This week, I suddenly got the idea in my head that I wanted to start a colorful crocheted blanket with some of the piles of yarn that I have left over from old projects. I have been pretty tired and burned out by the time I get home at night so I wanted something easy. I remembered seeing this pattern at Brainylady (and a million other places a while back), so I decided to give it a try. My first real crochet project! I started by chaining 210 stitches, making it just slightly wider than my couch. It is addictive and going so fast, but of course I realized that none of my leftovers were very colorful so I had to run out last night and stock up on a few more brights. Any guess which one of the above was a late addition? I hope this blanket doesn't take me as long to finish as the last one I made.

I have some guilt about starting this project because I am still working on things for Christmas that haven't been finished yet. Sigh. But who wouldn't love a New Year's gift or another kind of mid-winter surprise instead?

I made two more Noro scarves after deciding to keep the first one for me. Can you even tell where one scarf starts and the other one begins? These have been finished for a while but I am having trouble parting with them. They are 26 stitches across and knit on slightly larger needles, they are perfect for cold-ish weather and not too bulky under a coat.

Next up, a hideously bad shot of my finished endpaper mitts (just to show that I did actually finish both!).

How I love these mitts. I made size small and they are so snug and perfect for my small wrists and hands. Hopefully my friend has small hands like I remembered... or else she can return them. Another gift that is hard to part with, but I take some consolation in the fact that I have lots of extra yarn and should be able to make another pair for myself. As soon as I finish that second gift pair, which is only about 10% done.

That's all I've got for now! I am off to crochet on my mindless blanket and think about how I should be concentrating on the Endpaper Mitts. Life is full of hard decisions, isn't it? I'm not the only person with holiday knitting hanging over my head, am I?

Posted by Molly at 12:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I finished my scarf on Friday night, and it was the tiniest bit short for me to feel good about giving it as a gift, so I just had to keep it for myself! I thought it would be perfect for this time of year, short and light but enough to keep the neck warm.* Plus those colors, how could I give them away so easily? (Yes, this, just 33 days before Christmas when the clock is ticking and the list of things I want to give for Christmas is growing exponentially). Pay yourself first, that's what my mom says. Usually she is talking about life savings, but it's the same with knitting, I'd say.

I took pictures in the parking lot of my building from the car roof for a while today for a while until I realized that I could just take a picture without a timer and it turned out just as well. In the end, it turns out that a slightly warmer scarf would be more appropriate these days after all. In this shot you can see the actual length of the scarf. It ends right there with the purple and red. Not quite long enough to wrap around, but still nice. What do you think, is it too short to give as a gift? I used exactly two skeins of Noro Silk Garden and with 6 skeins left, I might be able to finish another one or two someday.

I was sidelined with a sinus infection for a few days and without the will to knit a stitch. It was depressing, but yesterday I finally spent some time with my new, more muted colors as I wrapped up in my new blanket and old quilt. Perhaps this one will be gifted.

Posted by Molly at 07:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Our camping road trip was a success! I'm not so sure that I deserve a wilderness survival badge or anything, but I weathered the elements with only limited wimpering and had a great time. (I brought my mini clapotis* along to keep me warm, of course). My mind is reeling just thinking of all the great things we got to do and see in Shikoku. I'm so glad we went! I'll be sorting through our hundreds of photos and probably posting some good ones soon.

Unfortunately my "heaps" of knitting time turned out to be more like 10 minutes when we were sitting at a roadblock waiting for a mountain road to re-open so we could pass through. Note to self: knitting on windy mountain roads makes me carsick, don't forget! I'm exhausted and I've got a cold, but I have NEVER been happier to be home. I plan to spend a lot of time log-cabining to recover.

*If you're wondering about my mini clapotis, I simply cut back on the number of increases in section two of the pattern to make it a little bit narrower and suit the limited amount of yarn that I had. I did 5 increase rows instead of 7, and knit the straight part until I had my desired length and was running out of yarn. I also used smaller needles to get gauge that I liked with my yarn. Pretty simple!

Posted by Molly at 03:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Project Specs: Christmas Birthday Mistake rib scarf
Yarn: Malabrigo kettle dyed merino wool (2 skeins, 215 yards each) in olive
Needles: Size 8 circs that I stole from my mom (sorry about that!)
Time: Less than a month, a big accomplishment!

Take a look at it, because this is something you might never see again. It's a Christmas present that was finished on the 14th of December! I chose only to knit one Christmas gift this year, as the baby sweater saga dragged out much longer than I had planned and stressed me out to the point that I was hardly knitting at all and certainly not feeling any joy from it. But I managed to finish this baby so early that I jumped the gun and gave it as a birthday gift last week.

It was hard to part with--this yarn is so soft and the color, I think it suited me! The only thing that softened the blow was how thrilled its recipient was with the gift. No one has seen him without it since his birthday, so that's a relief. The only thing better than putting the time and effort into a super soft scarf for someone special is knowing how much it is appreciated.

Now that all my obligation knitting is done (except for that one birthday hat that I promised... ), I can get back to the good old days of watching TV and knitting along at my own pace on the couch. Reinforcements of Project Runway, ER and Survivor came in the mail today with some Polish Tea Cakes (my mom and her tricky post timing!!) so I am ready to settle in for the holidays. I had nearly forgotten that Christmas is this weekend!

Posted by Molly at 07:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

This (mostly) green object is my super early finished gift #2! I have a friend who loved a multidirectional scarf that I made for myself in the same colorway last year, so I decided to make another one for her. It won't be gifted until I leave next summer, so it is very, very early. When I sorted through my stash last week I found this yarn and remembered what I'd meant to do. So voila! size 10.5 needles + three skeins of Kureyon = quick FO.

I'm planning a big talent show that's coming up next Saturday so with planning meetings, making veggieburgers and dance practice (plus thinking about how much more I NEED to practice) I have been busy enough to justify the recent knit slump. I think I might be getting tired just thinking about all the things that are coming up. I'm going to be really busy for the next few months so I won't have as many weekends crafting at home. What's a girl to do!? Must come up with some good on-the-go projects!

Posted by Molly at 06:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Pattern: Wendy's Dream Swatch Headwrap
Yarn: Koigu Kersti, K621, one skein
Needles: #5 bamboo circs

I love the stitch pattern on this scarf. On the wrap rows I wrapped 4 times instead of three to make it a little stretchier--plus I think my gauge was off. It was indeed a dream to knit, and I actually wish I hadn't finished it SO fast. I think it took me less than two days! It's a nice break from fabric headwraps, too, because it has a lot more stretch and holds my hair back just like I need it to. I wore this to school on Monday and it was met with squeals of delight from some of my high school girls, and a teacher even told me I looked stylish. Success!!

I have been can't-keep-my-eyes-open tired this week, maybe because it has rained about 12 days of the last two weeks (and it's not rainy season yet!) so even though I am just one finger away from a finished fair isle glove, it's been set aside. Instead, I dipped into my stash closet and am knitting up a multidirectional scarf with some greenish-brownish Kureyon. I made the exact same scarf in the exact same yarn last fall, so it's a little bit boring, but it's a gift for someone who loves the one I have. It's perfect for my 7pm, waiting til it's late enough to go to bed knitting project.

OH, and thank you to everyone who suggested One Skein to work through my stash. I did some research and it seems like that is a really popular book! And I DO have the perfect yarn for a cupcake top... Last night in a moment of weakness I almost ordered that and another tempting read from Amazon, but I put it on hold at the last minute. Would you believe that I haven't bought any yarn or knitting books/mags since my mom visited in January? I might just cave for these two.

Posted by Molly at 08:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I've been in a bit of a knitting slump lately, did you notice? I don't have any big projects to focus on or anything that I am particularly passionate about knitting. I could knit stockinette socks til the cows come home, but where's the fun in that?

When I was growing up, my mom always had a lot of fabric. Shelves of it. I never understood it, but didn't question the madness as long as I was on the receiving end of lots of flannel nightgowns, quilts and doll clothing like you wouldn't believe. But now I get it. I've turned into my mom (I've got fabric, too).

I avoided flash-your-stash day for a few reasons, primarily because all this stuff was wedged into my one closet with so much other junk that I just didn't want to deal with my closet actually exploding. There's also the part where I didn't really want to admit to myself how much there is. But today is about the 10th consecutive rainy day here so I decided it would be a good time to take a look at the inside of my closet and get things organized before summer.

Now, I'm sure that a lot of you think this stash is amateur business. I know, compared with a lot of knitbloggers out there this is peanuts. But since coming to Japan I have been consciously trying not to buy yarn that I couldn't use right away, since I'm going to have to SHIP THIS STUFF HOME when I leave next summer. Not to mention that I'm trying to save for grad school. And this is self-control? I have a lot of really nice yarn in here, and I don't want to knit just anything with it. I need some inspiration! Can I really make that Noro Cash Laine pullover when summer is on the way? I might just have to crank up the ac and begin. I am also desperately in need of some 1-2 skein projects for all these lovely randoms that I've been accumulating. I have so many balls that don't seem to be quite enough for anything... what to do!?

Posted by Molly at 03:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

To celebrate the beginning of Project Spectrum April today, I stopped at Loft in Nagoya, my favorite store that is full of stuff that I never knew I needed before. I actually had my haircut nearby and was initially determined not to go into the store but just to snap a shot of the sign. Next thing I knew, I had found some pens and a notebook that I needed. And a few other things. But here is more to be excited about (besides the fact that it is going to be cold and rainy at outdoor sumo tomorrow. You know what that means, right? I might be able to break out the thrummed mittens this season after all!).

Last night I finished my mini-clapotis! Perfect timing, too, because it snowed this week and was just cold enough today to justify wearing this on my little jaunt in the city. Turns out that it's not quite as mini as I imagined, and it has all the length and just a little less of the width of a full-sized specimen.

Project specs (I really had to dig in my yarn basket for this stuff)
Yarn/Pattern: Kate's Clapotis in Silk Garden (Fine), color 101, a little under three balls (it's not itchy!)
Needles: size 7 clover bamboo circs (it's a good thing I measured these because I just noticed that I switched my leaf lace shawl from size 6 addis to said size 7s by accident. Why is everything I want to knit on size 6 needles these days!?).
Time taken: Hardly any!

So to recap, shopping at Loft + snow at the end of March + new scarf and a new haircut = glamour shots in the bathroom at Starbucks. Got it?

Have a fun weekend!

Posted by Molly at 08:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (27)

This SIlk Garden laceweight yarn really made my day when I found it in Kyoto last fall. The color transitions are great and it is making a fun mini-clapotis. If it's the perfect length and has no visible flaws, I might be able to gift it to a friend. The only problem is that I think it will coordinate oh-so-nicely with my apple green Chuck Taylors.

**This is a great CD that I have been listening to a lot lately. That and Mozart for the Mind, which I consider an investment in my own brainpower. hehe.

Posted by Molly at 10:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)