Moved

So, I moved the blog. It's now over at WordPress, which is shiny.

I moved everything here over there, so here you go!

alleybeth.wordpress.com

Thank you to anyone who read me over here, I hope to see you over at my new location!

Lace

I think I've developed an obsession to anything lace. It started with the doilies, which I still plan on cranking out, but has expanded on to things that I never thought I would make. Yes, I'm working on a lace shawl. I have always stayed away from shawls, mainly because I don't wear them. However, this lace bug has me making things I never thought I would or could make! I want to knit big, scary projects. I want to learn how to read a lace chart. It's downright scary the change in my knitting desires.

But guess what. I'm loving every minute of it! May is the down month for Nerd Wars and SFFAC so I am taking this opportunity to finish my Talia Sweater and work on my new found skills in lace knitting.

I decided that I would use some yarn that I hand-dyed last month, it's a skein and a half of vintage yarn that I picked up at a thrift store some time ago and was the last bit of this particular yarn that I had not dyed yet. I dyed it using Target brand food coloring, in shades of blue and green.

Since I knew that this wouldn't have much yardage in it I narrowed down my pattern search and I picked Cassandra. One of the reasons why I picked it was because it had written instructions for the charted parts. I've never followed lace charts before so not jumping in right away and just getting used to knitting something lacey in a triangle shape was a bonus. I'm halfway through the pattern repeats and so far I really do like what I'm seeing. I can tell this is going to be one of the "really comes out in the blocking" projects. I can't wait!

I'm off now, I must get back to this lovely shawl and that X-files episode I was watching on Netflix. (Yes, I am watching the X-files, I'm a nerd, remember?)

May the Fourth be with You,
Allison

Doilies...

It is a new obsession. What started as me making something as homage to my grandmother who has passed has become a new shiny thing for me. I like knitting doilies -- I surprise myself actually. I do not normally go for lace, it is not my thing but I find that knitting it in the round is quite fun. I do not know if I should worry about where this could lead or just enjoy the ride. So far, I am enjoying the ride.

I admit I have not gotten so very far yet -- I have only completed two, with a third in the works. However, I already have a larger one lined up and I have seen stalking the stash looking for just the right yarn. The first one I knit really was not a true doily (though I like calling it that) but it is rather fetching. I knit it out of white cotton thread, a size 5 I think, on US4s.

It is a simple pattern but it was a nice introduction into the way a doily is knit. However, this one had a purlwise bind off that drove me crazy.

The second doily I knit on US1s in cotton thread as well. This one had much more by way of design in it and it was a much more traditional design.

I am quite in love with this one. It is so pretty and dainty. However, it too had an edging that drove me crazy, and it took me forever to get through the scallop. Despite the edging I have cast on a second of these, this time on US8's in a worsted weight.

I'm really happy with these and I'm learning the dos and don'ts of making lace in the round, which means I'm probably going to continue making these until I'm sick of them. Somewhere in there though I have to remember to finish my Titania sweater (which also has lace -- I am noticing a trend).

That is what I am up to; lace, lace, lace, lace!

Attack of the Tribbles

This past week, because we are awesome, Team Enterprise has launched a fantastic assault over at Nerd Wars. Well I say assault but really it's all fun and completely in good nature. I just like using strange words. It's the Modernist in me I guess. (Did that make sense? Probably not, see my point). Maybe I should give a little background seeing as I just mentioned Nerd Wars in the last post and did not go into detail. Bad me!

Nerd Wars is a group on Ravelry. This group was formed so that nerds of all flavors could come together and compete in Tournaments involving the wonderfulness of fibers arts! We are divided up into teams based on common interests and we battle it out every month to see which team can get the most points! O.K., battle is a strong word, it's more like if your team happens to be up there in the standings your like "YAY" and even if your team is not up there in the top everybody is still like "Yay!" because it's all awesome and for the most part we don't try and lord standings over each other. We like to share the beauty of knitting, crochet, and all over fiber arts and have some fun paying homage to our favorite nerdom. Though if trash talk must happen, there is a alley for that, round back, midnight, meet me there.  (Still all in good fun though, everybody is pretty awesome!)

It's buckets of fun and I am glad I followed the link over to the infant Nerd Wars when I saw it in the Ravel Trek threads! So, back to our little campaign, which just so happened to be a Tribble Invasion (muahahaha)! This month it was suggested that Team Enterprise should plan a tribble invasion (I may, or may not, have egged everybody on). With the excellent leading and math skills of our Captain PandaLark we came up with a plan so that the tribbles grew exponentially everyday and we waited and knitted for the designated week! This past week was that week and oh boy was it fun! It was so cool to see everybody band together to create a little chaos and mayhem. Some of my team mates came up with some awesome stories and such to make their posts as creative and unique as the next, I decided to go with a "The Tribbles Were About To Eat My Shoes!" route.  (I would also like to send a shout out to the CD's, who we kinda left all of the tribbles around for to judge and score!) Below is the tribbles I submitted (I might have knit more and have been showing them with other projects as well, maybe, haha)

Though I do have to say. I still don't like Fun Fur all that much, and I'm glad I finally got rid of some of the leftovers I had from my early days of knitting when it was all the rage. (So glad that trend is over for the most part!) AND YES, I am a totally geek. But I'm happy, so take that! haha!

GO TEAM ENTERPRISE!

Well Wishes,
Allison

Fail

See, I am not good at this. Not at all. I have a habit of forgetting things, or just simply not doing them. So today I determined to be an adult and get crap done. That's right I am going to DO ALL THINGS. I'm going to put on my big girl panties and deal with it.

See, I've started already. I keep intending to come to this blog and write but I put it off. I have a lot to say, just no desire to say it. I could really use this blog, to help with my writing. I am after all in a line of study that requires much writing and it's not like I have anything better to do. Well, let me rephrase that, it's not like the things I do are more important. There.

So what have I been up to? Well school chiefly. Though I am behind on studying and I made a few promises that I haven't completely fulfilled yet. But I'm getting there. It takes a lot of self discipline to get through college, and to do it well. Sometimes I forget the work that's involved and I fall behind but I plan on getting ahead and making myself do what needs to be done.

I'm also playing in a couple knitting tournaments. The first is Nerd Wars, and the second is Starfleet Fiber Art Corps. Both are on ravelry and I am playing on Team Enterprise for one and USS Kitchener for the other. It has been interesting keeping up my knitting on the deadlines that we do have. And I am feeling a little like I bit off more than I can chew. But I shall prevail and have buckets of fun in the mean time.

So, here we are. I made a blog post! I'm not sure what kind of post it really is, but it is something which is always better than nothing! I need these little exercises to help me express myself more freely and I aim on keeping it up! I hold myself to it!! So in parting I bide you adieu and:

Well Wishes

We Are the Champions My Friends...

I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas with family and friends! (Or how ever you celebrate the holidays). I had a lovely time and enjoyed time with my moms family and spent the evening with friends. I am so very blessed to have such a wonderful group of family and friends!

Guess what? I am victorious! I finished my Christmas knitting with time to spare! It meant switching a pattern AND yarn out to finish one and dropping another because I realized that the one person would not wear a hat. But I am happy, and the giftee's were happy too, which is ultimately what matters the most. So I am declaring this Christmas a victory, may there be many more in the future! (If you go to my Ravelry notebook you can find the projects).

I am enjoying my break from school. I have taken the opportunity to relax and work on some knitting and reading. I originally had a whole "Winter Reading List" but my break has turned out to be much busier than I expected so I'm sticking with the reading my profs told me about. So far I have started Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy. I have not made it too far into the book but I am liking the story so far and the readability. Much better than reading Old English (Canterbury Tales anyone?). I will probably write a review of the book later, will be a good practice for when I have to discuss in class.

I am really looking forward to my next semester, I'm taking an Ancient and Medieval Civilization class, I have been dying to take the class since I started school so I am thrilled. After this spring I will only have 13 more credits until graduation, yay! I'm not sure where I'm going after that academically, but it is definitely time to start the job search. I'm a little scared about that considering there is a certain amount of commitment that goes with getting a "real" job, but I'm ready for the challenge. It's time to take that step.

Well Wishes,
Allison

Christmas Knitting

Yes, I am blogging about knitting. *gasp* I know! It seems so foreign to blog about knitting on a knitting blog!

In fact blogging at all on this blog is foreign, but I digress. Back to the subject at hand.

Every year I decide I will knit everybody something and every year I fail. Apparently this is not a condition that is unique to myself. Many knitters set out to knit everyone on their list some spectacular item that will be loved and cherished forever. I would also like to emphasize the "every-year" part of that statement, you see knitters can be a stubborn group in that we will continue to do the same thing hoping something will change (I think someone once called that insanity). While many have adapted and do succeed in their endeavours, often that requires beginning your Christmas knitting for next year the day after Christmas this year. I do not think that far in advanced. So I have had to make many adjustments in order to accomplish at least some of my Christmas knitting, including:

1. Sometimes, not everybody has to have something knitted.
2. If you do want to knit everybody something, only knit small items that will be fast to complete.

I chose option two this year and I am quite proud to announce that I am right on track for actually getting everybody on my list taken cared of. I might even add a couple more people at the rate I'm going (though I am not going to jinx myself by starting anything for them yet). I also further simplified my task by selecting hats as what I am knitting everyone. So far my list of patterns include, but are not limited to:

1. All-Day Beret by Debbie Stoller
2. Speedy Cabled Beret by Pauline Chin
3. A Men's Garter-Stitch Hat

So far I am really happy with the two patterns I've been working on and I'm looking forward to working on it some more.

Anyway, It's finals week and I have to vamoose.

Well Wishes,
Allison