Made a mistake on the afghan

When I was attaching another strip to the afghan I had in the wrong direction. Of course I only noticed this after I had finished. So I had to take it out and now I still haven't put the strip on. I have two more to attach, including the one that would have been done yesterday, and then the afghan will be finished.

At least I have learned my lesson about working on projects when I'm tired.

Looking over older posts...

I was just looking over some of my older posts and realized I met the goal I had set. My goal was to knit a pair of socks before the end of the year.

I did force myself a bit by purchasing the yarn. I knew that if I bought the yarn I would end up making them.

I probably won't be making my felted bag by the end of the year, even though I have the yarn. In fact I don't see myself doing many projects this semester, or they will all be small quick ones. I have a twenty-five page paper due in November. I need to think of a topic and get started so that I don't find myself with ten pages a few days before it is due.

The afghan is going well

I have put three pieces of the afghan together. There is a slight seam, but it looks better now than it did before. It is less obvious.

If I do make this pattern again I think I will try to knit it all together. It will probably take longer but I'll separate the sections by a stitch or a yarn over or something. I really don't like putting the pieces of knitted items together, so if I can find a way to avoid it I will.

Finished with the shawl, on to the afghan

I finished the shawl for my grandmother over the weekend. I weave in the ends yet, I'll have to do it when I go home for the bridal shower.

Now I need to put together the pieces of the envelope afghan. I think I'm going to pick up stitches and then unse the kitchener stitch. I don't like the way it looked when I tried to use the mattress stitch. I don't want the afghan to have obvious seams. Depending on how it looks I'll probably end up making another one in a different color. It just needs cheap worsted weight yarn. I used Caron Simply Soft in Plum Wine. I think if I make it again it will be in Dark Country Blue. I can't believe I finished knitting the afghan in June and still haven't put it together yet.

Expensive Yarn

I'm currently saving to buy the yarn for a sweater. The main negative part of knitting is that yarn can be so expensive. Especially the yarns that I tend to like, because they are natural fibers. When you are on a budget, you either buy cheap yarn, look for bargains, or save to buy what you want. And of course the more expensive the yarn, the smaller the skein, so you have to buy more.

I suppose that you spend about the same amount for the yarn that you would spend to buy a pure wool sweater. At least when you knit it yourself, you know how well made it is. And you also can knit a gauge to test how well it washes by hand or machine.

Needles

I don't think I ever posted about the Denise Needle set I received for Christmas of 2004. The Denise Needles are an interchangeable circular needle set. It has really been a help since now I don't have to buy new needles for each project I do.

I also received my late great-aunt's old needles. Most of the ones she had were aluminum, but she also had several plastic ones. I use the plastic circulars when I travel by plane. I'm glad knitting needles are allowed on planes, since knitting while I fly really relaxes me. I made a shawl and an afghan during two separate round trips.

I'm not sure if I will bother to bring knitting with me for the plane trip to my sister's wedding. There will be so much stuff going on, I probably won't bother.

Socks

I haven't updated in a long time.

I finished my first pair of socks a few weeks ago. I'm working on a green shawl for my Grandma. I was supposed to do it months ago, but I kept forgetting to get the yarn. I made her a similar one for Christmas last year, but it was red.

The yarn for my knitted bag is still at home waiting to be used. I decided to wait until winter since that yarn is pure wool.

The socks are Lion Brand yarn Magic Stripes in Jelly Bean. It was easier than I thought it would be. Initially I stopped knitting them for a few weeks after I finished the cuff on the first sock. Picking up stitched along the heel gusset made me nervous at first. Since the socks are mostly wool, I won't be wearing them for a few months.