KAFN8ME

I did it! I actually knit something that is not flat and not rectangular! (TADA!!) I am done with Amanda’s Squatty Sidekick! It’s blocking right now, and still needs a button, so the official FO pictures will be tomorrow. Tonight you’ll have to settle for these:

Here it is all knit and ready for felting. Yup, it’s got some boo boos, I’ll talk about them in a minute.

Here’s Bear for scale. (He’s not really good for scale, cause he’s a really big cat, but hey, he’ll use any excuse to be seen by his adoring public. Hi Lucy, love ya babe.

Being the newish knitter that I am (don’t how much longer I can use that and get away with it, but I’m gonna ride that train as looong as I can) there were many firsts for me on this project. Here are the things that Amanda taught me:

Picking up stitches. This was a little easier than I anticipated. At least on the chain sides of the St st. The cast on edge was a little trickier, but there were only one or two swear words, not bad at all. Also, I didn’t count my cast on as row one, so my bottom (well, the bag’s bottom) ended up being inside out. I needed to add another row before I started picking up the stitches, but didn’t figure that part out until it was too late. But, no sweat, felting fixed it!

Circular Knitting. I’m totally diggin the circular knitting man. Cool stuff. Since this was my first time I didn’t think to grab something and mark the beginning of my round til a bit too late. I guessed the best I could when I came around, but, as you can see in the photo above, I was off a bit so the Sidekick is bit wonky. The felting pretty much took care of that too though. Woot Felting!

Binding off sections/Using Stitch Holders. This was interesting. I spent way too much time thinking about which was stitch 1 as in “bind off 8, blah blah blah.” Soooo… is 1 when you knit that first one that goes over the next one? Or is 1 that second one after it’s been gone over with the other one? OR is the last one before the bind off the one that goes over the second one that turns out to be 1? (About now you’re realizing that I am a TOTAL FREAK and should NOT be allowed to participate in a hobby that requires pointed sticks and the use of any Inner Nets! At least I KNOW I’m a freak and that I need some serious help.)

I-Cord: That was fun and easy. I could do that all day. (See on the top of the handle on the above picture? It had the i-cord starting on the wrong side so it made a goofy lump. I made the one on the other side on purpose for continuity. The felting fixed that though too. Can I hear another Woot for felting?!)

Kitchensink Stitch. I can do it. That’s about all I can say about that. Didn’t love it, didn’t hate it. Will do it only when I have to.

Felting. I was pretty nervous about this part, but now I want to do it again! I love the look and feel of it. Most fun I’ve ever had with a Kenmore!

This really was a fun and easy pattern for a newbie like me. Now that I know how to do all the steps, I’m going to make another one just so I can say I made one right. Besides, I have another ball of the orange Cascade 220 and Maren’s friend saw the bag drying today and wants one too! Oh, and another friend wants one in lavendar. I’m a ROCK STAR!

This is Bear. Please don’t hate me because I’m beautiful. He’s a Norwegian Forest Cat. His snooty-pants name is Winteridge Snowbear, but we call him Bear. (Actually I call him Mommy’s Big Boy Pookie Baaay-beeeeeeeee, but that really embarrasses him.) Please do not let the snooty-pants name and pose fool you, he is a big ‘ol goofball. His birthday was Sunday and he is now 7. Or, if you need the cat years math, 49. Really though, he acts more like he’s 3. He thinks he’s very very funny (kinda like someone else I know, but hey, I’m not namein’ names!) And he knows he’s good lookin’! He’s a big ‘ol Mama’s boy though. It’s a good thing he’s an indoor cat, cause he’s a pretty boy and has NO street cred. Some tough cat would beat him up and steal his lunch money in no time. Also, he’s in love with Lucy. He loves to sit and look at her pictures on the monitor. Ooohhh, just look at her… why, she’s as beautiful as I am!

Some Knittin’

Well, I only did about 4 more rows on Maren’s Blankie over the weekend. It was too hot to have that ginormous thing on my lap. I’m going to be brave and attempt my first non-flat/rectangular project! I’m going to try Amanda’s Squatty Sidekick. Tomorrow I’m off to the LYS to get yarn and needles. While I’m there I’m going to get something to replace the Crystal bamboo circ I’m using on Maren’s Blankie. Talk about frustrating! Hmmmm… I might as well look at some of them there Addi turbos.

Being the newish knitter that I am, this will also be the first project I do with REAL yarn! Yarn that isn’t wash n’ wear from Michaels. I’ve never used real yarn before. I’m soooo excited! But then the problem with that is, I don’t know what yarn to get! I’ve also never felted before. ACK! Now I’m going to panic. (Deep breathes, in with the good air…) I can’t go into fancy shmancy LYS not haveing a CLUE what kind of yarn to get! Holy Crap Batman, tell me what yarn to get!