KICK BUTT ! ! !

No picture of this FO-it had to be handed off to the recipient far too quickly.

The occasion? As they do every year, people from our dojo go up to the Kanreikai tournament in Montreal. My bff from our dojo and I had been planning to make our first saunter north side by side, so we could room together and root for each other from the sidelines. However, due to conflicts with my softball season and lack of training, I wasn't able to go. How could I show support without actually being there?

Of course, you're right. Knitting is always the answer.

Knucks, in Patons Classic Wool. A dark smoky grey body, reddish magenta ribbed cuffs. And across the knuckles, in chunky white letters, I embroidered my message to her: KICK BUTT. Enough said.

She will too, mark my words. Look out Montreal! The Americans are coming! And the girl in the gloves is a badass!!!

Good luck E! Love ya! <333

Earth Day: Round Two

A donation of yet another t-shirt from my sister resulted in yet another recycled bag for me :) On a business trip to Austin, Texas my mom came back with shirts for each of us, each different, but having the same slogan on them-"Keep Austin Weird." No longer wearing her tie-dye tee, it was handed over to me, and the Generation T book reopened.

This time, I attempted to stitch up a drawstring bag. It called for two tees, but I had planned on acquiring a plain dude's undershirt for the lining rather than using one of my logoed ones. My (rather prominent) impatient side won out, and instead I found a scrappy old curtain in the depths of my fabric bin. "What if it frays?" I asked myself. "What if it isn't strong enough?" My impatient logic once again shone through, though perhaps with greater purpose. Buying a new shirt defeated the point of making this bag out of materials otherwise headed for the landfill, and this frayish curtain would be unseen anyway, sandwiched between the psychedelic outer layers.

Cut, pin, sew...what was next? Aha! Straps! Uh-oh...the instructions called for a slice of the shirt, cut from hem to shoulder, both sides still connected. I had scissored straight across the bottom while cutting out the body of the bag, and up the side, leaving myself strapless. Instead?

More recycling.

I found something funky in my attic. A bunch or rings crocheted together with cord. Thin cord. Use this...how? Cut, unravel thread from both ends, chain a long strap with two thin strands held together. Could have worked, but the drawstring tube was too thin for both straps to fit through. Back to the drawing board.

Instead, revert back to the (now modified) instructions. Cut open the tube resulting from slicing off the bottom, and split it into two short-ish straps. Instead of tying an overhand knot through the holes in the base of the bag and wasting precious inches, thread through, overlap ends slightly and run zig-zag stitching back and forth over each end. Done, and JUST long enough.

End result?

Not bad. Not bad at all.

Happy Earth Day!

I had completely forgotten the date of this holiday, but coincidentally it was not far from my thoughts yesterday as I broke out Generation T for a little DIY fun yesterday. Once the attic was cleaned and my sewing machine fixed, I hunkered down for an hour or two with my D.A.R.E. shirts (Drug Abuse Resistance Education). One was red from my year of D.A.R.E., the other blue from the year after. (My teacher from the previous year let me and one of my friend's take home the extras). So...same logo, different colors. Potential chemistry. I opted for the "Rock the Tote" bag, I think it was, and ended up with this:

And, such is the nature of the design and materials, it's reversible. So if I flip it around...

I get this (as modeled by my sister).

Not designer, not the best color mix. But hey, it's Earth Day. And a sturdy bag like this-perhaps sturdy enough to withstand knitting needle pokes-is the ultimate in Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

It's Not Knitting, But...

Before dinner at a new music bistro full to bursting with college students, the fam all ran to the nearby Barnes and Noble where I nabbed what I must say is one of the more inspiring books I've thumbed through in a long time. Generation T: 108 Ways to Transform a T-Shirt.

Find it here:

http://http://www.amazon.com/Generation-T-Ways-Transform-T-Shirt/dp/0761137858

It's full to bursting with what seems like endless ways to cut n' sew your old tees into skirts, bags, and, of course, more shirts. Many of the designs seem to require going bra-less, which really isn't an option for this chick here, but nonetheless it's innovative and just the thing I need to get a new tote out of forgotten tops.

Once I figure out what's wrong with my sewing machine, of course ;)

Diversity and a Shortcut

A saunter into the Ravelry group for "exotic" knitting techniques brought about several links to YouTube videos of interesting variations on preforming said humble craft. I myself knit in a self-concocted style that results from my book learning system, devoid of a real teacher. However for the sake of giving it a name, I would say I'm probably best described a continental or German knitter. That is, I hold the yarn in my left hand, and pick up the yarn with my needle tip rather than wrapping it around the needle with my right hand. I don't loop the yarn around my fingers for tension, and I don't loathe purling with the burning passion many continental knitters do. There is a mild dislike, but I'm probably not alone in thinking that, especially when in the midst of some kind of behemoth garter-stitch nightmare, the change is rather welcome.

And so I spent part of my afternoon giving some of these new skills the old college try. I had already attempted Norwegian Purling a long while back-it was advertised as a way to save continental knitters from purling, because the yarn stays in the back of the work. Alas, it turned out that we weren't meant to be. My stitches took forever and came out loose, me fighting my reflex to bring the yarn forward while ribbing every step of the way.

This time my first attempt was your basic knitting-throwing with the right hand. In the past? I had no tension control, and had to forgo the two-handed method of Faire Isle for an odd, bobbin-less, one-hand-two-strings version. This time though, I remembered reading a debate about rather it was needed to loop the working yarn around the fingers in one way or another for tension. I looped round the ring finger and over the pointer finger, and...well I'll be! Natural as breathing and even as anything I'd ever knit continental. Geezaloo. Maybe I was a throwing-type knitter in a former life or something.

My next try was...hmm I believe Irish Cottage Knitting? You know, needle tucked into armpit? Holy cow was that a nightmare. Can't even speak of it. Yarn Harlot, kudos to your for your speediness and efficiency in knitting...it seems I was never meant to reach that level. Lol you lucky duck :)

Last up was Portuguese Purling. I was going to look up Portuguese Knitting too, but read that it was basically the opposite of Norwegian Purling and opted out. Anyway, to purl this way you use your left thumb to hold the working yarn down in front of your work. I need to figure out how best to loop the yarn around my thumb, but other than that with a little practice I should be able to distribute the workload as needed by switching around to different purling methods.

All the video links can be found here:

Norwegian Purling

httphttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DkwcejowiI://

Irish Cottage Knitting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P51GByV0H2w

Portuguese Purling

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK5hYxupNcM

Gotta love YouTube.

Now for the shortcut part of the title...While at the cottage over the summer, I had started a zig-zag crocheted afghan with Red Heart Super Saver in some purple and blue shades. Finding it today, I realized that there was some errors in my stitching style I have since fixed, and there was nowhere near enough yarn to finish it. solution? Stop, edge it in purple and weave in ends. End up with this:

My first thought was...radiator cover! Random I know, but it fit over the top perfectly. My mind was quickly changed when I wrapped it around my dog, and she snuggled down for a good long time. Hence, the Lola Half-ghan came to be :)

Payoff

We had a home game last night, against a school within 20 minutes of us, tops. We ended up having to mercy by the fifth inning, because we were up 17ish-0, so in otherwords there was a LOT of walks around the bases for our runners, and plenty of strikes flying out of our pitcher's glove.

This kind of game is alright in sweaty, muggy July when no on wants to stand in the field any more than necessary, right? The story is entirely different in 40 degree weather. But luckily for me and my teammates, I was highly boyscout-esque in the sense that I had enough knit gear to outfit several individuals for the Iditarod. Norweigen mittens, texting mittens with flip-off thumbs, Fetchings, Dashings, a watchcap, huge scarves...all tumbled from my backpack and onto the forms of my friends. Call me nerd if you like...but in this case, being a knitter really paid off :)

Saturday

Though hardly a lazy Saturday morning, today started off well with a 10:00 softball practice with all the girls and plenty of fair bunts on my part :) So proud!!! The aftermath of a chilly two hours running around outside was a cold brought back on with a new vengeance, so the rest of the day was spent indoors. I knit on the Selbuvotter #1 gloves I started a few days ago, and managed to make it past the pinkie and onto the ring finger. Granted I've had to frog the same ring finger three times, but that's beside the point. I'm using the same yarn as last time, Regia, only with red and white instead of red and black to shake things up a bit. Looks pretty sweet if I do say so myself, and it matches my jersey for cold games spent on the bench. The best part? My set of five size 2US dpns are occupied, so I went hunting for a size 3US to work with my set of four...and actually found a misfit size 2US at the bottom of my dpn canister! Beast!

Of course three froggings has driven me to drop the set for a day or so, but fear not-knitting has yet to be forsaken. My Coupling socks still grace my feet, underneath the hem of my cheery pink-and-yellow flannel pj pants.

I think it's time for tea.

50th Post...Alright!

So yea...those GANGSTER gloves...puffy paint isn't my strong suit. The halo around the wool kept it from sticking right and it ended up sinking in a little, requiring a second layer. They just didn't look right on me, so I handed them over to another teammate who completely embodies the term gangster :) Here's a pic from right after the first layer of paint:

The paper thingies were to keep the fingers from getting glued shut.

Later that day we finally had another game, three of out four past games having been cancelled due to rain, snow, whatever. Out on the bench it got rather chilly, so out came my Selbu mittens. And soon after that, Kate's mittens found their way out of her bag...which led to me stating I would have to examine those later, and getting openly mocked, in a sisterly way, of course (I hope...). For the record they were knit with red thick-and-thin yarn with some kind of strategically placed psso decreases (possibly worked with yo's to offset them) to make a diamond pattern, and a 1x1 rib cuff :)

Omg...I am a NERD.

OhMyGosh

Softball season has begun, and thus knitting has fallen by the wayside (*sniff*). A sad fact, but at the very least it is being replaced by spending time with a great group of girls whom I love like sisters and not something pointless or illegal, right? Aside from practices and games 5-6 days a week, our coach encourages us to hang out together outside of that schedule, and thus we all had a massive dinner and sleepover at Bonnie's house over the weekend.

Perhaps the best thing she has suggested was the Kindness Swap, which got my sticks going again. We picked a name, and some time during the week had to do something nice for that person. Most people gave out sugary sweets and home-baked treats, but of course I had another idea in mind :) For Erica, I knit up a pair of Knucks out of Patons Classic Merino Wool in some heathery tan color, with the ribbed cuff option. Across the knuckles I embroidered "Redd Head" (yes, with two "d's" to make it fit). I got hugs back, so I think it was well received.

Now to continue knitting a pair for myself...this pair in royal purple, with puffy paint writing instead of embroidery, and the textured cuff. Across the knuckles? GANGSTER! Haha doesn't describe me in the least, but I'm just so proud to have figured out it has eight letters it has to be used! They'll probably end up on the hands of a certain teammate, but however this comes out, I can always knit more!