Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Ladies and Gentlmen,

Please fasten your seatbelts and observe the no smoking sign.

I'll be back in the states pretty soon. Hopping on a plane on New Years and heading back for some Western culture and logic. See you guys soon!

That is after I get over the jet lag!

Friday, December 26, 2008

The Christmas Haul


Christmas Presents
Originally uploaded by magicknits
I decided not to post the other presents (most of which are video games, but also an awesome Spam shirt) since this is a knitting blog and I know that you're all more interested in the fiber content. So without adieu, here is the haul:

8, yes, count them, 8 skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Multi.
2 skeins Noro Silk Garden
1 skein Noro Kureyon
12 skeins Knit Picks Essential Sock (the fall sampler packet)
Digital Knitting Counter
Stitch Markers

Yeah, I cleaned up!

Thank you to my family for all the yarn! I was completely surprised to see this much show up here in Korea! Woot!

Knit on...

Better Pictures


Sahara1
Originally uploaded by magicknits
DF took some better pictures this weekend of Sahara, so here is my favorite one of the bunch for your viewing enjoyment. Up next: The Christmas Haul.

Knit on...

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you all! Happy Holidays!

May they be filled with yarny goodness....
Needles that never break....
Family you love....
Friends who will be with you, whether near or far away....

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Monday, December 22, 2008

The Voodoo Parade

Sorry there was no post yesterday. Somewhere between the massive amount of snow, the freezing temperatures, and the class schedule, I forgot to take a picture of the massive amount of voodoo wrist warmers. I finished the seventh, yes, seventh pair last night and here they are:I have one more pair to make today and I know they'll get done. I have to make one masculine pair for the one guy I'm giving something to, so I'll knock those out today and get working on DF's presents.

It snuck up on me this year for sure!

Knit on...

Thursday, December 18, 2008

That Voodoo That You Do

That's the Christmas present that everyone is getting around Naju this year from me: Voodoo wrist warmers. They're fast, easy, and I can meet my goal of one pair a day until Christmas Eve to get them all finished I think. Anyways, here's pair number one:Yarn is some German superwash that I've never heard of from the LYS in Naju. They got comments at work yesterday which is good since that's who all I'm making these for. I'm hoping to get two pair done today between work and after school, so we'll see if I can meet that goal.

Other than that, I gave up on knitting presents this year for people. I just let time slip away from me here. I had wanted to make house socks, but I wasn't feeling the worsted weight sock love this year, so that one stalled and never made it past the first finished sock (I should probably finish the second just to get it over with). So, voodoo is such an easy pattern and the ribbing keeps me slightly entertained, which is why it's the present of choice now.

And thank goodness it's Friday!

Knit on...

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Finished!

Without further adieu, I bring you the finished Sahara:Another nickname for this sweater is Boobs. When I showed it to my neighbor, she was like, You have boobs! Guess everyone is used to seeing me in the baggy sweatshirts and what not which hides my belly fat, and in turn the boobage. Here's the side shot:It shows off the boobage and also the belly. This is a sweater that's only going to look better and better as I lose some weight, so I'm excited about that.

Today is our school festival and to celebrate, I'm wearing the newly finished Sahara sweater. I'm looking forward to how everyone likes it. Hopefully they'll think it looks nice and not think that a fitted sweater is too tight, even though I tried to explain to them the concept of fitted yesterday and that didn't seem to work out well. Oh well!

Knit on...

Monday, December 15, 2008

I Give

Yeah, so I keep forgetting to post anything at work, so I give up and I'm posting from home today before I even get into school. Anyways, here's Sahara so far:Only thing left now is the neck edging which I'm really hoping I can finish up today so that I can wear this thing to the school festival tomorrow. I also had a bit of an earring fiasco this weekend.
Here are my new 16 gauge captured ball earrings. It only took about an hour to get the stupid things in. It wasn't because I was going up gauge, it was actually because of those stupid little balls. DF had to get them in for me and after an hour, we both agreed that I'm not taking these dumb things out! :oP

Knit on...

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Almost There...


Sahara
Originally uploaded by magicknits
Sahara is almost completely done now. I finished the first sleeve last night and started the second one. Now I've just got to get that one knit and the neckband knit and the sweater is all done. I've even been good and have woven in the ends as I go so that I don't have to worry about the finishing at the very end, aside from two or three neckband ends.

Come on, Sahara! I'm ready to wear you!

Knit on...

PS: I'm starting to feel more human now. Still coughing and snotty, but no more fever and I went back to work.

Monday, December 08, 2008

We Interrupt This Knitting Blog...

To bring you Korean Flu 2008.

Yes, I have the flu. Yes, it sucks. Yes, I called in to work today because I felt like crap.

No, I have not knit much. I think I am about to remedy that now!

Knit on...

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Now I Really Want It Finished...


Sahara try on
Originally uploaded by magicknits
I made the mistake of trying on Sahara this morning and man, does it fit like a glove! The measurements are perfect right now. I really want it to be finished now that I've tried it on. I still have two long sleeves and a neck edging and stitching to finish before it's wearable, but I think this very well may become one of my favorite sweaters. I like the fit so well that I am contemplating buying Labyrith from the same designer so that I can get another nice hourglass-shaped sweater under my belt. I'll probably pick up Wendy's book Custom Knits too so that I can make all my sweaters fit my odd measurements!

Today I didn't bring the sweater to work. It's just so big that it's hard to travel with it, so instead I brought dishcloth cotton to crochet a couple of cloths and a skein of the Shepherd Worsted to wind into a ball so that I can start the neck edging as soon as I hit the apartment, assuming I'm not so tired that I just crash and fall asleep. Today is one of my long days at work, so we'll see.

Knit on...

Sahara Progress Report


Sahara
Originally uploaded by magicknits
Here is the sweater after knitting all the hip increases last night. I should be done with the body of the sweater tonight and then can move on to the sleeves. I am hoping to get some spinning done tonight, so if I don't get the neck edging done on the sweater, I won't be too worried. I will be trying the thing on tonight though once I get the bottom diamond edge ribbing done. I'm rather excited.

Yeah, it doesn't take much, does it? :oP

Knit on...

Noro Socks


Noro Socks
Originally uploaded by magicknits
Well, I finished the Noro Socks yesterday and after wearing them today, I have to admit that they are one of the cushiest and nicest feeling pair of socks I own. No, they will not be replacing my Lorna's Laces by any means since that sock yarn is by far my favorite so far, but I think that if I am ever gifted more Noro, I will probably make another pair. It is thick and smooshy and I didn't have much of an issue with knots (only one) or sticks and twigs like other people have had. I made this a 56 stitch sock instead of a 64 stitch because the yarn is very thick compared to my normal go-to sock yarns. Still, it made for a very enjoyable pair of socks, even if the yarn was a little tough to work with. Up next: Sahara.

Knit on...

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Some Days

Yeah, so for some reason my computer at work decided that it would be a great thing to run REALLY slow. Hopefully it was just for today, but everyone was having issues with their computers, so maybe someone managed to get a virus into the servers or something. I don't know much about viruses other than they suck and I really don't want them on my computer, be it work or not. So you're getting a late blog entry today until I see if I can blog easier from work tomorrow. Here's the state of the Noro sock as of this morning:I tried to make the socks match, but as is normal Noro for me, there was a knot tied in it, so the color changed a little quicker than it did on the first sock. That's all right though since I still enjoyed the color changes and knitting the sock. I have since finished it, but I'll leave that for tomorrow's blog post since I'll be wearing my nice, new, very warm silk garden socks tomorrow to work.

The kids have really enjoyed my socks. They see me knitting socks in the teacher's room when I don't have class and then look at my feet when I come to class to see if they remember me knitting those socks. It has become a sort of game with some of my third years as to what color socks Leah will be wearing today. Kinda cute actually.

And on one last side note, I was called a vampire yesterday my one of my students. I had straightened my hair and had on some darker lipstick than I normally wear since I'm now out of my normal shade, so I chalked it up to that. Well, today one girl goes, "Oh, teacher! Twilight! You look!" So, I'm guessing that straight, dark-red hair with dark lipstick means that I look like one of the characters out of twilight. I'll try to post a picture tomorrow and you all can decide for yourselves. I personally have not read the books or seen the movie, so I really have no clue.

Time to go knit some more on Sahara.

Knit on...