The second leg...

Well, I finally have all 4 scarves in my possession. The 2 from Jessica came in at the same time, I still haven't had a chance to send out the first crochet one, and...ah, ok, make that 3 of the four. I can't count. LOL The first crochet one I was going to try and turn over in just one day...but my misplaced wallet threw a large wrench in those works! When I couldn't find my wallet last Tuesday, I reported my debit cards as lost and am still waiting on my replacement cards to come in. Therefore I can't access my accounts to pay to send out packages...LOL Go figure. The first leg was delayed because of both people sending to me running behind, and now they're both being delayed again because of losing my wallet temporarily. Ugh. But I had fun picking yarn for the crochet one and had fun picking a pattern for the first knit one! In fact, here's a picture of the knit section I just completed!:



It was actually pretty fun dabbling into lace-type stitching! In fact, I so much enjoyed working the pattern, that I plan to make a scarf out of it in the near future...

Now I just have to figure out what yarn and what pattern to use for Sophie's scarf...hmmm...

A yarn hostage situation!

Tuesday was a happy day for me! I checked my mail for the first time since last Thursday (after the whole fiasco of losing and finding my wallet and ID!) to find a party in my mailbox! I had not one, not two, not even three packages to pick up, but seven!!! That's right, ladies and gentlemen, seven packages waiting to be picked up! One was the first part of the crocheted scarf travels, two were birthday packages for A (who has a birthday on the 30th!), one was an order placed with amazon, 2 were from knit picks and the last one was from Herrschner's. I hit the crafting pay dirt! LOL The package from Herrschner's was a crafting bag that I caught on a 67% sale, one of the knit picks boxes was yarn for a R.A.O.K. for HSKS, and the other...was my yarn for my first ever sweater!!! I'm so excited!!! However, since I have been in a "starting" mood and not a "finishing" mood, I have handed over my soft and scrumptious yarn for my first knit sweater (for which I have already selected a pattern) to a friend. Per my request, she is holding it hostage until I finish 5 current WIPs...So far I'm looking to finish my current afghan, a scarf I semi-designed, and 3 hats that were put on hold, though I'm tossing around the idea of 2 hats and a bag that's half done. I'm so excited to be starting my sweater that the first hat is all but done, the scarf is about 50% done, and the afghan is about 80% finished...look out sweater, here I come!!!

P.S. The yarn bag...IS AWESOME!!!

The tale of the traveling scarf...(SPOILER PICS!)

So even though I decided I would only participate in one swap, I got sort of..."conned" into another one...though not really conned...and I guess it's not a swap in the sense that HSKS is, so maybe I still kept my word...LOL the thing is, there are so many swaps out there that have the potential of being crazy amounts of fun, but I know that I would get carried away and turn quickly into a swap-joining junkie. And I know if that were to happen that DH would make me choose 1 or 2 and get out of the rest to keep us from going bankrupt...I absolutely adore the people I've met in the HSKS swap, so I didn't want to have to pick and choose between groups of great people and decided that would be my only swap...then Ronni had to go and make a new one! LOL She invited me to it and I accepted without hesitation! But, as I said, it's not a swap in the sense that HSKS is. Scarf Travels is pretty exclusively to Ravelry, and instead of putting together an entire kit, all it is, is making a scarf! But instead of just making one scarf, you knit (or crochet) 5" to each scarf of the people in your group! I've been chosen to be a moderator of the group and help out with the running of things, which made me feel so special! : ) The first round had it's hiccups, but things seem to be going smoother this time around, at least, and I finally got the first starter in the mail the other day! I stayed up last night to crochet my 5" to it (I'm in 2 groups, the crochet group and a knit group), and it worked up super fast! I doubt I'll be getting out today to send it off, so I'll be getting it out tomorrow. : ) But I took pictures of the scarf with my addition on it. Some of the people in the groups want to be surprised, so I decided instead of posting the pictures to Ravelry and sharing with the group, that I would post the pictures here to my blog as I go (as someone else said they decided to do), so that they can look if they want, but they don't have to work to avoid seeing it...LOL So! Without further ado, here is Kat's scarf thus far:



I can't wait to work on more of them!!!

Hermione, the Troublemaker...

Ok, seriously. This pattern is not that difficult! So why am I having so many problems?! Well, I guess my problems aren't really related to the written pattern itself. I'm still super bummed that I didn't have enough of my Artesano to make it. :( I may still attempt it, though. I can't not use that yarn! It's too gorgeous and soft! But in the meantime, I really just want the Hermione hat. So for now I think I'll be switching up the fiber and settling for using Red Heart's soft stuff. 100% acrylic, but at least it really is soft. Now my problem is learning a new cast on. Up until now, I've only done the most basic and simple cast on. But I've been knitting for over a year now (my 1-year "anniversary" was last month!), and I figured it was high time I learned a new one. I could just use the same old, same old, but I really don't want to, so I think I'm going to stick it out fighting with learning the alternate cable cast on. The theory of the cast on isn't difficult by any means. It's very simple, looks super easy (when done by those that know what they're doing, lol), and the video on knittinghelp.com is extremely clear and concise. I just can't seem to make my fingers do what I want them to. I couldn't last night, either, but I figured that was just because I was tired. Now I suspect it's because I'm not yet as good at knitting as I'd like to think I am. LOL But, like I said, I think I'll stick it out. My husband may be more persistent than I am, but when I want something, I want it done right, and I've got the tenacity to see it through! So!....back to the needles I go...



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Now playing: Carrie Underwood - All-American Girl
via FoxyTunes

EARTHQUAAAAAAKE!!!

So evidently there was an earthquake in Italy early this morning...and I slept right through it! LOL Actually, it happened in the city of L'Aquila, which is somewhat near Rome...and Rome is, I believe, about 6 hours away from us. I hear that the tremors were felt as far away as Trieste (which is significantly closer than Rome!), but being as it was at about 3:30 a.m., and that said tremors were evidently not that strong, the boys and I slept straight through all of it. We have no post-quake clean up or anything. In fact, the only reason I knew it happened was because my mom called me this morning (at about 5 hours after the fact) to see if we were okay. Otherwise, I'd have been oblivious all day! We spent the day on base; I was doing laundry and the boys were playing with a friend at the playground. So all is well here! Thank you for the concerns! :)

Interesting fact...

I have never made an afghan with less than 3 colors. I don't know entirely why. Maybe it seems too simple or plain for my taste? I don't know.

I started teaching one of my friends that is also stationed here in Italy how to crochet. She's a little forgetful, though...I show her, she works on it, she puts it down, goes to pick it up the next day...and has forgotten how it goes! LOL I think she's getting better at it, though. She wanted to learn a round ripple right off, so that was what I was trying to teach her on. She instead used online tutorials to teach herself the basic single crochet and has been going from there. I'm sure she'll be busting out that round ripple in no time!

Another spouse that is over here also showed an interest in learning to knit and crochet. We're starting with crochet. She said she was a quick study, and I believed her, but wow! She shocked me with just how fast she picked it up! The first day I went over there, I taught her the single crochet (having learned from the first instance, lol)...I went back the following day, and she had made a scarf! So I showed her how to do the fringe...then I taught her double crochet. Went back the next day, and not only had she completed the granny square I showed her how to do, but she had begun an afghan (sans squares, though)...and not only had she started an afghan, but it was an afghan of her own design!!! So we were watching the show Charmed while working on all things yarn-y (I was knitting a scarf), when I had this sudden urge to start an afghan! It's been quite some time since I've done an afghan (it's pretty much been hats and swap-themed things the last....well, since October...), and I just had the urge to start one! (Honestly...who starts an afghan when warmer weather is coming?! I must be nuts!) I didn't have any worsted weight with me (except for the scarf I was knitting), so she let me dip into the small beginnings of a stash that she's got...which isn't much...which is why I am only making it 2 colors...which brings me back to where I started this post. I've never before made an afghan with less than 3 colors! LOL So this is clearly a first for me. However, I was able to do the whole beginning of the round ripple from pure memory! I guess I made more than I realized! Enough times to have it embedded into my brain, evidently! So now I have a beautiful, albeit "plain," afghan in the works!

My Hermione hat is not going according to plan at all. :( I'm actually sorely disappointed. It's not anything to do with the pattern, it's all to do with the fact that after finally figuring out my gauge (which turned out to be size 2 needles, by the way), and finished the ribbing, and finally got started on the pattern part...I took a look at how much yarn I had left...and I don't think it's going to be enough to finish the whole hat. I am seriously bummed about that. I was so excited to have found the perfect pattern for my yarn from Edinburgh, and I may not have enough. A clear sign that I should have bought more while I was still there. ;) LOL We'll see what happens, though. I'm still not decided on whether or not I want to continue and see if I can make it or if I run out. If I were to do all that work and run out just before it could be finished, I think I would quite literally cry...but, as I said, we shall see...

Doggone it...

I know, I know. I've been silent for a looooooooooooooong time over here. That's because I have been so involved with the HSKS swap, and I have a special "Potter blog" for it that I've been keeping up on. :) I recently took a trip to Edinburgh that I'm currently blogging about over there, so feel free to swing by and check that out...

Of course, my silence wasn't helped at all by the amount of my time that was being consumed--no, make that devoured--by playing World of Warcraft. (Yes, I am a nerd, and yes, I realize it.) ;) However, I am now off my "WoW kick" and back to knitting and crocheting like a maniac! I finished a fourth set of cancer caps (Yay!) and realized how much I'd slacked off on them! I will be working on them more diligently in the near future. For the moment, however, I cast on a hat for me! It's not often, at least that I've noticed, for a crafter to keep any of their creations themselves. Most of the time we gift them for holidays or birthdays or baby showers or weddings or something. Well, today I decided to use the yummy yarn that I bought in Edinburgh for myself. I cast on the Hermione cable and eyelet hat. It's a beautiful hat, and the yarn I have is super soft! I want to make it so that I can have something small, Potter-wise, to wear to the premiere of Half-Blood Prince...So I started it, and the whole time am thinking "Wow, that's a tall ribbing....am I really only halfway through it?...that's just a really tall section of ribbing!...maybe I should adapt it...I don't like ribbing that tall....it doesn't look right..." While I was telling myself these things, I just kept knitting. (I have been having a Potter-a-thon, and when I'm knitting or crocheting in front of the TV, I tend to just go on autopilot...) I didn't check the gauge. I should have, but I didn't. I got 13 rows into the 16 row ribbing before I finally checked it...and wouldn't you know, I was off. Le sigh. So now...Yeah, I'm going to rip it. Gauge it. Start again. No fun. :( But, on the plus side, I'm only on the third movie...that means I have plenty of time to frog and cast on again and I should be able to still finish the hat before I run out of Potter to watch! LOL I think the general consensus on Ravelry is that if you didn't make gauge with (US) size 5 needles, try a 2 or 3....so, here I go!