#WIPWednesday : Blogged

Whew! It's been a couple of weeks huh?! I went on vacation, to Provincetown, and it was amazing. I have lots of pictures (for a later post) and I did a TON of knitting and reading and relaxing. That being said, here's my WIP's for right now:

CLAPOTIS!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE this pattern and it works up SO amazingly!! I went on vacation having left off in the middle of the orange. I did the rest over the time I was on the beach. I don't even know if I'll block it at this point since I love the way it ripples up like that. And the yarn is "extra fine merino" and oh so VERY soft and cuddly. I have to finish the green (not much), then black and red are the last two sections with the red being all the decrease rows. It's gonna be EPIC.

COLOUR AFFECTION!! This is a fantastic pattern but I'm changing it up. I'm going with bulky yarn on size 11 needles and I'll just cut down the increases so that this shawl doesn't become a blanket! So far so good, it's working up beautifully. That's Cadet Blue for the MC and Bonfire for CC1. CC2 is Marsala (a burnt orange type colour). Also, yes, I realize that picture looks like a face. HAHA.

Those are my two main focuses (foci?) right now. My mom's tablecloth will become my second major project once the Clapotis is done. Then little projects. Speaking of which:

WASHCLOTHS!! I made all these on vacation. They're fun and easy and gave me a chance to burn through some cotton that was, well, just hanging around. Much like @Sara Marks and her collection of cotton that was just getting out of hand. Course, I did just pick up two skeins of "Dishie" from KnitPicks but whatever.

So that's about it kiddies!!
-Kobuu

Saturday Morning Epiphany

I just realized that I have a TON of crocheting to do. Apart from my sweater (again, going to finish this today dammit), I've got 6 blocks to make for my afghan, and the filet crochet tablecloth for my mom. Lest we forget the knitting projects that are pending/started...

Sometimes I get overwhelmed with my WIP's but then I just pick one up and keep going. Coworkers tell me that I shouldn't stress out about my "relaxing activities". I think that yes, I'm a little stressed, but is it something that I need to worry about? No. I think it's a healthy kind of stress. The need to finish what I've started, the desire to create. It's not that I'm going to lose sleep if I don't finish my sweater today (though I might think about it).

When I'm at work, there's deadlines and timelines and tasks that need "immediate attention" or the world will melt. I know, I'm in IT. But when I'm yarning (my word - encompasses both knitting and crocheting), there's a sense of enjoyment. Like reading a good book and wanting one more page or chapter, or a great video game where you "just need to get to a save point". Yarning for me is that same quest, to create something beautiful as a gift or even just for myself. The "stress" that goes along with that is like Miley Cyrus said "the climb". (yes, I just quoted Miley Cyrus. I'm gay, ok?) Once I'm wearing my newest scarf, sweater, gloves, hat, whatever...or I'm holding the finished object in my hands, that sense of accomplishment cannot be beat.

So the next person that tells you that you have too many projects going, you need to relax in your hobby, etc. Ask them if they've finished their book. Ask them to stop whatever is makes them happy because they might be "stressed" doing it. There are two kinds of stress, bad and good. Bad is the one that's place on us by others, good is the one where we push ourSELVES and make things happen.

Make things happen, Pleeps!

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Memorial Day Weekend: relaxation, knitting and beautiful days!

This past weekend was Memorial Day. Not that you didn't already know that, but what you didn't know is that this was only the 2ND Memorial Day that I have ever NOT worked! Since last March, I've had a "real" job and thus get some paid holidays. It's a wonderful feeling waking up on some Mondays and thinking to myself "I don't have anywhere to go"!!

Brief history: I was in the retail world from the age of 14 to 28. It had been a long road but being fired from JoAnn Fabrics released me from that world and I have found a great deal more learning than working in my current position. Oh, that and paid vacations and holidays!!

Ok, enough of that.
Saturday was kind of crap. Vic and I walked to our new local diner for breakfast but by the time we got home, the humidity was WAY too high and we had to turn on the AC. So instead of really doing anything, I got a chance to work on my sweater!

This picture isn't even accurate anymore as I've already added the other brown stripes and have started on the body of it too. So like I said, Saturday was crap.

Sunday...WHOA Sunday! One of my besties came down from Lowell and she joined Vic and I at Dim Sum! After, we found a beautiful spot at Starbucks and with no humidity and temps only in the 70's we knit in the dappled light for 2 hours!

@Sara Marks and I at Starbucks

Then, I dropped Sara off to her house and tripped over to Walmart to grab some other stuff. Vic took a walk around town and I was able to hangout on the balcony and crochet some more!

Hmm... well that was pretty much all I did for the rest of Saturday. Vic came home from his walk and he got a couple of movies from Newbury, "The Grey" and "Red Tails". I didn't watch the latter but the former was pretty good. Very deep with a fantastic ending!

TODAY was the freebie day. Woke up and made breakfast for the two of us: candied kielbasa and omelets.

That mug is from P-Town last year, Vic's never been able to find anything with his name on it.

Then we took a ride to Nut Island. Holy shit what a beautiful place!!! Very small parking lot but lots of walking paths; a pier to fish from, beach to walk on and beautiful views of the city and islands.

He wasn't happy that I was taking his picture....again..

Attempting a panoramic with my CM9 Rom. Camera is a little funny sometimes.

In one of the fields, stopped to snap a shot. He's in a slightly better mood.

11" rifled cannon from the mid-1800's that exploded during a test firing.
They used to test from here by firing at Peddock's island in the distance.

Typical New England beach, all rocks.

Vic throwing rocks.
"And to the sea they return"

More beachy goodness.

The pier and flowers. Such a lovely place.

Well after our dose of sea and salt, we needed fish!! Found Henry's Seafood and Pizza, little place run by Greeks and fantastic! Headed home for some R&R and now here I sit. Blogging away and getting ready to pick up my sweater again. Vic's out for a "guy's night" so I get some alone and quiet. He he he.. So I'm off to do just that!

-Kobuu

#WIPWednesday :: BLOGGED!

Wow. Haven't blogged in a bit so I figured this was the perfect opportunity. It's a "less" busy day at work so I actually get a chance to breathe and type this thing out!

I have a TON of projects going (not really but there's a few). I have a tendency to make myself "overwhelmed" and then steadily work through all the projects to completion and produce a stack of finished products. I know, I'm weird.

So in no particular order:

Clapotis

Been working on this one for a while but it's been in hibernation. I'm thinking this will be my vacation project.

Saroyan

This is in Noviembre Malabrigo. Love this knit but I've been working on other things. Still, it's my goal to finish this sooner rather than later.

Dragonfly Tablecloth

This is kind of a pride of mine as this will be for my mom for Christmas. I'm well into the pattern now and taking my time. This needs to come out perfect! It's about 4' wide, the length is TBD.

Circular Motion Sweater

Done in superwash merino (instead of cotton), this is my most recent project. I really, really love the way this is coming out. I had to change/combine different sections of directions to account for my long arms and skinny torso.  The blue point is basically at my waist line then I need to fill in the triangle to make it squared off.  I'll be adding a couple rows of brown at the bottom just for kicks and possibly making this a cardigan with a zipper instead of making it a pullover. We'll see. I still need to make the entire other half so I have a bit to go. But, this has all been done in less than a week! I started last Thursday! Rocket crochet!! HAHA.

Ok...whew...that's what's going on right now. I've got washcloths on standby for when I don't feel like working on any of the above. Then I have days where no needlework gets done at all and I read. Still relaxing either way.

-Kobuu

Solomon's Knot: Solved!

Hey Yarnies!!!


I couple of weeks ago, @Beverly Rivera was having some trouble with creating "Solomon's Knot" or the "Lover's Knot" in crochet.  I had a little bit of experience with this stitch so I was able to get her started.  Not long ago, however, she cam across another problem: decreasing.


The trouble with this stitch is not the stitch itself but the way in which the shapes are created.  Essentially, you're making squares and each of your knots creates one side of the square.


See this diagram:

You can also visit this page: FOR A VIDEO

Now, this might get you some knots but not necessarily the shaping that you need.  Let's take this pattern for instance: Solomon's Knot Shawl


The instructions are a little vague at best.  Lines like
"Row 2: Be careful that you don’t twist your work during this row!

Make 1 SK. Sc into first st.
(Make 2 SK, sk 1 st. Sc in next st) 21 times.

Note: The skipped stitch is the sc from the previous row. From now on, you will always crochet into a SK stitch, not a sc.
Turn."

This is CONFUSING!!! So here's a demo....

STEP 1: Make your foundation chain - I didn't follow the pattern here as I don't want to make the shawl, but I used an even number so it's similar:

8 SK's (Solomon Knots)

Now, starting on the right, make TWO MORE SK's. This will start the first row. Once you have the second SK made, single crochet in to the NEXT KNOT from the hook:

REMEMBER: When you were making your foundation chain, according to the pattern, your SK's were 2.75" in length, right? All the next ones should be shorter than that. This creates little triangles to start off the shawl. I'm going to put it another way.... I made you a DIAGRAM!

Literally, when you're making the new SK's you're not technically stitching into SC's after the fist row. Each time that you complete two SK's, you're SC-ing into a different SK to complete the "square". The diagram does a better job at explaining what I mean..

So here's the rest of mine...

Row 1 Completed

Beginning SK of Row 2

Completed Row 2

After you have gotten a couple of rows done, you should be able to see the shaping of the shawl! You're still making squares just on a 45 degree angle (thus diamonds) and you will eventually get the triangle shape that you're looking for!!

This is 3 Rows completed, note the clear triangle shape!

So there you have it!! Solomon's Knot! Beautiful and complex but light and airy for the summer. If you made this with cotton, maybe all in white, it would be a gorgeous wrap over pretty much anything! Let me know what you think and if you have questions don't hesitate to ask! I might even make a video!! LOL

-Kobuu

#FOFriday: blogged!

I believe one of my Gplus buddies said something to me about spoiling the surprise for FO Friday. Well, I knew I would be making more things! WASHCLOTHS!! Never have I made this many in one week or at one time. I have a VERY short pair of size 8 needles that fit perfectly in my little project bag. One skein of cotton makes one cloth with some left over so I start the next one then just combine with the next colour I pick! Simple. Here they are..

 There's also a third one in progress. Very pretty green twisty kind of yarn. I like it. Here's that one:

But really? That's it! Just those since Monday. This weekend I'll be tackling some crochet projects that need doing. I've been a little needle happy the past couple of weeks and those blocks for Vic's blanket aren't going to complete themselves!

-kobuu

#WIPWednesday: Blogged

I rather like that title so I'm going to keep using it!

Since the inception of kobuu.com, I'm trying to keep on the blogging thing. When people ask if I have more things that I make, I'm directing them here so that they can read my little funny anecdotes and see all the stuff I make! Not very professional really, but it's a touch of personality and whimsy that I think is missing in today's society. Oh, it's also nothing like Etsy.

But I digress, you didn't come here to hear my socio-political babble, you came to find out just what I'm working on!

Now that the baby set is done, and I don't have to make more for a while, I'm working on my Saroyan. I need to finish this and my Clapotis so I can jump on some other projects. I also need to pick up my mom's tablecloth at some point soon since I only have one full square done and the CAL BOTM's need to be done for April as May is coming up pretty damn fast! Whew!!

So here's the Saroyan:

This is made with Malabrigo in worsted weight. Colourway: Noviembre. I have two skeins of this yarn so I'll be modifying this pattern a bit.  My plan is to only increase with the first skein and then only decrease with the second. This should give me a triangular shawl/scarf without the long bit in the middle. Less trapezoid.

I am also pumping out washcloths (I need them) with "Grandma's Favourite Dishcloth" pattern here:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/grandmas-favorite-dish-cloth

Now it's time to get back to work....maybe...
-Kobuu