Kitty Treats and Lace

  I am the second and third owner of these.  The first owner got one for each of her cats and neither liked them.  So she brought one for me and one for someone else at K&CC.  Since I got two I assume they were not well received by the other person's cat either.  The ones in this house are weird about them.  When I first pulled them out and gave each one they both got really excited and licked them a bunch but neither would take a bite.  I left them out and at some point during the day they disappeared.  So while they aren't good enough to get excited about, they are good enough to eat at some point.  I'm glad I don't have to try and find another person to try them on.

  I've run into some more problems with the chart.  If you aren't comfortable at all following written instructions, I have figured out which rows have the same beginning pattern as the rows missing marks near the beginning of the row.  I wish I had noticed sooner because I had to take out 6 rows of knitting.
  For row 37, look at 25; row 39, look at 27; and row 41, look at 29.  The ends of the rows are not the same, so once you get a repeat or two done you will be able to look back at the row you are actually on.  You could also just follow the written instructions for the whole row and you won't have to jump around.

  I recently found my bag of yarn that I had set aside to make into hats.  I like taking random stitch patterns and turning them into interesting hats.  I was browsing the internet and stumbled upon this 52 Square KAL.  The link goes to the page describing the knit-a-long.  Each block is made out of just knits and purls.  The list of all the blocks can be found with the 52 Square Pickup tag.  It looks like each block comes with written and charted instructions.

2019

Here is a quick list of everything I got done in the year of 2019

Crochet: 6
~Blanket:

Star Blanket

~Hats:

Dusty Beret

Granny Kid's Hat

~Scarves:

V-Stitch Cowl turned Scarf

Star Stitch Scarf

~Shawls:

Granny Square Shawl

Knit: 28
~Blanket:

Not Entraloc Blanket

~Hats:

2x2 Rib Brioche

Big Rib Hat

Pink Virtual Cable Hat

Two Color Chunky Hat

Just Mango Brown Dad Hat

Barley

Party CC Copy Hat

Woven Lattice Hat: 1, 2-6,

Loom Knit Hat

Offset Ribbing Hat

Chunky Preemie Hat

K1, P2 Hat

Ribbed Stash Buster

Changing Lanes: 1-3,

Slipped Spiral Hat

BUN Hat

Bright Brioche Hat

~Scarves/Cowls:

Bias Scarf

~Shawls:

UFO Shawl

~Sweaters:

Blue Raglan Sweater

Party Baby Surprise Sweater

Others Work:

Crochet Bag: 1-2,

Tassel Square Hat: 1-2, 3,

Crochet Mittens: 1, 2-4,

Crochet Scarf: 1, 2-6,

Crochet Hat: 1-7, 8-18,

Crochet Other: 1-6,

Crochet Cowl: 1,

Crochet Slippers: 1,

Knitted Hat: 1-2

Who Checks the Charts?

  Here is the picture of the BUN Hat I promised.  It is smaller than the pattern says because I used smaller yarn and smaller needles.  I adjusted the height accordingly by just doing less for the body of the hat and followed the decreases as written.

 This was my between projects project.  Just a quick brioche hat.  I love how fancy brioche looks.

  I finally blocked the Star Stitch Scarf that I was testing the pattern for.  I still need to ask her if she is ever going to publish the pattern because it looks really nice.  You can see the pattern better if you click on the photo and see it closer to full sized.

 I didn't actively follow a pattern when making this because I had remembered it well enough from when I taught the class.  The Quick & Simple Granny Shawl has all the same steps as the ones that I did.  There are a ton out there that will get you very similar results with only very minor changes in what you do.  I just kept going back and forth until I didn't have enough yarn to do another whole row.

  I was kind of nervous about this one.  I haven't done a pointed blanket project like this with so many points.  At first it seemed fine, but as I went it kept looking more and more like it wouldn't block out flat and would be buckled.  I kept wondering if I should take it out and do it again with only 6 points, but I kept going.  Once I started pulling the points out while blocking it looked more and more like it would work and that mine would look like the pictures.

  On row 11, at the very end the chart doesn't actually match the stitches I had. It shows two increases next to each other, but only shows one more stitch in the chart.  It tells you to k4, yo, kfb, k2, but the written instructions tell you to k5, kfb, k2.  I'm guessing that when the chart was made they put together a big block of pattern and worked backwards from there.  The yo was probably just left over from that and no one noticed it.
  There are also a few rows that are missing the symbol to do garter stitch on the wrong side on the flat edge.  I also found some symbols on the chart that aren't on the key at all.  So my suggestion is that if you have a doubt about the chart, check the written instructions, they seem to be correct.
  Here's to a new year and hopefully correct charts.

It's Friday the 13Th Again!

  Usually a Friday the 13th is my lucky day.  Today was not as good.  We got some bad news about a friend who had been having health problems.  She did hang on until a Friday the 13th and now can have as much wine and wings as she wants.

  I'm still working on finding a good place to block everything.  It's a good thing that Bill was out of town for a few days because the comforter was still a bit damp when it was bed time.  Everything is now dry, but I'm waiting for a day with better lighting to take pictures.  It's raining out now and I was thinking of taking some pictures outside for the bigger items.

  One of the people at K&CC has been making these cute hats that have a neck/ear flap.  It would be good to help keep people warm who might not like wearing scarves.  The BUN Hat is really fast to knit and also a great way to go through leftovers.  I thought my skein looked like a baby carrot or a hot-dog cut into a octopus shape.

  I started on the Caron Asymmetrical Lace Shawl.  I thought it would be fitting to use a Caron Cake for it.  I only have two of them, so not as much as I had for the crochet granny blanket in oranges and reds.  I'm just getting past the part where it goes really fast and the rows start to get longer and longer.  At least I have the lace to look forward to.
  It must be nice or odd for everyone, that this post has two projects that I can link to a pattern for!  Don't worry, I'm still thinking of new patterns, but I need to get the hat one finalized before I work too much on the shawl.
  I'm also considering starting on a Caron Knit Shawl on the Bias before I start working on my own pattern.  This time of year means I'm super busy with work and some pretty mindless knitting is usually what I need.  Something that is fun to knit but won't distract me from getting any work done because I can hear it calling my name from my knitting bag.
  We are also going to go to the Zoo Lights later today, so I'm hoping to try and get some fun pictures from that.

Fiona Is A Very Pretty Lady

  I tried to do like I normally do after teaching a class with a stitch pattern that I really like.  I tried to make a hat out of it.  I think this yarn was way too slippery because you could see that there was texture in the stitches, it didn't show what was really happening.  I was feeling lazy and decided to try and do the spiral hat again.  I didn't bother to count my stitches for how it would turn out for the second stitch pattern, so I ended up with the same problem I had before where it needed four more or less stitches.

  Don't mind my messy floor, just look at the cute kitty.  Her name is Fiona and she is my house-mate's cat.  She doesn't really like other cats, but Tank has managed to become friends with her.  They chase each other around the house and will steal each other's food.  It doesn't matter that they get the same food, they both know that the other gets the better stuff.

  The universe has decided that one ramen restaurant near my house wasn't enough, so now I have two.  Marumen opened first, but is a bit farther out.  I saw that Umai Ramen and Rice Bowl was opening soon and went during their first week during their soft opening.

  The menu at Umai wasn't as big as Marumen, but I don't know if that is because it was during their soft opening or if they are just going to focus on a smaller menu.  I got the Curry Ramen that time, the one pictured, and have been back again to try the Tonkotsu Ramen.  It is really good and smaller portions than Marumen, so I don't feel as uncomfortably stuffed at the end and feel like I could get an appetizer to share.

  I thought I was in the mood to do more two color brioche, but I got about this far and got distracted by some granny square style crochet.  I almost finished a shawl and am working on an eight point star blanket.  I keep bringing this along with me, and will get back to it at some point.  The yarn is just so slippery that it is a bit tricky to work with at times.  I like it well enough, but I will be taking any leftovers back to K&CC.  It's the Lion Brand Microspun and is the same yarn as the baby hat at the top of this post.

Hat Party!

  While I'm happy that I got all these done and took pictures of them, it doesn't mean that I wanted it to get cold out.  I really like fall and feel like I haven't been able to really enjoy it.  It's either too hot or cold out.  It has decided to get really cold and I even saw it snow a touch yesterday.

  This hat was supposed to use up the last two bits of yarn that I had from making shawls.  I got about half way down before I ran out of both of those.  I had a third and different color scheme that was the same weight, so I added that on the end.  I was worried that it wouldn't match, but everyone liked how it looked while I was working on it.

  While watching Days of Our Lives when I was waiting for my car to get serviced I saw one of the characters wearing a sweater that made it look like one of the rib columns was taking a bit of a trip.  It was a bit frustrating because they kept moving the camera around to get dramatic angles of the actors' faces, but didn't focus more on the back of the sweater.

  I didn't like how on the first one it looked more like cables and not that the one ribbing column was going for a stroll.  So I decided to leave it as reverse stockinette in the spot the cable was supposed to be in.  I liked the body more, but the top was still a bit too pointy for my taste.

  When I decreased every round for the crown, I liked the way it sat a lot more.  I'm considering writing this up as a One Size Fits Most pattern, but I'm not sure yet.  Andrea thinks I should name it Changing Lanes if I do.

  I had added a hat with a spiral slipped stitch pattern to my Ravelry library, but couldn't seem to find it.  I got tried of searching and decided to make up my own.  I didn't know how many to cast on for, but I had wished that I had either cast on four more or less for the top.  It was pretty easy and fast, so I will definitely try again at some point before too long.

AnimeUSA 2019

  To spoil the ending of this story, I had a great time and I'm so happy I went!!

  While getting ready to go I got out of the shower, towel dried off and noticed a small dark thing tumble off the towel.  I looked down wondering why there is black fuz on a light green towel.  It was a spider.  As I stood there looking at it and wondering how I was going to get it outside while in my current state of attire, it bit me.  I manage to get it outside after flicking it into a trash bag.

  Checked into the hotel and quickly got changed before going to the Halloween showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.  As I was buttoning the back of my blouse I was wondering why I was having a hard time of it, then I noticed the button on the floor.  I got everything on and it looked good until I put my shoes on.  I hurt my ankle about a month ago and while it is almost healed, it told me NO!  So I pulled out my backup shoes and out we went.

  It took two Ubers (first dropped the ride when he got within a block of me) and 40 mins waiting in the cold, but I got back to the hotel room.  When I got back I took some pictures with the shoes I wanted.

  I also did a mini photo shoot of my accessories.  I knew I could wait to get better pictures with Bill and his fancy camera, but I wanted to get this done before the other people who were staying in the room got in.  After eating a dinner of beef jerky at 3am, I went to bed.

  I just wore the backup shoes and didn't wear the pins because they belong to my housemate and I'm paranoid I'd lose them.  So many people complimented me on my dress and some even asked me about lolita.  I had a fun time telling people about it and giving them some resources on how to start.
  At an Online Lolita panel, I even got called to the front to show off everything. I also got to meet Raven's Rose, who I met online, and she's adorable and the sweetest!  I even got a cute story where a guy told my that his girlfriend was interested in wearing lolita fashion and didn't know where to start.  I told him about some websites she could shop on and he took notes on his phone so he wouldn't forget.

  I had my favorite BodyLine dress planned for Sat.  I hadn't tried it with my current petticoat so I ended up having to roll the top a bit and hike it up.  The shoes I bought just for this were not cooperating.  I needed to put another set of holes in them and I usually do that with a safety pin and brute force.  This material almost closes the hole after I pulled out the pin.  So backup shoes it was.  However the socks I brought are really wide in the foot and bunched oddly in the other shoes.  So I threw on the grey socks that came with the pumpkin ones. 

  I still got a lot of compliments and people asked what brand my dress was.

  I even learned how to hand sew cute bows. If I make more, I will definitely machine stitch the boring parts.  It took me about two hours to make this.  I had fun chatting with all the people who sat at the same table I did, but that is a bit much for when I'm on my own.

  Sunday I was a bum in leggings and a t-shirt since I was just doing one more run through of the Dealer's Room and Artist Alley.  I wanted to get home to my hubby, who was supposed to attend with me, but was too sick to make it out all weekend.  He kept trying to make it out and then didn't quite get there.  He fell asleep a few times while meaning to leave the house.  He's feeling much better as I type this out.