visit my Mommy and Sis, and cousins etc. This also means that I don't have to worry about lodging. Although Mom  & Sis live about 45 mins to an hr away, I have tons of cousins who still live right in HTFD. So if I don't feel like driving I can crash somewhere.
 
So how exactly does one prep for an event like this? Well if you are crazy like ME, that means making lists and lists and lists. Lists of where to go. Lists of what to bring. Lists of what to make. Lists of lists to make. lol. See, crazy right? No,I'm just trying to keep WannaME in check. Cause I know as soon as I get there one of two things is gonna happen. I'm either gonna want to buy like everything I see. Or I am going to get soooo overwhelmed at the amount and variety of stuff and then not know what to buy or not want to buy anything. So I am researching and researching some more.

I've been all over OCS trying to find patterns that I'm really interested in making. Reading forums, looking at O.P.P. (Other People's Projects) seeing what yarns are getting good reviews. I've stalked the Stitches website for months waiting for the vendor list to be posted. Then I'm on the vendor sites, checking out pricing and yardage. Seeing if I can just order from them online.

 Dude, I'm so hyped about this trip. By the time it gets here I am gonna be missioned out. I'm going into that convention center with a plan, man. Armed with a budget and a shopping list. And I will stick to it! WannaME will not lose her frickin mind like she did at MDS&W, where I may or may not have spent double what I brought with me to spend. No sirree Bob. Not this time!  I'm gonna put my plan out there for you all to see. And when I get back I'll compare what I got to what I said I would get. I'm issuing the challenge to WannaME...control yourself. Will she be able to?.......Stay tuned.

CraftyME: sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY!

Can I just say I F'LUV Sundays. More than just Sundays, I luv Football Sundays. In Casa de ME, Sundays in the fall are certified "Be a lazy bum all day long, lay on the couch, snack, watch football. ALL DAY" Well for ME, I try to get most of the chores done on Saturday and then finish up what's left bright and early Sunday morning. No sleeping in for me.  But it's so ok. Cause come 1pm I'm chillaxin til bedtime.

Do you know what this means to a Crafty person such as myself??? 8-9 hrs of basically free knitting time. yessirre bob. Of course that includes bathroom breaks, and snack breaks, and checking on MiniME, oh and a nap. But yeah I just sit and knit and watch the games. Ah that's living man, that's living.

This Sunday was devoted to knitting slouchy, cabled hats. This past week I cast on the SYTYCD hat in hopes having a cute little "I'm a lazy bum who doesn't feel like re-twisting my locs this week" hat.You know just a little something to toss on in case I went out Sat nite. Unfortunately, just because size 8 and size 6 dpns are the same color, they aren't the same size. And if you knit a hat on size 6s instead of size 8s, you end up with a cute little hat. Emphasis on the word LITTLE. Luckily, it's just small enough to fit MiniME, so she will be rocking it to school this fall.

So Sat morning I ran out to AC Moore (after doing a little bit of damage at Old Navy's $16 jacket sale) to pick up some size 10 dpns and a size 11 24" circular needle to try my hand at the Star Crossed Slouchy Beret. Just to change it up a bit. Got the ribbing done on the 10s no prob. But once I switched to the circs, things got a little dicey. The pattern says you have to magic loop for a little bit. Um hello, either I was doing something really wrong or you can't really magic loop on 24". It wasn't happening. Yeah, Sunday morning, I kindly drove all the way back to AC Moore and exchanged those circs for some dpns.

Now cableing is tricky in and of itself with that pesky little cable needle. Then toss in a set of 5 double pointed needles and it becomes a whole new ball game. 

However, I'm very happy to say it was so worth it. Cause now I have a jaunty little cap to sport on my so in-need of being re twisted locs.

 Oh by the by. Let me introduce my new hat models Violet and Blue.

 I picked up Violet for MiniME on Saturday's outing. Of course MOH took one look at it her and was like "It's like a real life Chuzzle!!!! Do they have it in Blue?!?!?" He loves that game. So Sunday I had to get one for him too. Soon they will be joined by Scarlett because now that I look at them, they are kinda really cute. WannaME wants one too. lol.

CraftyME: Summer Crafting wrap-up

So I started the summer being obsessed with sox, sox, sox. And guess what... I ended the summer still obsessed with sox. For some reason this has just been where all of my crafty mojo has been interested. WannaME seems to think that I am going to ultimately get to a point where I can just reach in my drawer on any given day and toss on a pair of sox that I made myself. Yeah...at this rate that will never happen.

As I said, this has been like the worst summah evah. It took like every ounce of everything I had to keep my sanity. So in efforts to feel better I decided to pick up a project that I cast on way back in May. I was determined to have a FO. I NEEDED to have an FO! It took me approximately 3 months to finish 1 single pair. But finished they are. They are my red stripey happy happy joy joy sox! And I F'LUV EM!!!

And just as I hoped it would, finishing my HHJJsox kick started my CraftyME juices. Immediately after those I cast on my Iris Ivy Anastasia Sox. A week in and I'm kicking arse on 'em. I'm already like half way down my big ol size 10 feet. And did you peep that, oh I'm fancy huh?!? Somebody is really feeling themselves and changing patterns up. Yeppers sure did! Took a single toe-up dpn pattern and made it 2-@-a-time.

I told you CraftyME is coming back. I've even been crocheting. I made a cute little baby blanket for one Ms. Chloe who is due to make her debut next month. Mom-to-be wanted a very simple mostly white blanket. So I took the Circles, Stripes & Squares pattern and modified it to her tastes.

As far as my other projects...let's just say they are on timeout. They need a few weeks to get themselves together. Either the project itself or the recipients lol. For now I'm just gonna keep trucking away on my Iris Ivy's. And work on some more posts. Catch Ya later. CraftyME

CraftyME: LIFELINES SAVE LIVES!

On to the next project guys. Next up learning to knit from a chart and to knit lace. WannaME has like 52billion wraps/shawls in the queue. But I have been hesitant to start any because those charts look SCARY. So this week I decided to bite the bullet. What better way to beat WoeISMe blues, than to tackle a challenge? So I cast on The Traveling Woman shawl.  Here goes something.

One thing that I learned, the easy way thank you Little Baby Jesus, is LIFELINES SAVE LIVES! Something told me to put one in before I started the chart. Yeah ME am so smart because I actually listened.
 

Two rows later, I missed a YO or something because I was short 2 stitches. I tried to fudge it, but by row 5 yeah it wasnt happening. I had to frog 5 rows. And had I not listened to that little voice, I would have had to pull out 5 days worth of knitting instead of just 5 rows.

 If you dont have those fancy needles w/ the little hole to thread your lifeline thread through, just take a piece of tape and wrap it around the tip of your needle. I used painter's tape because it doesnt leave the sticky residue on your needle. OK that may be a little bit of a fib, I used it cause I couldn't find the scotch tape and it was right there lol. But it didnt' leave the residue so score for being a lazy bum.

  Place one when you finish a section and know that it's right before you move on to another one. Place one after x# of rows just so that if you do make a mistake it's so much easier to fix it.

Trust me that extra 2-3mins will save you a bunch of cursing later. All you have to do is follow the little red thread to put your stitches back on the needle.

So remember friends LIFELINES SAVE LIVES! And this is coming from someone who doesnt even gauge swatch ever.

CraftyME: Oh Baby I'm a RockStar....

Yeah so I may have Rihanna "Rockstar 101" playing on repeat right now. "To be what you is you gotta be what you are. The only thing I'm missing is a black guitar. I'm a RockStar!"  Why? you may wonder....I'll tell ya...

So like I have said or maybe not (don't know if I really posted about it) But I have been feeling very WoeIsME as of late. Without going into a bunch of whiny specifics WorkME(shh) had a couple of setbacks and the rest of life has been trying to drive me crazy as well.  That's mostly why I've been SlackerME and not posting. Hell I hadn't even really been on OCS believe it or not.

Now after feeling this way for a couple of weeks, CraftyME was like "Yo, so what if other people are being craptacular right now. Show 'em how awesome you are. You have talents you are CRAFTY." So CraftyME picked up hooks and needles and got to crafting. So here's a little sampling of what I've done in the past 2 wks.

First up is one that I can't really go into a whole lot of specifics about yet. Let's just say I'm helping an artist out on a project that involved me making a 6 ft long by 9 inches wide ruffle. Once He gives me the okay I'll post more pics. But for right now just know that yes on a day when temps were 107 degrees, in a house with no air conditioning, I did my part. lol.

Next my WorkME (shh) wonder twin commissioned a Walk of Fame inspired star blanket for a "star is born" baby shower. Not bad for a weeks worth of work.

I'm gonna skip to yesterday's rainy Saturday project. A couple of dishcloths and a scrubbie. Yeah so what I was supposed to be actually washing the dishes....It was more fun to lay on the couch and watch trashy movies & knit.

"I told ya, I told ya" Back to the reason I'm a Rockstar......



I made my first knit garment. My RockStar Coachella!!!

This is another Knitty pattern, Coachella. One that I had sitting in my queue forevah. Just before MDSW I heard an older episode of The Knitmore Girls and Jasmin mentioned she had made it in some kind of ribbon yarn. Well at MDSW I was browsing at the Tess's yarn booth while waiting for the podcastor meet&greet. I saw some pretty ribbon yarn and was like oh I've gotta ask Jasmin if this was the kind she used. Of course I got all fangirly and forgot to ask her. But after the M&G I went back to the booth to buy some sox yarn. So I get to the front of the line finally to check out and the girl working the register has on this beautiful gray top. So I'm admiring it when I had a light bulb moment. ME:" OMG is that the coachella?" Her: "why yes it is" ME: " is that made out of the ribbon yarn?" Her: "yep." I looked at the long ass line behind me and then back at her shirt and back at the line.... Her: " if you want to run and grab it I won't make you stand in the line again." ME: " thank you thank you!" Total impulse splurge. Totally worth it.

Fast forward to July4th weekend. WoeIsME running rampant. CraftyME feeling the crafting urge. I got up on whim and said I need something to make me feel better.  I'm gonna make that Coachella this week for my birthday. This yarn and this project were the perfect antidote. I so F'LUV em both. They flowed together seamlessly.

 And now I feel like such a RockStar because yeah...I'm kinda awesome. Rock on my friends, rock on!

CraftyME: SOX! SOX !SOX!

Hello all. I know I have been a bit of a blog slacker. Lately I've been feeling very WoeIsME. Life is trying to drive me to the CrazyME side. I keep saying I'm gonna come blog about it but I haven't really felt like it. I have however been doing what I do best, being CraftyME. All I do is knit, look at knitting online, and listen to people talking about knitting.

 One of the things that I have been focused on knitting is SOX. I know it's crazy. I know I said why would anyone want to knit sox. But I'm sucked in, thanks OCS aka OnlineCrackSpot aka Ravelry. So I completed my first pair back in March. My cutie almost matchy rainbow sox.  I f'luv em. The second one is a tidbit smaller than the first. This is because I was so anxious to finish and my big ol size 10 foot wasn't helping the cause. But it's all  good.

So after I finished those I decided I wanted to learn how to magic loop 2 @ a time. Make em both at the same time. That way they will match and be the same size.  So  I had some affordable neutral sock yarn and ordered my book 2@a time socks and jumped on in.  Again my big feet are not my friends. I so wanted to be done about halfway through the foot. A month or so later, i.e. this past weekend I finally finished. They are comfy and cozy.

Midway through I was getting kind of bored and decided I wanted to try something a little more challenging. So I cast on Spring Forward from Knitty. My first chart pattern, yay. Until I realized I separated the stitches wrong on the needles. So I had to frog 2 days worth of knitting. But the good news is I frogged and re-knit and got as far as I was when I frogged all in the same evening.  Now I am to the heel but I have a bit of a conundrum.  I don't think that this yarn is working for this pattern. You cant really see the pattern because of the color. And I'm sad because I really love the color and I really love the pattern. But I'm thinking I may have to frog it and try again with a different, maybe plain colored yarn. Le Sigh I think I'll just let it hang out under my nightstand for awhile, I can't bring myself to frog it just yet.

Now that I've cured my second sock syndrome by learning 2 @ a time, I've got to cure the big feet blues. I'm thinking 2 @ a time toe-up sox are next on the agenda.  This way I can get the boring foot part done first and then start the fun/challenge of the leg. Since I can't be WorkME right now because our computer systems are down, I've been practicing Judy's Magic Cast on this morning. Before the day is out I will be casting on some toe-ups. I'm just not sure which ones.  WannaME needs to get busy searching for patterns.

InterestME: KnitCroBlo3 & knitCroBlo4

One Great Knitter
Write about a knitter whose work (whether because of project choice, photography, styling, scale of projects, stash, etc) you enjoy. If they have an enjoyable blog, you might find it a good opportunity to send a smile their way. TAGGING CODE: knitcroblo3

A New Skill
Is there a skill related to your hobby that you hope to learn one day? maybe you’re a crocheter who’d also like to knit? Maybe  you’d like to learn to knit continental, knit backwards, try cables or attempt stranded colourwork. TAGGING CODE: knitcroblo4

 I've already written about being inspired by the wonderful Woolly Thoughts Curve of Pursuit blanket and next attempting to tackle cables wilth the twisty Quinn bag. So I was gonna skip these 2 days because I didn't really know what else to write about.  Not to mention I'm good for not quite following through.  But whilst sitting here being good little WorkME, my ears tuned in and the lightbulb lit up. So in an effort of stickingtoitness, I bring you days 3&4 combined.
So thanks to OnlineCrackSpot I no longer listen to music when I work. I listen to podcasts. And more specifically, I listen to crafty podcasts.  If I can't knit, then I can learn more about knitting. There are several that I have subscribed to that I enjoy. You can find them over there in the right column, InterestME: podcasts.  One in particular that I really really like is The Knitmore Girls.
 For those who aren't familiar with them, The Knitmore Girls are a mother-daughter knitting team who chat about their knitting adventures. Jasmin & Gigi are like knitting goddesses. They are constantly churning out beautiful intricate sweaters, shawls, and socks. They've even developed their own oft-referenced sock pattern Vanilla Socks. I'm learning to do magic loop just so that I can make my first pair one of these days. TKG is full of handy tips and tricks, product reviews, and proof that even knitting goddesses can make mistakes and be attacked by knitting too.  Every now and again their advance skills and topics can be a little overwhelming for a newer knitter, but its not usually for long.
  TKG and the other podcasts that I enjoy give you the feeling your having a nice little convo over coffee.  Most of these are what continue to spur my interest in blogging. And one day maybe even attempting to start podcasting myself. Heck I already pretend I'm doing just that whenever I type a new post.  Although since I can barely get a handful of people to checkout this here blog, I'd probably just be talking to myself. And Lord, I can't imagine people being soothed by my Muppet-on-helium sounding voice. But still I can see WannaME whining about wanting to have my own show.  Who knows, maybe one day.......

WannaME: KnitCroBlo2: An Inspirational Pattern

KnitCroBlo2: An Inspirational Pattern
Blog about a pattern or project which you aspire to. Whether it happens to be because the skills needed are ones which you have not yet acquired, or just because it seems like a huge undertaking of time and dedication, most people feel they still have something to aspire to in their craft.

Um Hi, Maybe we haven't met yet. My name is WannaME. And my favorite phrase is"oooh I Wanna make that!" My entire CraftyME life stems from the desire to create things that may fall outside of my current skill set. Heck that's how I began knitting. Go big or go home right? When it comes to projects I totally queue based on the wow factor. As a newer knitter, I don't want to get caught up in the whole "oh such and such is too hard for a beginner" mentality. It's like a little kid. They don't really know fear until you tell them they should be scared. Kids jump in with both feet.
When I first joined OnlineCrackSpot I simply crocheted. I would look at these amazing knit projects and with each passing day wanted to knit more and more. Then I saw it, the Curve of Pursuit. The coolest looking blanket EVAH!  And several more like it. That was it. I was gonna try my hand at knitting again and I was gonna knit this blanket.

So I practiced a little. Made some headbands and dishcloths. And then I began to tackle it.  Honestly it really isn't as difficult as looks. The hardest part about it, and the reason it's hibernating now, is that it just requires a lot of time to complete each color section. Oh it will be finished before the end of the year. Wait for it....

As far as current pursuits go, I've got a couple of BigFish projects that I'm dying to dive into. I finished my first pair of socks so now I've gotta make 2 pair at time. And I so can't wait to give cables a go. I've got the yarn all wound up and ready to go. And in true WannaME fashion, if I'm do a cable project know and believe it's gonna be a hell of a cable. If I haven't mastered cables by the end of making the Quinn Bag  then dude....it's a wrap

Seriously though, if there is something that you aspire to make, go for it. If you mess up a little you mess up. We are lucky to live in a time where we can make socks because we choose to not because we have to. So if it takes you 6 months to complete a pair or even if you only make 1, it's not the end of the world. If your cables turn the wrong way or if you drop a stitch, eh so what. Fake it til you make it.