Monday Mish-Mash

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I’m still trying to come up with a title for my Monday posts. It’s not going well.

Now to talk about my weekend. There was very little knitting. In fact, I think the only time I picked up any WIP was to move it out of my way while I did other things. However, dear readers, fear not! I’ll jam knitting in wherever I can because I’m considerate.

Marianas Trench

First up is Friday night. I went to a concert with my sister and it was FREAKING AMAZING! There’s this Canadian band that we love, Marianas Trench, and they FINALLY came to Portland. We went and they’re fantastic live. You know how sometimes you go to a concert for a rock band and they kind of suck? Because they’re more worried about being loud than being good? Not Marianas Trench. The lead singer, Josh, was so good live. Matt & Mike, played awesomely and Ian is a frigging great drummer. They were so good, I couldn’t help dancing around, singing along and acting like a goof. In public. Normally I save that kind of behavior for when I’m alone. Seriously, if you have a chance to check them out – DO IT. FORCED KNITTING REFERENCE: when I was looking around the theater trying to figure out where my sister and I could eat, I discovered that there were two yarn stores not far from the location. I seriously considered trying to get over there but both closed at six so there wasn’t enough time.

Saturday was pretty uneventful. I played Minecraft with my sister most of the day. Well, I say Minecraft but we were playing the Yogcraft Feed The Beast mod, which is really like a whole new game. When I realized I’d been playing for 8 hours and every muscles was starting to hurt, I logged off and re-read one of my favorite YA novels, Anna and the French Kiss. In one sitting. I’m a fast reader and all, but this impressed even me.

pretty_little_liars_book_coverSunday was more Minecraft and more reading. A few weeks ago, Maureen Johnson wrote a piece about the problems with book covers and how some books are marketed. I was looking through the #coverflip tag on Tumblr when I saw someone’s flip of Pretty Little Liars in which they said something like “I decided to focus on the murder aspect rather than the pretty girl aspect” and I went – wait, there’s murder in that book? I’ve seen this book for ages and never even bothered to pick it up due to the doll on the cover. So, I decided to be part of the solution, bought the book, and read it last night. It’s actually pretty good. Good enough that I decided to order the second one. FORCED KNITTING REFERENCE: One of the main character knits. I was very excited when I discovered this.

Things are still going pretty well with the “spend money wisely” plan and the “lose some weight before the wedding plan”. There were some rocky moments where I felt like since I was eating better and not spending money, I wasn’t having any fun. However, the concert put me back in a good mood and I’m going to keep pressing forward.

In knitting – I had decided to knit a sweater for the family member’s new baby but I’m not sure if I’m going to keep working on it. The only yarn I have in the correct quantities is this cotton yarn. And cotton yarn tends to hurt my hands. I think I’ll just make a couple of hats and maybe some booties. Something super cute. I also caved and pre-ordered Botanical Knits and am waiting excitedly for it to arrive!

Monday catch-up

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Good morning! As a new week dawns, I thought it would be best to catch everyone up on what’s been happening here – whether that be knitting, weight loss, reading, etc. Let’s get this party started!

  1. Yarn Buying – I’ve managed to resist the urge so far. However, there may be an issue starting with point number 2.
  2. Knitting – I haven’t done a lot – but I did work on my sock yesterday. I’ve been itching to cast-on something new and yesterday afternoon I happened to remember a family member is pregnant. And is due in December. Which means this baby needs handknits to keep it warm. I would like to make a baby blanket. However, while I have a ton of yarn, I don’t often get more than two skeins of the same yarn. Which means, I don’t really have enough for a blanket! Unless I convince myself that pale lavender would work for a boy or a girl. My mom seems to think it’s a bad idea but it’s a baby, it won’t know the difference between colors and really, succumbing to these gender standards are part of what’s wrong with the world.
  3. Weight Loss – Despite saying in this entry that I’d had it with my weight, I haven’t actually been doing much. Last week I found out that some of my friends on twitter have a buddy system and they’re all encouraging each other to do ever-increasing exercises and to eat healthier, etc. Since I have 5 months until I get married, I thought it was now or never. Not only do I want to feel better about myself when getting those pictures taken, I’d like to stick around for a few decades and enjoy being married.
  4. Money – Not buying yarn is definitely helping my wallet and I’ve been focused on reducing debt. However, turns out even the smallest of weddings can be expensive so I really need to start saving money for that starting with June’s check. Also: trying to move your foreign fiance down to the states legally can be expensive.

Goals for the week!

  • Work on the sock for at least 10 minutes each night
  • Walk for 10 minutes every day at work
  • Keep up with the daily exercises
  • Call immigration to figure out what visa my future husband needs to work on getting

Resisting the urge

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All I want to do is buy yarn.

That’s it – I don’t even really want to knit with it but I want to go to a LYS, squeeze yarn and spend an obscene amount of money on it.

But no. I’m on a budget to get out of debt and now I have a wedding to save up for.

But maybe…just maybe…one skein of sock yarn won’t kill me…

What Happens in Vegas…

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I’m back from beautiful Las Vegas!

Let’s get the basics out of the way…

  • Las Vegas is hot
  • I forgot to put on sunscreen so I got a bit burned
  • I knit all of ONE ROW the entire trip
  • Flying isn’t as bad as I thought
  • Though landing is terrifying
  • Also, before I fly again, I need to lose some weight
  • Like, for real
  • Vegas is really, really cool
  • I didn’t lose all of my money
  • But I didn’t make any either

I could detail the whole trip, moment by moment for you guys but that’s not super interesting. I had fun, Matt had fun, I actually played some craps and at one point was up a decent amount of money. I also got a foot massage, which was great and saw some really cool places. We went to the wax museum which was super cool but bailed on the Gun Store as we were too tired. If you go to Vegas, definitely check out the Fremont Experience – super cool if a bit overwhelming.

The most awesome thing though? I got engaged! My boyfriend fiance proposed on Thursday night when we got back to the hotel. He had been carrying the box around all night, waiting for the right moment but was concerned that someone would steal the box out of his hand. When we got back, he was acting weird and I thought I did something to upset him. However, when I turned around, he had this box out with this gorgeous bracelet and said, “Will you marry me?” and I said yes and called my mom and started crying. It was the most perfect thing I could ever hope for and I’m so excited to be marrying the love of my life!

We’ll get back to knitting soon.

A finished pair

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They're done!

They’re done!

I DID IT! I actually finished a pair of socks! They even look pretty good (granted, you can’t see the gussets and there’s reason for that, but I’m definitely getting better).

Ooooooh

Ooooooh

Now I just need to cast on for my Vegas travel socks. I decided to use the yarn without the green because the other one was already wound up and I wanted to at least get them swatched today. For this next pair, I think I’m going to use Glenna’s “A Nice Ribbed Sock” pattern (can be found in the free section). I can’t wait to see how this gorgeous yarn works up!

Viva Las Vegas

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In less than a week, I fly out to Las Vegas for a few days of fun in the sun. And by “sun” I mean “90+ degree weather” when back at home it won’t get out of the low 60s. I really need to get some shorts so I don’t die.

I also think I’m vacationing wrong. Instead of being excited about the trip, I’ve been stressing about the littlest things.

I present, “Mallory stresses over dumb stuff, a list”:

  • I’ve never flown
  • Therefore, I’m worried about getting to the airport with enough time
  • Getting through security
  • Getting my tickets printed
  • Changing planes
  • Finding the shuttle at the airport when I get to Vegas
  • The quality of the hotel (never read yelp reviews)
  • My boyfriend finding the shuttle when HE gets to Vegas
  • Meeting up with said boyfriend
  • How much food is going to cost
  • Getting a 3 day bus pass so we can check out the town
  • Getting to all the places we want to check out
  • Getting to the airport at 4:30 am when we leave.
  • The 5 hour layover in Denver on my way home

Shouldn’t I just be sitting here going “WOO VACATION!”?

Once I get there, I know I’ll be fine. I just need to simmer down.

In knitting news, the current pair of socks inches along. Well, more like centimeters along. I’m going to finish it before I leave so I can work on a new pair of socks whilst I travel. I figure, since I’m going to Vegas, it should be something as flashy as the city so I’m going to knit a pair of socks from some yarn I picked up at the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival.

Fly Dyed - Lace Wing Sock in Foxglove and Wild

Fly Dyed – Lace Wing Sock in Foxglove and Wild

I’m probably going to go with the yarn on the right. That neon green color is really screaming Vegas for me.

Knitting in Public

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An actual, accurate photo?

An actual, accurate photo?

Yesterday I went to get a coffee because YOLO and the line at Starbucks was SUPER long and every person was buying coffee for their whole office which translated to “Mallory waits in line for the whole of eternity so she may as well work on her sock”…which I did.

I actually got a few rows done before I even ordered, so that was cool. Whilst I was knitting away, the lady behind me asked me what I was working on and then we chatted about knitting for a few minutes and then I went back to waiting in line.

Normally I hate it when strangers talk to me. I’m socially awkward and have a lot of anxiety but it actually wasn’t bad.

I rarely see other knitters out in the world. When I went to PAX last year I saw a couple of people knitting but I didn’t say anything to them. I just smacked my boyfriend on the arm and hissed “KNITTER!” at him.

Next week, I’m going to wing my way to Sin City! That’s right, Las Vegas! I’ve never been there and I’ve never been on a plane so I’m getting nervous but still really excited. Since everything I’ve read and heard says I can bring knitting on the plane, that’s the current plan – especially since I have a 5 hour layover on the way back. I’m also going to make sure I have a book as well, nothing worse than being stuck AND bored.

Currently I’m thinking about bringing a new sock…what’s your go-to travel project?

Sock knitting

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I think I finally get why people like sock knitting so much. Last night, I started the heel flap, turned the heel and picked up the stitches for the gussets. There were some issues with the heel flap, however…

[Imagine a picture here - which there would be if my phone would actually send stuff today]

I dropped a stitch then added stitches then messed up trying to fix it but whatever, it worked out fine. I’m still learning the nuances of this kind of knitting – especially when it comes to picking up stitches. But I think I’m getting the hang of it.

[Imagine a picture here as well]

Maybe I’ll finally start using my fancy sock yarn! Like the one below.

Fly Dyed - Lace Wing Sock in Foxglove and Wild

Fly Dyed – Lace Wing Sock in Foxglove and Wild

Conquering DPNs

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There is a rather large gap in my knitting skills. I make a mess of DPNs. If I absolutely have to, I can make them work…kind of…but mostly I just figure out a way to magic loop it or not knit the piece. Any time I’ve tried starting to knit with DPNs, I become a bumbling mess. I can’t get the work to sit comfortably in my hands, I’m worried about the knitting sliding off the needles – all that kind of stuff. But at the same time, I look at other blogs and I see them knitting socks with DPNs, usually really pretty DPNs and I can’t help but feel like I’m cheating at sock knitting by using magic loop. Not that there’s anything wrong with magic loop, I’d just like to be able to do both. Plus, having to pull the needle through at the start of each side gets annoying.

But this?

SO MANY NEEDLES

This scares me. When I try to do it, it makes me feel foolish.

That being said, I probably just need practice. I can’t let one technique get the better of me. I’ve watched a couple of videos for tips and I’m going to start practicing with DPNs. Nothing too fancy, just a simple tube until I get the hang of it. After that, I can take on the world!

Any suggestions or links to how the heck I’m supposed to hold my knitting while battling extra needles would be greatly appreciated!

Progress

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Sock knitting!

Sock knitting!

I’ve been slowly, yet surely, working on my sock. However, it’s a plain sock done in self-striping yarn – therefore doesn’t make for the most exciting photos. So today, I chose to mix it up with the background.

I’m finally past the ribbing and working down the leg. Hopefully I can get the sock done before Vegas!