Competitive Knitting

Mrs. Knitpicky (or Wit on Ravelry) wrote a nice comment to tell me that I was doing well and that knitting isn't a competitive sport. This is true, but it is also false.

I forget that nowadays I actually have several readers/subscribers I know solely through online means or whom I might not even know at all. People, I'm competitive. I'm ridiculously competitive. When I meet people I don't know well, I have a story to point out how competitive I am.

When I was young, and still freshly dating Paul, we sat down for a game of chess. Paul had taught me how to play just a month or so before, and I was interested in the game, though he beat me in four moves the first game. (If I might make a note to those of you who ever decide to teach another person how to play chess -- do not do this. Point it out if you think they are opening in a way that leads to this capture of the king. If you actually beat them in four moves it will demoralize them greatly.) Well, we played several games and I lost them all, as you can imagine. Paul is just as intelligent as I am, after all, and he has a much much better strategic mind. Let's just say that if we were in a war, and you had a choice of who could be your general and tactician, me or him? I'd advise you to choose Paul. So, one night, we sat down for a game, and Paul beat me pretty badly. I tried not to, but... I cried. I cried hard. I sobbed like a girl. See, I equate chess to intelligence, and to consistently fail at chess meant I was stupid, as far as I was concerned.

People, we didn't play chess for roughly eight more years. We just played a game in the last year. He still beat me, but not so badly. I kind of wonder if he let me do somewhat better just to keep from depressing me.

So, as you can see, telling me that chess is not a competitive sport is good advice, but I've already ignored it. I'm already competitive. Do you want to know how I could be a faster knitter of Harry Potter scarves? Someone I know in real life such as Helen or Marlon could tell me they've taken up knitting Harry Potter scarves and they were into section six or whatnot. I will tell you right now that my little fingers would fly to keep ahead of them. This is not an attractive personality trait, but it's one that I'm sharing nonetheless. This is my blog, you should know how I am.

Other horrible traits I have include being horribly shy, judgmental, and slightly mean. Other people have called me self-centered, selfish, capricious, flighty, and evil.

I promise I have good qualities too. Keep reading my blog -- you might learn about them at some time.

I'll give you one right now, I persevere! I restarted my Schaffer Anne socks today. I am also kind to kittens.

Photo by Fofurasfelinas

Why I Am The Worst Knitter Ever

So, as you all know, I've been knitting this stupid mindless Slytherin scarf since last October. I'm on the seventh out of fifteen large blocks of color and I have just been trying to crank through this. I try to get a round a night, at least, since the beginning of June, and some nights much more. However, I just read a thread of Ravelry which had the following type of conversation:

Original Poster: How long will this take me to knit?
Reply 1: I knit it in two weeks!
Reply 2: I knit it in a month and a half, but back then I was a new knitter!
Reply 3: It took me a month, but I was always busy back then.
Reply 4: Two weeks!

WTF, people? What am I doing wrong? Seriously? It's a 90 stitch round, and you have to do 27 rounds of it per color block, and then you're switching yarns like crazy for the next few sections, and weaving them all in, and then you're back to another huge color block. How are you doing this in two weeks? My gosh, do I really need to learn the Continental method of knitting?

I feel like such a failure at knitting. I mean, not only am I the slowest knitter on Earth, but my Schaeffer Anne socks? I had to rip them completely out and re-start due to the fact that I knit a size too small socks on size zero needles. I knit out one inch of fabric.

On the other hand, I beaded and made myself a cute little pair of earrings! Pics to come in my next post, hopefully. Helen made better earrings, and I hope she'll post them to her blog, so I can link to her post.

Old Cross Stitch

Remember when I told you I'd saved up a whole bunch of my cross-stitches to post when I had nothing else to post! Here's one of those times. I mean, I'm doing stuff. I'm actually on the sixth stripe sequence of my scarf, and I've gotten a ton done on my most recent cross-stitch, and I've started a pair of socks, but I'm not doing anything interesting, is the problem.

Well, anyway, here's a photo of work I've done in the past.



This is the "Summer" girl for a collection of Precious Moments and my second or third favorite from the collection. I would say it was definitely my second favorite, but for one thing. I've cross-stitched this sucker twice. That's right, this probably took me about two or more years to complete, because I completed it once, and then twice. The first one, I put into my purse to go look into framing options. Well, I took that purse to the movie theatre where I left it in the bathroom and someone stole that purse. I wasn't even bitter about losing my cards and some spare cash. I was hatefully bitter at the person who took my cross-stitch. Seriously. If you ever come across this blog post, thief, which I know you won't, but if you do, I hate you.

I managed to work out most of my negative energy while I cross-stitched it the second time, but why couldn't that person return my purse sans cards and cash to the movie theatre? Sigh. Oh well.

How have you all been? I'm still busy but things are getting better!

Silence On The Craft Front

I haven't been doing much recently. What with trying to get our washer/dryer fixed, a vacation booked, cards/presents for Paul's bday and Father's Day, and dealing with Nathan's first birthday, I've been mostly just vegging. I mean, I watched the beginning of True Blood and I didn't even break out any knitting during that time. Normally I love to knit while watching television, but, instead, Paul and I just cuddled. That was nice.

However, after a good restful weekend, which included delicious naps and the best quiche I've ever eaten, I decided it was time to get back on the crafting horse. Since we were driving to Paul's parents for dinner today, I took along my Schaefer Anne sock yarn and started a vanilla sock on size 0 needles. If I like the look of the variegation a lot when I come to the straight stockinette part, I might rip the whole thing out and cast on another pair of socks, only using a pattern. Or, since they give so much damned yardage and I have 'small' feet, I might just get a vanilla anklet pair and a patterned pair.

Since I don't have much to report right now, I thought I'd tell you all that a new free online knitting magazine just started! It's specifically targeted to patterns for children which makes me so happy since I have one now. Petite Purls is starting with a summer issue and it actually includes a pattern for boys. Better yet the pattern calls for two skeins of a yarn I've been dying to use. There is an adorable little stuffed lobster pattern too, but I've got my heart set on sewing my first homemade stuffed animal, and then knitting Sheldon. Of course, I'll never do any of this because I'll still be knitting the stupid Slytherin scarf when I'm 90.

Miss you all! I plan to write more soon, but let me just get past Father's Day, okay?

Foxy Foxy Boxers

Pattern: Foxy Boxers from the Sew Everything Workshop
Fabric: Woven cotton from Jo-ann Fabrics

There are weeks when I don't feel like doing anything with my crafting. I just do stuff for half an hour here or there to make myself feel like I did something. Then there are weeks I'm driven by a certain project. This week was one of those weeks. Check out these boxers.



Last weekend, I took two days to trace and cut out the pattern. On Monday night, I cut out and marked the fabric itself, which I'm still horrible at. I think the number one thing I should be improving with my sewing currently is the cutting and marking of fabric.

On Tuesday night, I whipped most of it together, leaving the legs unhemmed as I had run out of thread in the correct shade.

On Wednesday, before running to Helen's, I finished the leg hems, ironed it, and photographed it.

I am both disappointed by and excited by my results. On one hand, these boxers are so ridiculously huge that they almost fit Paul, who is an XL in men's sizing. I cut the medium. I should have guessed that things were going south when I came to the directions for the elastic waistband and it told me to cut 36" inches. I ended up cutting the elastic three inches less than the size small suggestion and I could have cut smaller than that too. I could have made myself an extra-small of these boxers easily, if the pattern had come in that size. It did not.

On the other hand, I did some gorgeous stitching and had no problems with this pattern which is for "Advanced Beginners". Look at my leg hem!



My zig-zagged edge stitching was even, perfect, gorgeous. My fly top was professional looking.



This was definitely my best sewing product yet, and... it doesn't fit. How disappointing.

For those of you who might want to try and make this yourself because you keep hearing me gab and gab about this book, I would suggest that you really consider the sizing carefully. I'm fairly sure the size large would have fit Paul who normally wears an XL. Secondly, I read another blog post about how the elastic was hard to insert because of the fly overlap. Yeah... They were not effing kidding, folks. I spent most of my sewing night trying to insert that bloody elastic. I finally cut a hole in my fabric to pull the elastic out because I knew I was going to stitch the x'ed out square over the fly anyway. Be warned. I suspect if I ever made boxers again, I'd just go buy a simple Simplicity pattern or something.

I do think it is time for my to (1) review Sew Everything Workshop since I have sewn three different patterns from it, and (2) make something from one of the patterns I've bought rather than continuing my book sewing trend. Next step is a Sew Easy Simplicity pattern. I don't know when I'll get to it since I'm kind of in love with cross-stitch again, but I'll get around to it.

Oh, if you want a men's Medium pair of boxers in an outrageously awesome Chinoiserie cotton, let me know. I've got a pair that is very very gently used laying around. They're pretty good for lounging too.

Go Browse

So, it is no surprise that I love to read textile blogs, right? I'm obsessed with listening, reading, doing... so long as it is related to textile crafts. Anyway, one of the blogs I read is Sew, Mama, Sew. Every Christmas, they do a gigantic giveaway contest in which they give away stuff to bloggers who do a giveaway on a certain day. This year, they decided to do a mid-year giveaway! They must have links to at least a few hundred giveaways, including finished goods and materials to make things! Go check them out, or at least browse. I've already added five new blogs to my feedreader.

I don't sign up for every giveaway, but those where I like the crafter's blogging and the thing being given away.

Hopefully, I'll have pictures of my finished boxers soon. I have everything done besides the leg hems.

Doing Something, Anything

Guess what I've been doing?



I've not been doing a ton, but I did cut out some boxers and mark them up. Don't you love the Chinoiserie fabric? Mmm...



I have no idea if, when sewn up, the pattern's "up" will be the same as the boxers' "up", if you know what I mean. The fabric is from Joann and it is part of Alexander Henry Fabrics collection from 2006.

Hopefully, by next week, I'll have some pictures of a finished project to show you, and possibly some updates on my other projects, and a picture of my beautifully wound Schaefer Anne yarn. Unlike the Socks That Rocks fiasco, things are already looking good. The yarn cake, newly wound, was gorgeous rather than frightening. Thanks, Christy, for helping me with that.

New Sock Yarn

I was going to skip a post this week because I was just out of it. I was tired, grumpy, allergy ridden, and tired. This led to me not doing much at all that shows. I mean, I knit a little on my scarf, and I cross-stitched, and I even finished that cloth book I showed you in my last post, but nothing exciting happened.

Then, darling Christy came through with her Knit Picks order. In the recent past, she asked Helen and me if we would like to get anything from Knit Picks so we could all get free shipping from one package. I decided to go with an extra long cabled sock needle for trying the Magic Loop again, and two skeins of Gloss Sock Yarn. This yarn has silk in it.



It's very pretty when you look at it close up.



Now, I just need to find a good pattern for this yarn. Perhaps the Bella Catena Italiana?

Share It Sunday!

I'm not doing much crafting wise, recently, but I still want to blog. Since I'm not listening to any new podcasts (as I'm trying to listen to all the back episodes of Stash and Burn, as well as Knitmore Girls), I thought I'd share several cool links, et cetera. Feel free to ignore this post, or to read it.

First, my friend Sophy has just bought a house. Congrats, Sophy! However, even though she's probably as busy as all get out, she has not yet stopped crafting. In fact, she took the time to create an awesome Star Trek costume for the premiere! By the way, if you haven't, go see the movie. It's not deep, but it is fun.

Second, I love this video. I love the music in the video. I love that these are not model helicopters.

Bathtub IV from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

Lastly, I love the new nail polish shade, Mermaid to Order, from Sephora. I tried it on today at Sephora, and I fell in love with it. I'm definitely going to buy it, and if I like wearing it, I have a feeling I might stock up on another bottle.

Sadness: I Has It

I had no updates. I had no words. I had nothing to give to you today, audience. I barely did anything last week that couldn't be condensed down to: didn't get off the computer, didn't craft much, didn't do anything new, didn't do much at all with sewing or knitting. The problem with working on large cross-stitch projects or long in the round scarves is that even when you manage to make a few hours worth of work on them, it's still 'ho hum', you know? And with Nathan being suddenly the world's worst sleeper this week, I haven't gotten any sewing done either. I'm not motivated to sew and, if I do sew, the machine is loud enough to set him off.

I was pretty depressed about having no updates and considered not updating my blog this week, pretending the whole week had not occurred. I was at my mom's today, thinking about this, and how it sucked, I got kind of whiny with my mom. (Not that my mom doesn't have her faults, but she did not deserve the attitude today.) When she was sitting there with Nathan, I passively-aggressively asked if she was ever going to put any of the cross-stitch I made for her up on the walls. Or did she just lose the cross-stitch that I did for her at her request? The set that took me ten years to complete? Did she just lose it. My mom looked at me, a bit shocked, because she had forgotten about them. She said to me, "Well, my house is done. I should put them up. It'll cost too much to frame them."

I told her to just put them on the floor, and I'd photograph them. Readers, I'm going to dole them out to you when I have nothing else to show you. That's how I roll. I'm willing to take old projects and make them NEW. So, going back in the day, here's a cross-stitch I completed when I was 19, back when I was ambitious and willing to cross-stitch everything. This is not part of the previously mentioned set. This is my baby polar bears cross-stitch.



The cloth is some type of aida, but I don't know what size (14, perhaps).

As for my sewing, well, I did cut out some stuff for the cloth book my mom wants me to make for my cousin's child.



Isn't my mini-ironing board cute? That's also my crap iron that I love more than I used to love it because at least my crap iron didn't melt my sewing thread like my mom's scary iron of doom did.

How are you guys doing? Getting stuff done? I'm not going to make any firm plans for the upcoming week. If I can sew, I will. If I can't, I won't. If I get nothing done at all, I'm going back to truly firm planning.