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By kilax, January 4, 2016 6:26 am

How to knit! Ha!

After two+ months off, I finally picked knitting back up! And I remembered everything, yay! And knitting is just as relaxing as it was before. Ahhhhhhh.

I’m knitting something for a family member I’ll see when we do my family’s Christmas celebration in mid-January. Technically… this means I DID make a homemade gift for Christmas 2015… even though I am making it in 2016! Right? Right?!?! Ha.

A few people asked me why we aren’t seeing my family until January to celebrate Christmas. Well, geography. And sanity. Most of my family lives in Iowa. Steven’s lives in Missouri. While we could do one big week-long celebration to see everyone (and we have, from time to time), we prefer to spread it out. It’s less stressful that way (hence, the sanity mention above), we don’t have to take huge chunks of time off work (keep in mind Steven runs a retail business that is HELLA busy in December), we get to see family in January and… we get to buy (make?) presents for people after the holiday!

So we* rotate each year. Surely… other people must do this as well? I think of it as fair, to switch who we spend Christmas with each year, but the way some people react… well, they thought the fact that I wasn’t seeing my family meant something was wrong. Nope! That’s just how Steven and I do it!

*Just Steven and I rotate – our families still get together for the holidays even though we aren’t there, ha ha.

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By kilax, December 22, 2015 6:23 am

Our little tree now has (a little amount of) presents under it!

And not a single one is homemade*.

Sigh.

When I started knitting this year, I thought I would knit lots of holiday gifts for people. I had even bought a complicated cable pattern and yarn to make a scarf for Steven’s dad, and was looking forward to it.

Broken record: you know what happened. We sold our house, blah blah blah. All of my free time was spent doing house stuff or running/exercising. The last time I knitted was at the end of October, when I finished this hat! Gah!!

I miss knitting. I hope I can pick it back up, soon. And maybe I can make that scarf for a birthday gift… nothing weird about getting a scarf for an August birthday, right?!

*Last year, I wrote about wishing I had a skill that would translate in to homemade gifts… funny to me that I do now, but didn’t use it.

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By kilax, October 29, 2015 6:27 am

• I’m especially excited for my Friday 5:00 am strength class this week! I have a Halloween playlist and am encouraging students to wear costumes. I can’t wait to see what people come as! My costume last year (below) was pretty tame – I’ll do better this year (as in, I will actually be wearing something other than on my head).

• I’ve been working on some other knitting projects besides Steven’s tie. I have a lot of cotton yarn leftover from making so many washcloths, so I started to use the leftover bits for some random color cloths. I also made a hat for my mom (same pattern as this). Sigh. I wish the hat yarn wasn’t so frizzy. It looked so nice when I picked the skein out in the store, but all the handling of it made it frizz out. And gah, the last four rows took me the longest on that hat! I really need to go down to DPNs for the last few rows.

Yes – I am wearing my Royals 2014 ALC shirt a lot! When I see my snister this weekend, she’ll have 2015 Royals gear for me!

• Steven and I started watching Game of Thrones during lunch break (we like to have a TV show to watch while we eat – we just finished Entourage). Mica loaned me the first book from the series some time ago, but I hadn’t started reading it because I was worried about remembering who the characters were. I actually think watching the show may help me with that. I’ll see if I like reading it, while watching it. I’ve heard the show plot diverges from the book plot a bit in later seasons… but I doubt that would bother me. Or that I would get that far in the books, anyway! I just want a little something to read at night to help me fall asleep!
• We’ve wanted a bench seat for the window in our office for quite some time, and finally got one! I think Data approves!

• It’s hard to believe the holidays are around the corner (even though I am stoked to start playing holiday music on Sunday!). It’s starting to feel more real to me though, because we’ve finalized our plans for Christmas (each year is different for us – we alternate one year with my family and one with Steven’s (and sometimes they come here and sometimes we go there))!
• Gina is running the New York City Marathon (NYCM) on Sunday! I am so stoked for her and can’t wait to hear about her race experience. To date, NYCM is still my favorite marathon! Go, Gina!

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 78

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By kilax, October 28, 2015 5:06 am

Steven asked me to knit him a tie a long time ago, and I finally did!

I somewhat followed this simple seed stitch Lion Brand pattern.

I say somewhat, because we decided we didn’t like the decreases in the part of the tie that goes around the neck, then the increases where it lays behind the tie in the front. So I knitted this entire tie, then cut off half of it, then knitted the remaining half back to the same length all in one width (still a smaller width than the front, just not getting as small).

It was okay I had that half leftover from my first attempt – I had something in mind for it. When I told my coworker I was knitting Steven a tie, she asked if I was making one for Data, too. Sure! Why not? I added on to the leftover bit until it was long enough for a cat-sized tie.

Ha! Data does not mind wearing stuff around his neck, but for whatever reason, he did not want to pose with his dad last night!

Redoing the second half of this tie (several times) made me more confident in unraveling and picking stitches back up, and knitting from there. I also learned that you can only unravel in one direction (toward the first row, not away from it). Ha.

Now, who wore it better?!

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By kilax, October 22, 2015 6:18 am

• I can’t believe how much (Royals) baseball we’ve been watching. I find it enjoyable until it gets too stressful. Then I just feel anxious and want it to be over. Ha. I don’t know how regular sports fans do it! I am not talking it down, by any means, but it just seems so anxiety-inducing to be invested in a team full time. But, not everyone is anxiety ridden and can probably just watch the game for the fun of it… right?

• Did anyone else read this article (pdf here) about the airport in Japan that installed a “track” for wayfinding purposes, and feel disappointed it wasn’t for running on? Ha – I totally thought that was what the article was going to be about when I clicked on the heading to read it!
• Gah, I realized I have four partially finished knitting projects going on – a scarf I started last winter and almost finished, a dishcloth (I’ve been using up all the extra cotton yarn and have made quite a few), a cowl for Steven, and a hat I started for my mom (photo below). I need to finish those up! I also ordered yarn to make this for Steven’s dad, and bought yarn to make Steven a tie!

• I am just now noticing that the Playtex Sport tampons packages have… what should I call them… motivational messages? Fortunes (ha)? on them. I find this amusing, for some reason. Are they supposed to pep you up when you have your period? Giggle.

• This Data cuddling Beaver (the stuffed otter) pose is totally set up, but I have to share it because it’s so cute. To me.

• I just realized that a 5K I am thinking about going for a PR at is on Friday the 13th. Um, that’s a sign of good luck, right?
• Steven and I have taken a ton of stuff to Goodwill and a lot of other stuff to a storage unit, and our house feels so uncluttered and tidy. I love it.

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 77

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By kilax, October 12, 2015 8:06 am

After my first knitting in the round project turned out to be a disaster, I was eager to make a different tubular project, with hopes it would actually turn out. So I bought the needles to make this hat, since my snister had gifted me a skein of Yarn Bee Whimsy Bulky.

And… success!

It turned in to something one could actually wear!

Phew. Ha ha.

Knitting this hat was simple, and I enjoyed it! The only tricky part was the last few rows, when I was still using a circular needle to knit, but only had a few stitches left, and it was hard to move them around. But I figured it out!

I did adjust the pattern, because it noted to cast on four additional stitches after you finished the ribbing, which I was able to cast on, but then it seemed like they were going to leave a gap in the hat. It looked goofy, and I didn’t want the hat to bulge out after the ribbing anyway. So because I didn’t cast on the four additional stitches, when I started my decreases, it was at every eight stitches instead of every six (per the pattern), which just means the hat is taller. Which is fine, because I am giving it to my snister, and our family has large heads. Ha!

Surprising to me, but obvious, knitting has taught me a lot about (knitted) clothing design. For example, Steven prefers knitted sweaters that don’t have ribbing on the bottom, because he doesn’t care for that look. However, the ribbing pattern is what gives the bottom band of the sweater structure, and makes it lay close on the wearer (which is why he doesn’t like the look). If the bottom of this hat didn’t have ribbing, it would be loose and not stay on my head, unless I knit the hat too small on purpose (and then it would probably pop up, anyway). I’ve also seen different methods for casting off, to make things tighter or looser, depending on how structured you want them to be. Neat-o!

Now I am eager to start another hat! I have a few other fun patterns saved!

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By kilax, October 5, 2015 6:27 am

I was all excited to get started on making this cowl for a friend last week… then I sat down to work on it and realized I read the pattern wrong and didn’t have the right circular needles.

Mica deciphered the confusing directions for me!

So I ordered the right size needles, and while I waited for them to come, I looked through the yarn stash my snis sent me to find something to work on in the mean time. Only, every project I found, that I had the right amount of yarn for, required needles I don’t have. Sigh. The good news is, I read a lot about when to use circular needles (and what size) versus double pointed needles, and have a decent understanding of it. The bad news is, I “need” a lot of needles I don’t have (time to start making my holiday wish list!).

I saved all the patterns I found for a future date, and waited for the circular needles for the cowl to come.

And I started it when they did. And got the hang of working in the round, despite not really finding it enjoyable (although that could change). The cowl went pretty quickly.

But as I was working on it, I realized I really did NOT like the pattern. At all. I liked how it looked on the model in the photo, but not on me.

I can’t give this ugly cowl to anyone but Goodwill. It makes me look like a clown! Ugh.

At least I learned how to knit in the round on this, though!

Maybe in the future I’ll learn how to read patterns better, and know by looking at them, I won’t like how it turns out.

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By kilax, September 30, 2015 6:01 am

I’m not sure why I was so excited to work with this Scrubby yarn from Red Heart. Any experienced knitter could probably look at it and tell what a total pita it would be to work with.

Okay, okay, it’s not that bad. At all. It’s just different. The little dangly pieces make it… interesting. You really have to pay attention in the beginning, to make sure you are actually knitting the stitch, and not looping through the loose bits.

If that makes any sense. Ha ha.

The real reason I got this yarn was to jokingly knit a sponge for my mom’s mom. She is very anti-sponge and pro-washcloth and I thought it would be funny.

Of course, I ended up knitting some cloths first, anyway. And I can’t even tell which side is supposed to be the front. I thought it was this side:

But doesn’t the pattern make it look like it’s supposed to be this side?

Me so confused.

I just want to finish the little sponge project I started after these, and move on to something with big chunky yarn. That seems to be what I prefer right now!

(But the good thing about this yarn is that it’s really easy to hide mistakes, since the yarn itself is so crazy and not orderly! I accidentally added a stitch in the first cloth, then dropped it somehow, later (oops) and was able to hide it easy because the yarn looks so messy anyway, muah ha ha.)

*Only a slight exaggeration.

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By kilax, September 23, 2015 6:29 am

Back in April, I picked up this cute tote to hold all my knitting gear, and couldn’t imagine how I’d EVER fill it.

Um, yeah… five months later…

It’s not like I went (too) crazy buying things. I actually received all this knitting gear from my snister:

She tried knitting for awhile and didn’t care for it, so I get all this!

And Mica sent me a bunch of circulars (the ones in the Ziploc bag and the fancy Knit Picks kit!), and Gina got me the cute orange case for my birthday:

Now, to use it all! I picked up yarn two weekends ago for a few projects – some washcloths and cowls for Gina for a silent auction,

Cowls are done!

I had to try this pattern – turned out looking super similar to the waffle pattern

some funky “sponge” yarn to make washcloths for my Grandma,

and yarn to make a birthday present for a friend. Now, what to do with all that extra yarn Christina gave me! Hmm…

Whatever I do, I better move fast, so Data gets his comfy spot back.

I’d actually really like to start knitting some holiday gifts, but I am not sure how I can work on them and NOT post them on the blog. That sounds really hard. Ha.

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By kilax, September 17, 2015 6:14 am

• My younger brother and his wife received the blanket for James yesterday and sent me a very nice thank you and a few pictures of James using it!!! Made my day!

• I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but when I show pictures of someone’s kids on here, or write a post that says a lot about something me and another person did, or has pictures of them in I’m not sure if they will like, I get their permission to post it. This is my blog space, not theirs, and I’d totally get if they didn’t want their stuff on here! Everything is not for everyone to see. (And I appreciate my friends and family reviewing the stuff I send them.)
• For my next knitting project, I am making some washcloths and cowls to donate for a silent auction and 5K event Gina’s running club is hosting on October 10 for a young girl in their town (in Texas) battling leukemia. If you are crafty and want to donate something for the auction (or work for a business that can donate online services or gift cards) let me know and I will connect you with her! I finished the washcloths last night! Gina requested Christmassy colors and I like how they turned out!

• (Town)house improvements continue, and we recently replaced an old La-Z-Boy couch with some chairs. I really like the pattern – they’re muted enough but with a tiny pop of color that isn’t obnoxious. And Data likes that they’re gray. Although at first I think he thought he wasn’t supposed to sit on them, and was trying to sneak around to do it, which was humorous!

• As part of an anniversary gift, Gina and Steve gave us the Dallas Starbucks mug! Our collection expands! Ha ha, I know, it’s pretty small (for the Starbucks mugs), but I have a bit of a mug problem in general, so that’s okay!

• I hit a one-year streak in practicing Spanish every day, in the DuoLingo app! Once I completed the app in the spring, I’ve been more in a maintenance mode. I would really like to become fluent in Spanish over the next few years. I think that will require classes, a language partner/tutor, and using Spanish in my community. Which sounds exciting, but like a lot of work, so we’ll see what happens with that! (Probably… not much.)

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 75