THIS IS MY NIGHTMARE

(Sorry for the horrible webcam picture.)

Do you see it? DO YOU SEE IT?

That’s a hole in my handknit sock. I wore them ONCE. WAH.

Umm, they’re in time-out until I can figure out exactly how to deal with this catastrophe.

FO: Waterbender Hat

Okay, let’s be honest here, yall. I AM NOT A REAL ADULT.

I may fake it on the outside, but inside … I am an awkward, quirky, obnoxious little child.

So when my dear roommate Jessica suggested we start watching an older Nickelodeon show called Avatar: The Last Airbender, of course I consented. It was animated, for chrissakes! I couldn’t pass it up.

Shortly into the first season (we have all 3 seasons on DVD) it became clear that this was a new obsession that I simply couldn’t escape. I loved everything about it: the characters were funny, one of the voice-actors was on Arrested Development, it had the child-who-has-a-responsibility-to-save-the-world-and-is-angsty-about-it, and it had characters that could throw fire WITH THEIR FEET. (I WANT TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT!)

So, obviously I started thinking about knitting something related to the show. There are 4 different types of Benders in the show: Water, Earth, Fire, and Air, to correspond with the 4 elements. The Avatar, Aang, who is angsty about saving the world, is the master of all 4 elements, and he has to use them to defeat the Fire Lord, who is trying to take over the world.

In order to master all 4 elements, Aang must learn them all in a specific order. Aang is an Airbender by birth, so he has to learn Water, Earth, and Fire in that order.

I decided to design a set of 4 hats to correspond with the different Bending styles, and I decided to do it in the order that Aang has to learn the other Bending styles.

Aang had to learn Waterbending first, so it’s the first hat I designed.

I used half the chart from Knitty’s Swell for the waves. I used Poems again (because apparently, I am obsessed) and clever readers will already have realized that the MC is the same as the one I used for my IRK hat!

(This next paragraph relates, I promise.)

The Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup (hereafter known as HPKCHC or just House Cup) started its fall term on Ravelry this week, and I am very glad to be returning for my 3rd term as a Hufflepuff! One of the classes this month is Charms, and the assignment is to study to Aguamenti Charm, create something water related, be it colours, waves etc. I proposed an idea in my House’s Common Room: would another ‘Puff be willing to test-knit my hat pattern and count is as their Charms assignment? I had 2 responses, so I typed up the pattern and posted it to this blog in a password-protected post and PM’d the people who expressed interest. (If you’re interested in seeing the pattern before I release it, shoot me an email and I’ll send you the password.)

So, Water is done. Earth is next, and I need to do some practice before I get started on it. I have an awesome idea for the Earthbender hat, but it involves using a technique I’ve never done before, so practicing is necessary.

Happy Bending, everybody.

Protected: PATTERN: Waterbender Hat

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FO: My Floppy Hat (& WIPs!)

Project: My Floppy Hat
Pattern: None! I just sorta winged it. (Wung it? Whateverrr.)
Yarn: Araucania Nature Wool Chunky

Made to coordinate with Kristin’s Crackpot Idea Hat, but not match completely.

It’s not quite as floppy as Kristin’s hat, but that’s cool. Mine can also double as a beanie if need be. Depends on how I want to wear it.

Araucania continues to be my favorite yarn brand. I love everything that they produce, and their colors are simply glorious. The color variations in this yarn are just beautiful.

So, now Kristin and I will be SUPER HAT TWINZ on the road trip to Cincinnati!

(Bonus points if you can guess the movie on the screen!)

Things that I’m currently working on:

• Wrockstock Pullover (My very first pullover!)
• Super secret HC84 Project! (HC84 is the event that Kristin and I are road-tripping to at the end of the month!)

So, that’s about that. I predict that my knitting will probably decrease once school starts (NEXT WEEK OMG) but I’m trying to get in as much knitting as I can before then!

FO: Crackpot Idea Hat

Project: Crackpot Idea Hat
Pattern: E-town Pithy Hat by Briggs & Little
Yarn: Paton’s Classic Wool Merino

My dear friend Kristin works in publishing, and within the next year, her magazine is getting shut down. She is being proactive and thinking of ideas for when this happens. One of the more hair-brained ideas is as follows (copy/pasted from a googlechat):

Kristin: I think I’m going to research how to be a flight attendant
Kristin: That’s my latest crackpot employment idea after my time here is up
Laura: i love that idea
Laura: you’d get to travel everywhere, play with the fake seatbelts, demonstrate oxygen masks
Kristin: My stepbrother’s wife is a southwest flight attendant
Kristin: I could do that
Kristin: I love to travel
Kristin: i mean, I could travel for free
Laura: think how awesome that would be
Laura: i have this vision in my head of you as kirsten dunst in elizabethtown
Kristin: AWESOME
Laura: YOU COULD MEET ORLANDO BLOOM AND CONVINCE HIM TO GO ON A ROAD TRIP TO MEET YOU
Laura: AND WEAR A RED BERET
Kristin: uhhhh IDEAL
Laura: I COULD KNIT IT FOR YOU
Kristin: I WISH YOU WOULD

Obviously, I had to do it.

So, after an epic quest for the pattern, I got to work. It only took me 2 days to knit the whole thing. Magical! I texted Kristin when it was almost done and told her that if I finished with enough time left over (I’m seeing her on August 28th for a ROAD TRIP!) I would knit one for myself and we’d be super twinz, arriving to Cincinnati in STYYYYLE.

Mine is going to be in yellow, of course.

I finished the hat late Sunday night, after Kristin and I had been on Skype. I showed her the hat when it was in its final stages, and she seemed to love it, which makes me super happy. As soon as I finished it, I put it on and took pictures. I have never really been a slouchy-hat-girl, but I couldn’t take this one off! It just reinforces my desire to knit one for myself.

And here comes my ridiculous face.

This hat was a lot of fun to knit, but I think mine will have different cables on it. I’m toying with the idea of using the cables from the Irish Hiking Scarf, but I haven’t made any concrete decisions yet. Except for the color.

FO: Not Eloping

Project: Not Eloping
Pattern: Eloping (Knitty, Summer 2008)
Yarn: Yarn Treehouse Sweet

When my dear friend Bethany (who I lived with for 3 of my 4 undergraduate years at Loyola New Orleans) called to ask me (and my roommate) to be in her wedding, I was so excited. Not only that she would choose to include me in one of the most special days of her life, but that I could knit her this garter!

The pattern itself was pretty intense. I had to pay such close attention the entire time I was knitting it. When I’d go to put it down, I would have to shrug my shoulders to get the tension out.

All in all, this garter was a huge success. Bethany loved it, and she showed it to everyone in the wedding party, and always made a point of mentioning that I had made it.

That’s Bethany and I, showing off the garter. (This was the morning of the wedding. We hadn’t left to get our hair done yet.) Bethany decided not to wear the garter during the ceremony, because her dress was insane and hot, so when it was time for the garter throw/bouquet toss at the reception, she went into the bathroom to put the garter on so that Jordan (the groom) could take it off.

I made Jordan promise to be kind to the handknit garter. He said that the only way he’d do that was if I promised to knit him a sweater. He made me pinky swear on it.

So, Jordan gently tossed the garter. The guy who caught it, Russell, is the boyfriend of one of the other bridesmaids. Then it was time for Bethany to throw the bouquet. I half-caught the bouquet, along with Erin, another bridesmaid. Erin said that I could have it, since it had basically hit me in the chest. Next thing I knew, the DJ was asking me to sit down in a chair on the dance floor, and he made Russell kneel beside me. Russell then had to put the garter BACK ON MY LEG. (At least it was someone I vaguely knew, not Random Guest #27.)

After having my leg felt up, essentially, I looked back at Bethany and asked, “Did you want to keep the garter?”
She responded with a very enthusiastic “YES!”

I feel incredibly honored to have been asked to share in such a special day. Here’s a picture of Jessica (my roommate), Bethany, and I, after the ceremony.

I hope Bethany keeps the garter forever. If not as a reminder of me personally, a reminder of how special her wedding day was.

FO: Laura! is a Monkey

Project: Laura! is a Monkey
Pattern: None, really. Just straight stockinette socks with the Toe-Up Monkey heel
Yarn: Laura! by Danido Crafty (dyed especially for me!)

LOVE. THESE. SOCKS.

I honestly couldn’t tell you when I started these socks. I know I worked on them in the Public Gardens in Boston during LeakyCon (late May), and then I stepped on the needle and broke it in the beginning of June, then had to wait until the beginning of July to get the replacement needles I ordered because they were shipped to my school instead of my apartment.

I turned both heels over a weekend that I was dogsitting/housesitting for my roommate’s parents, and finished the socks completely on July 20.

As you can sort of see, they are stretched over the biggest part of my foot, but that was to be expected. The rest of the sock fits like a dream, though. And they’ll stretch as I wear them, so I’m not too broken up about it.

The stripes are smaller on the cuff than on the foot because I increased after the heel to make room for my giant instep. I like that it’s different, and honestly, when I wear them inside shoes, all anyone’s going to see is the cuff anyway.

These socks fit the best of any that I’ve knit. Ohh, I love them.

Resolved!

Taking the results of yesterday’s poll into consideration, here’s what I did today.

With the help of my dear friend Christina Marie, I turned this:

into this:

THE OFFENSIVE AZURE SOCKS ARE NO MORE!

I have decided to completely start the pattern over. I’m going to swatch again, and probably go up a needle size. I will definitely update on my progress as I attempt to finally conquer My Knitting Everest.

Azure Sock Dilemma

So, I have this problem.

My Azure Socks have been in Time Out since September 2008, when they offended me greatly by not fitting my foot after I’d put in countless hours of work on them, complete with false starts, ripping out, and tears of frustration.

I have come to the point in my knitting career (I don’t know if that’s the exact word I want, but it’s what we’re gonna go with for now.) where I feel like I can pick them up and deal with them like a Mature, Accomplished Sock Knitter. They have had time to think about what they’ve done, and I’ve had time to deal with the pain associated with them. I feel like I’m ready to try and finish them.

The pattern is literally my favorite sock pattern EVER, and I’ve always said that finishing them would be My Knitting Everest. I think I’m ready to start climbing again.

ALL THAT BEING SAID, I have this dilemma. I want to just pick them up and rip out the heel and go from there. I don’t know how easy that’s going to be, so I have been contemplating ripping them out entirely and starting from scratch.

Here’s a handy-dandy poll:

If you read this and feel strongly either way, please weigh in on this matter. I have NO IDEA what I’m going to do, and I want opinions. THANKS!

PATTERN: Hexagonal Market Bag

My version of Knitty’s Everlasting Bagstopper.

MATERIALS:

• 350-400 yds cotton or hemp yarn (I recommend Lily Sugar N Cream)
• US 5-7 needles (circular – 24″)
• US 10.5 needles (circular – 24″)

With smaller needles, CO 19 sts.

Knit 2 rows.
Row 3 (RS): k1, kfb, k to last 2, kfb, k1
Row 4 (WS): knit all sts

Repeat rows 3 and 4 until you have 55 sts.

Begin decreasing.
RS: k1, k2tog, k to last 3, k2tog, k1
WS: knit all sts

Repeat these 2 rows until you are back to 19 sts.

With RS facing, pick up and knit 19 sts along each side of your base. You will have 114 sts total.

You should now be working in the round. Knit 5 rounds.

Change to larger needles and knit 1 round.

Begin mesh pattern:
Row 1: *YO, k2tog* around
Row 2: k all sts

Continue in mesh pattern until back measures 7-8 inches from base.

Knit one round.

Change to smaller needles. Work in garter stitch (k 1 round, p 1 round) for 10 rounds.

Set up for handle:
BO 24
K 9
BO 48
K 9
BO to end

The live stitches will now be worked as the handle. Work 1×1 rib, slipping the first stitch of each row, for 20-22 inches. (Handle will stretch with weight, so make sure it’s not longer than you’re comfortable with!)

Use a 3-needle bind off to attach handle to the other set of live stitches. Weave in ends.

USE WITH PRIDE!