Under the Tree Mitts

Well here I am am two frogged gloves and one complete glove and I can now say that I am learning how to read a chart when knitting....... I'm making the Under the Tree Mitts from Ravelry and I thought knitting from a chart would be simple, little did I know that you actually have to learn how to read a chart. For all of you knitting novices you read lower right to left then left to right and you switch back back and forth. Now I believe this is easier to do on a flat pattern, however when knitting in the round I still managed to hit some road blocks. I really struggled with the chart pattern when I was trying to do the tree part of the mittens and eventually just did my own thing and decided to knit on the cables instead of trying to do the purl and realize later that my tree was inside out (again). Overall the glove I have made was pretty quick to knit up I finished one in a day and will hopefully knock out the other pretty quickly here as these mitts still have a journey of their own to take. But for now I must go and enjoy the evening. Till next time!

Knitting to do list!

I saw this on a fellow bloggers blog and decided to join in. this will be interesting to see if any of this changes in a few years ;)

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Bold for stuff you’ve done, italics for stuff you plan to do one day, and normal for stuff you’re not planning on doing.

Afghan
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with bananafiber yarn
Domino knitting (=modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Baby items
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffitti knitting: knitting items on, or to be left on the street
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Household items: dishcloths, washcloths, tea cosies…
knitting socks- or other small tubular items- on two circulars
Dying with plant colours
Knitting (crocheting) items for a wedding
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with dpns
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with selfpatterning/selfstriping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
JewelryKnitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/armwarmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

Arbor: Keep your fingers crossed!

Here's a little update for my readers on the Arbor t-shirt. As I mentioned in a previous blog I had to frog my shirt because it was MASSIVE! My knitting Yoda recommended that I go down a needle size, so now I am using a two. Again I became paranoid that something was wrong so I put it on some waste yarn and tried it on. I am very excited to say that I believe this sweater is off to a good start! So now I'm asking for positive vibes for the success of my first shirt. Wish me luck!

Arbor KAL

I started my first knit-a-long doing a shirt, which is my first shirt. This has not gotten off to a very good start so far. First of all, I ordered my yarn late so it didn't show up until almost a week after the KAL started, secondly another woman in my group is a turbo knitter, so keeping up is going to be a struggle as it is, but perhaps that will work out well for me as she will have completed the shirt long before I do and will be able to help me with EVERY issue I may encounter. Another issue I am having is with the sizing. I went by the size of my bust and just assumed it would work out all right, but now that I've officially frogged it for the first time I am concerned that this shirt is going to be HUGE! When I look at the provisional cast on that I did it can wrap around the largest part of me almost 2 whole times, what does this mean? Finally I was unable to keep my knitting from twisting, I don't normally freak out about this, however it's a big project and I don't want to frog it over and over and over again and I don't know how to keep it from twisting when there are tons of stitches on the needle. HELP!

New Name

One of my greatest pet peeves about making thing for other people is when said item is not used. Now sometimes people say that the project is too special to wear, but I didn't make it for it to sit in a closet. I want you to use and love what I made you. So now I've decided that my items are "Born to be Worn". Eventually I am going to purchase tags to sew into my projects, but for now I am telling my readers that hand crafted items should be used and enjoyed!