Tangled Grrl

I am so far behind in my gift knitting it isn't even funny. But I still have high hopes of getting it done. It's still a possibility. A very small possibility but it may happen. Hopefully I can manage to get pictures of it all completed and gifted to the proper recipients. In the meantime I'm going back to some furious knitting and crocheting. Good luck to all of you insane enough to also be gift knitters! And Happy Solstice!

I have been missing from my blog for far too long. I could give a bunch of excuses but mostly I'm lazy and since I updated my iPad to iOS 5 my blog app doesn't work and iTunes still hasn't approved the update. And I like using that app better than typing directly on the website. And my iPad is always with me and I don't always feel like finding my MacBook. So lazy I know. Since I have been gone I have moved, I have had surgery and I have had complications from the surgery. On a good note the doctors are testing me for everything under the sun and I should have some news about the issue today. On a crappy note there is a chance I'll never be able to have children and that's as scary as it gets. So think good thoughts for me please. Prayers, if you're into that sort of thing, probably wouldn't hurt either. One good part of being in pain and stuck either on a couch or in my bed, is that I've knit and crocheted A LOT. I need to take pictures and upda...

Due to various reasons, The Boyfriend and I are moving out of our apartment this month. Our lease is up on November 30. He's moving in with a friend for awhile and I will be living back with my parents for awhile. Sigh. I love my parents. Really. They are awesome people. Most of the time I like them as well as love them. But that doesn't mean that I want to live with them again. Luckily for me, they are going to be letting me stay to help me get my finances back in order. So I am grateful. Really. But this also means that we are dividing up some stuff in the apartment to try and find appropriate storage. It's just been stressful. I hate packing and I hate moving. One of the worse parts about this? I currently have stuff in two places again since I started moving stuff to my parents little by little as it gets packed up. So I don't really know where everything is right now. And the problem with that is I like gift knitting. Half of my yarn stuff is still at the apart...

I haven't written a blog post in what feels like forever. Work keeps getting in the way of my personal life. And I updated my iPad and now my app to write my blogs isn't behaving itself. In fact I think I've started a new blog entry at least 5 times now and every time I try to save it miraculously quits working. I love technology. Primarily because it gives me a new challenge to claw through every few days. I've had multiple projects going on at work and although it's greatly hampered my ability to get to knit night and blog, it hasn't stopped me from knitting. I've even managed to get gift knitting completed. And better yet, given the gifts to the proper recipients. Most have been well received. But one has not. Anyone who knows me knows how I feel about the dreaded Boyfriend Socks. I love knitting socks. Really I do. I do not however like the yarn I picked for these socks. But I put my big girl pants on and finished the pair. I did complain about it any ...

I was starting to think I'd never actually complete a pair of socks. But I did it! The boyfriend socks are still not done (mostly because I don't like working with the yarn) but I completed a pair of socks for myself! See! I made anklets to see if it would be possible for me to estimate correctly without a scale and somehow I did it. I'm pretty sure my mom will manage to guilt me into giving them to her but for now I'm basking in the glow of a completed project. Here's a close up of one of the socks. And I spent most of my day at my LYS Lambikins and finally bought some Malabrigo sock. It's amazing and I didn't even make it out of the store without casting on for a pair of socks for me (these I'm keeping no matter what)! This picture doesn't do the colors justice. But trust me it's beautiful even wound up in the ball! I have to also work on the boyfriend socks and when those are done, I'm absolutely using the hot pink and grey yarn. For now I...

I'm finally able to knit again! I finished the first of the boyfriend socks, a sock for myself, started the second sock for me, and finished a piece of a messenger bag that has been staring at me for a long time. I need to take pictures and post them. It's been really overcast lately and my only real camera is my iPhone so I need to catch some natural light to make them look decent. I'm hoping to finish all 3 of these WIPs and if so my reward will be using my amazing hot pink and grey yarn for another pair of socks for myself. I think it is completely attainable! And on another note, knitting charts on my iPad are amazing since I can rotate and resize them with one hand! Lots of exciting happenings in my Tangled little world lately! - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

I am still not knitting. But I haven't had nearly as much pain in my wrist and I can survive without my brace. I have been trying to avoid knitting in hopes that I can let it heal completely first. But today may be the day I finish the first in the boyfriend socks. We shall see how it goes. In other news I received an absolutely amazing gift from a friend of mine. For any one who has to deal with my chattering in real life you may have heard me mention a gazillion times how much I want a tablet computer, most specifically an iPad. I love my iPhone and my MacBook but the iPhone screen is too small to display knitting patterns and my MacBook is bulkier to haul around. So an iPad would be the most amazing solution obviously. Well folks, I now have an iPad 2. I didn't buy it or ask for it from a rich relative. Nope. A friend sent me a text informing me I needed to come see him since he had something for me. So I head over expecting maybe I'm getting some homemade salsa or maybe...

I am still not allowed to knit or crochet. In fact typing is pretty much supposed to be off limits. The jury is still out on the exact nature of my wrist issue but after the cortisone shot today it's even worse. I know it has to get worse before it gets better. But seriously I just want to freaking knit. No more whining...for now.

I now officially have a mountain of WIPs on my end table. And on my bookshelf. And in 3 tote bags. And in my purse. I have a problem. I need to finish something . Anything at this point. So far I have two lone socks. Primarily because I would rather knit a new one to change something and see if I like it, instead of making a pair I hate. I have one WIP sock for a pair for The Boyfriend that I'm forcing myself to finish because I really, really, really don't like my chosen yarn. I'm finishing instep decreases on sock 1 now, so we will see if he gets a pair. I have a super simple scarf that has been frogged twice and had multiple tinking sessions. I have a super simple messenger bag that is all stockinette that will be felted. I have multiple crochet bags and purses. I have a crochet afghan. And I just cast on a new wrap that's a little difficult because I'm actually using lace weight yarn. Oh and not to forget multiple amigurumi and hats. Oh I have a problem. And w...

So my boyfriend is slightly obsessed with anything zombies. Zombie movies, zombie video games, zombie anything. And if there aren't zombies involved, there should be some kind of "end of the world" vibe to it. So after many hours of watching zombie video games, zombie movies, Jeremiah and Jericho, I'm a little too concerned with what would happen if one of these end of the world type things actually occurred. I even dream about these things. It's a little frightening and I feel like maybe I need to wean myself from all things post apocalyptic, at least for a little while. The strange thing is, I'm concerned about what we would do for normal household things. Like, who would make clothes? Who would make candles if electricity failed? Who would take care of soap and shampoo? Where would we get blankets? So my next thought is immediately ohmygodwhatabouttheyarn?!?!?! So then I start thinking I need to learn how to spin. Because then maybe I could find myself so...

This week has not been good for knitting. Or crocheting. Or typing. Or really anything else that requires use of my right wrist. I went to work Monday as usual and my wrist started hurting. Hurting badly enough that I switched my mouse to my left hand and begged the use of an ice pack. I had to stop by my mom's house after work and, being that she's a mom, she strong armed me into going to the doctor. I am now clumsily typing with a brace on my right wrist due to tendinitis. Lucky for me, the culprit is supposedly my use of the computer and NOT knitting or crocheting. So I only have one lonely sock. And lots of WIPs staring at me all over my apartment. In my car too. I'm supposed to not use the right wrist for 4-5 days, wear the itchy brace and use ice and heat and ibuprofen. There are bets going on as to how long I will actually make it without knitting. Today is Day 4. And I just may break down and attempt to navigate the tiny dpns just to see if I can. Besides, if I'...

I am making quick progress of my sock. I finished the cuff, the heel flap, the turning of the heel, which went marvelously, the gusset and I'm almost done with the foot. Just toe decreases and grafting and my first ever sock with be complete. I didn't pick up my stitches right, but since I mirrored my mistake on both sides, it doesn't count (that's what I was told anyway, so I'm going with it). I was so excited I even bought new sock yarn today so I can make the boyfriend socks! Luckily his feet are only slightly bigger than mine so I only have to add 8 stitches to the total and an extra inch on the foot. The greatest part? He wants shorter cuffs!! I'll be finishing my first pair first though. I should have the rest of Sock 1 done tomorrow and will hopefully get to cast on Sock 2!! Once those are done I can start on his. I'm super excited and now wondering why I waited so long to catch the sock bug!! Of course that means my other projects are sitting on my...

I'm exhausted. I have a headache, my eyes are crossing and blurry. But I started the heel flap on my first ever knitted sock. I will conquer my fear of heel turnings and gussets. But not tonight. It's too late and I already messed up twice. I fixed one mistake and figured that there should be at least one mistake in new projects so I'm leaving the other. Besides, no one will ever see the stupid thing but me anyway. I really want to stay up and be able to show off a fully knitted sock tomorrow but sanity is overtaking me. The knitting insanity will have to wait until I don't have to get up at ungodly hours. I'll apologize now for the rambling incoherent writing. But I'm a knitter who really needs to learn to sleep at night. Good night and wish me luck. The feared turning will likely take place tomorrow...

I posted a few days ago about the wonderful box of goodies my godmother brought me. Last night I decided I needed to cast on a new project. But first I needed to wind yarn. I have a yarn winder, but I don't have a swift. While the boyfriend is good at helping me be creative enough to use my winder without a swift, he's a bit ADD and it ends up becoming a Tangled mess. So last night I decide to try out the The Handy Adjustable Yarn Skein Winder in place of a swift. My mechanic boyfriend has a box of all types of bolts and screws and miscellaneous hardware, so he found a screw that would work. And I got to use it and wind my yarn without any Tangles at all!!! It's my new favorite thing and I had to stop myself from winding all of my yarn just because I could.    

Knitting lace intimidated me. A lot. So I decided to jump in headfirst when the only patterns that looked interesting were lacy. I knit a leaf lace shawl that I had to frog at least five times before I made it past row 5. Then I would make it to row 10, not be able to figure out my mistake, not have a life line and not be able to read my knitting well enough yet to figure out how to fix it, so I frogged it at least 15 times. I'm really good at garter tabs now since I couldn't figure out how to frog back and pick up where I was still getting the right stitch count. Every time I frogged, I frogged the ENTIRE thing. By the time I reached the end of my shawl, it was 2 am and I was doing a new bind off. I couldn't leave it until the morning because I absolutely had to finish it. So I did what any sane knitter does and stayed up, bleary eyed and sleep deprived and finished binding off. It was fabulous and I completed the thing in almost exactly one week. I was that determined. ...

My grandmothers and great-grandmothers were crafty. Some through necessity and some simply for the hobby and the joys it can bring. I love the fact that I can connect on some level with my ancestors simply by twisting yarn into loops with hooks and needles. I love that history. My godmother taught me a lot of my craftiness. She taught me how to cut out shapes of paper carefully, how to glue things, how to sew, how to do counted cross stitch. My mom and great aunt taught me to crochet. My Grandma Y taught me to iron and how to have an imagination. My Grandma G taught me to take my mistakes and learn from them. My Gram F taught me to play solitaire "like you're playing the devil and sometimes it's ok to cheat a little." She died when I was young but knit CONSTANTLY. She never taught me to knit and since she was the last in the "alive" grandparents that I ever saw play with yarn, I HAD to learn how to do it. My friend tried to teach me, but I struggled, she thr...

I'm a blog lurker. I read blogs constantly. Then I find myself in funny moments and think "I can post that on my Twitter or my Facebook." Except I'm wordy and Twitter would require the posting of eleventy billion tweets and most people on my Facebook could care less about my yarn problem, my sewing issues or my knitting dilemmas. So I decided my own blog would need to be born. So welcome to my own little blog! I hope to write about my adventures untangling the various things in my life. This will be an ongoing process. I manage to get a lot of things tangled. I'm not a good planner. I can set goals, sure. But I pretty much hate to make solid plans. Solid plans = Obligations. Obligations = I'm guaranteed to be stressed and no longer interested in said plans. So I make it up as I go. And then things get Tangled. In my mind, Tangled = Fun. For instance, yesterday I had some free time. So I bought new sewing machine needles to make liners for the crocheted bag...